| Conferences > Circulating Nucleic Acids and Circulating Rare Cells: Liquid Biopsy for Early Cancer Detection > Keynote Speakers |
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J. Carl BarrettVice President, Translational Sciences Oncology, AstraZeneca Dr. J. Carl Barrett is Vice President of Translational Science in Oncology at AstraZeneca. He is responsible for development and execution of biomarker strategies and translational sciences efforts to support compound development from research through early and full development in oncology. From 2005-2011, he was Global Head of Oncology Biomarkers and Imaging at Novartis. |
George CalinProfessor and The Alan M. Gewirtz Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Scholar, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center George Adrian Calin received both his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees at Carol Davila University of Medicine in Bucharest, Romania. After working cytogenetics as undergraduate student with Dr. Dragos Stefanescu in Bucharest, he completed a cancer genomics training in Dr. Massimo Negrini’s laboratory at University of Ferrara, Italy. In 2000 he became a postdoctoral fellow at Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia, PA, and while working in Dr. Carlo Croce laboratory Dr. Calin was the first to discover the link between human cancers and microRNAs, a finding considered as a milestone in microRNA research history. He has now developed starting from July 2007 an independent research group at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and produced a new advance by linking new classes of non-coding RNAs to cancer. He is presently a Professor in Experimental Therapeutics at MDACC and studies the roles of microRNAs and other non-coding RNAs in cancer initiation and progression and in immune disorders, as well as the mechanisms of cancer predisposition linked to non-codingRNAs. Furthermore, he explores the roles of body fluids miRNAs as potential hormones and biomarkers, as well as new RNA therapeutic options for cancer patients. |
Bob CarterProfessor and Chief of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School Dr. Carter is Professor and Chair of Neurosurgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. For the past several years, he has pursued research in the area of extracellular RNA and glioma biology. |
Daniel ChiuA. Bruce Montgomery Professor of Chemistry, University of Washington Daniel T. Chiu is currently the A. Bruce Montgomery Professor Chemistry, Endowed Professor of Analytical Chemistry, and Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington. He is a member of the University of Washington’s Center for Nanotechnology, Neurobiology and Behavior Program, and the Cancer Consortium of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He has authored more than 180 publications and is the inventor on over 40 issued patents. Dr. Chiu obtained a B.A. in neurobiology and a B.S. in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley in 1993, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Stanford University in 1998. |
Anindya DuttaHarry F. Byrd Professor and Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and Professor of Pathology, University of Virginia School of Medicine Dr. Dutta is the Harry F. Byrd Professor and Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and Professor of Pathology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He has trained at Christian Medical College, Vellore (M.B.B.S.), Rockefeller University (Ph.D.), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (Postdoctoral Fellow) and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School (Residency in Pathology). He was Asst. and Assoc. Professor of Pathology at BWH before moving to UVA. His research interests cover genomic instability in cancer cells and noncoding RNAs in differentiation and cancer. His research interests cover genomic instability in cancer cells and noncoding RNAs in differentiation and cancer. |
Jennifer JonesNIH Stadtman Investigator, Head of Transnational Nanobiology, Laboratory of Pathology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute Dr. Jones is NIH Stadtman Investigator, Head of Transnational Nanobiology, Laboratory of Pathology at the Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, who is developing, refining, and applying advanced high-resolution flow cytometric methods to the characterization of EV subsets. She initiated/cofounded the international ISEV-ISAC-ISTH EV Flow Cytometry Working Group, to support the development of consensus best practices and standardization methods for the field. The ultimate goal of her research is to develop a new class of EV-based biomarkers (and methods for anlyzing those EVs) that will enable adaptve therapeutic strategies, where individual patient treatments are customized based on early responses to treatment. |
