2025 Cancer Research Center Symposium Schedule

8:15 - 9 a.m. Check-in, Lobby, 4 Riverside Circle

9 a.m. Welcome - Jenny Munson, Ph.D.,  Professor and Director, Cancer Research Center — Roanoke, and Mike Friedlander, Ph.D., Executive Director, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC and Virginia Tech Vice President for Health Sciences and Technology

9:25 a.m. Keynote: When To Do Nothing is Not To Do No Harm: The Patient Family Perspective on the Crucial Importance of Clinical Trial Development - Lisa Ward, president and co-founder, Tough2gether Foundation

Lisa Ward is the President and co-founder of the Tough2gether Foundation, a nonprofit organization bringing people together to fight childhood cancer with emphasis on DIPG, a pediatric brainstem cancer. Her journey with childhood cancer advocacy began when she received the devastating diagnosis of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) for her son, Jace Ward. She spearheads various initiatives, including the Brain Storm Summit annual conference in Washington, D.C., the DIPG DMG Research Funding Alliance (DDRFA), and the LiveBrave2gether family support network, providing both emotional and financial assistance. Lisa speaks nationally, addressing audiences at prestigious events such as the White House Cancer Moonshot Summit and Congressional Briefings on brain cancer. Lisa is a lawyer by trade and uses her skills in mediation and solution building to break down the divides between research and patient care. Most importantly, Lisa is responsible for bringing together AWS-Health and the Children’s Brain Tumor Network (CBTN) for the “DIPG Project”, a groundbreaking effort to use a patient continuum for the growing central collection of DIPG patient information, trials finder, publication and researcher data released without embargo to inform the newly diagnosed patient’s care in real time using a national tumor board.

10:20 a.m. Coffee Break and Facilities Tours (optional)

Session 1: Personalized and Population Medicine, moderated by Monet Roberts, Ph.D.

10:45 a.m. Innovating Smoking Cessation Treatment in Military Veterans: Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy of a Remote Intervention - Jeff Stein, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Interim Co-director, Center for Health Behaviors Research, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC

11:15 a.m. Multimodal MRI Habitat Imaging Reveals Interstitial Fluid Flow Biomarkers in Glioblastoma - Jessica Cunningham, Ph.D., Research Scientist, Munson Lab, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC

11:35 a.m. FNIH MRD in AML Biomarkers Consortium: Evaluation of Methods for Detection of FLT3 Internal Tandem Duplication Measurable Residual Disease in Acute Myeloid Leukemia - Laura Dillon, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor, Hourigan Lab, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute

11:55 a.m. FIR-LSTM: An Explainable Deep Learning Framework for Predicting Iatrogenic Withdrawal Syndrome in Pediatric Intensive Care Units - Liqing Zhang, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Computer Science, College of Engineering, Virginia Tech

12:10 - 1:50 p.m.  Lunch

• 1:20 p.m.  - Graduate and Undergraduate Student Discussions - in Room 1101, 4 Riverside Circle
  

Session 2: Cell and Immunotherapy, moderated by DaeYong Lee, Ph.D.

2 p.m. Innate Immune-based Cancer Therapeutics - Liwu Li, Ph.D., Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, Virginia Tech

2:30 p.m. Directed Evolution of Semliki Forest Virus to Improve Oncolytic Efficacy in Glioma Cells - Ian Taylor, Graduate Student, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences, Virginia Tech

2:50 p.m. Targeting PI3K-B to Develop Novel Combinational Immunotherapies to Treat Melanoma - Maegan Gabby, Medical Student, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, Sheng Lab, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC

3:10 p.m. Progress to Clinical Testing of a Novel Radiation Protecting Drug for Cancer Patients Undergoing Radiation Therapy - Rob Gourdie, Ph.D., Heywood Fralin Endowed Professor and Director, Center for Vascular and Heart Research, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute

3:35 p.m.  Coffee Break

4 p.m. Lightning Talks

8:15 a.m. Coffee and refreshments

8:45 a.m. Introductions - Christopher Hourigan, DM, DPhil, FRCP and Jenny Munson, Ph.D.

Session 3: Focused Ultrasound, moderated by Fred Wu, M.D., Ph.D.

9 a.m. Unlocking the Power of Sound: An Overview of Ongoing Clinical Focused Ultrasound in Pediatric Neurosurgery - Hasan Syed, M.D., Department of Neurosurgery, Children’s National Hospital, Washington, D.C.

9:30 a.m.  A Preclinical Investigation of Thermal and Mechanical Focused Ultrasound Ablation for Osteosarcoma - Alayna Hay, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research Associate, Animal Cancer Care and Research Center, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine

9:50 a.m Histotripsy for Pancreatic Tumor Ablation Modulates the Tumor Microenvironment and Enhances Systemic Anti-tumor Immunity in an in-vivo Murine Model -  Tamalika Paul, Graduate Student, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine

10:05 a.m. Coffee Break

Session 4: Cancer Biology and Signaling, moderated by Kathleen Mulvaney, Ph.D.

10:30 a.m. Secreted Factors from Pancreatic Cancer Cells Promote Circadian Dysregulation and Atrophy - Jonathan Church, Graduate Student, Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health, Finkielstein Lab, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC

10:50 am. Comparative Single-Cell Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Tumor Invasion and Immunological Heterogeneity Across Different Skin Tumor Subtypes - Luna Huang, Bioinformatics Analyst, Mei Lab, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute

11:10 am. Connexin43 Regulation by Bone Morphogenetic Protein-4 in Glioblastoma Cell Plasticity - Caleb Mensah, Graduate Student, Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health, Lamouille Lab, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC

11:25 a.m. Boxed Lunch, Lobby, 4 Riverside Circle

12:25 p.m. Keynote Introduction - William A. Fintel, M.D., Medical Director, Carilion Clinic Hematology-Oncology

12:30 p.m. Keynote: The Path of Cancer Survivorship: No Longer the Road Less Traveled - Shannon Armbruster, M.D., MPH, Gynecologic Oncologist, Carilion Clinic

Shannon Armbruster is a gynecologic oncologist at Carilion Clinic and an assistant professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. She received her medical degree from the Medical College of Ohio and has over 14 years of experience. Shannon is passionate about improving the quality of life for endometrial cancer survivors, with a focus on addressing the significant impact of obesity on both cancer risk and post-treatment health. She is the recipient of an iTHRIV K award, which supports her research on enhancing the lives of endometrial cancer survivors. Shannon is dedicated to translating her research findings into improved clinical care for cancer patients, including her work with the Foundation for Women’s Cancer.

1:25 p.m.  Awards and Closing Remarks  - Jenny Munson, Ph.D. and Christopher Hourigan, DM, DPhil, FRCP