(AUSTIN) The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas announced its lineup of keynote speakers, moderators, and presenters for its Innovations VI Conference taking place in Galveston on October 2-3. The list includes luminaries from across the cancer research and prevention field, including national cancer leaders, and innovators in prevention, basic, clinical and translational research, and corporate product development.
“The CPRIT Innovations VI Conference is a rare opportunity for the extraordinarily talented scientists, clinicians, prevention professionals, and biotechnology leaders in Texas to convene and interact, and to hear presentations on key topics in cancer,” said CPRIT Chief Scientific Officer Michelle Le Beau, Ph.D. “The Program will begin with remarks from Doug Lowy, M.D., an international leader in HPV biology and the development of the technology underlying the FDA-approved HPV vaccines. Dr. Lowy will address the NCI vision for the nation’s cancer care and research enterprise, as well as key priorities and opportunities to address this global challenge.”
Dr. Lowy, Principal Deputy Director and Chief of the Laboratory of Cellular Oncology within the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) will kick off the conference with his keynote address on Monday, October 2. Dr. Lowy is an American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Academy fellow, a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the NAS. Among his many accolades, Dr. Lowy has received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, the National Medal of Honor for Basic Research from the American Cancer Society, the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Association of American Cancer Institutes, and the AACR Distinguished Public Service Award.
Another recognized leader from the NCI, Robin Vanderpool, Dr.PH., will provide the keynote for Day 2. Dr. Vanderpool is chief of the Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences at the NCI. As branch chief, Dr. Vanderpool leads the development of health communication research initiatives in areas such as cancer communication surveillance, patient-centered communication, telehealth, social media and health misinformation, and community engagement.
CPRIT grantees will join peers from across Texas and throughout the nation to highlight their work and moderate panel discussions at the conference. Panel discussions will include the latest innovations in immunology, liver, colorectal, cervical, and breast cancers, among others. A company showcase will highlight CPRIT’s investments in product development. The Product Development Review Council will also discuss the peer review process.
Additional guest speakers include John Carpten, Ph.D., director of City of Hope comprehensive cancer center; Stephen Baylin, M.D., and Victor Velculescu, M.D., Ph.D., from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Katy Keenan, Ph.D., from the National Institute of Standards and Technology; Smita Bhatia, M.D., MPH, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham; and Adana A. M. Llanos, Ph.D., from Columbia University Irving Medical Center, among others.
For a full list of presentations, panels and speakers, visit www.texascancerconference.org.
CPRIT’s Innovations VI conference will highlight the exceptional progress in the fight against cancer happening in research centers, communities, and companies throughout Texas. The conference features informative sessions on CPRIT-funded initiatives on computational biology and modeling, the use of artificial intelligence in imaging, the expansion of drug development and biomanufacturing in Texas, as well as the latest in immunology and vaccine development in cancer.
For the first time, CPRIT will present the “Texans Conquer Cancer Award” at the opening dinner to recognize individuals or organizations that have demonstrated outstanding leadership in furthering CPRIT’s mission to prevent, detect, treat, and cure cancer in Texas.
Conference registration is open at www.texascancerconference.org.
The deadline for those interested in becoming a sponsor or exhibitor for the CPRIT Innovations VI Conference is August 15. Please visit the conference website to view an information packet for more information or to contact the agency.
ABOUT CPRIT
Created by the Texas Legislature and approved by a statewide vote in 2007, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) leads the Lone Star State’s fight against cancer. In 2019, Texas voters again voted overwhelmingly to support CPRIT with an additional $3 billion, for a total $6 billion investment in cancer research and prevention.
To date, the agency has awarded more than $3.3 billion in grants to Texas research institutions and organizations through its academic research, prevention, and product development research programs. CPRIT has also recruited 293 distinguished researchers to Texas, supported the establishment, expansion, or relocation of 56 companies to Texas, and supported nearly 9 million prevention services reaching all 254 counties in Texas.