Session Abstract – PMWC 2024 Silicon Valley
Track Chair: Laura J. van 't Veer, UCSF
- PMWC 2024 Award Ceremony
Pioneer Honoree: David Sidransky, Johns Hopkins
Pioneer Honoree: Helmy Eltoukhy
Pioneer Honoree: AmirAli Talasaz, Guardant Health - Utilities of Liquid Biopsy in Biomarker Testing
- Laura Vent Veer, UCSF - Status Quo of Clinical Liquid Biopsy (PANEL)
Chair: Helmy Eltoukhy, Guardant Health
- Sadakatsu Ikeda, Tokyo Medical University
- Heather Parsons, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
- Sanjay Popat, The Royal Marsden - Liquid Biopsy for Health Monitoring and Disease Prevention (PANEL)
Chair: Anne-Renee Hartman, Adela Bio
- AmirAli Talasaz, Guardant Health
- Heather Parsons, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
- Mary Pat Lancelotta, Adaptive Bio
- Sylvia Katina Plevritis, Stanford - Multi-Cancer Early Detection Through Multi-Biomarker Class Liquid Biopsy Testing (PANEL)
Chair: Tom Beer, Exact Sciences
- Wendy Rubinstein, Cancer Screening Research Network (CSRN)
- Sheila D. Walcoff, Goldbug Strategies LLC - Keynote: Pioneering Liquid Nucleic Acids Tumor Fragments in Health and Diseases
- David Sidransky, Johns Hopkins - New Approaches in Liquid Biopsy (PANEL)
Chair: Victor Velculescu, Johns Hopkins
- David Sidransky, Johns Hopkins
- Dan Laudau, NY Genome Center
- Daniel De Carvalho, University of Toronto - Global Implications: A scalable Liquid Biopsy for HPV-related Cervical Cancer (PANEL)
Chair: Debra Fraser-Howze, D. Fraser Associates
- Belinda Nedjai, Wolfson Institute of Population Health
- Elisabeth Adams, Aquarius Population Health Limited - NCI Showcase
- Xiaohui Ni, Early Dx
- Daniel Kim, UCSC
Session Chair Profile
Biography
Dr. Velculescu led the first genomewide sequence analysis in human cancers, identifying key genes and pathways dysregulated in tumorigenesis. He developed methods for global gene expression analyses and coined the word transcriptome" to describe the patterns that could now obtained in cancer and other cells. These analyses identified a variety of genes not previously known to be involved in neoplasia, including PIK3CA as one of the most highly mutated genes in human cancer. His teams discoveries have led to new FDA approved therapies against PI3K and IDH1, and diagnostic tests for comprehensive tumor profiling. More recently, his group has created noninvasive machine learning liquid biopsy approaches for early detection and monitoring of cancer patients. His work has provided new paradigms for understanding human cancer that have benefited patients worldwide. He has been a Founder and CoCEO of Personal Genome Diagnostics and is Founder and CEO of Delfi Diagnostics.
Talk
Early detection of cancer using cellfree DNA fragmentomes
Cellfree DNA in the blood provides a noninvasive diagnostic avenue for patients with cancer. We have developed an approach called DELFI to evaluate fragmentation patterns of cellfree DNA across the genome using machine learning and low coverage whole genome sequencing. The DELFI method provides a high performing and accessible approach for noninvasive early cancer detection.
Session Chair Profile
Biography
Helmy Eltoukhy is a scientist and biotech entrepreneur with contributions to nextgeneration DNA sequencing and noninvasive liquid biopsy technologies. Eltoukhy is the cofounder and Chairman and coCEO of Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH). Under his leadership, Guardant Health launched the first comprehensive liquid biopsy for advancedstage cancer patients and the first bloodonly liquid biopsy for recurrence monitoring for cancer survivors. The company also completed a 20,000 patient clinical study to validate a blood test for the early detection of colorectal cancer. Previously, he cofounded Avantome to commercialize semiconductorbased sequencing, which was later acquired by Illumina. He was named to Time Magazines inaugural 50 Most Influential People in Healthcare, Fortunes 40 under 40, and in the 2021 list of the Top 50 Healthcare CEOs. He received his PhD, MS and BS degrees from Stanford University. He has coauthored highimpact publications spanning the sequencing and cancer fields and is a coinventor on over 50 issued US patents.
