AACR Grantee Summit: Igniting Innovation in Cancer Research

6:00 – 7:00 pm

Reception with Light Hors d’Oeuvres (Location: Studio 2 and 3)

7:10 – 8:10 am

Check-In and Breakfast (Location: Industry 1 and 2)

8:10 – 8:30 am

Welcome and Opening Remarks (Location: Great Room 1 and 2)

• Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), Chief Executive Officer, AACR
• Manuel Hidalgo, MD, PhD, New York University Grossman School of Medicine 
• Sheila A. Stewart, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine

8:30 – 9:15 am

Keynote Address (Introduced by: Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc))

Lillian L. Siu, MD, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, AACR President

9:15 – 10:15 am

Grantee Presentations Session I: Molecular Alterations and Translational Opportunities in Oncology (Moderator: Roberto J. Vargas, MD, Cleveland Clinic)
15 minutes each (10-minute presentation followed by 5-minute Q&A)

9:15 – 9:30: Beyond Prognosis: TP53 Status as an Actionable Biomarker in Endometrial Cancer (Roberto J. Vargas, MD, Cleveland Clinic)

9:30 – 9:45: Understanding the role of tumor suppressor gene ARID1A in gastric cancer development and therapeutic response (Nicole B. Halmai, PhD, University of California, Davis)

9:45 – 10:00: Tousled-like kinase 2 regulates R-loop homeostasis in hematologic malignancies (Hai Dang Nguyen, PhD, University of Minnesota)

10:00– 10:15: A genomic insertion variant activates immune escape in breast cancer (Paola Betancur, PhD, University of California, San Francisco)

10:15 – 10:40 am

Break

10:40 – 11:40 am

Panel Session: A Multifaceted Dialogue on Drug Development (Moderator: Manuel Hidalgo, MD, PhD, New York University Grossman School of Medicine)

• Keith T. Flaherty, MD, AACR President-Elect, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Christine Hodgdon, Guiding Researchers and Advocates to Scientific Partnerships (GRASP)
• William Pao, MD, PhD, Revelio Therapeutics

11:40 am – 1:10 pm

Lunch and Learn Session: Communication and Engagement Skills (Moderator: Manuel Hidalgo, MD, PhD, New York University Grossman School of Medicine)

1. Building Connections: Importance of a Strong Network (Maureen E. Murphy, PhD, The Wistar Institute)
2. Engaging the Public: Communicating Your Science Effectively (Christine Hodgdon, Guiding Researchers and Advocates to Scientific Partnerships (GRASP))
3. Funding Challenges and Solutions (Jon Retzlaff, Chief Policy Officer, AACR)

1:10 – 1:55 pm

Keynote Address (Introduced by Sheila A. Stewart, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine)

Keith T. Flaherty, MD, AACR President-Elect, Massachusetts General Hospital

1:55 – 2:55 pm

Translating Innovation: Academic and Entrepreneurial Synergy in Cancer Research (Moderator: Sheila A. Stewart, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine)

• Michael A. Caligiuri, MD, Past AACR President, City of Hope
• William Pao, MD, PhD, Revelio Therapeutics

2:55 – 3:20 pm

Break

3:20 – 4:20 pm

Grantee Presentations Session II: From Tumor Biology to Treatment Response (Moderator: Igor Bado, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai)
15 minutes each (10-minute presentation followed by 5-minute Q&A)

3:20 – 3:35: Determining FGF2-mediated DTC fate in breast cancer bone metastasis (Igor Bado, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai)

3:35 – 3:50: Kinome shifts post Tumor Treating Fields reveal novel therapeutic opportunities in therapy-resistant glioblastoma (Anita B. Hjelmeland, PhD, The University of Alabama at Birmingham)

3:50 – 4:05: Deciphering the role of cellular metabolism in PARP inhibitor responses (Priyanka Verma, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis)

4:05– 4:20: Race-specific differences in the performance of multimodal predictors of response to neoadjuvant therapy in breast cancer (Francisco Sanchez-Vega, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)

