Events

Opening Remarks

Behnam Nabet, PhD and Eric Collisson, MD

Welcome and introduction

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

 

Session 1 | Emerging approaches in targeted protein degradation

 

Morning Keynote Address

Ning Zheng, PhD

Professor, Department of Pharmacology, University of Washington

Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

When molecular glue meet orthosteric inhibitor

Orthosteric inhibitors block enzyme active sites through direct competition, making substrate-dependent potency seem inherently unlikely. This talk will discuss how CSN5i-3, an orthosteric inhibitor of the COP9 signalosome, unexpectedly operates via a molecular glue mechanism — simultaneously occluding the substrate cleavage site while cementing the NEDD8–CSN5 interaction. This cooperative trimolecular assembly sequesters the inhibitor at its binding site, establishing orthosteric molecular glue inhibitors as a new class of substrate-dependent enzyme antagonists.

08:35 a.m. - 09:10 a.m.

 

Shaomeng Wang, PhD

Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor of Medicine, University of Michigan

Professor of Internal Medicine, Pharmacology and Medicinal Chemistry, University of Michigan

Director, Michigan Center for Therapeutic Innovation, University of Michigan

Targeting transcriptional factors

Transcriptional factors (TFs) represent a large class of therapeutic targets but direct targeting TFs using small-molecules has proven to be very challenging in most of the cases. Induced targeted protein degradation has become a powerful strategy to target TFs. Additionally, hetero-bifunctional, non-degrader small-molecules can be successfully employed to target TFs. In this lecture, Dr. Shaomeng will present some of their research in the development of highly potent and effective degraders and non-degraders to target transcriptional factors.

09:10 a.m. - 09:30 a.m. 

 

Annabel Olson Barraza, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow, Nabet Lab, Fred Hutch

Targeted degradation of eIF1A in PDAC halts nascent translation and activates stress responses

This talk will discuss eIF1A degradation. EIF1A is a translation initiation factor that is essential for protein synthesis and cell proliferation. To study the immediate consequences of its loss, eIF1A degradation tag (dTAG) systems were engineered in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cell lines. These models revealed that eIF1A depletion rapidly halts nascent protein synthesis and sequentially activates ribotoxic and integrated stress response pathways, providing new insights into early cellular responses to eIF1A loss.

09:30 a.m. - 09:40 a.m.

 

Session 1 Panel Discussion – Q/A

Moderated by: Champak Chatterjee, PhD

Featuring all speakers from session 1 + audience

09:40 a.m. - 10:00  a.m. 

 

Break

Refreshments Available

10:00 a.m. – 10:20 a.m.

 

Session 2 | Novel induced proximity approaches

 

Xin Zhou, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School

Targeting therapeutic vulnerabilities in cancer through transferrin receptor 1–mediated protein degradation

This talk will introduce the Zhou Lab’s work on TransTAC platforms for targeted membrane protein degradation in cancer. Dr. Zhou will highlight applications in EGFR-driven lung cancer, the extension of this approach to challenging GPCR targets, and efforts to exploit iron uptake pathways as therapeutic vulnerabilities in cancer.

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

 

Lauren Albrecht, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, Irvine

MrTAC is a lysosomal targeted degrader of the intracellular proteome

This talk presents MrTACs—bifunctional small molecules that exploit the lysosomal methylarginine degron to drive potent degradation of disease-relevant proteins through a fully endogenous and therapeutically viable platform. 

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

 

Christopher Parker, PhD

Professor, Department of Chemistry, Scripps Research

Expanding the chemical tractability of the human proteome

Chemical probes offer a valuable way to directly interrogate the function and disease-relevance of proteins and can also serve as valuable leads for drug development, yet most proteins in the human proteome lack small-molecule ligands that can serve as probes. More generally, the boundaries, if any, on the potential druggability across native proteomes remains poorly understood. Dr. Parker will describe his lab’s efforts to develop powerful chemical proteomic strategies to broadly map chemically-tractable proteins directly in cells, and how this information can be advanced into useful chemical probes for targets that play critical roles in disease.

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

 

Session 2 Panel Discussion – Q/A

Moderated by: Bob Eisenman, PhD

Featuring speakers from session 2, morning keynote speaker + audience

11:30 a.m. - 11:50 a.m. 

 

Break for Lunch

11:40 a.m. - 12:25 p.m. 

 

Session 3 | Novel screening and protein design approaches for drug discovery 

 

Dustin Maly, PhD

Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Washington

High-throughput mechanistic profiling of protein–small molecule interactions

This talk will explore how Label-seq, a high-throughput sequencing-based method, can illuminate the mechanisms by which small molecules modulate intracellular protein function. A few illustrative test cases will be briefly described to highlight how Label-seq readouts can reveal complex modes of action that are difficult to capture through conventional assays.

