8:00 am
Morning Coffee
8:50 am Chair’s Opening Remarks
Exploring the Challenges of Tumor Resistance
9:00 am Harnessing Disseminated PDX Models to Advance Drug Discovery for Hematologic Cancers
Synopsis
• Understanding how disease progresses in different tissues in disseminated models
• Recapitulating the bone marrow niche ex vivo to inform in vivo study design
• Employing PDX models to identify clinically actionable combinations
9:30 am Epigenetic Cell Reprograming to Reduce Target Resistance
Synopsis
• Identifying transcription factors which can inhibit reprograming to lessen tumor resistance
• Exploring potential drug combinations which can overcome resistance and prevent tumor growth simultaneously
• Discussing the possibilities of artificial transcription factors to epigenetically target gene expression
10:00 am Mastermind: Tissue Sample Heterogeneity – Utilizing Cell Lines to Ensure Minimal Tumor Variation & Promote Clinical Efficacy
Synopsis
• Explore how to harness cell lines to tackle the challenges surrounding cancer heterogeneity
• Produce a framework of how to overcome target resistance to produce an efficacious therapy
10:45 am
Morning Break
Deep Diving into the Next Generation of Preclinical Tumor Models
11:30 am Combination Approach: Using Chicken Egg In Vitro Cell Cultures for High-Value Identification of Oncology Candidates
Synopsis
• How to use INOVOTION’s technology to open new perspectives of in vivo screening in oncology and immuno-oncology
• Why does the chicken embryo model have several advantages for drug discovery of anti-cancer treatments over traditional in vivo models?
• The chicken embryo model fills the gap between in vitro studies and in vivo mouse models, but is it possible to predict mouse data from chicken embryo results?
12:00 pm Utilizing & Translating CAR-T Cell Therapy to Solid Tumors
Synopsis
• Discuss the challenges surrounding the clinical activity of CAR-T cell therapy in solid tumors
• Exploring the degree of model translatability between preclinical studies and human CAR-T cell trials
• Next-generation CART cell therapy approaches combining novel targets with endogenous immune modulation
12:30 pm
Panel Discussion: Women & Diversity in Preclinical Oncology
Synopsis
This panel discussion will address the salient issue of understand and promoting diversity within the preclinical oncology community. Together, we will discuss career opportunities across the field, how to get more people working within the preclinical oncology space and what can we do to enhance diversity and retention within the field
1:30 pm
Networking Lunch
Analyzing Preclinical Toxicity, Safety & Dose Translation
2:30 pm 3D Organoids & Humanized Mice Models for Safety Profiling, Reducing Timeline & Animal Usage
Synopsis
• Considering in vivo solutions for early safety profiling in order to advance therapeutic efficacy
• Exploring the challenge of obtaining false negatives with the usage of in vitro assays
• Using in vivo assays to understand safety profiles with checkpoint inhibitors and bispecific therapies
3:00 pm Brain Tumor Models as a Platform to Advance Functional Diagnostics & Clinical Trials
Synopsis
• Models of primary and metastatic brain cancer are highly valuable tools for precision medicine and preclinical testing
• Large number of common and rare brain cancer models allow large scale drug screening
• Novel approaches and technologies emerging to test patient models to personalize medicine and trials
3:30 pm Harnessing Genome-scale In Vivo T-Cell CRISPR Screen to Identify Novel Immuno-Oncology Targets For the Treatment of Solid Tumors
Synopsis
• Developed a novel CRISPRomics® platform that enabled in vivo genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screens in primary T-cells
• Systematic identification and validation of targets that can significantly improve T-cell function in solid tumor setting
• Developed CRISPR2 technology that enables the identification of optimal T-cell target combinations that drive anti-tumor response
4:00 pm Chair’s Closing Remarks & End of Conference