Yale Cancer Center faculty and trainees joined 22,000 cancer researchers from around the world to share the latest advances in cancer science and medicine for the 116th annual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting. The meeting took place April 27-30, 2025 in Chicago.
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New Research Presented from Yale Cancer Center at #AACR25
Dr. Patricia LoRusso President of the American Association for Cancer Research for 2024-25 focused on the global cancer burden, supporting trainees, and the importance of clinical trials
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AACR25
Yale team at Presidential Reception AACR 2025 Yale faculty at AACR Presidential Reception on Monday Don Nguyen, PhD (center) chaired an Education Session #AACR25 on Non-Genetic Drivers of Cancer Metastasis featuring Augustin Hellmit and Ashley Laughney 30th Reunion celebration for the Rimm Lab at AACR AACR 2025 Yale Cancer Center faculty at Dr. LoRusso's Presidential Address Dr. Patricia LoRusso gives remarks at AACR Presidential Dinner Dr. Roy Herbst, Dr. Abeid Athman, and Dr. Patricia LoRusso at Presidential Dinner Dr. Roy Herbst and Ellen Sigal, Friends of Cancer Research, at Presidential Dinner Yale team at Presidential Reception AACR 2025 Yale faculty at AACR Presidential Reception on Monday Don Nguyen, PhD (center) chaired an Education Session #AACR25 on Non-Genetic Drivers of Cancer Metastasis featuring Augustin Hellmit and Ashley Laughney 30th Reunion celebration for the Rimm Lab at AACR AACR 2025 Yale Cancer Center faculty at Dr. LoRusso's Presidential Address Dr. Patricia LoRusso gives remarks at AACR Presidential Dinner Dr. Roy Herbst, Dr. Abeid Athman, and Dr. Patricia LoRusso at Presidential Dinner Dr. Roy Herbst and Ellen Sigal, Friends of Cancer Research, at Presidential Dinner Yale team at Presidential Reception AACR 2025 Yale faculty at AACR Presidential Reception on Monday Don Nguyen, PhD (center) chaired an Education Session #AACR25 on Non-Genetic Drivers of Cancer Metastasis featuring Augustin Hellmit and Ashley Laughney 30th Reunion celebration for the Rimm Lab at AACR AACR 2025 Yale Cancer Center faculty at Dr. LoRusso's Presidential Address Dr. Patricia LoRusso gives remarks at AACR Presidential Dinner Dr. Roy Herbst, Dr. Abeid Athman, and Dr. Patricia LoRusso at Presidential Dinner Dr. Roy Herbst and Ellen Sigal, Friends of Cancer Research, at Presidential Dinner
Patricia LoRusso, DO, FAACR, Amy and Joseph Perella Professor of Medicine at Yale Cancer Center and AACR President for 2024-25, shared her global view on cancer. In her presidential address, Dr. LoRusso discussed how to bring the puzzle pieces together to transform oncology drug development to truly personalize medicine for our patients using perseverance, persistence, and patience. “Cancer is a global disease—it spares no continent, no country. And each patient that gets the disease deserves treatment."