12:25 p.m. - 12:45 p.m.

 

Mikko Taipale, PhD

Professor, Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto

Rewiring the proteome with induced proximity

This presentation will provide an overview of the Taipale Lab's unbiased approaches for discovering proximity-dependent modulators of cellular pathways, including protein degradation, transcription, and DNA damage.

12:45 p.m. - 01:05 p.m.

 

Alex Federation, PhD

Co-founder and CEO, Talus Bio

Structure-free, AI-guided discovery of small molecule inhibitors for intrinsically disordered transcription factors

This talk will introduce new approaches to drugging transcription factors. Transcription factors and other gene regulators have been historically challenging for small molecule drug discovery due to their intrinsic disorder along with a lack of suitable assays for measuring their native activity. Talus Bio has developed the first native, unbiased, functional measurement technology for gene regulators, and has used it to profile over 150M interactions between these proteins and small molecules. Leveraging this data, they have built structure-free AI models that accelerate the identification of novel TF modulators and the optimization of these modulators towards clinical candidates. 

01:05 p.m. - 01:15 p.m.

 

Magnus Bauer, PhD

Postdoctoral Scholar, Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington

De novo designed miniproteins for selective kinase modulation

De novo protein design enables precise, genetically encoded control over protein kinases by targeting allosteric surfaces on the kinase domain. This talk will discuss work at the Institute of Protein Design developing a computational and experimental pipeline to design compact miniproteins that bind kinase domains and inhibit or activate activity, using focal adhesion kinase (FAK) as a test case. Potent, selective modulators are validated with biochemical assays and structural analysis and show rapid redesign to generate Src-targeted inhibitors.

01:15 p.m. - 01:25  p.m.

 

Session 3 Panel Discussion – Q/A

Moderated by: Alice Berger, PhD

Featuring speakers from session 3 + audience

01:25 p.m. - 01:45 p.m. 

 

Break

Refreshments Available

01:45 p.m. - 02:00 p.m.

 

Session 4 | Clinical progress in degraders and induced proximity approaches 

 

Danette Daniels, PhD

Vice President, Protein Degrader Platform, Foghorn Therapeutics

Towards new cancer medicines with degraders of chromatin regulatory proteins

ARID1B, a core component of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex, has long been considered undruggable due to the absence of known binders and lack of ligandable pockets. Striking dependency on ARID1B is observed across multiple cancer indications harboring ARID1A mutations, including endometrial, ovarian, and gastric cancers. Dr. Daniels reports the discovery and optimization of first-in-class selective ARID1B degraders that exhibit on-mechanism activity, high selectivity, and downstream transcriptional modulation. This work establishes ARID1B degradation as a promising therapeutic strategy and provides a blueprint for targeting previously intractable chromatin remodelers.

02:00 p.m. - 02:20 p.m.

 

Gwenn M. Hansen, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer, Nurix

From undruggable targets to human therapeutics: clinical lessons from bexobrutideg

This presentation will highlight how targeted protein degradation is enabling the translation of previously “undruggable” targets into clinically meaningful therapies, using bexobrutideg as a case study. Drawing on emerging clinical data, it will illustrate how degradation of BTK can deliver deeper and more durable pathway suppression than inhibition alone, including activity across resistance mutations and in challenging disease settings such as CNS involvement. The talk will also explore how the catalytic mechanism of degraders enables robust efficacy at lower exposures, contributing to a favorable safety and therapeutic index. Together, these findings establish targeted protein degradation as a differentiated therapeutic modality with the potential to redefine treatment paradigms in B-cell malignancies and beyond.

02:20 p.m. - 02:40 p.m.

 

Ingrid Wertz, MD, PhD

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Lyterian Therapeutics

Co-opting the ubiquitin system for therapeutic benefit

The goal at Lyterian is to co-opt protein homeostasis effectors to correct the dysregulation of challenging therapeutic targets. Their efforts are focused on neurodegeneration targets for which there is a clear rationale for homeostatic regulation over target inhibition. Dr. Wertz will discuss strategies to co-opt endogenous cellular machinery, highlight mechanisms for how selective targeting can be achieved, and review the cellular and physiological consequences of target regulation, with an emphasis on maximizing safety and therapeutic benefit for patients with unmet medical needs.

02:40 p.m. - 03:00 p.m.

 

Afternoon Keynote Address

Raymond Deshaies, PhD

Professor Emeritus, California Institute of Technology

Any target every time: how multispecific drugs are revolutionizing pharmacotherapy

Rapid clearance of drugs, functional redundancy of targets, on-target/off-tissue toxicity, and lack of druggable features in targets (i.e. undruggability) are four major challenges that biology poses to drug developers. This talk will describe how a new generation of multispecific drugs enable drug designers to surmount these challenges. In particular, this presentation will focus on the rapidly-emerging induced proximity drugs that exert their pharmacological action by linking otherwise undruggable targets to powerful, natural effector mechanisms.

