Symposium Session Topics
Immunotherapy: Immunotherapy has led to significant improvements in cancer treatment and survival compared to conventional cancer therapies (e.g., surgery, radiation, chemotherapy). Clinically validated and increasingly commonly, we will discuss the progress made, and the challenges and potential ahead.
Targeted Cellular Therapies: Engineering a patient’s own immune cells to attack cancer has been transformative for cancer treatment. This session will focus on cell therapies successes, FDA approvals, current clinical trials, and overcoming challenges of using targeted engineered cells for solid tumors.
Targeted new therapies: To include biologics and small molecules and combination approaches that are most promising new developments for hematological and solid tumors
Predictive biomarkers: Development of predictive biomarkers has the potential to determine which treatment, or combination of treatments, will be effective for a particular patient. This session will address the progress made in predictive and biomarkers, as well as how companies with large databases of genetic sequencing and molecular profiles will collaborate with researchers to lead to high-impact research.
Genomics and Computational Cancer Biology: Innovations in high-throughput data analysis and advances in computational cancer biology makes possible the screening of large-scale omics data for potential target ligands and genetic mutations, with implications for cancer drug development and personalized treatments.
Progress and challenges for targeting RNA in Oncology: Recent technological advances have shown that RNA can be effectively targeted. This session will focus on current developments of targeting RNA for cancer treatment.
Trends in Cancer Research: Our forward-thinking experts will discuss cutting-edge new perspectives and technological advances that may be the future of cancer research.
Confirmed 2024 Talk Titles
Targeting RNA-processing vulnerabilities in pancreatic cancer
Corina Antal, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, Moores Cancer Center, UC San Diego
Welcome Remarks
John Carethers, MD, Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences, UC San Diego
Immune Suppressive Myeloid Cells in Regulation of Tumor Progression
Dmitry Gabrilovich, MD, PhD, Executive Director and Chief Scientist, Cancer Immunology, AstraZeneca
Unraveling pancreatic cancer and its microenvironment: emerging therapeutics and discovery opportunities
Jacob R. Haling, PhD, Head, Cancer Therapeutics, Novartis Biomedical Research
Microbiome in Cancer Analysis and Treatment
Rob Knight, PhD, Director, Center for Microbiome Innovation, Professor of Pediatrics, Bioengineering, and Computer Science & Engineering, UC San Diego, Wolfe Family Endowed Chair in Microbiome Research, Rady Children’s Hospital
Early Breast Cancer Detection with a Blood Test: Consequences for Therapeutic Development
Peter Kuhn, PhD, Dean’s Professor of Biological Sciences and Professor of Medicine, Biomedical Engineering, Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, and Urology, USC
Strategies to Induce Tertiary Lymphoid Formation in Ovarian Cancer
David Schlaepfer, PhD, Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and, Reproductive Sciences, Moores Cancer Center, UC San Diego
Modulating RNA Processing to Drug Oncogenic Transcription Factors
Peter Smith, PhD, Co-Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer, Remix Therapeutics
NanoEngineering Gone Viral: Plant Viruses Against Cancer
Nicole Steinmetz, PhD, Professor & Vice Chair, Dept. of NanoEngineering; Director of Nano-ImmunoEngineering; Co-Director, Center for Engineering in Cancer; Professor of Radiology & Bioengineering; Moores Cancer Center, San Diego Center for Precision Immunotherapy, Center for Drug Discovery & Innovation, UC San Diego
Myeloid Cells as Targets for Immune Therapy
Judith Varner, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Moores Cancer Center, UC San Diego
Unlocking the Potential of Long Non-Coding RNA to Develop Transformative Medicines
Dominique Verhelle, PhD, Co-Founder, CEO & CSO, NextRNA Therapeutics
An Ex-vivo Organotypic Culture Platform of Mucinous Carcinomatosis Peritonei Identifies CDK4/6 Inhibition as a Novel Treatment
Jonathan Weitz, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher, NCI Ruth Kirschstein Fellow, Moores Cancer Center, UC San Diego
Pioneering Cutting Edge tRNA Based Therapies and Bringing Them to Patients
Leslie J. Williams, MBA, Co-Founder, Director, President & Chief Executive Officer, hC Biosciences
Mapping Technologies to Understand RNA Processing
Gene Yeo, PhD, MBA, Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Founding Member, Institute for Genomic Medicine, Stem Cell Program, Moores Cancer Center, UC San Diego
Click here for the 2023 Agenda in PDF format.