Newswise — CAMBRIDGE, MA -- On June 14, The Koch Institute is organizing the 12th edition of its Summer Symposium, “Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy.” This one-day symposium, which will be held at Kresge Auditorium at the MIT campus, will convene close to 1,000 cancer researchers, tumor immunologists, and clinical oncologists to discuss how to unravel the complexities of the immune system's interactions with developing tumors, as well as provide updates on the latest breakthroughs and challenges in the developing of cancer immunotherapies.
Featured speakers at the symposium include:
•Carl June, MD, Professor of Immunotherapy at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. June uses a form of HIV to transform a patient’s T cells (the workhorse cells of the immune system) into leukemia “serial killers,” as he puts it. Thanks to his treatment, nine out of twelve clinical trial patients with leukemia who didn't respond to standard therapies are in full or partial remission. He recently ranked #11 on the Fast Company magazine's list of the Top 100 Most Creative People in Business for 2013.
•Robert Schreiber, PhD, Alumni Professor, Pathology and Immunology, and Professor, Molecular Microbiology at the Washington University School of Medicine. Schreiber’s work led to the cancer immunoediting concept that has gained universal acceptance in the last few years.
•F. Stephen Hodi, Jr., MD, Director of the Melanoma Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Hodi is the principal investigator of the first phase II clinical trial to look at the combination of ipilimumab (one of the two only cancer immunotherapies that have been FDA-approved thus far) with the granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor sargramostim, a medication that stimulates the production of white blood cells. In the recent meeting of American Society of Clinical Oncology, Hodi reported that in patients with metastatic melanoma, this combination extended overall survival rates by 35% and resulted in fewer adverse events when compared with ipilimumab alone.
In addition, the program includes eminent speakers Lieping Chen, David Mooney, and Cornelia Trimble, as well as J. Christopher Love, K. Dane Wittrup, Jianzhu Chen, and Darrell Irvine from the Koch Institute.
Members of the press are invited to join symposium speakers and Koch Institute Director Tyler Jacks for lunch in Twenty Chimneys, Stratton Student Center, W20-306. Speakers and Director Tyler Jacks will be available to address questions from the press from 2:15 to 2:45 pm at W20-308A.
WHEN: Symposium: Friday, June 14, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm Lunch: Friday, June 14, 1:15 pm - 2:15 pmMedia Availability Room: Friday, June 14, 2:15 pm – 2:45 pm
WHERE: Symposium: Kresge Auditorium (Building W16) 48 Massachusetts AvenueCambridge, MA 02139http://whereis.mit.edu/?go=W16
Lunch and Media Availability Room: Stratton Student Center (Building W20)84 Massachusetts Avenue, room 306 (lunch) and room 308A (questions)Cambridge, MA 02139http://whereis.mit.edu/?go=W20
RSVP: Press and media must RSVP to Anne Deconinck (617-258-8216; [email protected]) to attend.
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