03:00 p.m. - 03:35 p.m.

 

Session 4 Panel Discussion – Q/A

Moderated by: Bruce Clurman, MD, PhD

Featuring all speakers from session 4, afternoon keynote speaker + audience 

03:35 p.m. - 03:55 p.m.

 

Concluding remarks

Behnam Nabet, PhD and Eric Collisson, MD

03:55 p.m. - 04:00 p.m.

 

Reception

Hors d'oeuvres and beverages with symposium speakers and attendees

04:00 p.m. - 05:00 p.m.

 

Opening Remarks

Chris Kemp, PhD and Venu Pillarisetty, MD

Welcome and introduction

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

 

Session 1 | Challenges and opportunities for functional precision oncology

 

Christopher Kemp, PhD

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

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.

 

Elizabeth Swisher, MD

Professor, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, University of Washington, Deputy Director, Fred Hutch/UW/Seattle Children’s Cancer Consortium and 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.

 

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. 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.

 

Panel Discussion – Q/A

Moderated by: Kalyan Banda, MD

Featuring all speakers from Session 1 + audience

09:35 a.m. - 10:05 a.m.

 

Break

Coffee & Refreshments Available

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

 

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

 

Carla Grandori, MD, PhD

Founder President and Scientific Director, Cure First, a 501(c)(3) and Former CEO, SEngine Precision Medicine Inc.

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.

 

Aditya Shreenivas, MD, MS

Assistant Professor, Department of Gastrointestinal and Head & Neck Medical Oncology and Early Phase and Experimental Therapeutics Program, Interim Chief Head & Neck Medical Oncology, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte Campus

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.

 

Vincent Lam, MD

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

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.

 

Panel Discussion – Q/A

Moderated by Sheela Damle, MD, PhD

Featuring all speakers from Session 2 + audience

11:20 a.m. - 11:50 a.m. 

 

Break for Lunch

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

 

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

 

Alice Soragni, PhD,

Professor of Biomedical Informatics and Neurosurgery and Marsico Chair in Excellence in Functional Precision Medicine, CU Anschutz School of Medicine, Director Functional Precision Medicine Initiative, Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine and Co-President, Society for Functional Precision Medicine (SFPM)

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.

 

Brady Bernard

PhD, Associate Member & Director of Informatics, Providence Cancer Institute

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.

 

Calvin Kuo

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

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.

 

Panel Discussion – Q/A

Moderated by: Michael Haffner, MD, PhD

Featuring all speakers from Session 3 + audience

01:35 p.m. - 02:05 p.m. 

 

Break

Refreshments Available

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

 

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

 

Andrew Satterlee, PhD

Assistant Professor, Eshelman Innovation and 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, 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.

 

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. 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.

2:35 p.m. - 2:55 p.m.

 

Venu Pillarisetty, MD, FACS

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

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.

2:55 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.

 

Panel Discussion – Q/A

Moderated by: Guangrong Qin, PhD

Featuring all speakers from Session 4 + audience 

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

 

Concluding Remarks

Chris Kemp, PhD and Venu Pillarisetty, MD

3:45 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.

 

Reception

Hors d'oeuvres and beverages with symposium speakers and attendees

3:50 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Welcome & Introduction
12:30 - 12:35 PM	Pete Nelson, MD andEric Collisson, MD
Mini Session 1: Precision Oncology in Early Detection & Prevention
12:35 - 12:55 PM	Scott Ramsey, MD, PhD  CSRN – The Vanguard Study
12:55 - 01:15 PM	Brody Foy, Dphil  Personalized reference intervals: Precision diagnostics with routine data
Mini Session 2: Precision Oncology in the Research Lab
01:15 - 01:35 PM	Sita Kugel, PhD  Bridging the gap: How a concept becomes a diagnostic or therapeutic
01:35 - 01:55 PM	Jeff Leek, PhD  Generative genomics with the GEM-1 foundation model from Synthesize Bio
Mini Session 3: Precision Oncology in Clinical Medicine
01:55 - 02:15 PM	Ruben Raychaudhuri, MD  Practical applications of precision oncology in clinical practice in GU malignancy
02:15 - 02:35 PM	Stacey Cohen, MD  Novel approach to molecular evaluation for metastatic colorectal cancer
BREAK: 2:35 - 2:45 PM (10 minutes)
Keynote Q&A
02:45 - 03:15 PM	Q& A with Brian Druker, MD
Funded Research Updates
03:15 - 03:25 PM	Anum S. Kazerouni, PhD  Radiomics-Based Phenotyping for Treatment Optimization of HER2+ Breast Cancer
03:25 - 03:35 PM	Sanjay Srivatsan, PhD  Genomic Velocity as a Measure of Leukemia Diagnosis and Prognosis
03:35 - 03:45 PM	Elizabeth Swisher, MD  Launching a Multiplex BRCA1/RAD51C ddPCR Methylation Assay as a Clinical HRD Test
03:45 - 03:55 PM	Liangcai Gu, PhD  Pixel-seqV2: Cost-Effective and Scalable 0.6-μm-Resolution Spatial Transcriptomics for Precision Oncology
03:55 - 04:05 PM	Steven Henikoff, PhD  Affordable Precision Oncology Based on FFPE-CUTAC
04:05 - 04:15 PM	All 2024 Ignition and Technology Dissemination Awardees
Panel Discussion
04:15 - 04:45 PM	Panel Discussion with Patient Advocates
Poster Session & Happy Hour: 04:45 – 06:00 PM

