Translational Medicine Symposium refocuses research on practical remedies

The inaugural Translational Medicine Symposium enjoyed a smaller but rapt audience Friday, March 22, at the HSIB Forum in the Health Sciences Innovation Building on the University of Arizona Health Sciences Tucson campus.

See a mini-photo gallery and video of the event below. The symposium's program can be found here as a PDF, including 11 poster presentations.

[A student enters the HSIB Forum, where the 2024 Translational Medicine Symposium was hosted by the UArizona Cancer Center and Arizona Biomedical Research Centre, 3.22.24.]The Department of Medicine’s and UArizona Cancer Center’s Jennifer S. Carew, PhD, welcomed attendees as host. She’s a professor of medicine and clinical translational sciences, director of translational research and director of investigator-initiated clinical trials for the College of Medicine – Tucson. The half-day hybrid event featured data blitzes, presentations, a poster session and two keynote addresses.

  • Devalingam Mahalingam, MD, PhD, gave the morning keynote on “Oncolytic virotherapy: Priming tumors for novel combinatory strategies” in cancer treatment. An oncologist, Dr. Mahalingam is a professor of medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and director of the clinical trials office, Developmental Therapeutics Core and DT Fellowship Program at the NU’s Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center in Chicago.
  • Kevin Kelly, MD, PhD, gave the afternoon keynote on “Targeting protein homeostasis to overcome resistance in acute myeloid leukemia.” A hematologist, Dr. Kelly is an associate professor of medicine at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine and assistant medical director of clinical investigations at USC’s Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles.

In between were two presentations and three Future of Translational Research data blitzes. In the first presentation, Sally Radovick, MD, who joined the UArizona Health Sciences in December as director of the Southwest Center for Advancing Clinical and Translational Innovation in December from Rutgers, spoke on “Fueling translational science in Arizona.”

Wei Wang, PhD, and Chris Penton, PhD, from the UArizona R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy, gave the second, “Overview of capabilities and pathways to collaboration” for the college’s Arizona Center for Drug Discovery.

[Jennifer S. Carew, PhD]“Translational research is one of the most rapidly growing fields of biomedical research and the University of Arizona is strongly positioned to be a leader in advancing scientific innovation into clinical impact. The generous support from the ABRC for our Translational Medicine Symposium enabled us to create a fantastic forum for our faculty and trainees to learn more about opportunities for their scientific discoveries to transform the future of health care.” — Jennifer S. Carew, PhD, symposium host

The data blitzes featured T32 Integrative Cancer Scholar trainees: Amber Clements, a PhD student, on “PIM kinases after the prostate tumor immune microenvironment”; Julia Morris, MD/PhD student, on “A role for transient activation of AKT in drug resistance in colorectal cancer”; and Danielle Sawyer, MD/PhD student, on “The S180R variant of DNA polymerase β as a potential cancer driver.”

Rachna Shroff, MD, MS, FASCO, said the symposium was “a wonderful opportunity to bridge clinical and basic science and to learn about novel therapeutic opportunities like oncolytic virotherapy. The next generation of translational investigators are thinking innovatively about drug development across different diseases and the future is bright.”

A professor of medicine, Dr. Shroff is Hematology and Oncology Division chief in the Department of Medicine, associate dean for clinical and translational research at the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson, and assistant director of clinical investigations at the UArizona Cancer Center. She also is one of three DOM faculty leading the Cancer Center on an interim basis as it searches for a new executive director.

The Translational Medicine Symposium was co-sponsored by the Arizona Biomedical Research Centre, which is part of the Arizona Department of Health Services.

MINI-PHOTO GALLERY:
Mouseover images to see captions and click on them to enlarge.

[Welcome event at the Translational Medicine Symposium at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson] [Jennifer S. Carew, PhD, host of the 2024 Translational Medicine Symposium at UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson] [Jennifer Carew, PhD, welcomes Translational Medicine Symposium attendees and introduces opening keynote speaker Northwestern University’s Devalingam Mahalingam, MD, PhD, who spoke on oncolytic virotherapy.] [Translational Medicine Symposium attendees learn from Northwestern’s Devalingam Mahalingam, MD, PhD, about how innovative oncolytic virotherapies can be used to selectively target cancer cells.]

[Translational Medicine Symposium audience members enjoying the opening keynote address from Northwestern’s Devalingam Mahalingam, MD, PhD.] [Translational Medicine Symposium audience members enjoying the opening keynote address from Northwestern’s Devalingam Mahalingam, MD, PhD.] [Northwestern’s Devalingam Mahalingam, MD, PhD, shares his experience in translating his preclinical research with oncolytic virotherapies into investigator-initiated clinical trials for patients with gastrointestinal malignancies.][Northwestern’s Devalingam Mahalingam, MD, PhD, shares his experience in translating his preclinical research with oncolytic virotherapies into investigator-initiated clinical trials for patients with gastrointestinal malignancies.]

[University of Arizona trainees and faculty attended the symposium to hear from internationally recognized experts sharing their blueprints for translational success to inspire them to seek opportunities to translate their scientific discoveries into patient benefit.] [The Translational Medicine Symposium featured a graduate student poster competition to provide trainees with an opportunity to showcase their cutting-edge translational research.] [Northwestern’s Devalingam Mahalingam, MD, PhD, shares his experience in translating his preclinical research with oncolytic virotherapies into investigator-initiated clinical trials for patients with GI malignancies.] [Department of Medicine Chair James Liao, MD, (left) attends the Translational Medicine Symposium, with second keynote speaker USC’s Kevin Kelly, MD, PhD, behind him. In between is event coordinator Loren Drake.]

[Translational Medicine Symposium audience members enjoying the opening keynote address from Northwestern’s Devalingam Mahalingam, MD, PhD.] [Translational Medicine Symposium audience members enjoying the opening keynote address from Northwestern’s Devalingam Mahalingam, MD, PhD.] [DOM’s Steffan Nawrocki, PhD, co-director of the UArizona Cancer Center’s Clinical and Translational Oncology Program, stimulated discussion with Dr. Mahalingam about key elements needed to move scientific discoveries from the lab into the clinic.] [Hematology and Oncology division Chief Rachna Shroff, MD, MS, engages in discussion with Dr. Mahalingam about his experience with developing and leading numerous early phase investigator-initiated clinical trials.]

VIDEO OF THE SYMPOSIUM:

See video of the event here (with transcription via Zoom). 

DOM Event listing for the above symposium.

ALSO SEE:
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“Translational Medicine Symposium research poster competition submissions due Feb. 22” | Posted Feb. 6, 2024
“Researchers discover innovative new treatment approach for multiple myeloma” | Posted Feb. 2, 2024

Release Date: 
03/22/2024 - 4:30pm
Media Contact: 
David Mogollon | Communications Manager, University of Arizona Department of Medicine