Sections
Sections
Participants in the first-of-its-kind meeting of cancer center directors convened by the AACR.The AACR is a catalyst for progress. Leveraging the strength of its reputation among the cancer community, the AACR brings together critical stakeholders and forges collaborations that improve the lives of patients with cancer.
In July, the AACR convened a first-of-its-kind meeting of many of the nation’s cancer center directors. Chaired by AACR 2021–2022 President David Tuveson, MD, PhD, FAACR, the meeting focused on how cancer centers could best collaborate to advance cancer research and patient care. Several initiatives were proposed during the two-day meeting, including:
The directors concluded the meeting with a renewed commitment to developing synergistic collaborations in the service of innovative solutions to the cancer problem.
Responding to the atmosphere of skepticism regarding the scientific enterprise that was exacerbated by misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic, the AACR launched a new task force focused on Trust in Science in February. The task force is chaired by William S. Dalton, PhD, MD, and was established with three primary objectives:
The task force presented a Forum on the topic during the AACR Annual Meeting in April. Chaired by Dr. Dalton, the session included a panel discussion featuring task force members representing all areas of the cancer community, including patient advocacy, academia, government, and industry.
From high school students to undergraduates to postgraduate researchers to independent investigators, the AACR recruits, trains, and inspires future generations of cancer scientists and clinicians. Under the leadership of chair Brian M. Rivers, PhD, MPH, the AACR Science Education and Career Advancement Committee ensures that the cancer workforce remains robust and ready to translate today’s discoveries into tomorrow’s treatments and cures.
Since 1997, the AACR has offered travel awards to support attendance at the AACR Annual Meeting for meritorious third-year undergraduate students majoring in science, to inspire these emerging scientists to pursue careers in cancer research. In April, the AACR marked the 25th anniversary of the Undergraduate Scholar Award program by bringing 20 award recipients to the Annual Meeting in New Orleans.
AACR CEO Margaret Foti, PHD, MD (hc), emphasized the importance of fostering this next generation of cancer scientists by calling the award recipients onto the stage during the Opening Ceremony to congratulate them and formally welcome them to the meeting. Dr. Foti noted that “these individuals represent the future of cancer research, who will make up the next generation of physicians, investigators, and scientific leaders.”
The Science Education and Career Advancement Committee hosted the AACR Special Program for High School Students at the Annual Meeting and at the AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in September. More than 200 high school students across both programs participated in interactive lectures on cancer development and made connections with scientist mentors who encouraged them to focus on the cancer problem in their future studies.
The AACR offered CME credit at 19 different meetings in 2022, including 15 conferences, one workshop, two joint providership meetings, and the AACR Annual Meeting 2022. AACR journals offered credit to investigators for reviewing manuscripts, and the AACR offered eight additional on-demand CME activities as part of the Project Livin’ Label series in partnership with the FDA. A total of 2,122 researchers and clinicians claimed CME credit from the AACR in 2022, and an additional 233 physicians obtained Medical Knowledge Maintenance of Certification (MOC) points through the American Board of Internal Medicine’s MOC program.
AACR meetings and educational workshops bring cutting-edge cancer science to researchers around the world and foster the connections and collaborations needed to apply those discoveries to improve patient care. The AACR engaged with eight scientific organizations to convene 31 meetings in seven countries in 2022. The roster of scientific programs included three fully virtual events, and many of the in-person meetings included virtual postevent access to make the scientific advances presented available to an even wider audience.
A highlight of the special conference series was the AACR’s first-ever conference on Evolutionary Dynamics in Carcinogenesis and Response to Therapy. The conference, which took place in Tampa, Florida, in March, was developed in partnership with the new AACR Cancer Evolution Working Group. Chaired by Christina Curtis, PhD, James DeGregori, PhD, Marco Gerlinger, MD, Robert Gillies, PhD, and Andriy Marusyk, PhD, the conference addressed how microenvironmental, immune, genetic, and epigenetic heterogeneity interact to influence cancer progression and therapy success or failure. Members of the working group’s executive and steering committees were actively involved in developing the conference program, which included a keynote address by working group cochair Charles Swanton, MBPhD, FAACR.