Opening Remarks

Eric Collisson, MD and Jeff Leek, PhD

8:30 a.m. - 8:40 a.m.

 

Session 1 | AI in Healthcare

 

Hannaneh Hajishirzi, PhD, Associate Professor, Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering 

Post-training language models, reasoning, and the role of data and algorithms

08:40 a.m. - 09:05 a.m.

 

Eliezer M. Van Allen, MD, Chief of the Division of Population Sciences and the Chandra Nohria Family Chair for AI in Cancer Research, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Enhancing precision cancer medicine with biologically guided artificial intelligence

Precision cancer medicine, which has the overarching goal of using molecular, pathologic, and clinical data to match the patients with the optimal therapies, has begun to transform cancer care in many domains. However, there remain significant challenges implementing this strategy for patients, particularly related to (i) synthesizing all prior knowledge about molecular states that are relevant to selective treatment response, (ii) relating these properties to patient-specific molecular, pathologic, and clinical patterns, and (iii) delivering these insights in a proper manner at the point-of-care. Increasingly, novel artificial intelligence (AI) strategies grounded in biological and clinical principles are making significant impact in addressing each of these challenges. In this presentation, Dr. Eliezer Van Allen will share emerging AI technologies for enhancing these approaches, with concrete examples on how they are informing the present and future of precision cancer medicine.

09:05 a.m. - 09:30 a.m.

 

Pang Wei Koh, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Washington and Research Scientist, Allen Institute for AI

Measuring Data Privacy and Profiling Model Weaknesses

Rigorous evaluation is central to reliably deploying AI in medical settings. This talk will discuss two recent projects on evaluating AI datasets and models. First, on evaluating data: Koh will introduce a reidentification attack for sanitized text data and show that state-of-the-art methods for data sanitization convey a false sense of privacy. Second, on evaluating models: Koh will describe EvalTree, an automated method for profiling model weaknesses to precisely identify where it fails and provide actionable guidance for improvement.

09:30 a.m. - 09:55 a.m.

 

Break

Coffee & Refreshments Available

09:55 a.m. - 10:10 a.m.

 

Session 2 | AI in Electronic Medical Record

 

Travis Zack, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

Adapting and using language models for medical information retrieval

Language models have become a powerful tool for research in clinical oncology. However, there are many variables in how to best adapt and utilize these tools for information retrieval and utilization remains. This talk will cover experiments on the use and application of both proprietary and open language models in clinical oncology information retrieval, as well as an example of how they can be useful.

10:10 a.m. - 10:35 a.m.

 

Kenneth L. Kehl, MD, MPH, Physician, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Artificial intelligence in cancer care and clinical research

This talk will review the rapid evolution in AI technology over the last decade and summarize how it can be applied to routinely generated clinical data for patients with cancer to drive discovery and expand access to clinical trials.

10:35 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

 

Rui Zhang, PhD, FACMI, FAMIA, Professor and Division Chief, Division of Computational Health Sciences, University of Minnesota

Large language models and AI to advance cancer phenotype extraction and cardiotoxicity prediction

This talk will introduce cancer-domain large language models developed to extract cancer phenotypes and generate diagnosis from electronic health records. This advancement holds significant implications for predicting cardiotoxicity related to cancer treatment. 

11:00 a.m. - 11:25 a.m.

 

Panel Discussion – Q/A

Moderated by Elizabeth Krakow, MD, CM, MS

Featuring all speakers from morning sessions + audience

11:25 a.m. - 12:05 p.m.

 

Break for Lunch

12:05 p.m. - 12:45 p.m.