Walter KochVice President, Roche Molecular Systems Walter H. Koch, Ph.D., has been in his current role of Vice President and Head of Global Research for Roche Molecular Systems since 2005. Dr. Koch is responsible for all RMD research and early development activities, including research efforts associated with biomarker discovery and validation, the development of new technologies with diagnostics potential such as next generation sequencing, and continuing improvements in the performance of existing real time PCR products and technologies. He joined RMS in 1998 as a Research Leader to evaluate the feasibility of developing microarray-based pharmacogenetic assays for clinical diagnostic use, resulting in the launch of the AmpliChip® CYP450 assay. From 2001-2004 he served as the Senior Director of the Pharmacogenetics Department, leading six scientific teams. In this role, he was responsible for development of genetic and pharmacogenomic assays using Affymetrix oligonucleotide microarray, linear array, and real-time PCR technologies and platforms. Prior to joining Roche he held several positions within the US FDA, including Acting Lab Chief of Immunochemistry and Research Biologist in the CBER’s Division of Transfusion Transmitted Disease, and Research Biologist positions in the Division of Molecular Biological Research & Evaluation, and the Division of Toxicology within CFSAN. He received a B.S. in Chemistry from Memphis State University, a Ph.D. in Toxicology and Pharmacology from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and Postdoctoral training at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. |
Lucia LanguinoProfessor of Cancer Biology, Thomas Jefferson University Dr. Languino investigates the role of cell adhesion receptors in phenotypic changes of prostate cancer cells. A strong research focus is being devoted to the study of the cross-talk between cell adhesion molecules, extracellular matrix proteins and growth factor receptors in vitro and in vivo systems and how this cross-talk affects intracellular signal transduction, cell survival, cell migration and cell division. Dr. Languino's research interests also focus on the cellular and molecular characterization of the metastatic process of prostate cancer with particular emphasis on the signals directing distant localization of prostate cancer cells |
Cheng-Ho Jimmy LinChief Scientific Officer, Oncology, Natera Dr. Cheng-Ho Jimmy Lin is the Chief Scientific Officer, Oncology, at Natera. He comes from a long history as a pioneer in cancer genomics. Most recently, he led the clinical genomics program at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Previously, at Johns Hopkins and Washington University in St. Louis, Dr. Lin was part of one of the first clinical genomics labs in academia and led the computational analyses of the first ever exome sequencing studies in cancer, including breast, colorectal, pancreatic, glioblastoma, medulloblastoma, and melanoma. He has published in top academic journals, such as Science, Nature, and Cell, and has been an expert in national and international media outlets, such as New York Times, Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, Washington Post, and the Financial Times. Dr. Lin holds an MHS in Bioinformatics, a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and an MD from Johns Hopkins University as well dual majors in Cognitive Science and Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University. |
Y. Peng LohChief and Senior Investigator, Section on Cellular Neurobiology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Dr. Y. Peng Loh is the Chief, and Senior Investigator in the Section on Cellular Neurobiology, NICHD, NIH, USA. She received her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in Molecular Biology and did postdoctoral studies at NIH in Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience. Her laboratory research over the last 8 years focuses on two areas: First, the new role of carboxypeptidase E (CPE, now also named NF-a1) as a trophic factor in neuroprotection, depression and stem cell differentiation. Secondly, she investigates the important roles discovered in her laboratory, of CPE and a splice variant of the CPE gene (CPE-?N) in tumor growth, survival and metastasis. CPE/CPE-?N is being developed as a tumor tissue biomarker for predicting future recurrence/metastasis, especially in patients with early stage cancers of various types, as well as for blood-based (circulating exosome) screening of high risk patients for early detection of cancer. She has published more than 250 papers in reputable journals and book chapters and is on the editorial board of several journals. She has lectured world-wide, and received many prestigious awards including the FASEB Excellence in Science Award, NIH Director’s awards for Science and the Anita Roberts Distinguished Woman Scientist Award. |
Jan LötvallProfessor Krefting Research Centre, University of Gothenburg, Chief Scientist, Codiak BioSciences; Founding President of ISEV Jan Lötvall is a professor at University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and is renowned for having discovered the shuttling of RNA between cells by exosomes. He was also intricately involved in starting the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (www.isev.org), and was the president for this academic association for the period 2011-2016. He has recently taken on new challenges, developing exosomes as therapeutics, with the startup biotech company Codiak BioSciences Inc in Boston. |
