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10th Moores Cancer Center Industry/Academia Translational Oncology Symposium
Agenda and Speaker Biographies
Program Agenda
8:00AM
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Registration and Continental Breakfast
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8:30AM
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Welcome and Overview
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- Scott Lippman, MD, Moores Cancer Center
- David Brenner, MD, UC San Diego School of Medicine
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9:00AM
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Keynote Presentation:
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- Advancing innovation in drug development: The I-SPY example
Laura Esserman, MD, MBA, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
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10:00AM
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Break
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10:30AM
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- Development of BMN 673, a potent and selective poly-(ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP)-1/2 inhibitor in selected patients with homologous recombination defects
Gilles Gallant, BPharm PhD, BioMarin
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10:45AM
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- Translational considerations for a novel inhibitor of p97 for the treatment of myeloma and solid tumors
Laura Shawver, PhD, Cleave Biosciences, Inc.
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11:00AM
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- Zeroing in an oncogenic driver: The Rapid Evolution of Targeted Therapies for Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase-Positive Lung Cancer
Valeria Fantin, PhD, Pfizer
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11:15AM
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- Reversing Cancer Stemness and Drug Resistance
David Cheresh, PhD, Moores Cancer Center
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11:30AM
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- From Idea to Clinical Trial: Targeting Cancer Stem Cells
Thomas Kipps, MD, PhD, Moores Cancer Center
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11:45PM
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- Stem cell principles applied to colon cancer: tracing clonal dynamics and targeting self-renewal
Antonija Kreso, PhD, University of Toronto
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12:00PM
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- Malignant Reprogramming and Cancer Stem Cells
Catriona Jamieson, MD, PhD, Moores Cancer Center
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12:15PM
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- Will 5 billion be approved by California voters for CIRM in 2016?
Robert Klein, Klein Financial Corporation
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12:30PM
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Welcome
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Pradeep Khosla, PhD UC San Diego
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Lunch & Poster Session
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- “Integrin avb3 Drives Slug Activation and Stemness in the Pregnant and Neoplastic Mammary Gland”
Jay S Desgrosellier, Jacqueline Lesperance, Laetitia Seguin, Sanford J Shattil and David A. Cheresh.
- “Multiple spatially related pharmacophores define small molecules for inhibition of a bHLH transcription factor OLIG2 for glioblastoma therapy”
Rajesh Mukthavaram, Igor F. Tsigelny, Valentina L. Kouznetsova, Ying Chao, Sandra Pastorino, Pengfei Jiang, Sandeep C. Pingle, Wolf Wrasidlo, Milan Makale, and Santosh Kesari.
- "Novel prostate cancer patient-derived xeno-graft models of bone metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer"
Christina Wu, Amy Strasner, Jason R. Woo, Michelle Muldong, Young B. Jeong, Liss, M.A., Omer Raheem, Tomonori Yamaguchi, Takeshi Hirata, Heather Leu, Deborah Marshall, Sheldon R. Morris, Nicholas A. Cacalano, Koichi Masuda, Catriona H.M. Jamieson, Christopher J. Kane, Anna A. Kulidjian, and Christina A.M. Jamieson.
- “Functional Defects In Neutrophils Derived From Ezh2 Null Mice”
Albert Perez-Ladaga, Bennett Caughey, Huafeng Xie, Stuart H. Orkin, David B. Sykes, Benjamin L. Ebert and Rafael Bejar.
- “Necramed exploits a ubiquitous haploinsufficient phenotype in ovarian cancer”
Joe Delaney and Dwayne Stupack.
- “Bioconjugation of NIR Dyes to Low Molecular Weight Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) Improves Pharmacokinetics and Biodistribution, with Enhancement of Targeted Tissue Labeling”
Ali A. Maawy, Yukihiko Hiroshima, George A. Luiken, Yong Zhang, Robert Hoffman and Michael Bouvet.
- “Characterization of cell-cycle progression using a novel bi-cistronic lentiviral FUCCI reporter”
Gennarina L. Riso, Gabriel Pineda, Florence Lambert-Fliszar, Kathleen M. Kane, and Catriona Jamieson.
- “RNA Editing Enzyme Induces Accelerated Cell Cycle in Normal Hematopoiesis.”
Qingfei Jiang, Marianna Zipeto, Leslie A. Crews, Angela C. Court, Heather Leu, Mark Minden, Anil Sadarangani, Kim-Hien T. Dao, Sheldon R. Morris, Lawrence S. Goldstein, Marco A. Marra, Kelly A. Frazer, and Catriona H. M. Jamieson
- “Development of Clinically Relevant In Vivo Tools for Studying Gastrointestinal Sarcomas”
J.K. Sicklick, C.M Tang, S.Y.Leonard, M.L Babicky, C.A Metildi, P. Magistri , H.S Tran Cao, S. Kaushal , E.S Mose , R.P French, D.V Jaquish , C.K Hoh, M. Peterson, R. Schwab, R.M Hoffman, M. Bouvet, and A.M Lowy.
