Session Abstract – PMWC 2025 Silicon Valley
Track Chair: Adrian Lee, UPMC
- PMWC Award Ceremony
Pioneer Honoree: Victor Velculescu, Johns Hopkins
Luminary Honoree: Nicola Aceto, ETH Zurich
- Keynote: Early Detection of Cancer using Cell-free DNA Fragmentomes
- Victor Velculescu, Johns Hopkins - Keynote: Circulating Tumor Cells
- Nicola Aceto, ETH Zurich - Innovative Approaches in Liquid Biopsy (PANEL)
Chair: Victor Velculescu, Johns Hopkins
- Adam Widman, MSKCC
- Improving Sensitivity of MRD and MCED - Tumor-agnostic vs. Tumor-informed ctDNA Approaches
Chair: Adrian Lee, University of Pittsburgh
- Marija Balic, UPMC
- Ola Carl Landgren, University of Miami - Sequencing Accuracy in Early Detection and MRD (PANEL)
Chair: Alex Sockell, PacBio
- James Hadfield, AstraZeneca
- Cristian Tomasetti, City of Hope
- Circulating Tumor Cells: The New Frontier (PANEL)
Chair: Nicola Aceto, ETH Zurich
- Min Yu, University of Maryland School of Medicine
- Matteo Ligorio, UTSW - Addressing Key Challenges and Questions in MCED Testing: Clinical Validation, Overdiagnosis, and Diagnostic Pathways
Chair: Tom Beer, Exact Sciences
- Elizabeth (Betsy) O’Donnell, Dana Farber Cancer Institute - PMWC Showcase
- Wendy Winckler, Droplet Biosciences - Multi-Cancer Early Detection: Innovations and Real-World Evidence (PANEL)
Chair: Peter Bach, Delphi Dx
- Joshua Cohen, Haystack
- Lauren Leiman, BLOODPAC
- Josh Ofman, Grail Bio
- Tom Beer, Exact Sciences - PMWC Showcase
- Varsha Rao, Claret Bio
Speaker Profile
Biography
Dr. Velculescu led the first genome wide 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 be 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 team's 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.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Dr. Adrian Lee is the Pittsburgh Foundation Chair and Director of the Institute for Precision Medicine (IPM), a joint effort by UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh to move biomedical research into personalized well-being and clinical care. He is also Professor of Pharmacology Chemical Biology and Human Genetics at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. Dr. Lee received B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in England, and came to San Antonio, Texas for his postdoctoral studies. He was subsequently recruited to Baylor College of Medicine and to the University of Pittsburgh in 2010. The goal of Dr. Lees research laboratory is to translate basic cell and molecular research findings into the understanding and treatment of breast cancer. Dr Lee has published over 180 peer reviewed research articles. His laboratory is supported by funding from the NIH, Department of Defense, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and other sources.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Dr. Velculescu led the first genome wide 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 be 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 team's 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.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Joshua Cohen is a co-founder and the Chief Innovation Officer of Haystack Oncology. He is also conducts liquid biopsy research with Drs. Bert Vogelstein, Kenneth Kinzler, and Nickolas Papadopoulos at the Johns Hopkins Ludwig Center. Josh has invented and developed several liquid biopsy technologies, both for cancer screening and minimal residual disease detection, including the technology upon which Haystacks Duo chemistry is based. His liquid biopsy research served as the basis for a landmark prospective interventional clinical trial demonstrating, for the first time, the use of circulating tumor DNA analyses for the detection of minimal residual disease and selection of adjuvant chemotherapy in stage II colorectal cancer patients.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Joshua J. Ofman- Prior to joining GRAIL in 2019, Josh spent 16 years at Amgen, where he held various roles, most recently Senior Vice President, Global Value, Access and Policy. Prior to that, Josh was a faculty member in the Department of Medicine and Health Services Research at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, as well as Senior Vice President of Zynx Health Inc., a subsidiary of Cerner Corp. Josh currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Precision Medicine Coalition and has previously served on the Board of Directors of Cell BT Inc, a biotechnology company developing CAR-T cell therapeutics. Josh holds a BA in history and philosophy of science from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MD from the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine. Josh also has an MSHS from the UCLA School of Public Health.