Mike MakrigiorgosProfessor of Radiation Oncology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School Dr. Makrigiorgos is a Professor of Radiation Oncology and Director of the Medical Physics & Biophysics division at Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospitals, Harvard Medical School. He also directs his DNA technology laboratory and the radiation pre-clinical facility. His research interests include the development of novel DNA technologies for molecular diagnostics in Oncology and the identification of circulating cancer biomarkers. Dr. Makrigiorgos is the inventor of several PCR-based techniques for molecular diagnostics, including Balanced-PCR, NaME-PrO technology and COLD-PCR. He is a Member of the Editorial Board of Clinical Chemistry and has published over 150 articles, reviews and book chapters. He received his undergraduate degree in Physics from the University of Athens, Greece, his PhD in Medical Physics from the University of Leeds, UK and his postdoctoral training in radiation biology from Harvard Medical School, Boston. |
Balaji PanchapakesanProfessor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Dr. Balaji Panchapakesan is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA. He invented the Nanotube-CTC-Chip microarray technology. He has published over 100 articles in leading journals, and conferences. He is a conference chair of the SPIE Nanoscience and Engineering conference. His interests are in enabling nanoscience for wide variety of applications including capture of circulating biomarkers. |
Steven Pirie-ShepherdDirector, Pfizer Steven Pirie-Shepherd earned his PhD at Edinburgh University and completed postdoctoral work at Duke University and Brandeis University. He then trained in angiogenesis research with Judah Folkman at Harvard University. He transitioning to Industry, where he has been for the last 17 years, engaged in oncology drug discovery and development. For the last 7 years he has been occupied mostly with translational oncology and Biomarker research. |
Peter QuesenberryProfessor of Medicine, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Dr Peter Quesenberry is a hematologist/oncologist with a long history of work on stem cell biology and characteristics of the stem cell, especially with regard to cell cycle transit. More recently his work has focused on extracellular vesicles and their capacity to alter cell fate and to restore injured tissue. Dr Quesenberry is the Paul Calabresi, MD Professor in Oncology and Director of Hematology/Oncology Research at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. He lists over 300 publications on PubMed. He is the American editor of the Journal of Extracellular Vesicles. |
Steve SoperFoundation Distinguished Professor, Director, Center of BioModular Multi-Scale System for Precision Medicine, The University of Kansas Prof. Soper is currently a Foundation Distinguished Professor in Chemistry and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. Prof. Soper also holds an appointment at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in Ulsan, South Korea, where he is a World Class University Professor. He is also serving as a Science Advisor for a number of major worldwide companies. Prof. Soper is currently on the Editorial Board for Scientific Reports and Journal of Micro- and Nanosystems. |
Shannon StottAssistant Professor, Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School The Stott laboratory is comprised of bioengineers and chemists focused on translating technological advances to relevant applications in clinical medicine. Specifically, we are interested in using microfluidics and imaging technologies to create tools that increase understanding of cancer biology and of the metastatic process. In collaboration with the Toner, Haber and Maheswaran laboratories, we have developed a microfluidic device that can isolate extraordinary rare circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from the blood of cancer patients. We are striving to employ new imaging modalities to extract as much information as possible from these rare cells while pushing the technology further for early cancer detection. Ultimately, we hope that by working in close partnership with the molecular and cell biologist at the Mass General Cancer Center, we can create new tools that directly impact patient care. |
David WongFelix and Mildred Yip Endowed Chair in Dentistry; Director for UCLA Center for Oral/Head & Neck Oncology Research, University of California-Los Angeles David T.W. Wong DMD, DMSc is Felix & Mildred Yip Endowed Professor, Associate Dean of Research and Director of the Oral/Head and Neck Oncology Research Center at UCLA. Dr. Wong is an active scientist in oral cancer and saliva diagnostics research. He has authored over 280 peer reviewed scientific publications. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS), past member of the ADA Council of Scientific Affairs and the past president of American Association of Dental Research (AADR). |