Session Chair Profile
Biography
Dr. Beer is an internationally recognized leader, holding appointments as deputy director of the Knight Cancer Institute, Chief Medical Officer at OHSUs Knight Cancer Institute Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research Center, professor in the OHSU School of Medicine, head of the Prostate Cancer Research Program, and the Grover C. Bagby Endowed Chair for Prostate Cancer Research prior to joining Exact. He has also authored and coauthored more than 280 articles, playing a leading role in establishing a new global standard of care for patients. In addition to his role at Exact Sciences, Dr. Beer is continuing as an adjunct professor of medicine and sees patients with prostate cancer at OHSU.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Helmy Eltoukhy is a scientist and biotech entrepreneur with contributions to next-generation DNA sequencing and non-invasive liquid biopsy technologies. Eltoukhy is the co-founder and Chairman and co-CEO of Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH). Under his leadership, Guardant Health launched the first comprehensive liquid biopsy for advancedstage cancer patients and the first blood-only liquid biopsy for recurrence monitoring for cancer survivors. The company also completed a 20,000-patient clinical study to validate a blood test for the early detection of colorectal cancer. Previously, he co-founded Avantome to commercialize semiconductor-based sequencing, which was later acquired by Illumina. He was named to Time Magazine's inaugural 50 Most Influential People in Healthcare, Fortune's 40 under 40, and in the 2021 list of the Top 50 Healthcare CEOs. He received his PhD, MS and BS degrees from Stanford University. He has co-authored high-impact publications spanning the sequencing and cancer fields and is a co-inventor on over 50 issued US patents.
Speaker Profile
Biography
David Sidransky is a renowned physician-scientist whose contributions have revolutionized the field of oncology precision medicine. He has developed non-invasive liquid biopsy methods for early cancer detection and many other translational molecular approaches. Dr. Sidransky's pioneering work has focused on the identification of genetic and epigenetic alterations in cancer. He was the first to identify altered DNA in stool, urine, sputum, saliva, and blood samples for cancer detection. His research has led to the development of several diagnostics and the use of PDX models for therapeutic drug development. Dr. Sidransky's exceptional achievements have earned him numerous awards and accolades including the AACR's Rosenthal award in 2004 and team science award in 2017. He has founded and served on the board of several biotechnology companies. He authored over 600 scientific articles and 30 patents and served on distinguished editorial boards. His dedication and accumulated work continue to inspire and guide researchers around the world.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Dr. AmirAli Talasaz is a renowned leader and innovator in the field of precision medicine, with a focus on advancing non-invasive liquid biopsy technologies. He has made significant contributions to the development and implementation of cutting-edge diagnostic tools that have revolutionized the detection and monitoring of cancer. Dr. Talasaz currently serves as co-founder and co-CEO of Guardant Health. Prior to co-founding Guardant Health, he was Senior Director of Diagnostics Research at Illumina and led efforts to develop next-generation genomic analysis for emerging clinical applications. Before Illumina, he founded Auriphex Biosciences, which focused on the purification and genetic analysis of circulating tumor cells for cancer management. The technology was acquired by Illumina in 2009. During his academic years, he led the Technology Development group at the Stanford Genome Technology Center. Dr. Talasaz received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering and MSc in management science from Stanford University.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Dr. van t Veer is a worldrenowned molecular biologist whose research focuses on precision medicine to advance patient management based on knowledge of the genetic makeup of the tumor and the patient. As inventor of MammaPrint she has made seminal impact on rightsizing the treatment of breast cancer and on molecular genomics. Dr. van t Veer is Biomarker Committee Chair for the multicenter clinical trial ISPY 2, overseeing the processes for FDAIDE biomarker usage and qualifying biomarker companion diagnostics. She has over 330 peerreviewed scientific articles and is coinventor of 6 patents. Dr. van t Veer received the 2007 ESMO lifetime achievement award and the prestigious European Union Women Innovator Award, 2nd prize in 2014. Dr. van t Veer earned her PhD in Medicine at the University of Leiden as well as two postdoctoral fellowships, at the Cancer Center of Harvard Medical School and Mass General Hospital followed at The Netherlands Cancer Institute.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Dr. AmirAli Talasaz is a renowned leader and innovator in the field of precision medicine, with a focus on advancing noninvasive liquid biopsy technologies. He has made significant contributions to the development and implementation of cuttingedge diagnostic tools that have revolutionized the detection and monitoring of cancer. Dr. Talasaz currently serves as cofounder and coCEO of Guardant Health. Prior to cofounding Guardant Health, he was Senior Director of Diagnostics Research at Illumina and led efforts to develop nextgeneration genomic analysis for emerging clinical applications. Before Illumina, he founded Auriphex Biosciences, which focused on the purification and genetic analysis of circulating tumor cells for cancer management. The technology was acquired by Illumina in 2009. During his academic years, he led the Technology Development group at the Stanford Genome Technology Center. Dr. Talasaz received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering and MSc in management science from Stanford University.