- “Investigation of adhesion-associated signaling pathways in ovarian cancer”
Nichol L.G. Miller, Christine Lawson, Isabelle Tancioni, Denise C. Connolly, and David D. Schlaepfer.
- “Genome-wide mutational profiling elucidates the pathophysiology of mucinous neoplasm of the appendix”
H. Alakus, M.L. Babicky, P. Ghosh, S.E. Yost, K. Jepsen, Y. Dai, A. Arias, M.L. Samuels, E. S. Mose, R. B. Schwab, M.R. Peterson, A.M. Lowy, K. A. Frazer, and O. Harismendy.
- “AML1-ETO Hematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Cells (HSPCs) Display a Hypersensitivity to GM-CSF that Reduces Leukemogenic Potential”
Stephanie Weng, Shinobu Matsuura, Kentson Lam, Cody Mowery, Miao-Chia Lo, and Dong-Er Zhang.
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2:00PM
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- SF3B1 mutations in different cancer types cause recognition of sterically hindered cryptic splice-sites downstream of the branch point
Kelly Frazer, PhD Moores Cancer Center
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2:15PM
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- Omics as a Disruptive Technology: Implications for Cancer Therapy
Razelle Kurzrock, MD, Moores Cancer Center
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2:30PM
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- Precision Oncology Strategies: Targeting Genetic and Epigenetic Drivers in Cancer Drug Development
James Christensen, PhD, Mirati Therapeutics
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2:45PM
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- A novel isoform of the RON kinase transforms pancreatic duct epithelial cells
Andrew Lowy, MD, FACS, Moores Cancer Center
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3:00PM
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- Preclinical and early clinical activity of STAT3RX/AZD9150, A NEXT GENERATION ANTISENSE OLIGONUCLEOTIDE TARGETING STAT3
Robert MacLeod, PhD, Isis Pharmaceuticals
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3:15PM
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- Nuclear Receptors: Integrating Molecular Endocrinology and Drug Discovery
Richard Heyman, PhD Seragon Pharmaceuticals
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3:30PM
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- Androgen Receptor Signaling Axis on CRPC – The A to Z in Drug Development
NamPhuong Tran, MD, Janssen R&D
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3:45PM
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Break
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4:00PM
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Panel Discussion: Funding Innovation
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- Moderator: Chris Cain, PhD SciBX:Science-Business eXchange, BioCentury Publications
- Michael Flaschen Johnson & Johnson Innovation
- Richard Heyman, PhD Seragon Pharmaceuticals
- Catriona Jamieson, MD, PhD, Moores Cancer Center
- Jay Lichter, PhD Avalon Ventures
- Greg Simon, Poliwogg
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5:00PM
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Symposium Reception
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Speaker Biographies
Please click the [+] to view Speaker Biographies.
Keynote Speaker:
Laura Esserman, MD, MBA
Director, Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center
Professor of Surgery and Radiology, UCSF
UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
[+] Biography
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Dr. Esserman is a surgeon and breast cancer oncology specialist, and is the Director of the Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). In 1996, she started the Center of Excellence for Breast Cancer Care at UCSF to integrate clinical care and research, automate tools for the capture of patient and clinical data, and develop systems to tailor care to biology, patient preference, and performance.
Dr. Esserman is nationally and internationally known as a leader in the field of breast cancer and has published over 150 articles. She is a member of a taskforce for President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) Working Group on Advancing Innovation in Drug Development and Evaluation which is studying how the federal government can best support science-based innovation in the process of drug development and regulatory evaluation.
She is the Principle Investigator of the I-SPY TRIAL program, a multi-site neoadjuvant clinical trial that has evolved into a model for translational research and innovation in clinical trial design. Dr. Esserman has recently launched a University of California-wide breast cancer initiative called the Athena Breast Health Network, a project designed to follow 150,000 women from screening through treatment and outcomes, incorporating the latest in molecular testing and web-based tools into the course of care.
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David Brenner, MD
Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences
Dean, UC San Diego School of Medicine
[+] Biography
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David Brenner is vice chancellor for Health Sciences and dean of the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. In this role, he leads the School of Medicine, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at University of California, San Diego, and UC San Diego Health System. Dr. Brenner has oversight of more than 1300 faculty physicians, pharmacists and scientists; 7,500 staff; more than 750 medical and pharmacy students, and a health system that cares for approximately 125,000 patients annually.
A distinguished physician-scientist and leader in the field of gastroenterological research, Dr. Brenner first joined UC San Diego in 1985 as a gastroenterology fellow, later joining the School of Medicine faculty, and serving as a physician at the Veterans Affairs (VA) San Diego Healthcare System. He also served as a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences and a Clinical Investigator in the VA system. In 1993, Dr. Brenner became professor and chief of the Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he continued to earn accolades for his patient care and research. He was ultimately recruited to UC San Diego from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where from 2003 to 2007 he was Samuel Bard Professor, chair of the Department of Medicine, and physician-in-chief of New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia.