Speaker Profile
Biography
At BloodPAC Lauren is focused on creating an open database for liquid biopsies to accelerate the development of safe and effective blood profiling diagnostic technologies for patient benefit. Prior, she was the Senior Director of External Partnerships at White House Cancer Moonshot Task Force during the Obama Administration. Previously, Lauren was a Senior Advisor for the Melanoma Research Alliance and Director of Philanthropy at Elysium Management LLC in New York City. From 2008-2010, Lauren worked for the Millennium Promise Alliance, where she led the major gifts fundraising effort and spent significant time in sub-Saharan Africa. Lauren was also the head of marketing and investor relations at Steel Partners, LP, an activist hedge fund investing globally. She received her undergraduate degree in communications from the University of Pennsylvania. She also holds an MBA from the University of North Carolinas Kenan-Flagler Business School and a masters degree in public relations and corporate communications from NYU.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Nicola Aceto is Full Professor of Molecular Oncology at the ETH Zurich. Dr. Aceto
completed his training at the Friedrich Miescher Institute (FMI) in Basel, Switzerland,
at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School,
and at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Boston, USA.
Research in the Aceto lab has significantly advanced the understanding of cancer
metastasis, focusing on the dynamic behavior of CTCs in the bloodstream and
including investigations of their biology and vulnerabilities. Among the most notable
achievements are the characterization of CTC clusters and the impact of the
circadian rhythm in breast cancer metastasis. Some of these results form the
scientific bases for ongoing clinical trials. Dr. Aceto continues to contribute to the
scientific community through his extensive research, aiming to improve cancer
diagnostics and therapeutic strategies. His efforts are instrumental in advancing
precision medicine and improving outcomes for cancer patients.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Dr. Min Yu is an esteemed researcher and her groundbreaking work focuses on understanding the mechanisms of cancer metastasis, particularly through the study of circulating tumor cells (CTCs). Dr. Yu's research has been pivotal in uncovering how these cells contribute to the spread of cancer and identifying potential therapeutic targets to prevent metastasis. Dr. Yu received her Ph.D. in genetics from SUNYStony Brook and completed her postdoctoral training at Massachusetts General Hospital of Harvard Medical School. At the University of Maryland, Dr. Yu leads a research team dedicated to exploring the molecular and cellular underpinnings of CTCs. Her work has been published in numerous high-impact journals, highlighting her contributions to the field. Her dedication to cancer research and her contributions to understanding CTCs make her a highly respected figure in the scientific community.
Speaker Profile
Biography
At BloodPAC Lauren is focused on creating an open database for liquid biopsies to accelerate the development of safe and effective blood profiling diagnostic technologies for patient benefit. Prior, she was the Senior Director of External Partnerships at White House Cancer Moonshot Task Force during the Obama Administration. Previously, Lauren was a Senior Advisor for the Melanoma Research Alliance and Director of Philanthropy at Elysium Management LLC in New York City. From 2008-2010, Lauren worked for the Millennium Promise Alliance, where she led the major gifts fundraising effort and spent significant time in sub-Saharan Africa. Lauren was also the head of marketing and investor relations at Steel Partners, LP, an activist hedge fund investing globally. Lauren received her undergraduate degree in communications from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School. She also holds an MBA in international business from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and a master’s degree in public relations and corporate communications from NYU.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Nicola Aceto is Full Professor of Molecular Oncology at the ETH Zurich. Dr. Acetocompleted his training at the Friedrich Miescher Institute (FMI) in Basel, Switzerland,at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School,and at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Boston, USA.Research in the Aceto lab has significantly advanced the understanding of cancermetastasis, focusing on the dynamic behavior of CTCs in the bloodstream andincluding investigations of their biology and vulnerabilities. Among the most notableachievements are the characterization of CTC clusters and the impact of thecircadian rhythm in breast cancer metastasis. Some of these results form thescientific bases for ongoing clinical trials. Dr. Aceto continues to contribute to thescientific community through his extensive research, aiming to improve cancerdiagnostics and therapeutic strategies. His efforts are instrumental in advancingprecision medicine and improving outcomes for cancer patients.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Nicola Aceto is Full Professor of Molecular Oncology at the ETH Zurich. Dr. Acetocompleted his training at the Friedrich Miescher Institute (FMI) in Basel, Switzerland,at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School,and at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Boston, USA.Research in the Aceto lab has significantly advanced the understanding of cancermetastasis, focusing on the dynamic behavior of CTCs in the bloodstream andincluding investigations of their biology and vulnerabilities. Among the most notableachievements are the characterization of CTC clusters and the impact of thecircadian rhythm in breast cancer metastasis. Some of these results form thescientific bases for ongoing clinical trials. Dr. Aceto continues to contribute to thescientific community through his extensive research, aiming to improve cancerdiagnostics and therapeutic strategies. His efforts are instrumental in advancingprecision medicine and improving outcomes for cancer patients.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Dr. Ligorio focuses on the intricate biology of human tumors. His research aims to understand the mechanisms of tumor initiation, progression, and metastasis, particularly emphasizing the role of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and tumor microenvironments.Dr. Ligorio's postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. David T. Ting, MD, at the Massachusetts General Hospital was a pivotal period. His investigations into the molecular and cellular mechanisms of cancer metastasis, particularly his groundbreaking work on the tumor-stroma interaction, have provided crucial insights into the influence of the tumor microenvironment on cancer progression and therapy resistance.In addition to his research, Dr. Ligorio is passionate about teaching and mentoring the next generation of scientists. He is actively involved in collaborating with researchers worldwide.Dr. Ligorio's contributions to cancer biology have been recognized through multiple awards and publications in high-impact scientific journals. His work continues to pave the way for novel therapeutic strategies to improve patient outcomes.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Health policy and payment expert, pulmonary physician, and lung cancer epidemiologist, Peter has devoted his career to repairing defects in the healthcare delivery system that impede access to high-quality cancer care and working to ameliorate healthcares cost crisis. His work spans seminal studies including that identification of racial gaps in lung cancer care, the development of the first lung cancer risk prediction model (the Bach model), lead authorship on multiple lung screening guidelines, and definitional work on pharmaceutical pricing and value. Peter previously served as Senior Adviser at the US Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services and mentor on many National Institutes of Health K awards. He has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Dr. Velculescu led the first genome wide 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 be 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 team's 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.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Alex Sockell is the Senior Director of Commercial Marketing at Pacific Biosciences (PacBio), a leading company in genomic sequencing. With over a decade of experience in life sciences and biotech marketing, Alex Sockell has been instrumental in driving strategic marketing initiatives that enhance the visibility and impact of PacBio’s innovative sequencing technologies. At PacBio, Alex oversees the commercial marketing strategies, focusing on promoting their high-precision sequencing platforms which are used for research in areas such as genomics, personalized medicine, and biotechnology. PacBio continues to advance in the fields of genomic research and precision health, particularly in areas like rare diseases and complex genetic disorders, making cutting-edge contributions to the precision medicine ecosystem.
Speaker Profile
Biography
By combining mathematical modeling, statistical analysis, and machine learning, withexperimental, epidemiological, and DNA sequencing data, Dr. Tomasetti has provided thefirst quantitative evidence for the large role in cancer causation played by the normal, i.e.endogenous, accumulation of somatic mutations in the cells of the human body.As an applied mathematician, he currently leads the effort to develop classificationalgorithms for the early detection of cancer via a simple blood test. His work is recognized internationally for his paradigm-shift contributions to the current understanding of cancer etiology and tumor evolution. He has published more than 40 papers, with several leading and corresponding author papers in Science, Nature, and the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences. Altimetric, a data science service that tracks where published research is mentioned online, ranked three of his papers all published in the journal Science.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Speaker Profile
Biography
Dr. Adam Widman is a breast medical oncologist and an expert in liquid biopsy platform development and clinical application at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). His clinical practice is centered around treating patients with early-stage and advanced breast cancer. Dr. Widman is deeply involved in developing liquid biopsy tools for ultrasensitive cancer monitoring through plasma whole genome sequencing, machine learning and advanced statistics.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Dr. Adrian Lee is the Pittsburgh Foundation Chair and Director of the Institute for Precision Medicine (IPM), a joint effort by UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh to move biomedical research into personalized well-being and clinical care. He is also Professor of Pharmacology Chemical Biology and Human Genetics at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. Dr. Lee received B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in England, and came to San Antonio, Texas for his postdoctoral studies. He was subsequently recruited to Baylor College of Medicine and to the University of Pittsburgh in 2010. The goal of Dr. Lees research laboratory is to translate basic cell and molecular research findings into the understanding and treatment of breast cancer. Dr Lee has published over 180 peer reviewed research articles. His laboratory is supported by funding from the NIH, Department of Defense, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and other sources.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Dr. Marija Balic is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, where she specializes in hematology and oncology. She holds key leadership roles as the Co-Director of the Magee Womens Cancer Program and the Clinical Co-Leader of the Womens Cancer Research Center (WCRC). In these capacities, Dr. Balic focuses on the treatment and research of womens cancers, with a particular emphasis on breast and gynecologic cancers.Additionally, Dr. Balic serves as the Scientific Director of the NSABP Foundation Translational Research Program, where she is involved in the oversight of research initiatives aimed at translating scientific discoveries into clinical applications. Her academic training is complemented by an MBA, which enhances her ability to integrate clinical practice with healthcare management. Dr. Balics work is central to advancing personalized medicine and improving outcomes for patients with womens cancers.
Speaker 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 co-authored 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
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 co-authored 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
Dr. C. Ola Landgren is a board-certified hematologist-oncologist and he has published more than 500 papers and chapter books with a primary focus on multiple myeloma, MGUS (monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance), and smoldering myeloma. Dr. Landgrens research focuses the mechanisms underlying progression from precursor disease to frank malignancy, underlying mechanisms of disease responseresistance, role of MRD (minimal residual disease) negativity, biological mechanisms associated with sustained MRD negativity, identification of novel treatment targets, early drug development, and identification of novel biomarkers. Prior to joining University of Miami, he served as Chief of the Myeloma Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, and prior to that he was the Chief of the Multiple Myeloma Section at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Wendy Winckler has over 20 years of cancer genomics experience, including serving as CSO for Glympse Bio. She led Oncology Next Generation Diagnostics at Novartis and numerous early cancer genome studies at the Broad Institute. Dr. Winckler holds a BS in microbiology and molecular genetics from UCLA and a PhD in genetics from Harvard.
Talk
Lymph liquid biopsy: enabling precision adjuvant decisions
Postoperative lymphatic exudate is a novel proximal biofluid for detecting MRD. Lymph significantly outperforms time-matched plasma for recurrence identification in head and neck cancer, particularly for locoregional recurrence. Accurate MRD identification in patients with lower risk pathologic features suggests that lymph testing has potential to augment traditional pathology and provide more personalized adjuvant treatment decision-making.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Dr. Varsha Rao is the VP of Partnerships and Clinical Affairs at ClaretBio. She oversees the clinical applications of the novel next-generation sequence assays and analytical pipelines developed at ClaretBio with a main focus on evaluating the utility of cell-free DNA fragmentation patterns in cancer progression and treatment response monitoring. Before joining ClaretBio, she was a Research Scientist at Stanford University School of Medicine in Prof Michael Snyder's lab. As a part of multiple consortia such as the Integrative Personalized Omics Profiling Project, the Human Microbiome Project and the NASA Twins Study she has worked on longitudinal multiomic analyses, focusing on applying transcriptomics and liquid biopsy approaches to understand nuances of metabolic diseases, cancer, infectious disease and general health. She received her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from University of Maryland Baltimore County in 2012.
Talk
cfDNA fragmentomics with ClaretBio's SRSLY
In this talk, Dr. Rao will describe the utility of ClaretBio's single-stranded library preparation SRSLY, in cfDNA fragmentomics using a combination of cfDNA length profile and native termini. This approach allow capture of disease informative, differential signal at low-depth of sequencing.
Speaker Profile
Biography
Dr. Elizabeth "Betsy" O'Donnell, MD, is a hematologist and oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, focusing on improving the quality of life for cancer patients and survivors. She is actively involved in clinical trials aimed at enhancing survivorship care, particularly exploring the role of lifestyle interventions such as exercise and nutrition in recovery. Her research also extends to innovative treatments for hematologic malignancies, where she seeks to optimize long-term outcomes for survivors. Dr. O'Donnell received her MD from Georgetown University and completed her fellowship at Dana-Farber.