In This Section

Program

The program for the 2025 workshop is currently under development.

For an example of the program and topics covered during the workshop, please see the sample program below from the 2024 workshop.

Sample Program from the 2024 Workshop

2024 Program

Sunday, October 6

Monday, October 7

Tuesday, October 8

WEdnesday, October 9

Thursday, October 10

Sunday, October 6

REGISTRATION
2:30-3:30 P.M.

Pre-Test
3:30-4 P.m.

Welcome and Introduction from the Course Directors
4-4:30 p.m. 

  • Ryan B. Corcoran, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 
  • George D. Demetri, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 
  • Elaine R. Mardis, The Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio 

Keynote Presentation
4:30-5:30 p.m.

  • Arlene H. Sharpe, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 

Participant Introductions 
5:30-6 p.m.

Group Dinner
6-7:30 p.m.

Monday, October 7

BREAKFAST
8-9 a.m.

Introduction to Cancer Medicine and Diagnostics 
9-10:45 a.m.

  • Overview: An introduction to clinical cancer medicine
    George D. Demetri, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 
  • Overview of pathology and molecular tools in diagnostics 
    Lynette M. Sholl, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 
  • Cancer imaging: The role of imaging in oncology
    Heather A. Jacene, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 

Group Photo and Coffee Break 
10:45-11:30 a.m.

How to Identify and Develop the Translational Value of Your Research 
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

  • Cigall Kadoch, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 

Group Lunch with Mentor Tables 
12:30-2 p.m.

Communicating the Translational Value of Your Research
2-3:30 P.m.

  • Pratiti Bandopadhayay, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 
  • David B. Solit, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
  • Additional speaker to be announced 

Break
3:30-4 p.m.

 Proposal Development Exercise: Orientation and Expectations 
4-4:30 p.m.

  • Ryan B. Corcoran, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 
  • George D. Demetri, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 
  • Elaine R. Mardis, The Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio 

Proposal Development: Individual Revision and Writing Time
4:30-6:30 p.m.

Group Dinner
6:30-8 p.m.

Tuesday, October 8

BREAKFAST
8-9 a.m.

Environment of Clinical Investigations
9-11 a.m.

  • An overview of clinical research and the ethical conduct of translational research
  • Protection of human research participants 
    Carolyn Chapman, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 
  • Why quantitative reasoning is important in translational cancer research 
    Giovanni Parmigiani, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 

Break 
11-11:30 a.m.

Entrepreneurship Panel 
11:30 a.m.- 12:30 p.m.

Session Chair: Melissa N. McCracken, Nextech Invest Ltd., Newton, Massachusetts 

  • Melissa N. McCracken, Nextech Invest Ltd., Newton, Massachusetts 
  • Lewis C. Cantley, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts 
  • William N. Hait, Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical R&D, Princeton, New Jersey 

Group Lunch with Mentoring Tables 
12:30-2 p.m.

Special Seminar and Group Discussion: Unleashing the Power of Immune System -Translational Immunology
2-3:30 p.m.

  • Carl H. June, Perelman School of Med. Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 
  • Stephan A. Grupp, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Proposal Development Groups – Meeting #1 
3:30-5 p.m.

Mentors: 

  • Jesse S. Boehm, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts  
  • Erica K. Evans, MoMa Therapeutics, Cambridge, Massachusetts 
  • S. Percy Ivy, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland  
  • W. Nicholas Haining, Arsenal Biosciences, South San Francisco, California 
  • Tanya Mayadas, Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 
  • Jeffrey A. Engelman, Treeline Biosciences, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 

Dinner on Own/Free Time 
5 p.m.

Wednesday, October 9

BREAKFAST
7:15-8:15 a.m.

Off-Site Patient Clinic Visits 
8:15-12 p.m.

Group Lunch
12-1 p.m.

Offsite Clinical Visits: Debrief and Discussion 
1-2 p.m.

  • Ryan B. Corcoran, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 
  • George D. Demetri, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 

How Treatment Decisions Are Made 
2-3:30 p.m.

  • Ryan B. Corcoran, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 
  • George D. Demetri, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 
  • Adrian Mariño-Enriquez, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland 

Proposal Development Group – Meeting #2 
3:30-5 p.m.

Mentors 

  • Jesse S. Boehm, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, Cambridge,  Massachusetts  
  • Erica K. Evans, MoMa Therapeutics, Cambridge, Massachusetts  
  • S. Percy Ivy, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland  
  • W. Nicholas Haining, Arsenal Biosciences, South San Francisco, California 
  • Tanya Mayadas, Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
  • Jeffrey A. Engelman, Treeline Biosciences, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 

Group Dinner 
5-6:30 p.m.

Clinician/Patient Evening: Small Group Meetings 
6:30-8 p.m.

Each small group consists of a clinician, a patient, and approximately 10-15 workshop attendees. This provides a comfortable environment and encourages interaction. We ask doctors to share their perspectives as clinicians and researchers, and patients to speak about whatever they feel most comfortable sharing regarding their experiences as patients/clinical trial participants. 

Thursday, October 10

BREAKFAST
8-9 a.m.

From Discovery and Translation to Clinical Application 
9:00-10:30 a.m. 

  • Accelerating prediction of tumor vulnerabilities using precision functional genomics 
    Jesse S. Boehm, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts  
  • Ryan B. Corcoran, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 

BReak
10:30-11:00 a.m. 

Collaborating Effectively with Data Scientists 
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. 

  • Eliezer Van Allen, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 

Understanding the Role and Impact of Patients: Patient-partnered Cancer Research 
1:30 – 3:00 p.m. 

  • Corrie Painter, Precede Biosciences, Boston, Massachusetts
  • Julie Krause, Fight Colorectal Cancer, Crystal Lake, Illinois 
  • Connecting researchers and patients: Practical first steps 
    Bob Riter, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 
  • Patient involvement in cancer research at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center 
    Patricia Spears, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 

Coffee Break/Networking and Individual Questions with the Panelists 
3:00-3:30 p.m

Translating Differently: Innovative and Emerging Approaches 
3:30-4:30 p.m. 

  • Joshua D. Schiffman, University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, Utah 

Closing Remarks 
4:30-4:45 p.m.

  • Ryan B. Corcoran, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 
  • George D. Demetri, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 
  • Elaine R. Mardis, The Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio 

Post-Test, and Overall Evaluation 
4:45-5:45 p.m. 

Closing Dinner 
6:00 – 7:30 p.m. 

Friday, October 11

Departure