Dr. Brenner’s professional memberships include the American Society for Clinical Investigation; the Association of American Physicians, for which he was the president, the American College of Physicians, the American Gastroenterological Association, the American Clinical and Climatological Association, and the Institute of Medicine. He is also on the board of directors of two philanthropic foundations, the AlphaOne Foundation and the Alcoholic Beverage Medical Research Foundation. Dr. Brenner has published over 400 articles and has served on several editorial boards, including being the editor-in-chief of Gastroenterology.
He earned his medical degree from the Yale University School of Medicine. After completing his residency at Yale-New Haven Medical Center, he served as a research associate in the Genetics and Biochemistry Branch of the National Institute of Arthritis, Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
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Chris Cain, PhD*
Senior Writer
SciBX:Science-Business eXchange, BioCentury Publications
[+] Biography
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Chris is a senior writer for BioCentury and SciBX: Science-Business eXchange, a weekly review of translational research co-published by BioCentury and Nature Publishing Group. He has been with BioCentury Publications since 2010, when he completed graduate work in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of California, San Francisco. He did his undergraduate work in biology at the College of Creative Studies at UC Santa Barbara, where he studied mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis.
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David Cheresh, PhD
Distinguished Professor, Vice Chair for Research and Development
Department of Pathology
Associate Director for Innovation and Industry Alliances, UCSD Moores Cancer Center
[+] Biography
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David Cheresh studies the mechanism of action of signaling networks that regulate tumor growth, stemness, drug resistance and metastasis. He discovered the avb3 integrin is a functional marker of angiogenic blood vessels. His work is basic and translational focusing on new strategies for biologically-based drug development. In particular, he studies how integrins and growth factor receptors promote, cell survival, angiogenesis and tumor invasion. His work has lead to the development of several drugs now in various stages of clinical development. Cheresh’s research in this area has been widely cited with seven of his peer-reviewed publications being cited >1000 times. David Cheresh was the scientific founder of TargeGen a San Diego based Biotechnology Company which developed a number of small molecules based in part on discoveries made in the Cheresh laboratory. TargeGen's JAK2 inhibitor has shown clinical activity in patients with myeloproliferative disease. Most recently, Cheresh and his colleagues have developed a novel scaffold based chemistry approach to stabilize kinases in their inactive state. These studies have lead to the discovery of a first in class Raf inhibitor that has distinct advantages relative to ATP mimetics of RAF. Cheresh and his colleagues at UCSD have founded a new startup company (Amitech Therapeutic Solutions, ATS) which focuses on the discovery of allosteric inhibitors of kinases such as those targeting Raf and other important molecules/pathways relevant to cancer and inflammatory disease.
Cheresh and colleagues are now focused on tumor cells that display stem like properties, and are highly aggressive often showing drug resistance. It was found that integrin αvβ3 serves as a marker of breast, lung and pancreatic tumors with stem-like properties that are highly resistant to receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as erlotinib. This was observed in vitro and in mice bearing patient-derived tumor xenographs or in clinical specimens from lung cancer patients that had progressed on erlotinib. Mechanistically, αvβ3, in the unligated state, recruits KRAS and RalB to the tumor cell plasma membrane, leading to the activation of TBK-1/NFkB. In fact, αvβ3 and the resulting KRAS/RalB/NFkB pathway are both necessary and sufficient to promote tumor initiation, anchorage-independence, self-renewal, and erlotinib resistance. Pharmacological targeting this pathway reverses both tumor stemness and drug resistance. These findings not only identify ανβ3 as a marker/driver of tumor stemness but they reveal a therapeutic strategy to sensitize such tumors to RTK Inhibition.
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James Christensen, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
Mirati Therapeutics
[+] Biography
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Dr. Christensen joined Mirati in June 2013. He was most recently the Senior Director of Oncology Precision Medicine in the Oncology Research Unit at Pfizer, a group focused on developing strategies toward patient identification, novel combination approaches, and development of biomarker approaches. Dr. Christensen joined Pfizer in 2003 and his responsibilities there included leading nonclinical research efforts for oncology programs including sunitinib malate research activities and leading the nonclinical and translational biology efforts for other research and development programs including crizotinib. Dr. Christensen participated as a member of the Pfizer Cancer Research or Oncology Research Unit leadership team from 2005-2013. Prior to 2003, Dr Christensen was at SUGEN/Pharmacia as a Group Leader on the Preclinical Research and Exploratory Development team where he was responsible for leadership of c-Met and erbB family preclinical development programs and aspects of research and development for sunitinib. Dr. Christensen initiated his industry experience at Warner Lambert/Parke-Davis with research focus in receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) biology and RTK pathway biomarker development in the oncology therapeutic area. Dr. Christensen has authored or co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed research articles in scientific journals including Science, Nature, Cancer Cell, New England Journal of Medicine and others. In addition, Dr. Christensen participates on the editorial boards for Cancer Research and Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. Dr. Christensen received his Ph.D. degree focusing in Molecular Pharmacology from North Carolina State University with dissertation research directed toward characterization of mechanisms of apoptosis dysregulation during the process of carcinogenesis.