 

Keynote Address

Ali Farhadi, PhD, CEO, Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2) and Professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Washington

When AI meets science

12:45 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

 

Break

Refreshments Available

1:50 p.m. - 2:10 p.m.

 

Session 3 | Multimodal Data

 

Adam Yala, PhD, Assistant Professor, Computational Precision Health, University of California, Berkley

Towards modeling everything for personalized cancer care

Personalized cancer care means delivering the right intervention to each patient at the right time, balancing potential benefits against harms.  Using cancer screening as a case study, Dr. Adam Yala presents work to advance this Pareto frontier across three dimensions: (1) predicting patient outcomes from rich clinical data, (2) designing risk-tailored intervention strategies, and (3) evaluating and translating these strategies into practice.

01:40 p.m. - 02:05 p.m.

 

Sohrab Shah, PhD, Chief, Computational Oncology, Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Professor, Weill Cornell Medical College

Multimodal analysis as a frontier of computational oncology

In this talk, Dr. Sohrab Shah will discuss how multimodal data integration is advancing computational oncology research at different scales. Dr. Shah will show progress in integrating data from patient diagnostic information for improved risk prediction models and at the level of single cell data for improved understanding of tumor-immune interactions and spatial biology in cancer. In particular,  this talk will focus on i)  'late fusion' models for H&E whole slide image + text integration for predicting risk of recurrence in breast cancer in the real world data setting; and ii) a new graph-based neural network method for encoding spatial measurements for spatial transcriptomic and multiplexed immunofluorescence data.

2:05 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

 

Robert Grant, MD, PhD, Medical Oncologist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network

Charting a path to AI-augmented clinical oncology

In this talk, Dr. Robet Grant will explore how AI will improve cancer care, using examples from his research program focused on prediction models of treatment-related toxicities.

2:30 p.m. - 2:55 p.m.

 

Panel Discussion – Q/A

Moderated by: Mark Bridge, MS

Featuring all speakers from afternoon session + audience 

02:55 p.m. - 03:35 p.m.

 

Concluding Remarks

3:35 p.m. - 3:40 p.m.

 

Reception

Hors d'oeuvres and beverages with symposium speakers and attendees

3:40 p.m. - 4:40 p.m.

Sze Suites, Thomas Building 
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

 

Welcome and Introduction 

Delphine Chen, MD and Amir Iravani, MD

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

 

Session 1 | Advances in radiochemistry synthesis and production: How do we choose what we should develop?

 

Cathy S. Cutler, PhD FSRS, FSNMMI, Chair of IP, Isotope Research & Production Program (IP), Brookhaven National Laboratory

Theranostics: Opportunities and Challenges 

Recent theranostic approvals for neuroendocrine tumors and prostate cancer have expanded the utilization of radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT), and there is significant near-term potential for further expansion across multiple tumor types. A significant growth is being observed in clinical trials and company investment and the need for isotopes and resources to meet the demand. This talk will focus on where we are in meeting this demand. 

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

 

Peter Scott, PhD, Professor of Radiology and Director of Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University of Michigan

We are explorers in radiochemical space: adventures in PET imaging, Artificial Intelligence and theranostics

The unprecedented growth in nuclear medicine and theranostics is putting enormous demands on radiopharmaceutical manufacturers. This presentation will provide an overview of nuclear medicine clinical care and research at the University of Michigan, as well as an overview of our NIH-funded radiochemistry methodology program.

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

 

Mike Evans, PhD, Professor of Radiology, University of California, San Francisco

Chemical strategies to expand the therapeutic window for targeted radiotherapies 

This presentation will cover emerging chemical techniques to expand the therapeutic window for targeted radiotherapies, and new targets for radioligand therapy.

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

 

Panel Discussion – Q/A

Moderated by Yawen Li, PhD and Delphine Chen, MD

Featuring all speakers from Session 1 + audience

09:35 a.m. - 10:05 a.m.

 

Break

Coffee & Refreshments Available

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

 

Session 2 | Understanding target biology in the context of cancer immunity and radiobiology

 

Reinier Hernandez, PhD, Assistant Professor, Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Novel targets in oncology and theranostic pairs and impact on radiobiology

This presentation will cover recent advancements in radiopharmaceutical agent development. Dr. Hernandez will discuss radiobiological considerations for novel radiopharmaceuticals featuring “unconventional” theranostic pairs as single agents and in combination with other systemic therapies such as immunotherapy.

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

 

Clemens Grassberger, PhD, Associate Professor, Division of Radiation Oncology, University of Washington and Joint Associate Professor, Radiation Oncology Division, Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Impact of radiopharmaceutical therapy on tumor microenvironment & immunity: what can we learn from radiotherapy? 

