Please note: this is a draft agenda and subject to changes.

Stuart & Molly Sloan Precision Oncology Institute Functional Precision Oncology Symposium

Co-hosted by Chris Kemp, PhD, Professor, Human Biology Division, Fred Hutch Cancer Center and Venu Pillarisetty, MD, FACS, Professor, Surgical Oncology, University of Washington School of Medicine. 

Opening Remarks

Chris Kemp, PhD and Venu Pillarisetty, MD

Welcome and Introduction

8:30 a.m. - 8:35 a.m.

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Session 1 | Challenges and opportunities for functional precision oncology

Moderated by: Kalyan Banda, MD

Christopher Kemp, PhD

Professor, Human Biology Division, Fred Hutch
Professor, Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutch
Founder, The Society for Functional Precision Medicine

Patient derived cancer models for research and clinical applications

Talk description to follow.

08:35 a.m. - 08:55 a.m.

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Elizabeth Swisher, MD

Professor, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, University of Washington
Deputy Director, Fred Hutch/UW/Seattle Children’s Cancer Consortium
Torkelson Family Endowed Chair, Fred Hutch

Organoid drug profiling and clinical response correlation for patients with primary or recurrent ovarian carcinoma (OC)

In this talk, Dr. Swisher will describe drug sensitivity profiling of primary and recurrent OC patient-derived organoids (PDOs) from patients prospectively enrolled to the PRofiling Ovarian cancerS to improve PERsonalIzed TherapY (PROSPERITY) study. Dr. Swisher will also report organoid success and utility in the rare ovarian cancer sub-type of low-grade serous ovarian cancer. 

08:55 a.m. - 09:15 a.m.

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Diana Azzam, PhD

Associate Professor & Scientific Director, Center for Advancing Personalized Cancer Treatments (CAPCT), Florida International University

Using functional precision medicine to guide individualized treatments for relapsed and refractory cancers

This talk will highlight how Functional Precision Medicine (FPM) uses live tumor testing to identify the most effective therapies for patients with relapsed and refractory cancers. By integrating ex vivo drug sensitivity testing with molecular profiling and AI-driven analysis, we can move beyond one-size-fits-all treatment and make data-driven, individualized decisions. I will share clinical evidence demonstrating how this approach improves treatment selection and outcomes in heavily pretreated patients.

09:15 a.m. - 09:35 a.m.

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Session 1 Panel Discussion – Q/A

Moderated by: Kalyan Banda, MD

Featuring all speakers from session 1 + audience

09:35 a.m. - 10:05 a.m. 

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Morning Break

Break

Refreshments Available

10:05 a.m. - 10:20 a.m.

Weintraub Building Great Hall
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Session 2 | Clinical applications of ex vivo drug testing of patient derived tumor cells

Moderated by: Sheela Damle, MD, PhD

Carla Grandori, MD, PhD

Founder and Scientific Director, Cure First

Lessons learned from 10 years of PARIS testing for cancer patients

Talk description to follow.

10:20 a.m. - 10:40 a.m.

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Aditya Shreenivas, MD, MS

Assistant Professor, Department of Gastrointestinal and Head & Neck Medical Oncology, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte Campus
Assistant Professor, Early Phase and Experimental Therapeutics Program, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte Campus
Interim Chief Head & Neck Medical Oncology City of Hope, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte Campus
Research Champion, Regional Clinical Research Hub (South Bay)

Beyond one-size-fits-all: biomarker-based therapies and N-of-1 trial approach

This presentation explores precision oncology approaches that use comprehensive biomarker profiling (genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic) to guide personalized cancer treatment decisions.

10:40 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Vincent Lam, MD

Associate Professor, Oncology, Johns Hopkins
Thoracic Oncology Clinical Research Program Director, Johns Hopkins

TBD

Talk description to follow. 

11:00 a.m. - 11:20 a.m.

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Session 2 Panel Discussion – Q/A

Moderated by: Sheela Damle, MD, PhD

Featuring speakers from session 2 + audience

11:20 a.m. - 11:50 a.m. 

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Midday Break

Break for Lunch

11:50 a.m. - 12:35 p.m.

Session 3 | Patient derived tumor models for translational research (1)

Moderated by: Michael Haffner, MD, PhD

Alice Soragni, PhD

Professor of Biomedical Informatics and Neurosurgery, University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine
Inaugural Marsico Chair in Excellence in Functional Precision Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine
Director of the Functional Precision Medicine Initiative, Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine

TBD

Description of talk to follow.

12:35 p.m. - 12:55 p.m.

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Brady Bernard, PhD

Associate member, Computational Immuno-Oncology Laboratory, Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, Providence Cancer Institute
Director, Bioinformatics, Providence Health & Services

TBD

Description of talk to follow.

12:55 p.m. - 01:15 p.m.

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Calvin Kuo, MD, PhD

Maureen Lyles D'Ambrogio Professor, Medicine - Hematology, Stanford

TBD

Description of talk to follow.

01:15 p.m. - 01:35 p.m.

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Session 3 Panel Discussion – Q/A

Moderated by: Michael Haffner, MD, PhD

Featuring speakers from session 3 + audience

01:35 p.m. - 02:05 p.m. 

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Afternoon Break

Break

Refreshments Available

02:05 p.m. - 02:15 p.m.

Weintraub Building Great Hall
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Session 4 | Patient derived tumor models for translational research (2)

Moderator: TBD

Andrew Satterlee, PhD

Assistant Professor, Eshelman Innovation, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Director, Screening Live Cancer Explants (SLiCE) Core Facility, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Deploying an ex vivo functional testing platform for passage-zero patient tumor tissues

Over the last decade, we have developed a platform to test passage-zero tumor tissues ex vivo. Using our standardized four-day assay, we can treat these patient tumors with a wide range of therapies to aid preclinical drug development and functional precision medicine.  Our newest data shows that CAR T cell therapies can be effectively modeled on this platform, with patient-specific resistances potentially driven by immunosuppressive cell populations in the engrafted tumor.

02:15 p.m. - 02:35 p.m.

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Sizun Jiang, PhD

Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School

Fantastic cells and where to find them

The Jiang lab develops and applies spatial multi-omics technologies to decode how immune responses are shaped across cancer, viral infection, and immune dysregulation. I will discuss how we leverage these approaches, including ongoing work in AI foundation models, to uncover spatially resolved mechanisms of immune control, inflammation, and therapeutic vulnerability across diverse tumor ecosystems.

02:35 p.m. - 02:55 p.m.

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Venu Pillarisetty, MD, FACS

Professor, Surgical Oncology, University of Washington School of Medicine
Principal Investigator, UW Tumor Immune Microenvironment (TIME) Lab, University of Washington School of Medicine
Associate Medical Director, Surgical Oncology, Fred Hutch

Decoding immune cell function in the living tumor microenvironment 

Talk description to follow.

02:55 p.m. - 03:15 p.m.

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Session 4 Panel Discussion – Q/A

Moderated by: TBD

Featuring all speakers from session 4 + audience 

03:15 p.m. - 03:45 p.m.

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Symposium Conclusion

Chris Kemp, PhD and Venu Pillarisetty, MD

Concluding Remarks

03:45 p.m. - 03:50 p.m.

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Reception

Hors d'oeuvres and beverages with symposium speakers and attendees

3:50 p.m. - 4:50 p.m.

B-Suites, Weintraub Building 
Fred Hutch Cancer Center