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Gilles Gallant, BPharm PhD
Vice President, Oncology Clinical Sciences
BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.
[+] Biography
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Dr. Gilles Gallant joined BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (Novato, California) in 2013 as Vice President, Oncology Clinical Sciences. BioMarin develops and commercializes innovative biopharmaceuticals for serious diseases and medical conditions.
At BioMarin, Dr. Gallant is responsible for the clinical development of BMN 673, a potent poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, currently being studied in a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial in patients with advanced germline BRCA mutated breast cancer. He is a member of the Executive Committee and the Development Sciences Leadership Team of the Company.
Prior to joining BioMarin, Dr. Gallant was Vice President, Clinical Oncology and then Vice President, Corporate Development at Human Genome Sciences (HGS) Inc. (Rockville, Maryland). At HGS, Dr. Gallant was responsible for establishing the strategy and leading the implementation of the clinical development for all oncology assets including the agonistic monoclonal antibody mapatumumab (targeting the TRAIL-R1 receptor), HGS1029 (a small molecule IAP inhibitor), HGS1036 (fibroblast growth factor (FGF) ligand trap) and other agents in development. He was heading the scientific and clinical evaluation of external opportunities and the competitive intelligence function. Dr. Gallant has been directly involved in the in-licensing of 2 oncology drug candidates as well as the GlaxoSmithKline acquisition. He was an active member of the HGS’ Operating Committee and Senior Management Team.
Prior to joining HGS, Dr. Gallant was Director of Clinical Oncology at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) Pharmaceutical Research Institute (Wallingford, Connecticut). Dr. Gallant joined BMS in 1991, and advanced through a succession of clinical oncology research management positions in Canada, Europe and the United States. Dr. Gallant played a key role in designing and directing worldwide registrational and nonregistrational clinical trials of BMS oncology pipeline. His many achievements include significant contributions leading to the worldwide approval of the blockbuster Taxol®.
Dr. Gallant received his doctorate in medicinal chemistry and bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the Université de Montréal in Montréal (Québec) Canada. He has coauthored numerous scientific abstracts and peer-reviewed publications in the oncology research field, and is an active member of the Ordre des Pharmaciens du Québec (OPQ), the American Chemical Society (ACS), the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), the American Society of Hematology (ASH), the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNMMI) and the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP).
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Valeria Fantin, PhD
Vice President, Tumor Cell Biology
Pfizer
[+] Biography
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Valeria Fantin is currently Vice President of Tumor Cell Biology at Pfizer. She received her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Dartmouth, where she worked on insulin and IGF1 signaling. She went on to do her postdoctoral training in the department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School. The focus on her research work was breast cancer, and in particular in oncogene-driven metabolic rewiring. Prior to joining Pfizer, Valeria held positions at Merck, Ariad Pharmaceuticals and Agios Pharmaceuticals leading target validation as well as drug discovery and development projects in diverse areas including signal transduction, epigenetics and cancer metabolism.
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Michael Flaschen*
Senior Director of New Ventures and Partnerships
Johnson & Johnson Innovation
[+] Biography
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Michael is a Senior Director of New Ventures and Partnerships at the J&J Innovation Center. Michael has been working on technology transactions for over fifteen years, first as an attorney and then as a business development lead. Michael has experience with a wide variety of transactions, from academic collaborations to commercial product licensing. Michael led the negotiation and execution of the J&J Innovation Center’s alliances with QB3 and LabCentral. Prior to joining J&J, Michael was in strategy and corporate development at Amgen. While at Amgen, Michael led a number of innovative transactions on the BD or legal side, including Amgen’s multi-product clinical inflammation collaboration with Astra-Zeneca, Amgen’s partnerships with Micromet, Xencor and Cytokinetics, and Amgen’s denosumab partnership with GSK.
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Kelly Frazer, PhD
Professor of Pediatrics
Chief, Division of Genome Information Sciences
Director, UCSD Institute for Genomic Medicine
[+] Biography
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Dr. Frazer is a professor and the founding chief of the Division of Genome Information Sciences in the Department of Pediatrics, working on identifying genomic markers associated with complex diseases in children as well as across the lifespan. Her laboratory is located in the Moores UCSD Cancer Center, where she works closely with physician-scientists.
Prior to joining UCSD in 2009, Dr. Frazer was Professor of Translational Genomics at the Scripps Research Institute and, previously, Vice President of Genomic Biology at Perlegen Sciences. Dr. Frazer has spent the past 20 years studying various aspects of functional and structural human genomics, and her contributions include pioneering cross-species DNA sequence comparisons between humans and mice, generating the content now publicly available in the “HapMap Phase II,” and developing novel methods for identifying and functionally annotating variants underlying GWAS signals.