AACR25
David Braun, MD, PhD, presents on Acquired Resistance to Immunotherapies at AACR David Braun, MD, PhD, (left) participates in panel discussion at AACR Michael Cecchini, MD co-chairs a symposium on ADCs and Immuno-oncology-focused Biological Approaches with Jenny Liu, MD Collin Heer presents on "Systematic mapping of chemo-genomic interactions between DNA damaging agents and DNA damage repair genes with targeted CRISPR knockout screening" James Elia presents on "CellPyAbility: an integrated toolkit for high-throughput cell viability assays and automated analysis" Longgang Zhao presents on "Metabolomic and proteomic signatures of ultra-processed foods with liver cancer and liver disease" AACR 2025 Posters Moein Rajaei presents on "Quantifying selection intensity of driver genes in primary and metastatic thyroid cancer" Nic Fisk presents on "Reduction of social disparities in clinical cancer feature prediction via somatic evolutionary embedding of mutational data" Oladimeji Aladelokun presents on "Sex-specific differences in response to exogenous asparagine supplementation during colorectal tumor growth is dependent on aromatase activity" David Braun, MD, PhD, presents on Acquired Resistance to Immunotherapies at AACR David Braun, MD, PhD, (left) participates in panel discussion at AACR Michael Cecchini, MD co-chairs a symposium on ADCs and Immuno-oncology-focused Biological Approaches with Jenny Liu, MD Collin Heer presents on "Systematic mapping of chemo-genomic interactions between DNA damaging agents and DNA damage repair genes with targeted CRISPR knockout screening" James Elia presents on "CellPyAbility: an integrated toolkit for high-throughput cell viability assays and automated analysis" Longgang Zhao presents on "Metabolomic and proteomic signatures of ultra-processed foods with liver cancer and liver disease" AACR 2025 Posters Moein Rajaei presents on "Quantifying selection intensity of driver genes in primary and metastatic thyroid cancer" Nic Fisk presents on "Reduction of social disparities in clinical cancer feature prediction via somatic evolutionary embedding of mutational data" Oladimeji Aladelokun presents on "Sex-specific differences in response to exogenous asparagine supplementation during colorectal tumor growth is dependent on aromatase activity" David Braun, MD, PhD, presents on Acquired Resistance to Immunotherapies at AACR David Braun, MD, PhD, (left) participates in panel discussion at AACR Michael Cecchini, MD co-chairs a symposium on ADCs and Immuno-oncology-focused Biological Approaches with Jenny Liu, MD Collin Heer presents on "Systematic mapping of chemo-genomic interactions between DNA damaging agents and DNA damage repair genes with targeted CRISPR knockout screening" James Elia presents on "CellPyAbility: an integrated toolkit for high-throughput cell viability assays and automated analysis" Longgang Zhao presents on "Metabolomic and proteomic signatures of ultra-processed foods with liver cancer and liver disease" AACR 2025 Posters Moein Rajaei presents on "Quantifying selection intensity of driver genes in primary and metastatic thyroid cancer" Nic Fisk presents on "Reduction of social disparities in clinical cancer feature prediction via somatic evolutionary embedding of mutational data" Oladimeji Aladelokun presents on "Sex-specific differences in response to exogenous asparagine supplementation during colorectal tumor growth is dependent on aromatase activity"
On Monday, April 28, 2025, Dr. LoRusso's term as President ended as she passed the gavel to Lillian Siu, MD, FAACR from the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Dr. LoRusso will now serve as Immediate Past President of the organization and will continue her work to create a national Clinical Trials Advancement Council, improve global oncology education and training, and strengthen clinical trials in Africa by training teams of providers in African countries.
AACR25
Dr. Patricia LoRusso during the Cancer Research at a Crossroads panel discussion Cancer Research at a Crossroads panel discussion Dr. Patricia LoRusso passing the gavel to Dr. Lillian Siu Dr. Lillian Siu, Dr. Margaret Foti, CEO of AACR, Dr. Patricia LoRusso Qin Yan, PhD, chairs a symposium on Epigenetic Control of Immune Evasion in Solid Tumors Raghav Sundar, MD, PhD, presents on "Charting gastric cancer evolution through tumor ecosystems and metastatic pathways" Yasaman Rezaie presents on "Clinical significance of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes and neoadjuvant chemotherapy in colorectal cancer liver metastases" David Rimm, MD, PhD, and Thazin Aung, PhD, share research on "Integrating digital spatial profiling and H&E images to develop predictive biomarkers for immunotherapy outcomes in triple-negative