Speaker Profile
Biography
David Sidransky is a renowned physicianscientist whose contributions have revolutionized the field of oncology precision medicine. He has developed noninvasive liquid biopsy methods for early cancer detection and many other translational molecular approaches. Dr. Sidranskys pioneering work has focused on the identification of genetic and epigenetic alterations in cancer. He was the first to identify altered DNA in stool, urine, sputum, saliva, and blood samples for cancer detection. His research has led to the development of several diagnostics and the use of PDX models for therapeutic drug development. Dr. Sidranskys exceptional achievements have earned him numerous awards and accolades including the AACRs Rosenthal award in 2004 and team science award in 2017. He has founded and served on the board of several biotechnology companies. He authored over 600 scientific articles and 30 patents and served on distinguished editorial boards. His dedication and accumulated work continue to inspire and guide researchers around the world.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Dan Landau, MD, PhD is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and a Core Member of the New York Genome Center. He is an oncologist whose long-term goal is to develop novel approaches to address cancer evolution as a central obstacle to cure. Dr. Landau made seminal contributions to our understanding of cancer biology, developing novel genomics approaches to integrate genetic and non-genetic determinants of cancer evolution. He has also pioneered innovative genomics technologies for the study of cancer evolution, including for liquid biopsy treatment monitoring, and is a co-founder of C2i Genomics. His research group is funded by the NCI, NHLBI and NHGRI, and his work has led to recognition and awards including Stand Up to Cancer, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Vallee Scholar, Mark Foundation Emerging Leader Award and the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Sadakatsu Ikeda is a medical oncologist focusing on precision cancer medicine. After graduating from Hokkaido University, he completed postdoctoral research fellowship at Boston Childrens's Hospital, followed by medicine residency at Beth Israel Medical Center, and hematologyoncology fellowship at University of Michigan. He was a facult at University of San Diego before returnintg to Tokyo Medical and Dental University where he started precision medicine program in 2016. He is one of the early adaptor of liquid biopsy.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Dr. Hartman is a leader in oncology diagnostics with over 20 years of experience developing clinical cancer tests. Leveraging her expertise across the continuum of care, from early detection to minimal residual disease monitoring, she has spearheaded pivotal trials in risk stratification, cancer screening, and cancer management during her leadership roles at Myriad Genetics and GRAIL. Driven by a passion for innovation, Dr. Hartman cofounded Adela to pioneer a highperforming liquid biopsy utilizing whole methylome technology. With diverse expertise in clinical development, product development and diagnostic platforms, she is translating her deep knowledge into transformative molecular approaches for early diagnosis and tailored treatment.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Dr. Rubinstein role involves serving as a member of the Breast and Gynecologic Cancer Research Group and advising NCI leadership on multicancer early detection tests. She will talk about NCI's new Cancer Screening Research Network (CSRN) scheduled to be launched in January 2024.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Ms. FraserHowze is the Founder and President of Choose Healthy Life (CHL), a nonprofit focused on providing Black churches with funding and support to hire faithbased health workers to deliver much needed services and preventative care in their respective communities. In its first year, CHL supported 120 churches across 13 states and DC and hosted 3,700 health events at its churches at which over 110,000 individuals were administered COVID19 vaccinations and testing. She previously served as the Senior Vice President at OraSure Technologies, where she pioneered the FDAapproved OraQuick InHome HIV and HCV Tests. She established the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS (NBLCA) in 1987 an organization she ran for 21 years and is now America's largest Black HIVAIDS nonprofit. With over three decades of leadership in health and social welfare, FraserHowze advised two U.S. Presidents on HIVAIDS and received the National Medical Association's Scroll of Merit in 2009.
