Speaker Profile
PMWC PIONEER AWARD
Pioneering ctDNA analysis for liquid biopsies: Revolutionizing cancer detection and personalized medicine
M.D., Ph.D., Co-Director of Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics, Johns Hopkins
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.
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
- 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