breast cancer from imputed spatial gene expression" Sampada Chande presents on "Characterization of tumor-neuron communication in lung adenocarcinoma brain metastasis" Alessandro Santin, MD, PhD, shares research on "Datopotomab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd), a TROP2 directed antibody-drug conjugate, demonstrates remarkable antitumor activity in uterine serous carcinoma" Dr. Patricia LoRusso during the Cancer Research at a Crossroads panel discussion Cancer Research at a Crossroads panel discussion Dr. Patricia LoRusso passing the gavel to Dr. Lillian Siu Dr. Lillian Siu, Dr. Margaret Foti, CEO of AACR, Dr. Patricia LoRusso Qin Yan, PhD, chairs a symposium on Epigenetic Control of Immune Evasion in Solid Tumors Raghav Sundar, MD, PhD, presents on "Charting gastric cancer evolution through tumor ecosystems and metastatic pathways" Yasaman Rezaie presents on "Clinical significance of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes and neoadjuvant chemotherapy in colorectal cancer liver metastases" David Rimm, MD, PhD, and Thazin Aung, PhD, share research on "Integrating digital spatial profiling and H&E images to develop predictive biomarkers for immunotherapy outcomes in triple-negative breast cancer from imputed spatial gene expression" Sampada Chande presents on "Characterization of tumor-neuron communication in lung adenocarcinoma brain metastasis" Alessandro Santin, MD, PhD, shares research on "Datopotomab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd), a TROP2 directed antibody-drug conjugate, demonstrates remarkable antitumor activity in uterine serous carcinoma" Dr. Patricia LoRusso during the Cancer Research at a Crossroads panel discussion Cancer Research at a Crossroads panel discussion Dr. Patricia LoRusso passing the gavel to Dr. Lillian Siu Dr. Lillian Siu, Dr. Margaret Foti, CEO of AACR, Dr. Patricia LoRusso Qin Yan, PhD, chairs a symposium on Epigenetic Control of Immune Evasion in Solid Tumors Raghav Sundar, MD, PhD, presents on "Charting gastric cancer evolution through tumor ecosystems and metastatic pathways" Yasaman Rezaie presents on "Clinical significance of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes and neoadjuvant chemotherapy in colorectal cancer liver metastases" David Rimm, MD, PhD, and Thazin Aung, PhD, share research on "Integrating digital spatial profiling and H&E images to develop predictive biomarkers for immunotherapy outcomes in triple-negative breast cancer from imputed spatial gene expression" Sampada Chande presents on "Characterization of tumor-neuron communication in lung adenocarcinoma brain metastasis" Alessandro Santin, MD, PhD, shares research on "Datopotomab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd), a TROP2 directed antibody-drug conjugate, demonstrates remarkable antitumor activity in uterine serous carcinoma"
Yale presented during 37 sessions at the meeting, highlighting advances in cancer immunology, spatial profiling, epigenetics, DNA damage repair, cancer evolution, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), and biomarkers, among many others. Kurt Schalper, MD, PhD, associate professor of pathology, presented a plenary talk highlighting developments in spatial analysis, noting that spatial immune heterogeneity is not a passive phenomenon, sharing that higher levels are associated with worse outcomes. 16 posters were displayed sharing research from several Yale Cancer Center research programs spanning departments throughout Yale School of Medicine, Yale School of Public Health, and Yale School of Nursing. The full list of participation is noted below.
AACR25
Sebastian Cruz-Gomez presents on "Aurora kinase A inhibition overcomes tolerance to panHER inhibitors in HPV positive HNSCC" Ruifeng Sun shares dependency of B Cell Leukemia on Slc7c5 during an AACR mini-symposium Ruifeng Sun shares dependency of B Cell Leukemia on Slc7c5 during an AACR mini-symposium Thazin Aung, Jonathan Warrell, and Tianci Song Katerina Politi, PhD, and David Feldser, PhD, chair a Meet the Expert session on Advances in Modeling Lung Adenocarcinoma in the Mouse Jeffrey Townsend moderates a Cancer Evolution Working Group Town Hall Nic Fisk presents at a Cancer Evolution Working Group Town Hall AACR Runners for Research 2025 AACR Runners for Research 2025 AACR Runners for Research 2025 Sebastian Cruz-Gomez presents on "Aurora kinase A inhibition overcomes tolerance to panHER inhibitors in HPV positive HNSCC" Ruifeng Sun shares dependency of B Cell Leukemia on Slc7c5 during an AACR mini-symposium Ruifeng Sun shares dependency of B Cell Leukemia on Slc7c5 during an AACR mini-symposium Thazin Aung, Jonathan Warrell, and Tianci Song Katerina Politi, PhD, and David Feldser, PhD, chair a Meet the Expert session on