4:20 – 5:20 pm

AI Perspectives: Exploring AI’s Potential Impact on Basic and Clinical Science (Moderator: Sheila A. Stewart, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine)

• Jorge S. Reis-Filho, MD, PhD, AstraZeneca
• Yu Shyr, PhD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

5:30 – 8:00 pm

Poster Session and Reception (Location: Industry 1 and 2)

• John Zhang, PhD, AACR, Vice President, Research and Grants Administration
• Mitch Stoller, AACR, Chief Philanthropic Officer and Vice President of Development
• Bill Day, AACR Foundation Board Member

7:45 – 8:45 am

Breakfast (Location: Industry 1 and 2)

8:45 – 9:30 am

Keynote Address (Introduced by: Manuel Hidalgo, MD, PhD, New York University Grossman School of Medicine)

Katerina A. Politi, PhD, Yale School of Medicine

9:30 – 10:30 am

Grantee Presentations Session III: Emerging Strategies in Tumor Targeting (Moderator: Srinivas R. Viswanathan, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute)
15 minutes each (10-minute presentation followed by 5-minute Q&A)

9:30 – 9:45: Phenotypic screening for inhibitors of oncogenic TFE3 fusions (Srinivas R. Viswanathan, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute)

9:45 – 10:00: Targeting the extracellular matrix in kidney cancer (Astgik Petrosyan, PhD, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles)

10:00 – 10:15: Targeting myeloperoxidase delays pancreatic cancer growth and enhances chemotherapy response (Tracy W. Liu, PhD, West Virginia University)

10:15– 10:30: Role of thyroid hormones on chromatin remodeling: Impact on HDACi therapy for T cell lymphoma (Florencia Cayrol, PhD, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas (BIOMED-UCA-CONICET))

10:30 – 10:55 am

Break

10:55 – 11:40 am

Fireside Chat with Patricia M. LoRusso, DO, PhD (hc), Yale University, Past AACR President (Location: Great Room 1 and 2)

Moderated by Mitch Stoller, AACR, Chief Philanthropic Officer and Vice President of Development

11:40 am – 12:45 pm   

Lunch with Round Table Discussions (Location: Industry 1 and 2)

1. Building a Sustainable Research Career (Moderator: Manuel Hidalgo, MD, PhD, New York University Grossman School of Medicine)
2. Building a Research Identity and Niche (Moderator: Katerina A. Politi, PhD, Yale School of Medicine)
3. Balancing Collaboration with Establishing Independence (Moderator: Yu Shyr, PhD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center)
4. Recruiting and Mentoring Students and Staff (Moderator: Christine M. Eischen, PhD, Thomas Jefferson University)
5. The Power of No: Time Management and Delegation (Moderator: Sheila A. Stewart, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine)

12:45 – 1:45 pm

Grantee Presentations Session IV: Tumor Immune Landscapes and Therapeutic Innovation in Cancer (Moderator: Min Yu, PhD, University of Maryland, Baltimore)
15 minutes each (10-minute presentation followed by 5-minute Q&A)

12:45 – 1:00: Prolonged suppression of tumor intrinsic interferon signaling on metastasis (Min Yu, PhD, University of Maryland, Baltimore)

1:00 – 1:15: Spatial and molecular organization of immune microenvironments in pancreatic cancer (Renato Ostuni, PhD, San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy)

1:15 – 1:30: Lymphatic transport maintains the lymph node stem-like T cell nicheand persistent response to immunotherapy (Amanda W. Lund, PhD, New York University Grossman School of Medicine)

1:30– 1:45: Translating glycocodes into novel immunotherapeutic strategies to prevent T cell exhaustion (Tomás D’Alotto Moreno, PhD, Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine (IByME – CONICET))

1:45 – 2:10 pm

Break

2:10 – 2:30 pm

Poster Session Winner Presentations (Moderator: Sheila A. Stewart, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine) (Location: Great Room 1 and 2)

2:30 – 2:35 pm

Announcement of Oral Presentation Winners (Sheila A. Stewart, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine)

2:35 – 2:50 pm

Summary and Closing Remarks

Sheila A. Stewart, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine