Functional Precision Oncology Symposium Agenda

Welcome and introduction

08:30 a.m. - 08:35 a.m.

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Patient derived cancer models for research and clinical applications

This presentation will discuss patient derived cancer models for research and clinical applications. 

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

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

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

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. Dr. Azzam 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

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

Refreshments Available

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

Weintraub Building Great Hall
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Clinical and scientific insights from 1,200 patient samples using the PARIS functional drug sensitivity test: hidden therapeutic opportunities in cancer

This presentation will explore how functional drug sensitivity testing provides a powerful complement to genomics-based approaches in identifying effective cancer therapies. Dr. Grandori will share real‑world findings from ten years of PARIS testing, showing that most tumors—often even those heavily pretreated—exhibit strong sensitivity to at least one drug, frequently outside standard indications. Further, treatment decisions informed by this testing can uncover unexpected therapeutic options that may extend survival and preserve quality of life.

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

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

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

Beyond the resistance mutation: patient-derived organoids in lung cancer precision oncology

This presentation uses our pilot experience with PARIS testing in ALK-positive lung cancer as a framework to explore how patient-derived organoids can uncover actionable therapeutic vulnerabilities and complement NGS in the setting of targeted therapy resistance.

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

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

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

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

Leveraging patient-derived organoid models of rare cancers for precision medicine applications

This talk will explore how patient-derived organoid models can be used to study rare cancers and guide precision medicine approaches. It will highlight methods for generating organoids from patient tumors and demonstrate how these models can be used to test targeted therapies and immunotherapies, predict treatment responses, and inform personalized clinical decision-making. The presentation will also discuss current challenges and future opportunities for integrating organoid-based platforms into rare cancer research and care.

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

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Leveraging real world evidence and high throughput data to enhance precision oncology

This presentation will highlight recent developments at the intersection of AI & clinical data science, data integration for prediction of novel therapeutic targets, and an overview of contributions from the international AACR GENIE consortium & clinico-genomic registry.

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

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Human organoid models of tumor and tissue microenvironments

This talk will cover the Kuo lab's recent work in growing human organoids from intact fragments of tumors and tissues that retain epithelium, stroma and resident immune cells.  

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

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

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

Refreshments Available

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

Weintraub Building Great Hall
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

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

Over the last decade, the SLiCE lab has developed a platform to test passage-zero tumor tissues ex vivo. Using their standardized four-day assay, they can treat these patient tumors with a wide range of therapies to aid preclinical drug development and functional precision medicine.  Their 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

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. Dr. Jiang will discuss how they 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

Decoding immune cell function in the living tumor microenvironment 

Dr. Pillarisetty’s lab studies immune function in fresh tumor samples obtained from the operating room. He will describe how novel insights from experiments using living human tumors is providing preclinical evidence for next-generation clinical trials.

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

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Moderated by: Guangrong Qin, PhD

Featuring all speakers from session 4 + audience 

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

Pelton Auditorium, Weintraub Building
Fred Hutch Cancer Center