EVOLUTIONARY DYNAMICS IN CARCINOGENESIS AND RESPONSE TO THERAPY
AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research
March 14–17; Tampa, Florida
Cochairs: Christina Curtis, PhD, MSc, James V. DeGregori, PhD, Marco Gerlinger, MD, Robert J. Gillies, PhD,* and Andriy Marusyk, PhD
* Deceased
NEW MODELS FOR GLOBAL CANCER RESEARCH, TRAINING, AND CONTROL
10th Annual Symposium on Global Cancer Research (ASGCR)
Supported Meeting
March 24–25; Virtual Meeting
Scientific Steering Committee Members: Frédéric Biemar, PhD, María Teresa Bourlon, MD, MSc, Mishka Kohli Cira, MPH, Dalal Najjar Cobb, Kalina Duncan, DrPH [c], MPH, Linsey Eldridge, MPH, Taylor Estes, MPH, Allison Frank, Satish Gopal, MD, MPH, Patti Gravitt, PhD, MS, Fatou Jallow, PhD, Andrea Sabina Llera, PhD, Keith Martin, MD, PC, Rita Mulherkar, PhD, Corrina Moucheraud, ScD, MPH, Webster Musonda, MBBS, MPH, Javier Gordon Ogembo, PhD, Paul Pearlman, PhD, Sam Phiri, PhD, Sudha Sivaram, PhD, MPH, Jenna Smith, and Mariana Stern, PhD
AACR ANNUAL MEETING 2022
April 8–13; New Orleans, Louisiana
Program Committee Chair: Marcia R. Cruz-Correa, MD, PhD
ADVANCES IN THE PATHOGENESIS AND MOLECULAR THERAPIES OF LIVER CANCER
AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research
May 5–8; Boston, Massachusetts
Cochairs: Richard S. Finn, MD, Josep M. Llovet, MD, and Jessica Zucman-Rossi, MD, PhD
SARCOMAS
AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research
May 9–12; Montreal, QC, Canada
Cochairs: Elizabeth R. Lawlor, DM, PhD, Poul H.B. Sorensen, MD, PhD, and E. Alejandro Sweet-Cordero, MD
ADVANCES IN MALIGNANT LYMPHOMA: MAXIMIZING THE BASIC–TRANSLATIONAL INTERFACE FOR CLINICAL APPLICATION
Third AACR International Meeting held in cooperation with the International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML) and in association with Blood Cancer Discovery
June 23–26; Boston, Massachusetts
Cochairs: Riccardo Dalla-Favera, MD, FAACR, and Sonali M. Smith, MD
THE LATEST ADVANCES IN PANCREATIC CANCER RESEARCH: FROM BASIC SCIENCE TO THERAPEUTICS
JCA-AACR Special Joint Conference
July 8–10; Kyoto, Japan
Organizing Committee Cochairs: Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD, FAACR, Anirban Maitra, MBBS, Kohei Miyazono, MD, PhD, Masanobu Oshima, DVM, PhD, Rosalie C. Sears, PhD, and Hiroshi Seno, MD, PhD
RETHINKING DCIS: AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PREVENTION?
AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research
September 8–11; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Cochairs: Lisa M. Coussens, PhD, FAACR, Laura J. Esserman, MBA, MD, Kornelia Polyak, MD, PhD, FAACR, and Jorge S. Reis-Filho, MD, PhD
PANCREATIC CANCER
AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research
September 13–16; Boston, Massachusetts
Cochairs: Andrew M. Lowy, MD, Marina Pasca di Magliano, PhD, Robert H. Vonderheide, DPhil, MD, and Jen Jen Yeh, MD
15TH AACR CONFERENCE ON THE SCIENCE OF CANCER HEALTH DISPARITIES IN RACIAL/ETHNIC MINORITIES AND THE MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED
In association with the AACR Minorities in Cancer Research Council
September 16–19; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Cochairs: Kevin L. Gardner, MD, PhD, K. Sean Kimbro, PhD, Martin Mendoza, PhD, Camille C.R. Ragin, PhD, and Claradina Soto, MPH, PhD
BIENNIAL OVARIAN CANCER RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM
Presented by the Rivkin Center and the AACR
September 21, 22, 28, and 29; Virtual
Cochairs: Christina M. Annunziata, MD, PhD, Neil Johnson, PhD, James W. Lillard, MBA, PhD, and Goli Samimi, MPH, PhD
SIXTH CRI-ENCI-AACR INTERNATIONAL CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY CONFERENCE: TRANSLATING SCIENCE INTO SURVIVAL
CRT-ENCI-AACR International Conference
September 28–October 1; New York, New York
Cochairs: Özlem Türeci, MD, E. John Wherry, PhD, and Jedd D. Wolchok, MD, PhD
COLORECTAL CANCER
AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research
October 1–4; Portland, Oregon
Cochairs: Jiyoung Ahn, PhD, Robert J. Coffey, MD, and Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD
CANCER EPIGENOMICS
AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research
October 6–8; Washington, D.C.