Dr. Frazer’s current research studies are supported by the National Institutes of Health, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and Breast Cancer Research Foundation, as well as numerous industry and cross-institutional collaborations. Dr. Frazer is a leader at the university’s Clinical and Translational Research Institute and the Institute for Genomic Medicine.
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Richard Heyman, PhD*
Chief Executive Officer
Seragon Pharmaceuticals
[+] Biography
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Richard A. Heyman, PhD, currently serves as CEO of Seragon Pharmaceuticals, a biotech company recently spun-out of Aragon Pharmaceuticals that focuses on the development of Selective Estrogen Receptor Degraders (SERDs) targeting hormone dependent cancers. He was cofounder and CEO of Aragon Pharmaceuticals, which was purchased by Johnson & Johnson in August 2013 for $650 million in cash upfront along with $350 million in contingent development milestones. Previously, he cofounded and served as Chief Scientific Officer of X-Ceptor Therapeutics, a company that developed compounds targeting nuclear receptors for the treatment of metabolic diseases, which was acquired by Exelixis in 2004. Prior to X-Ceptor, he held various roles at Ligand Pharmaceuticals, including Vice President of Research, where he served as project leader leading to the successful identification and development of Panretin® and Targretin®, retinoids approved by the FDA for the treatment of cancer. He is the author or inventor on more than 120 publications and patents. Dr. Heyman serves on the Board of Directors for BIOCOM, Organovo Inc., The Jenna Druck Center, a non-profit in San Diego, and is a member of the Therapeutic Advisory Board for aTyr Pharma. He was an NIH postdoctoral fellow and staff scientist at the Salk Institute, working with Dr. Ronald Evans. Dr. Heyman received a PhD in pharmacology from the University of Minnesota and a BS in chemistry from the University of Connecticut.
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Catriona Jamieson, MD, PhD*
Associate Professor of Medicine, Hematology-Oncology
Director, Stem Cell Research Program, UCSD Moores Cancer Center
[+] Biography
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Catriona Jamieson, MD, PhD is Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology-Oncology and Director for Stem Cell Research at Moores Cancer Center. Dr. Jamieson specializes in myeloproliferative disorders (MPDs) and leukemia. Myeloproliferative neoplasms are a family of uncommon but not rare degenerative disorders in which the body overproduces blood cells. Myeloproliferative neoplasms can cause many forms of blood clotting including heart attack, stroke, deep venous thrombosis, and pulmonary emboli and can develop into acute myelogenous leukemia. Although some effective treatments are available, they are laden with serious side effects. In addition, individuals can become resistant to the treatments. Dr. Jamieson studies the mutant stem cells and progenitor cells in myeloproliferative neoplasms. These cells can give rise to cancer stem cells. Cancer stem cells may lie low to evade chemotherapy and then activate again later, causing disease progression and resistance to treatment. Her goal is to find more selective, less toxic therapies.
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Pradeep Khosla
Chancellor
UC San Diego
[+] Biography
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Pradeep K. Khosla, a distinguished academic leader and electrical and computer engineer, began his tenure as UC San Diego’s eighth chancellor on August 1, 2012. Chancellor Khosla previously served as dean of engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. There, he set the strategic direction for undergraduate and graduate education and research, and was elected University Professor, the highest distinction a faculty member could achieve. At UC San Diego, he has initiated a comprehensive, all-inclusive strategic planning process to develop a vision and shared goals for the future of the campus.
Chancellor Khosla is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Engineering, an Honorary Fellow of the Indian Academy of Science, and a Fellow of the American Association of Artificial Intelligence. He is also the recipient of numerous awards for his leadership, teaching, and research, including the 2012 Light of India Award, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the George Westinghouse Award for contributions to improve engineering teaching. In 2012, he was named as one of the 50 most influential Indian-Americans by SiliconIndia. He received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, and his master’s and doctoral degrees in electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon.
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Thomas Kipps, MD, PhD
Deputy Director for Research
Professor of Medicine, UCSD Moores Cancer Center
[+] Biography
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Thomas Kipps, MD, PhD, is Professor of Medicine, Evelyn and Edwin Tasch Chair in Cancer Research, and Deputy Director for Research Operations at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center. A major focus of his laboratory group is the immunobiology and genetics of human B-cell malignancies, with emphasis on chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Study on CLL cells serially collected from patients at time points before therapy, during therapy, or after relapse from therapy allows for investigation of the genetic and biologic features associated with tumor progression, therapeutic response, or resistance to therapy. Discovery of features that distinguish CLL from their normal cell counterparts has helped identify new targets for therapy and/or define surrogate markers associated with more rapid rates of cancer progression or resistance to standard therapy. These studies are integrated with a clinical investigative program that attracts patients seeking improved modalities of treatment for CLL. From this, we have identified molecular markers that can segregate patients into subgroups that have different risks for disease-progression or different probabilities of response to conventional treatment. This also has allowed for testing the safety and relative efficacy of novel agents developed for treatment of all patients with CLL or subgroups of patients hypothesized to have the best potential response to novel forms of therapy. Because CLL cells can be harvested from the blood, it is possible to study primary tumor cells obtained from patients during the course of therapy. This is allowing us to test whether novel targeted therapies are hitting their intended target and whether this is associated with a clinical response to therapy. To further these efforts on a national scale, Dr. Kipps has organized and leads the CLL Research Consortium that is comprised of leading CLL investigators at the major cancer centers across the country and abroad.
