May 27, 2014
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 pm EDT

Sponsored by

Webinar Description:

Our presenters will reveal prominent examples of how biomarkers play a pivotal role in cancer research. Our first speaker will reveal a strategy of how to develop drugs that target KRAS directly, coupled with understanding signal transduction networks. They conclude by putting into perspective how such an integrated approach may assist in developing future treatments of KRAS cancers.

The second presentation reveals how targeted therapies against genotype-defined cancer subpopulations are revolutionizing care, yet acquired resistance invariably develops. They describe approaches, assays, including acoustic assays, and technologies for the monitoring of drug response and disease progression from simple blood tests.

Lastly we will introduce an Acoustic Assay technology that enables scientists to rapidly and cost-effectively develop novel, reproducible biomarker assays for both circulating biomarkers and intracellular markers, which are precise, consume <10% Ab vs ELISA and are hands-free, enabling a sensitive automated immunoassay.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the benefits of acoustic assays in cancer research
• Using signal transduction pathway profiling to understand therapeutic targets
• Measuring circulating proteins to guide therapy and detect recurrence
• Rapid assay development with walk-away automation

Speaker Information

Dr. Frank McCormick, UCSF and Leidos

Challenges and Opportunities in KRAS Tumors

Abstract: The research focus in Dr. McCormick's lab is on developing therapies for cancer based on the Ras pathway. We will present a strategy of how to develop drugs that target KRAS directly, and we are using siRNA in vitro and in vivo to target KRAS and its downstream effectors, coupled with understanding signal transduction networks. We conclude by putting into perspective how such an integrated approach may assist in developing future treatments of KRAS cancers.

Biography: Dr. Frank McCormick is a world expert in KRAS-dependednt cancer. He is the Principal Investigator of the NCI-funded KRAS Project Initiative run at Leidos, has been Director of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and he is currently the Associate Dean, School of Medicine, UCSF, where he is a faculty member. From April 2012 to April 2013, Dr. McCormick served as president of the American Association for Cancer Research, a scientific organization whose mission is to prevent and cure cancer through research, education, communication, and collaboration. From 1992 to 1998, Dr. McCormick was the founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company. From 1991 to 1992, he served as Vice President of Therapeutic Research at Chiron Corporation, a pharmaceutical company, and from 1981 to 1990, he served as Vice President of Discovery Research with Cetus Corporation, a biotechnology company. Dr. McCormick is on the editorial board of some of the most prestigious international cancer publications and serves as a board member or advisor to multiple cancer research organizations.

Dr. Cloud Paweletz, Dana Faber Cancer Institute

Evidence-based Targeted Cancer Therapies

Abstract: Targeted therapies against genotype-defined cancer subpopulations are revolutionizing care, yet acquired resistance invariably develops. Drug development for specific resistance mechanisms has been slowed by the challenges of tumor re-biopsy. Here we describe approaches, assays, including acoustic assays, and technologies for the monitoring of drug response and disease progression from simple blood tests.

Biography: Dr. Paweletz is head of the Translational Research Laboratory (TRL) of the Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science at Dana Faber Cancer Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He joined the Belfer Institute from Merck & Co., Inc., where he most recently served as principle scientist, externalization lead, and proteomics site lead for the Department of Molecular Biomarkers at the Merck Research Laboratory in Boston. At Merck, Dr. Paweletz successfully built platforms to look at disease biomarkers in body fluids and oversaw research activities spanning the spectrum from early-stage discovery to the clinic. Prior to that, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Physiology at the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland and a research fellow in the Laboratory of Pathology at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Dr. Martin Latterich, BioScale

Enabling biomarker quantification in cancer research with Acoustic Assays

Abstract: Biomarkers play a pivotal role in cancer research. BioScale has developed an Acoustic Assay technology that enables the user to rapidly and cost-effectively develop novel, reproducible biomarker assays for both circulating biomarkers and intracellular markers. Acoustic assays enable exceptional precision, consume <10% Ab vs ELISA and are hands-free, allowing a sensitive automated immunoassay. We showcase several collaborative studies from key opinion leaders in the cancer community that demonstrate the benefits of Acoustic Assays.

Biography: Martin Latterich, PhD, currently serves as the Chief Scientific Officer of BioScale. Dr. Latterich brings nearly 20 years of academic, commercial and technology development experience to BioScale and features an accomplished research career focused on the proteomics-based discovery of novel biomarkers in oncology, respiratory disease and neurodegenerative disorders. Martin held previous positions in both industry and academia, including Diversa, Illumina, The Nicholas Conor Institute, The Salk Institute and McGill University His grant-funded work has been recognized by the 2003 Tier I Canada Research Chair, the 1998 Pew Scholar Award and the 1997 Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Award.

Cost: No cost