Understanding the impact of radiopharmaceuticals on tumor immunity is crucial for guiding combination regimen with checkpoint inhibitors and other immunotherapeutic approaches. Dr. Grassberger will present the extensive data that exists for external beam radiotherapy and discuss their possible relevance for targeted radionuclides.

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

 

John K. Lee, MD, PhD, Associate Professor-in-Residence, University of California, Los Angeles

Molecularly targeted immunotherapeutic approaches for prostate cancer in the era of growing theranostics

This presentation will provide a perspective on therapeutic targets and emerging immune-based treatments including antibody-drug conjugates, T cell engaging antibodies, and chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapies in the field of prostate cancer. 

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

 

Panel Discussion – Q/A

Moderated by Omar Mian MD, PhD and Evan Yu, MD

Featuring all speakers from Session 2 + audience

11:20 a.m. - 11:50 a.m. 

 

Break for Lunch

11:50 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

 

Session 3 |  Advances in radiopharmaceutical development, translation, and clinical practice

 

David Ulmert, MD, PhD, Associate Professor-in-Residence, Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology and Director, UCLA Preclinical Theranostics Program, University of California, Los Angeles

Targeting TGFβ-Driven Malignancies and Immune Resistance in Solid Tumors Using LRRC15-Directed Radiotheranostics 

LRRC15 is a biomarker in TGFβ-driven mesenchymal cancers and CAFs, contributing to tumor progression and immune evasion. LRRC15-targeted radiotheranostics enables both non-invasive detection and selective ablation of LRRC15+ cells. This presentation will discuss how, to further elucidate the mechanisms captured by this theranostic approach, high-throughput genomic and molecular profiling techniques were utilized to identify key drivers of TGFβ-LRRC15 activity and analyze the tumor microenvironment reprogramming induced by targeted radionuclide treatment. 

12:30 p.m. - 12:50 p.m.

 

Daniel Thorek, PhD, Associate Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering, and Co-Director of the Oncologic Imaging Program at Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine

Alpha vs beta emitters: from radiobiology to dosimetry and beyond 

Targeted radiopharmaceutical therapies induce on-tumor and background genomic damage cascades. We are at the outset of our understanding of how these complex systems can be optimized for cancer treatments. This talk will discuss the background of alpha and beta particle therapies, tools being leveraged to study their impact, and noninvasive tools that can be implemented in the pre- and clinical setting to optimize their use.

12:50 p.m. - 1:10 p.m.

 

Carlos Uribe, PhD, MCCPM, Leader Clinical Nuclear Medicine Physics, Molecular Imaging and Therapy, BC Cancer; Associate Scientist, Integrative Oncology, BC Cancer Research Institute and Clinical Assistant Professor, Radiology, University of British Columbia

Advances in radiopharmaceutical dosimetry: from standardization to clinical impact

This presentation will explore the key differences between external beam radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and radiopharmaceutical therapies, highlighting the role of dosimetry in treatment optimization. Dr. Uribe will discuss the essential components needed for accurate dosimetry, ongoing efforts in standardization, and conclude with a real-world example of current clinical applications.

01:10 p.m. - 01:30 p.m.

 

Panel Discussion – Q/A

Moderated by Robert S. Miyaoka, PhD and Amir Iravani, MD

Featuring all speakers from Session 3 + audience

01:30 p.m. - 02:00 p.m. 

 

Break

Refreshments Available

2:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.

 

Session 4 |   Facilitating translational research and clinical trials

 

Julie Sutcliffe, PhD, Professor, Internal Medicine and Biomedical Engineering and Co-Director, Center for Molecular and Genomic Imaging, University of California, Davis

Alphavbeta6 targeted imaging and therapy: bench to bedside 

Dr. Sutcliffe and her team have identified the integrin αvβ6 as a clinically relevant target and as such have focused significant efforts to develop, optimize and translate high affinity peptides that target αvβ6 for both imaging and treatment. The integrin αvβ6 is an epithelial-specific cell surface receptor that is undetectable in healthy adult epithelium but is significantly upregulated in a wide range of epithelial derived cancers. During her presentation Dr. Sutcliffe will describe some of her team’s efforts during their 20 year journey to translate compounds from the bench to the bedside.

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

 

Freddy E. Escorcia, MD, PhD, Physician-Scientist, Bethesda, MD

De novo radiopharmaceutical therapy development: lessons learned 

Radiotheranostics have changed how we diagnose and treat human cancers. However, many of the agents being evaluated now are derivatives of molecules specific to targets we have known about for decades. For the modality to gain a firmer foundation, systematic development of novel agents is needed—that is new molecules specific to new targets for new diseases. Using hepatocellular carcinoma, a radiosensitive cancer for which there is both a need for functional imaging and improved treatments, Dr. Escorcia shares work attempting to address these unmet clinical needs from his lab and beyond. 