Cochairs: Scott A. Armstrong, MD, PhD, Howard Y. Chang, MD, PhD, Arul M. Chinnaiyan, MD, PhD, FAACR, and Margaret A. Goodell, PhD
TUMOR IMMUNOLOGY AND IMMUNOTHERAPY
AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research
October 21–24; Boston, Massachusetts
Cochairs: Thomas F. Gajewski, MD, PhD, Jennifer A. Wargo, MD, and Jedd D. Wolchok, MD, PhD
EORTC-NCI-AACR MOLECULAR TARGETS AND CANCER THERAPEUTICS SYMPOSIUM
EORTC-NCI-AACR International Symposium
October 26–28; Barcelona, Spain
Cochairs: Ruth Plummer, BMBCh, DPhil, MD, James L. Gulley, MD, PhD, and Lillian L. Siu, MD
FRONTIERS IN CANCER SCIENCE
Supported Meeting
November 7–9; Singapore
Cochairs: Patrick Casey, PhD, and Joanne Ngeow, MBBS, MPH
2ND AACR-KCA JOINT WORKSHOP ON PRECISION MEDICINE IN CANCER
In conjunction with the 25th KCA Fall Symposium
November 10–11; Seoul, Korea and Virtual
Cochairs: Nilofer S. Azad, MD, and Tae Min Kim, MD, PhD
CANCER METASTASIS
AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research
November 14–17; Portland, Oregon
Cochairs: Fabrice Andre, MD, PhD, Sean J. Morrison, PhD, Danny R. Welch, PhD, and Zena Werb, PhD, FAACR*
*Deceased
AGING AND CANCER
AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research
November 17–20; San Diego, California
Cochairs: Steven E. Artandi, MD, PhD, Joanna L. Groden, PhD, and Eileen P. White, PhD, FAACR
PRECISION PREVENTION, EARLY DETECTION, AND INTERCEPTION OF CANCER
AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research
November 17–19; Austin, Texas
Chair: Timothy Rebbeck, PhD
Cochairs: Sangeeta Bhatia, MD, PhD, Luis A. Diaz, Jr., MD, FAACR, Ernest T. Hawk, MD, MPH, and Philip W. Kantoff, MD
ESMO ASIA CONFERENCE
Supported Meeting
December 2–4; Singapore
SAN ANTONIO BREAST CANCER SYMPOSIUM
UT Health San Antonio and AACR Joint Meeting
December 6–10; San Antonio, Texas and Virtual
Codirectors: Carlos L. Arteaga, MD, FAACR, and Virginia G. Kaklamani, MD
AACR-JCA JOINT CONFERENCE: BREAKTHROUGHS IN CANCER RESEARCH—TRANSLATING KNOWLEDGE INTO PRACTICE
AACR-JCA Joint Conference
December 10–14; Maui, Hawaii
Organizing Committee Cochairs: Masanori Hatakeyama, MD, PhD, and Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, FAACR
EORTC-ESMO-AACR METHODS IN CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH
Supported Workshop
June 18–24; Sint-Michielsgestel, Netherlands
Codirectors: Nadia Harbeck, MD, PhD, Patricia M. LoRusso, DO, and Saskia Litiere, PhD
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY IN CLINICAL ONCOLOGY
AACR Educational Workshop
July 17–24; Snowmass Village, Colorado
Director: Ross L. Levine, MD
Codirectors: Mark W. Geraci, MD, Christine M. Lovly, MD, PhD, and Jean Y. Tang, MD, PhD
AACR/ASCO METHODS IN CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH
AACR/ASCO Educational Workshop
July 24–30; Vail, Colorado
Codirectors: Manuel Hidalgo, MD, PhD, Julie M. Vose, MD, and Thomas M. Braun, PhD
INTEGRATIVE MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY: BRIDGING CANCER BIOLOGY AND PRECISION MEDICINE
AACR Educational Workshop
July 25–29; Boston, Massachusetts
Codirectors: Peter Kraft, PhD, Lorelei A. Mucci, MPH, ScD, and Elizabeth A. Platz, MPH, ScD
ACORD PROTOCOL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP
Supported Workshop
September 25–30; Virtual
Convenor: Christos Karapetis, MBBS
TRANSLATIONAL CANCER RESEARCH FOR BASIC SCIENTISTS
AACR Educational Workshop
November 13–18; Boston, Massachusetts
Codirectors: Ryan B. Corcoran, MD, PhD, Lisa M. Coussens, PhD, FAACR, and George D. Demetri, MD, FAACR
THE ROBERT A. WINN DIVERSITY IN CLINICAL TRIALS AWARD PROGRAM: BMSF-AACR DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF CLINICAL TRIALS WORKSHOP
BMSF-AACR Educational Workshop
November 14–19; Santa Monica, California
Codirectors: Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, Yu Shyr, PhD, FAACR, and Robert A. Winn, MD
