Overview
The development of safe and effective therapeutic and diagnostic agents and the strategies to guide their use is essential to improving the care of cancer patients in our catchment area and beyond. The role of the Moores Cancer Center Solid Tumor Therapeutics Program (STT) is to use the enormously powerful new cellular, molecular and imaging tools now available to drive the development of treatment strategies that exploit unique tumor cell vulnerabilities. To accomplish this, STT brings together faculty who are experts in each stage of the development process in a collaborative endeavor to leverage new tools and technologies in pursuit of the development of novel therapeutics and to advance the diagnostic and biomarker tools needed to precisely direct their use.
The STT Program has 59 members across 16 departments with a wide range of cancer-relevant scientific disciplines and interests. STT has recruited an outstanding group of translational investigators who develop new therapeutics and technologies and clinician scientists who have the insight and experience to shape these into treatment strategies and introduce them into clinical trials. Accordingly, STT is composed of members whose expertise spans many disciplines including medicinal chemists, immunologists, stem cell biologists, radiation biologists, bioengineers and clinical investigators specializing in the design and execution of clinical trials in the disciplines of medical, surgical, gynecologic, pediatric, neuro- and radiation oncology, and cancer imaging. Research by STT members directly supports the MCC mission through bridging the laboratory to the clinic, translating new discoveries into clinical strategies, and vice versa. A significant number of STT members are physician-scientists who run NCI-funded laboratories as well as trials, with a particular focus on investigator-initiated trials (IITs). This naturally fosters extensive inter-programmatic collaborations, and interactions that cut across classical disciplines. Research by STT members has consistently served as the basis for translational and subsequent practice-changing trials. STT members have a proven track record of high-impact contributions, and during the project period, a significant upward trajectory of productivity as indicated by high-impact collaborative publications and translation of MCC science to IITs. The translational and clinical research efforts of STT members have direct relevance to the cancers with the highest rates of prevalence and mortality in MCC’s catchment area.
Program Goals
The overall goal of STT is to develop novel therapeutics and the biomarkers needed to individualize their use.
The specific aims of the STT program are as follows:
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Identify tumor vulnerabilities, mechanisms and targetable alterations. Use preclinical studies to determine the fundamental basis of neoplastic drivers and actionable defects.
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Develop new classes of therapeutics and delivery systems. Utilize nascent technologies to create novel classes of therapeutics (e.g., immunotherapy), imaging and tumor delivery.
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Develop novel technologies to detect tumors and define tumor geography, microenvironment and exploitable metabolic and signaling defects. Use emerging technologies to translate MCC’s cutting edge science to high-impact IITs.
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Establish the clinical benefit of novel therapeutics and genome-driven treatment strategies. Design and implement high impact clinical studies and novel IITs to explore the safety and efficacy of drugs designed to exploit tumor vulnerabilities and biomarkers to optimize their use.
Events
The following list includes events developed by and of interest to the Solid Tumor Therapeutics program and its members. Please look for the Upcoming STT Events list on the right edge of this page; this list is updated automatically and may be added to your Outlook or Google calendars.
STT Program Events
Seminars, lectures, and other programmatic meetings led by the STT Program. Expand the panels for schedules, locations, webinar links, and more information.
2nd/3rd/4th Thursdays of the month
Tumor profiling and personalized cancer therapy. Dinner served.
Audience: Solid Tumor Therapeutics Program Members
Contact:
Suzanna Lee
Monthly. Contact organizers for details.
CBS and STT Program Member presentations, Inter-programmatic collaborations
Audience: STT, CBS Members
Organizers:
Ezra Cohen, MD,
Jeremy Rich, MD
Monthly. Contact organizers for information.
STT/CBS Program member presentations, intra- and inter- programmatic collaborations.
Audience: STT and CBS Program Members
Organizers: Dong-Er Zhang, PhD,
Kun-Liang Guan, PhD
Annual, November. Check website for details.
The symposium draws special attention to developments in bioinformatics and radiomics, and how these approaches can help predict treatment responses, optimize treatment delivery, and improve the therapeutic ratio of head and neck cancer treatment.
Audience: STT, SFG, and CBS Members
Website: CRCERA
Multi-program Events
Programs, Symposia, Lectures, and training activities of interest to the Solid Tumor Therapeutics (STT) Program community:
September 2020, date TBD, Salk Institute
The annual Usha Mahajani symposium, now in its 30th year, is a collaborative project between UCSD, Salk, and Sanford-Burnham Prebys Institutes. The symposium, held annually, is generally attended by 250-300 senior investigators, post docs and graduate students in academia and biotech. The most recent symposium was held on September 6, 2019.