As Deputy Director for Research, Dr. Kipps also has specific responsibility for encouraging cooperative research involving all three divisions (basic, clinical, and prevention) in the Moores Cancer Center.
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Robert Klein
President, Founder, and CEO
Klein Financial Corporation
[+] Biography
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Robert N. Klein is President of Klein Financial Corporation, a company that designs and implements innovative solutions for affordable housing mortgage financing. Klein Financial Corporation acts as a development managing partner or as a development and finance consultant, assisting its clients with new construction, acquisition and rehabilitation of affordable multifamily and mixed-use developments. More than $5 billion in financing has been arranged by Klein Financial for its projects or those of its clients. Throughout its history, Klein Financial also has served as a financial advisor to state and regional public entities.
Additionally, Bob is President of Klein Financial Resources, Inc. (and the Klein Group) which undertakes prototype real estate development projects. Klein Financial Resources and Klein Financial Corporation have been the primary developer and/or redeveloper of 388,000 square feet of retail and office space as well as over 4,500 housing units. Klein Financial Resources, Inc. has been the development consultant for 2,000,000 square feet of commercial rental space; 7,000 housing units, and 10,000 acres, in the aggregate, of land development. In a co-investment, asset management role, Klein Financial Corporation also maintains a current portfolio of approximately 3,000 units; part of this portfolio involves value enhancement programs that are in progress.
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Antonija Kreso, PhD
University of Toronto
[+] Biography
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Antonija Kreso completed her Ph.D. studies at the University of Toronto under the guidance of Dr. John Dick. Her work focuses on understanding the processes that govern intratumoural diversity and approaches that can be taken to target tumour cells. Working primarily on colon cancer, she led the first study to identify functional diversity amongst cells that are part of one genetic clone in colorectal cancer (Science, 2013). By simultaneously assessing the genetic and functional properties at the resolution of single cells, she uncovered a large degree of previously unrecognized functional diversity within uniform genetic clones. Dormant colon cancer clones were identified that survived chemotherapy and fuelled tumour recurrence, establishing that intraclonal diversity not only contributes to tumour maintenance under homeostasis, but also ensures survival during therapy. In addition, in collaboration with Dr. Catherine O’Brien, Dr. Kreso has worked on understanding stem cell properties in colon cancer, identifying several regulators of colon cancer stem cells (Cancer Cell, 2012). Most recently, she was the lead author on a study that directly established self-renewal as a vital property of colon cancer stem cells, and used clinically relevant reagents to inhibit self-renewal mechanisms, thereby efficiently targeting colon cancer stem cells (Nature Medicine, 2014). This work established that targeting the biological process of self-renewal is a promising therapeutic approach to treat cancer. Currently, Antonija is working towards completing her M.D. degree at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto in Canada.
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Razelle Kurzrock, MD
Professor of Medicine, Sr. Deputy Center Director, Clinic Science
Director, Center for Personalized Therapy & Clinical Trials Office
Vice Chief Division of Hematology & Oncology, UCSD Moores Cancer Center
[+] Biography
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Dr. Razelle Kurzrock joined UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center in November 2012 as Senior Deputy Center Director for Clinical Science, overseeing the clinical trials program, and heading the newly established Center for Personalized Therapy. Dr. Kurzrock is also Vice Chief of the Division of Hematology-Oncology Division in the UC San Diego School of Medicine. Previously, Dr. Kurzrock spent many years at University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where she began her career as an oncologist in 1984. While there she created one of the largest hypothesis-driven Phase I clinical trials program in the world, leading to the formation in 2007 of the clinical trials department, with her as its founding chair. In FY2012, the program enrolled about 1,200 patients on 128 therapeutic trials. Dr. Kurzrock's approach emphasizes using molecular profiling to match patients with targeted therapies.
Dr. Kurzrock has served as the PI on more than 90 clinical trials, mainly using novel targeted molecules, several of which have gone on to FDA approval. She has also created and directed two innovative education programs: the MS/Ph.D. program in Patient-Based Biological Research at the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and the Phase I Clinical Trials Fellowship. She has published nearly 450 peer-reviewed articles in a variety of elite medical journals. In addition, she is Chair of the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) Early Therapeutics Committee and on their Board of Governors.