2:35 p.m. - 2:55 p.m.

 

Brenda Sandmaier, MD, Deputy Director and Professor, Translational Science and Therapeutics Division, Fred Hutch Cancer Center and Professor, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Washington School of Medicine

Alpha emitter radiopharmaceutical therapy in hematological malignancies

Dr. Sandmaier will discuss the preclinical development and translation to first-in-human studies of astatine-211 radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies used as conditioning prior to allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. 

2:55 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.

 

Panel Discussion – Q/A

Moderated by Amir Iravani, MD and Delphine Chen, MD

Featuring all speakers from Session 4 + audience 

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

 

Concluding Remarks

Delphine Chen, MD and Amir Iravani, MD

3:45 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.

 

Reception

Hors d'oeuvres and beverages with symposium speakers and attendees

3:50 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Welcome and Introduction 

Pete Nelson, MD and Larry Corey, MD

8:30 a.m. - 8:40 a.m.

 

Session 1 | Personalized Cancer Vaccine Strategies: Preclinical and Clinical Studies

 

Keith Knutson, PhD, Andrew A. and Mary S. Sugg Professor of Cancer Research Professor of Immunology, Mayo Clinic

Customized Vaccines for Cancer

Technologic improvements over the past decade have ushered in a new era of cancer vaccines.  In this lecture, I will discuss how bioinformatics, new manufacturing approaches, and immune checkpoint blockade have resulted in the development and clinical translation of innovative vaccine strategies at the Mayo Clinic and other institutions.   The discussion will include the use of vaccines across disease settings including treatment, prevention of relapse, and primary prevention.

08:40 a.m. - 09:00 a.m.

 

Mark Yarchoan, MD, Associate Professor of Medical Oncology, Johns Hopkins University

Targeting 'public' and 'private' neoantigens in liver cancer

We will review the results of a recent clinical trial of a personalized therapeutic cancer vaccine for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and the interim results of an ongoing clinical trial of a personalized therapeutic cancer vaccine for fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (FLC), a rare fusion-driven cancer affecting children and young adults. The advantages and disadvantages of targeting 'public' versus 'private' neoantigens in the context of low tumor mutational burden cancers such as liver cancers will be reviewed.

09:05 a.m. - 09:25 a.m.

 

Karin Jooss, PhD, Executive Vice President and Head of Research & Development, Gritstone bio, Inc.

Development of a Neoantigen-directed Individualized Cancer Vaccine

The presentation will cover the following:

• Development of a neural network (AI) for neoantigen selection
• Selection of vaccine platforms and regimen
• Learnings from FIH study

09:30 a.m. - 09:50 a.m.

 

Break

Coffee & Refreshments Available

09:50 a.m. - 10:10 a.m.

 

Session 2 | Targets for Cancer Vaccine Development

 

Christopher Haqq, MD, PhD, Head of Research and Development and Chief Medical Officer, Elicio Therapeutics

Amplifying Tumor Specific Immunity through Lymph Node Targeted mKRAS-specific Amphiphile Vaccine in Gastrointestinal Tumors

Lymph node targeted amphiphile vaccine ELI-002 was evaluated in n=39 MRD relapsed pancreatic and colorectal adenocarcinoma patients who had minimal residual disease relapse (MRD) following locoregional treatment. There were no dose limiting toxicities, and over 84% induced mKRAS-specific T cell responses which included both CD4+ and CD8+ cells and associated with antigen spreading. T cell responses correlated with preliminary antitumor activity including reduction and clearance of MRD, and disease-free survival.

10:10 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

 

Nora Disis, MD, Professor, UW/Member, FHCC & Director, UW Cancer Vaccine Institute

Breast cancer vaccines: from treatment to prevention

Advances in our understanding of the type of immune responses needed to eradicate cancer, the definition of hundreds of tumor antigens, and advances in vaccine delivery technologies have put us at a tipping point in cancer vaccine development. Many cancer vaccines are now being advanced in the adjuvant setting to determine whether immunization can prevent disease recurrence. Other vaccines targeting both mutated and nonmutated tumor associated proteins are being used in the prophylactic setting to prevent the development of disease. Breast cancer has been used as a model tumor for clinical studies of both therapeutic vaccines to prevent disease recurrence and cancer prevention vaccines. 

10:35 a.m. - 10:55 a.m.