Speaker Profile
Biography
As the Director of the Molecular Epidemiology Laboratory, the lead of the MEL research team holds a PhD in genetics from Queen Mary and a Masters from University Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris. With a strong background in functional genomics, this individual also brings commercial insights from a role as Head of Genetics at GeneU, a startup. At Imperial College London, the lead spun out GeneU, focusing on genomics data for skin cancer patient care and patented a concept merging genetics with bioengineering (UK patent GB20110021917).After joining Queen Mary University, the progression was from Senior Research Fellow to Reader by 2022. The primary research focus is on DNA methylation biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Notable achievements include improved methods for papillomavirusinfected women triage and the development of a prostate cancer management classifier. Future endeavors aim at early epithelial cancer detection and refining biomarkers across ethnicities.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Elisabeth was brought up in the US but travelled widely from a young age to pursue her love of medicine, science, and a challenge. She studied Psychology (University of Michigan), Epidemiology (Oxford University), and got her PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.She has conducted research on a wide range of health conditions (e.g. infectious diseases, oncology, longterm conditions, etc.). A particular focus has been to explore the impact of precision medicine and new technologies on health and healthcare. Elisabeth's work has influenced local, regional and international policy. She started Aquarius Population Health, an independent healthcare consultancy based in London with a global reach. Their mission is to generate evidence to inform and support rational and timely decisionmaking in healthcare. They have a proven record of supporting industry, academics, charities, and healthcare providers to achieve success, and works across healthcare sectors (pharma, IVDs, digital health and healthcare providers).
Speaker Profile
Biography
Heather A. Parsons, MD, MPH is a Physician at DanaFarber Cancer Institute, an Associate Physician at the Brigham and Womens Hospital, an Associate Member of the Broad institute of MIT and Harvard, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is a clinical translational investigator with a focus on developing novel diagnostics for patients with breast cancer. Dr. Parsons specific research interest is in how genomicsbased biomarkers and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) tumorderived DNA found in the plasma can be used in caring for breast cancer patients. She has led studies in both metastatic and early stage disease investigating the use of ctDNA as a biomarker in breast cancer. Dr. Parsons research is currently supported by the NCI, by the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the Gateway Foundation for Cancer Research.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Professor Popat is a Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden and Professor of Thoracic Oncology at the Institute of Cancer Research. Recognized globally for his expertise in lung cancer, mesothelioma, and thymic cancers, he qualified from Guys and St Thomas Hospitals in 1994 and later earned a PhD in Molecular Genetics in 2002. His research, which has won numerous awards, focuses on genetic profiling in cancer and the development of new drug treatments. Nationally, he chairs the British Thoracic Oncology Group (BTOG) Steering Committee and holds several roles within the NIHR. Internationally, he's active in the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) and has contributed to European Clinical Practice Guidelines for various lung cancers. His collaborations have resulted in the global licensing of drugs and their inclusion in international treatment guidelines. Additionally, Professor Popat frequently serves as a Clinical Expert for NICE and advises multiple patientfocused cancer charities.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Heather A. Parsons, MD, MPH is a medical oncologist at DanaFarber Cancer Institute (DFCI) and Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Her research focuses on breast cancer and the use of bloodbased genomic biomarkers to understand the course of a woman's breast cancer and response to treatment. Ultimately, she aims to develop these biomarkers to better direct existing treatments. to avoid overtreatment, and to develop new treatments to help patients live better, longer lives.Dr. Parsons is a graduate of Dartmouth College and has a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She received her medical degree from Drexel University College of Medicine, where she was inducted into the AOA Honor Medical Society. She was then an Osier Medicine resident in Internal Medicine at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. She completed a fellowship in Medical Oncology at Johns Hopkins Hospital before joining the Susan F. Smith Center for Women's Cancers at DFCI. She is currently an instructor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Parsons cares for patients with breast cancer as a medical oncologist at DFCI. Her research focuses on the use of bloodbased biomarkers to understand and in doing so to better treat patients with breast cancer. She is supported by awards from the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the Terri Brodeur Breast Cancer Foundation.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Dr. De Carvalho is a renowned expert in cancer epigenomics. He is a pioneer in the use of cancer epigenetics combined with advanced computational approaches for developing novel liquid biopsy tools applied to cancer early detection, classification and monitoring therapy response.Dr. De Carvalho have published over 80 high profile research papers, many of those featured in prestigious scientific journals such as Science, Nature Medicine, Cancer Cell among others and was an invited speaker to over 150 talks worldwide, including such prestigious venues as the Opening plenary lecture at AACR annual meeting. For his scientific contributions, Dr. De Carvalho received numerous awards including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Early Career Award in Cancer. He received the Canada Research Chair in Cancer Epigenetics.Dr. De Carvalho founded and currently serves as CSO of Adela, a biotech company developing cellfree DNA methylation liquid biopsy technology for cancer early detection, classification and monitoring therapy response.