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Jay Lichter, PhD*
Managing Director
Avalon Ventures
[+] Biography
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Jay Lichter, Ph.D. is an experienced biotechnology and pharmaceutical business executive with 25 years of experience in management, scientific research and business development. Since 2007, Dr. Lichter has been a managing director at Avalon Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund focused on information technology and life sciences. In that role, he led Avalon’s investments in and served as a director and chief executive officer for Afraxis, Inc., Carolus Therapeutics, Inc., Otonomy, Inc., and ReVision Therapeutics, Inc. and Zacharon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., all of which are privately-held biotechnology companies. He also led Avalon’s investments or serves on the board of Avalon’s investments in privately held companies Sova Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Avelas Biosciences, Inc., COI Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Sitari Pharmaceuticals Corp.
Dr. Lichter holds a B.S. and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Illinois. He
also completed post-doctoral fellowships at Yale University and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Company.
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Scott Lippman, MD
Professor of Medicine, Senior Associate Dean and Associate Vice Chancellor for Cancer Research and Care
Chugai Pharmaceutical Chair in Cancer, Director, UCSD Moores Cancer Center
[+] Biography
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Scott M. Lippman, MD, joined Moores Cancer Center in May 2012. He is a professor of medicine at UC San Diego and holds the Chugai Pharmaceutical Chair in Cancer. Previously, he was chair of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology at The University of Texas (UT) MD Anderson Cancer Center. Lippman brings more than 25 years of experience as principal investigator of translational research involving investigator-initiated clinical trials. He has participated in the national leadership of clinical/translational research planning and development within the NCI Cooperative Group setting and currently sits on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Trials/Translational Research Advisory Committee. He has served on several cancer center external advisory boards and major-trial steering committees, and has played a leadership role in major AACR and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) committees and programs.
Lippman graduated from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, did his internship and residency training at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and had hematology/medical oncology training at Stanford University and the University of Arizona. He is triple board-certified in internal medicine, hematology and medical oncology.
In addition to extensive research and academic administrative responsibilities, Lippman maintains an active clinical practice. As a clinician, he is well-respected by his peers, with recognition in every major “Top Doctor” listing including recently in the U.S. News Top Doctors. Author of more than 300 publications in high-impact journals, including The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, PNAS, and The Lancet, and chapters in major medical textbooks, Lippman has received many awards, among them the ASCO-American Cancer Society Award, AACR Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation Award, and the ASCO Statesman Award, and he is an elected member of the prestigious Association of American Physicians.
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Andrew Lowy, MD, FACS
Chief, Division of Surgical Oncology
Professor of Surgery, UCSD Moores Cancer Center
[+] Biography
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Andrew M. Lowy, MD is a surgical oncologist with a primary interest and expertise in cancers of the pancreas, liver and GI tract. He has a special interest in the management of patients with metastatic disease to the liver and peritoneum.
Dr. Lowy is recognized worldwide for his expertise in the surgical treatment of pancreatic cancer and for investigating novel cancer treatments which incorporate surgery and chemotherapy to treat patients with advanced cancer that has spread to the abdomen. He has furthered the development of a promising treatment known as the “chemo bath" or heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC), to treat advanced abdominal cancers. During surgery, all visible signs of tumor are removed, and a heated chemotherapy solution is circulated throughout the abdomen for up to 90 minutes. The solution is then removed and the incision closed.
Dr. Lowy serves on the editorial board of the Annals of Surgical Oncology. Dr. Lowy is the co-chair of the National Cancer Institute’s Pancreatic Cancer Task Force which is charged with setting the direction of clinical research in pancreatic cancer in the United States. He also serves as surgical liaison to the Pancreas Committee of the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG), which is one of the largest National Cancer Institute cooperative groups. He serves as the surgical principal investigator in the largest pancreatic cancer clinical trial ever conducted in the United States. He has conducted extensive research in gastrointestinal and pancreatic cancer and his laboratory holds funding from the National Cancer Institute, The Lustgarten Foundation, AACR/PANCAN, and the National Organization of Rare Diseases.
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Robert MacLeod, PhD
Vice President, Oncology & Exploratory Discovery
ISIS Pharmaceuticals
[+] Biography
Laura Shawver, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
Cleave Biosciences, Inc.
[+] Biography
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Dr. Shawver is an experienced Biotech executive with more than 25 years of experience in the development of small molecule drugs for cancer and other serious diseases. Prior to joining Cleave Biosciences as Chief Executive Officer and driving the $44M Series A financing in September 2011, she was an Entrepreneur in Residence for 5AM Ventures beginning October 2010. From 2002 - 2010, Dr. Shawver was the Chief Executive Officer of Phenomix Corporation where she also served on the Board of Directors. Phenomix was a venture-backed company that developed dutogliptin through a successful Phase 3 clinical trial and attracted collaborations from Forest Laboratories and Chiesi Farmaceutici. Previously, Dr. Shawver was the President of SUGEN Inc. from 2000 after holding various positions since 1992. SUGEN focused on understanding key molecular pathways of cancer cells and developed the drugs Sutent™ and Palladia™. The company was acquired by Pharmacia in 1999. Prior to SUGEN, she was employed at Berlex Biosciences, formerly known as Triton Biosciences. She is an active member of the American Association for Cancer Research and also a member of American Society for Clinical Oncologists. Dr. Shawver is the Founder of The Clearity Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing access to molecular profiling for ovarian cancer patients to improve their treatment options. Shawver received her PhD in Pharmacology and a BS degree in Microbiology, both from the University of Iowa.