 

Niranjan Y. Sardesai, PhD, Founder, President & CEO, Geneos Therapeutics 

Personalized DNA Therapeutic Cancer Vaccines: Phase 1/2 trial in advanced hepatocellular cancer

Advances in next-generation sequencing have facilitated the identification of mutation associated neoantigens in patient tumors and the development of personalized therapeutic cancer vaccines (PTCV) targeting them. The presentation will discuss Phase 1/2 clinical trial efficacy results in advanced hepatocellular cancer using a DNA based personalized cancer vaccine platform in combination with the immune checkpoint agent pembrolizumab. Immune correlative and mechanistic data will be presented highlighting the PTCV mediated expansion of the clonal repertoire of tumor neoantigen directed CD8 T cells and their trafficking into the tumor.

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

 

Panel Discussion – Q/A

Featuring all speakers from morning sessions + audience

11:25 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

 

Break for Lunch

12:00 p.m. - 12:40 p.m.

 

Session 3 | Understanding and Enhancing Host Responses to Vaccines and Antigens

 

Jay A. Berzofsky, MD, PhD, Chief, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, NIH

Synergies of cancer vaccines with novel immunomodulatory agents: custom combinations for each tumor microenvironment

Cancer vaccine efficacy may require blockade of negative regulation, and conversely, such blockade of negative regulation, like checkpoint inhibitors, may require cancer vaccines to work effectively in cold tumors.  Thus, the two modalities should synergize.  Our murine studies explored how examination of the tumor microenvironment can inform the selection of the best combinations of first and second-generation checkpoint inhibitors and blockers of other regulatory mechanisms with cancer vaccines to design customized immunotherapies for each tumor/cancer patient.

12:40 p.m. - 01:00 p.m.

 

Elias Sayour, MD, PhD, Bonnie R. Freeman Professor for Pediatric Oncology Research, University of Florida

Sensitizing response to immunotherapy with RNA vaccines

This talk will discuss new mRNA vaccine approaches leveraging multilamellar lipid particle aggregate (LPA) delivery systems.  This talk will also discuss opportunities for personalized and universal vaccines to sensitize immunotherapeutic responses in refractory cancers like glioblastoma.

1:05 p.m. - 1:25 p.m.

 

Michael Fischbach, PhD, Liu (Liao) Family Professor of Bioengineering, Stanford University

Understanding and manipulating immune modulation by the microbiome

Certain members of the commensal microbiota elicit a potent T cell response upon colonization. In this talk, I will describe a project in which we explore the functional properties of colonist-induced T cells by engineering the skin bacterium Staphylococcus epidermidis to express tumor antigens anchored to secreted or cell-surface proteins. Upon colonization, engineered S. epidermidis elicits tumor-specific T cells that circulate, infiltrate local and metastatic lesions, and exert cytotoxic activity, showing that the immune response to a colonist can be redirected against a target of therapeutic interest by expressing a target-derived antigen in a commensal. 

1:30 p.m. - 1:50 p.m.

 

Break

Refreshments Available

1:50 p.m. - 2:10 p.m.

 

Yves Levy, MD, PhD, Director of Vaccine Research Institute (Inserm, France)

A new method of delivery of pathogenic or tumor antigens to Dendritic Cells: targeted immunotherapy

We have developed an immunotherapy platform aimed to enhance immunity against pathogens and cancer by exploiting the capacity of dendritic cells (DCs) to initiate potent immunity by efficient uptake and presentation of endocytosed material. Delivery of antigens to DCs using anti-CD40 receptor-specific humanized IgG4 monoclonal antibodies induced robust and long-lasting antigen-specific immune responses in several preclinical models and in phase 1/2a clinical studies (HIV, SARS-CoV-2, HPV-induced cancer). 

2:10 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

 

Matthias Stephan, MD, PhD, Professor, Translational Science and Therapeutics Division, Fred Hutch Cancer Center

New methods for enhancing delivery of gene therapy and cancer vaccines

Our group is developing injectable nanoreagent as well as implantable biomaterial scaffolds that can program circulating T cells to recognize tumor antigens. I will present strategies to adapt this approach into a novel cancer vaccine in which host T cells are engineered with T-cell receptors (TCR) genes. These genes will provide the lymphocytes with tumor-recognizing capabilities, which can then be selectively expanded by treatment with a peptide vaccine recognized by the programmed TCR. We anticipate this new vaccine strategy will provide an inexpensive, facile, and broadly applicable option that can generate anti-tumor immunity “on demand” in a variety of settings.

2:35 p.m. - 2:55 p.m.

 

Panel Discussion – Q/A

Featuring all speakers from afternoon session + audience 

03:00 p.m. - 03:30 p.m.

 

Concluding Remarks

Pete Nelson, MD and Larry Corey, MD

3:30 p.m. - 3:40 p.m.

 

Reception

Hors d'oeuvres and beverages with symposium speakers and attendees

3:40 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Double Helix Café
Fred Hutch Cancer Center