Speaker Profile
Biography
David Sidransky is a renowned physicianscientist whose contributions have revolutionized the field of oncology precision medicine. He has developed noninvasive liquid biopsy methods for early cancer detection and many other translational molecular approaches. Dr. Sidranskys pioneering work has focused on the identification of genetic and epigenetic alterations in cancer. He was the first to identify altered DNA in stool, urine, sputum, saliva, and blood samples for cancer detection. His research has led to the development of several diagnostics and the use of PDX models for therapeutic drug development. Dr. Sidranskys exceptional achievements have earned him numerous awards and accolades including the AACRs Rosenthal award in 2004 and team science award in 2017. He has founded and served on the board of several biotechnology companies. He authored over 600 scientific articles and 30 patents and served on distinguished editorial boards. His dedication and accumulated work continue to inspire and guide researchers around the world.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Mary Pat Lancelotta is currently the Senior Vice President of the BioPharma business at Adaptive Biotechnologies, a commercial-stage biotech company that aims to translate the genetics of the adaptive immune system into clinical products to diagnose and treat disease. Mary Pat brings over 20 years of commercial and strategy experience in life sciences and diagnostics with a strong focus in oncology, and she has held leadership roles in both start-ups and Fortune 500 companies. She previously served as Vice President Strategic Marketing at Foundation Medicine where she launched FoundationOne and FoundationOne Heme and led strategic communications through several rounds of financing, including the IPO and acquisition by Roche. She came to FMI from Quest Diagnostics where she led commercial strategy for the company’s $5B laboratory services business and served as chief-of-staff to the Chief Medical Officer. Mary Pat also spent seven years in consulting with Accenture and The Frankel Group, a boutique life sciences consulting firm. Mary Pat has also served as a strategic consultant to several early stage oncology/early detection diagnostic companies. She also serves/has served on the board of directors for two private companies, Molecular Match and Ultivue, as well as a non-profit advancing clinical research for rare cancers, Target Cancer Foundation. Mary Pat holds an MBA with honors from Columbia Business School and a BS in Biochemistry, magna cum laude, from Boston College.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Dr. Ni serves as the Chief Technology Officer at EarlyDx, bringing more than two decades of experience in research and product development to the team, His expertise spans a wide range of disciplines, including physics, molecular biology, and cancer genomics. Before joining EarlyDx, Dr. Ni held a senior scientist at Cynvenio Biosystems, now known as LungLife AI, where he played a pivotal role in the development of Cynvenios FISH test for early lung cancer detection using circulating tumor cells. Dr. Ni currently leads EarlyDxs NIH SBIR project focused on assay development. He earned his Ph.D. in Physics from the City University of New York and completed his postdoctoral training in SingleCell Cancer Genomics at Harvard University.
Talk
Methylomebased Liquid Biopsy for Early detection of Multiple Cancers
EarlyDx's MethylScan technology delivers costeffective cfDNA methylome sequencing, facilitating sensitive and specific detection and localization of various types of cancer.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Sheila D. Walcoff is a nationally recognized FDA policy expert who advises precision medicine companies and investors on LDTIVD regulatory strategy, FDA submissions, and application of FDAISO quality systems to CLIA laboratories. She is CEO and founder of Goldbug Strategies, which provides clinical, regulatory, quality systems, and PCCP consulting for LDTs, IVDs, pharmaCDx, and AIdigital health technologies. In addition to many successful FDA submissions, including firstofakind LDTIVDs, Sheilas 25+ years experience includes FDA associate commissioner, U.S. HHS senior science public health official, BigLaw partner, congressional committee counsel, and entrepreneur. She earned her J.D. at Georgetown University Law Center.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Daniel Kim is an Assistant Professor in Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California Santa Cruz, a Visiting Assistant Professor in Dermatology at Stanford University School of Medicine, an Associate Member of the Canary Center at Stanford for Cancer Early Detection, and a Research Scholar of the American Cancer Society. His laboratory develops RNA technologies and tools for precision health, cancer early detection, and RNA medicine. His RNA research has been featured in Newsweek, Scientific American, and by the Director of the National Institutes of Health and has also been recognized by awards from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, Cell Press, and the National Academy of Sciences.
Talk
Cancer Early Detection via RNA Liquid Biopsy
Liquid biopsies enable the profiling of cellfree nucleic acids secreted by cancer cells. We developed a new diagnostic platform called COMPLETEseq and discovered that repetitive RNAs are highly enriched in the cellfree RNA of cancer patients. Machine learning models incorporating repetitive RNA features enable highly accurate classification of earlystage cancers.