Advances in Modeling Lung Adenocarcinoma in the Mouse Jeffrey Townsend moderates a Cancer Evolution Working Group Town Hall Nic Fisk presents at a Cancer Evolution Working Group Town Hall AACR Runners for Research 2025 AACR Runners for Research 2025 AACR Runners for Research 2025 Sebastian Cruz-Gomez presents on "Aurora kinase A inhibition overcomes tolerance to panHER inhibitors in HPV positive HNSCC" Ruifeng Sun shares dependency of B Cell Leukemia on Slc7c5 during an AACR mini-symposium Ruifeng Sun shares dependency of B Cell Leukemia on Slc7c5 during an AACR mini-symposium Thazin Aung, Jonathan Warrell, and Tianci Song Katerina Politi, PhD, and David Feldser, PhD, chair a Meet the Expert session on Advances in Modeling Lung Adenocarcinoma in the Mouse Jeffrey Townsend moderates a Cancer Evolution Working Group Town Hall Nic Fisk presents at a Cancer Evolution Working Group Town Hall AACR Runners for Research 2025 AACR Runners for Research 2025 AACR Runners for Research 2025
AACR25
AACR 2025 Kurt Schalper, PhD, presents during plenary session Kurt Schalper, PhD, presents during plenary session Kurt Schalper, PhD, presents during plenary session Sidi Chen moderates a panel on Adoptive Cell Therapies Sidi Chen moderates a panel on Adoptive Cell Therapies Ping Mu presents during a minisymposium Zaira Ianniello presents on Next-generation ADCs Angela Kim presents during a minisymposium on Epigenetic Regulation chaired by Dr. Nita Ahuja Jeffrey Townsend, PhD, receives AACR award "in recognition of outstanding guidance and visionary leadership" AACR 2025 Kurt Schalper, PhD, presents during plenary session Kurt Schalper, PhD, presents during plenary session Kurt Schalper, PhD, presents during plenary session Sidi Chen moderates a panel on Adoptive Cell Therapies Sidi Chen moderates a panel on Adoptive Cell Therapies Ping Mu presents during a minisymposium Zaira Ianniello presents on Next-generation ADCs Angela Kim presents during a minisymposium on Epigenetic Regulation chaired by Dr. Nita Ahuja Jeffrey Townsend, PhD, receives AACR award "in recognition of outstanding guidance and visionary leadership" AACR 2025 Kurt Schalper, PhD, presents during plenary session Kurt Schalper, PhD, presents during plenary session Kurt Schalper, PhD, presents during plenary session Sidi Chen moderates a panel on Adoptive Cell Therapies Sidi Chen moderates a panel on Adoptive Cell Therapies Ping Mu presents during a minisymposium Zaira Ianniello presents on Next-generation ADCs Angela Kim presents during a minisymposium on Epigenetic Regulation chaired by Dr. Nita Ahuja Jeffrey Townsend, PhD, receives AACR award "in recognition of outstanding guidance and visionary leadership"
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Featured in this article
- Nita Ahuja, MD, MBA, FACSProfessor Adjunct
- Oladimeji AladelokunPostdoctoral Associate
- Thazin Nwe Aung, PhDAssociate Research Scientist in Pathology
- David A. Braun, MD, PhDAssistant Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology), Louis Goodman and Alfred Gilman Yale Scholar
- Michael Cecchini, MDAssociate Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology)
- Sampada Chande, PhDAssociate Research Scientist in Pathology
- Sidi Chen, PhDAssociate Professor of Genetics and of Neurosurgery
- Sebastian Matias Cruz Gomez, PhDPostdoctoral Associate
- James Elia
- Collin Heer, PhDAssociate Research Scientist in Therapeutic Radiology
- Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhDEnsign Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology) and Professor of Pharmacology
- Zaira Ianniello, PhDPostdoctoral Associate
- Adriana Kahn, MDAssistant Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology)
- Angela Kim
- Patricia LoRusso, DOAmy and Joseph Perella Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology)
- Don Nguyen, PhDAssociate Professor of Pathology and Medical Oncology
- Katerina Politi, PhDJoseph A. and Lucille K. Madri Professor of Pathology
- Moein Rajaei, PhDPostdoctoral Associate
- David Rimm, MD, PhDAnthony N. Brady Professor of Pathology and Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology)
- Alessandro Santin, MDProfessor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences
- Kurt Schalper, MD, PhDAssociate Professor of Pathology
- Ruifeng Sun, BS
- Raghav Sundar, MD, PhDAssociate Professor of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology & Hematology)
- Jeffrey Townsend, PhDElihu Professor of Biostatistics and Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
- Jonathan WarrellAssociate Research Scientist
- Eric Winer, MDAlfred Gilman Professor of Pharmacology and Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology)
- Qin Yan, PhDProfessor of Pathology
- Longgang Zhao, PhDPostdoctoral Associate