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Greg Simon*
Chief Executive Officer
Poliwogg
[+] Biography
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Mr. Simon has held senior positions in both houses of Congress and the White House, been a senior strategy consultant to a number of international technology CEOs, led a national patient advocacy nonprofit he co-founded with Mike Milken, and has served as a senior executive at a large pharmaceutical corporation. He has developed a reputation as a visionary strategist, dynamic public speaker and writer, and as a knowledgeable analyst of emerging trends in healthcare, information technology, drug research and development, and patient advocacy.
Most recently Mr. Simon was Senior Vice President for Patient Engagement at Pfizer, Inc. In that role he focused on engaging patients more productively in research and clinical trials and on helping Pfizer develop policies, practices, and medical solutions to improve health, happiness and productivity.
Previously, from June 2009 to February 2010, he was head of Pfizer‘s Worldwide Policy group. He led a global team of professionals in: 1) worldwide government policy, 2) science policy, 3) economic policy and research, and 4) international policy. He advised the CEO on the company’s efforts in Healthcare Reform.
Prior to joining Pfizer, Mr. Simon was the founding President of FasterCures/The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions, an independent, nonpartisan organization that is a center of the California-based Milken Institute. There he led efforts to reform policies governing biopharmaceutical discovery and development, with the goal of bringing a greater number of lifesaving medicines more quickly to doctors and patients.
Immediately prior to joining FasterCures, Mr. Simon was CEO of Simon Strategies and provided strategic advice to CEO’s of major
international firms such as Sony, Cisco, Netscape, Motorola, Sega and AOL.
Mr. Simon was Chief Domestic Policy Advisor to Vice President Al Gore from 1993 to 1997. He was the lead staffer for the Clinton-Gore Administration for development and passage of the Telecommunications Reform Act of 1996 as well as development of the National and Global Information Infrastructure. He represented the Vice President on the National Economic Council, helped negotiate the US-Russia agreement on the International Space Station and oversaw a number of key initiatives, including programs at the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Human Genome Project. He was also instrumental in crafting the regulatory framework that is now the foundation for the biotechnology industry.
The journal Nature Medicine named Greg one of “Ten People to Watch” in health care policy, noting that he was among “a handful of influential people who quietly keep the wheels of biomedical science turning.” In 2010 he received the Genetic Alliance’s “Art of Advocacy” award. In May 2011 Greg was invited to be the second lecturer in the Constantin Spiegelfeld Lecture series of the Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. He is a regular presenter at the Milken Institute Global Conference, the OECD, the Washington Campus (a nonprofit educational institution in Washington, D.C.) and at health conferences and academic institutions around the country.
Mr. Simon served as Sen. Gore`s Legislative Director from 1991 to 1993. He was Staff Director of the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology from 1985 to 1991. He received his law degree from the University of Washington in 1983 where he was a member of the Law Review and the Moot Court. He has a B.A. in history from the University of Arkansas. He is a resident of Bethesda, Maryland.
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NamPhuong Tran, MD
Director Clinical Research
Janssen R&D
[+] Biography
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Dr. Tran is a Director of Clinical Research at Janssen R&D. She joined Cougar Biotechnology in 2008 to work on the abiraterone acetate Clinical Development Program in the area of Prostate Cancer. After the acquisition of Cougar Biotechnology by Johnson & Johnson in 2009, Dr. Tran continued her work in Prostate cancer serving as clinical study leader for many of the Phase I and II abiraterone acetate clinical trials. Currently she is the clinical study leader for an active large Janssen global abiraterone acetate phase III study in the metastatic hormone-naïve prostate cancer.
Dr. Tran earned her MD degree from Stanford University School of Medicine. She completed her Internal Medicine Residency at Stanford and her Oncology fellowship at USCF.
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* Panel Discussion
Symposium Organizer:
Scott Lippman, MD
Director
UCSD Moores Cancer Center
Symposium Organizer:
Ida Deichaite, PhD
Director, Industry Relations
UCSD Moores Cancer Center
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Symposium Chair:
David Cheresh, PhD
Associate Director for Translational Research
Professor of Pathology
UCSD Moores Cancer Center
Symposium Co-Chair:
Catriona Jamieson, MD, PhD
Director, Stem Cell Research Program
Associate Professor of Medicine
UCSD Moores Cancer Center
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