LA JOLLA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health, the Office of Industry Relations and Alexandria Real Estate today announced that the 18th annual Industry/Academia Next Generation Precision Oncology Symposium will be held Thursday, September 15, at The Alexandria at Torrey Pines. The Symposium serves as a forum for sharing scientific and medical advances in cancer research spanning multiple classes of therapies, with sessions focused on immuno-oncology, solid tumors and hematology/oncology.
As part of the event, Kristen Hege, MD, Senior Vice President of Early Clinical Development, Hematology/Oncology & Cell Therapy at Bristol Myers Squibb, will be honored as the 2022 Duane Roth Achievement Award recipient. Dr. Hege is being recognized for her contributions to advancing cancer treatments over her career, including leading the development of Abecma® (idecabtagene vicleucel), the first BCMA-directed CAR-T cell therapy approved by the FDA. In addition, Dr. Hege is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), and continues to see patients with blood cancers.
“The Duane Roth Achievement Award is intended to recognize individuals who overcome significant challenges to improve the lives of patients with cancer,” said Ida Deichaite, PhD, director of Moores Cancer Center’s Office of Industry Relations and organizer of the symposium. “This year we are proud to recognize Dr. Hege, whose tireless efforts have led to breakthrough therapeutic advances and who continues to engage directly with patients through her role at UCSF.”
The Symposium is a forum for leaders in cancer research to present their latest data and translation of research into clinical applications and lifesaving treatment approaches for patients. The Symposium’s emphasis on translational oncology and drug development unites discovery and clinical development researchers, facilitating alliances and partnerships to ultimately accelerate curative therapies that advance global cancer care. Organizers encourage sharing of unpublished data to accelerate research dissemination and discussions that support exchange of knowledge.
Talks presented at the symposium include:
- Presentations by researchers from oncology companies, including Bristol Myers Squibb, Dracen Pharmaceuticals, INHIBRx, Mirati Therapeutics, TRACON Therapeutics, and Viracta Therapeutics
- Presentations by academic researchers at Moores Cancer Center and UC San Diego across multiple cancer types
About the Duane Roth Endowed Award Lecture
The Duane Roth Endowed Award Lecture is bestowed upon patient-focused leaders in health care whose work has overcome numerous scientific, financial, institutional, political and cultural obstacles to create new paradigms in research and treatment. Named after Duane Roth, an esteemed leader in the biotech industry who was tragically killed following a bicycle accident in 2013, the award is given to those who demonstrate his deep commitment to innovation and the patient. Past recipients include Dennis Carson, MD, UC San Diego; Susan Band Horwitz, PhD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Scott Gottlieb, MD, 23rd Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration; Carl June, MD, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Sandra Horning, MD, head of global product development and chief medical officer, Genentech; Dennis Slamon, MD, PhD, UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center; Brian Druker, MD, Knight Institute at Oregon Health and Science University; and Laura Esserman, MD, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Biographies of past winners and their accomplishments are available online.
About the Next Generation Precision Oncology Symposium
Since 2005, UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center’s Office of Industry Relations annually organizes the Next-Generation Precision Oncology Symposium — a unique forum where distinguished investigators, scientists, clinicians and others in cancer research discuss the latest breakthroughs in translational oncology. Talks include personalized medicine, targeted therapy discoveries, collaborative clinical trials paradigms and case studies of previous successful collaborative projects. Interactive sessions and the concluding networking reception allow for further dialogue of ideas and the fostering of collaborative relationships. Additional information is available online at https://www.ucsdmccindustryrelations.com/symposium.html.
About the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center’s Office of Industry Relations
Industry Relations at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, a NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, builds relationships for collaborative translational oncology projects. With the power of industry/academia collaboration, the lead time and enormous costs of cancer therapy development are significantly reduced, overcoming numerous translational gaps that often cause clinical trials to fail. Industry Relations unifies the efforts of the sciences within cancer research to better stratify patients according to their biomarker profiles, reducing toxicity, improving drug development efficiency, minimizing extraneous costs and meeting patients' specific needs quickly.