Contact:
CMM Meetings, 619-299-6673
Website:
mahajanisymposium.com
Bi-monthly meetings on the first Tuesday of the month
In collaboration with LJI, the San Diego Center for Precision Immunotherapy (SDCPI) was formally recognized and established as an academic center at UC San Diego. SDCPI is co-directed by Ezra Cohen (STT) and Stephen Schoenberger (STT) of LJI. The center aims to accelerate and translate scientific advances in immunology and to develop and implement novel personalized cancer immunotherapies for patients.
Contact:
Amy Hart, 858-246-3156
August 2020, date TBD, Salk Institute
The mission of C3 is to leverage the collaborative opportunities offered by the existence of one of the only 46 NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers (MCC) and two of the only 7 NCI-designated basic research cancer centers (Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute) in the same city. Consistent with this mission, C3's primary function is to provide an ongoing forum for advancing cancer prevention and control, screening and therapy vis enhancing the interactions and collaborations among the three NCI-designated Cancer Centers in San Diego, as well as promoting interactions with other public and private sector organizations in San Diego.
Contact:
Raluca Ciochina
September 2020, date TBD, Salk Institute
The annual Usha Mahajani symposium, now in its 30th year, is a collaborative project between UCSD, Salk, and Sanford-Burnham Prebys Institutes. The symposium, held annually, is generally attended by 250-300 senior investigators, post docs and graduate students in academia and biotech. The most recent symposium was held on September 6, 2019.
Contact:
CMM Meetings, 619-299-6673
Website:
mahajanisymposium.com
October 14-16, 2020, Park Hyatt Aviara in Carlsbad
The Cell & Gene Meeting on the Mesa is a three-day conference combining discussions between key opinion leaders, senior executives and top academic researchers. The program also includes 70+ presentations by the field’s most promising companies and 35 poster abstracts by leading scientists from around the globe.
Contact:
Laura Stringham
Website:
meetingonthemesa.com
October 2020, date TBD, Sanford Consortium
The Science Retreat Committee (Gutkind (CBS), Martinez (CCP), Cohen (STT), Goodman (Administration)) invites speakers in areas targeted for strategic development/growth. Selected MCC speakers and poster presentations by senior and/or junior lab members, in conjunction with presentations and oral defense of collaborative Pilot Projects are included in the agenda. The retreat had 160 attendees from the 5 CCSG programs and 6 institutions: LJI, Ludwig, Salk, SDSU, SBP, and UCSD. 22 speakers; 33 poster presentations; graduate students, postdocs and scientists in CCSG labs; 22 C3 pilot applications submitted, 8 selected for competition.
Contact:
Raluca Ciochina
November 2020, date TBD, Altman CTRI Auditorium
The Head and Neck Cancer Retreat brings together leading scientists and clinicians from UCSD, Salk, Sanford Burnham Prebys Cancer Center.
Contact:
Tia Smith
November 2020, date TBD, Altman CTRI Auditorium
The Head and Neck Cancer Retreat brings together leading scientists and clinicians from UCSD, Salk, Sanford Burnham Prebys Cancer Center.
Contact:
Tia Smith
November 2020, date TBD, Altman CTRI Auditorium
The Head and Neck Cancer Retreat brings together leading scientists and clinicians from UCSD, Salk, Sanford Burnham Prebys Cancer Center.
Contact:
Tia Smith
November 2020, date TBD, Altman CTRI Auditorium
The Head and Neck Cancer Retreat brings together leading scientists and clinicians from UCSD, Salk, Sanford Burnham Prebys Cancer Center.
Contact:
Tia Smith
November 2020, date TBD, Altman CTRI Auditorium
The Head and Neck Cancer Retreat brings together leading scientists and clinicians from UCSD, Salk, Sanford Burnham Prebys Cancer Center.
Contact:
Tia Smith
November 2020, date TBD, Altman CTRI Auditorium
The Head and Neck Cancer Retreat brings together leading scientists and clinicians from UCSD, Salk, Sanford Burnham Prebys Cancer Center.
Contact:
Tia Smith
November 2020, date TBD, Altman CTRI Auditorium
The Head and Neck Cancer Retreat brings together leading scientists and clinicians from UCSD, Salk, Sanford Burnham Prebys Cancer Center.
Contact:
Tia Smith
November 2020, date TBD, Altman CTRI Auditorium
The Head and Neck Cancer Retreat brings together leading scientists and clinicians from UCSD, Salk, Sanford Burnham Prebys Cancer Center.
Contact:
Tia Smith
November 2020, date TBD, