Speaker Profile
M.D., Ph.D., Vice Chair for Innovation, CHOP / Univ. of Penn.
Biography
Dr. Master is basedwithin the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where he holds the Michael J. Bennett Endowed Chair in Pathology. He serves as Director of the CHOP Center for Diagnostic Innovation as well as of the Michael Palmieri Laboratory for Metabolic and Advanced Diagnostics. His work focuses on machine learning and mass spectrometry for diagnostic development, including both cancer diagnostics as well as support for emerging cell and gene therapy programs. He is a past President of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (now A DLM), has served on the scientific committee for the Mass Spectrometry: Applications to the Clinical Lab conference, and was lead author on the IFCC working group guidelines on machine learning in laboratory medicine.
Session Abstract – PMWC 2026 Silicon Valley
Track Chair:
Victor Velculescu, Johns Hopkins University
PMWC Award Ceremony
• Klaus Pantel, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf / ELBS
• Daniel De Carvalho, University of Toronto
Keynote: Early Detection of Cancer by Multimodal Liquid Biopsy Analysis
• Klaus Pantel, UKE / ELBS
From Mutation to Methylation: The Next Wave of Liquid Biopsy Biomarkers
• Chair: Victor Velculescu, Johns Hopkins University
• Daniel De Carvalho, University of Toronto
• Stephen Master, CHOP/U Penn
• Manel Esteller, Sant Pau Research Institute
• Gordon Sanghera, Oxford Nanopore Technologies
Advancing Minimal Residual Disease Detection Through cfDNA & cfRNA Profiling
• Chair: Luis Diaz, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Anne-Renee Hartman, Adela
• Klaus Pantel, UKE / ELBS
• Rita Shaknovich, Agilent
• Ajay Gannerkote, Integrated DNA Tech
AI-Informed Biomarker Trials: Turning Early Signals into Actionable Designs
• Chair: Manish Kohli, University of Utah
• Luis Diaz, MSKCC
• Eric Klein, GRAIL
• Peter Bach, DELFI Diagnostics
• Anne Docimo, UnitedHealthcare
• Samuel Levy, ClearNote Health
Role of AI in Liquid Biopsies & Cancer Detection
• Chair: Amoolya Singh, DELFI Diagnostics
• Ron Andrews, Dxcover
• Pankaj Vats, NVIDIA
Fragmentomics for Early Detection: End Motifs and Library Prep
• Christopher Troll, Claret Bioscience
Integrating Genetic Risk with Early Detection: A Precision Prevention Framework for Cardiovascular Disease
• Giordano Botta, Allelica
Metagenomic Diagnostics & Global Pathogen Surveillance
• Charles Chiu, UCSF
AI-Driven Host–Pathogen Signatures from Plasma cfDNA: Bridging Infection Biology and Early Diagnostics
• Sivan Bercovici, Karius
Ultra-Sensitive Multimodal Liquid Biopsy for Early Cancer Detection: AI-Driven Signal Profiling
• John Sninsky, CellMax Life
AI-Enhanced Proteomic Signatures for Early Cancer Detection
• Diana Abdueva, Aqtual
• Sally Mackenzie, EpiMethyl Analytics
