Ventana Research Lecture on Cancer Immunotherapy

TOPIC: "MUC1 Vaccines for Cancer Prevention and a Lot More"
SPEAKER: Olivera J. Finn, PhD
Distinguished Professor, Department of Immunology, and Director, Immunology Program
Distinguished Professor, Department of Surgery
University of Pittsburgh

Friday, January 12, 2018
Noon - 1:00 p.m.
Auditorium 5104 ABCD, Ventana Medical Systems, 1910 E. Innovation Park Dr.

Through the Science Exchange Collaborative with Ventana Medical Systems, University of Arizona faculty will have access to distinguished speakers Ventana periodically invites to Tucson. The Collaborative's next lecture will be delivered by Dr. Olivera Finn, whose research is focused on designing effective cancer immunotherapy, primarily vaccines for breast, pancreatic, colon and lung cancers.

Dr. Finn’s laboratory was one of the first to study human T cell responses against these tumors and, in 1989, the first to identify an abnormal form of the human mucin MUC1 as a tumor antigen and a target of cytotoxic T cells. This work led to the identification of a unique peptide epitope on MUC1 molecule culminating in the approval of an investigational new drug by the FDA, which has been tested as a vaccine for pancreatic, prostate, colon and lung cancer. Most recently, MUC1 peptide vaccine is being tested in premalignant setting as a prophylactic vaccine in patients with a history of advanced adenomas in order to prevent their progression to colon cancer.

Due to limited space, these seminars are available to the first 20 UA faculty members who RSVP. Please contact Matt Peters at mwpeters@email.arizona.edu to RSVP.

Visitors coming from the UA with MD degrees need to sign a form to be in compliance with the Sunshine Act.
Contact: Matt Peters, mwpeters@email.arizona.edu

For related images, see: "TODAY: Ventana Research Lecture on Cancer Immunotherapy"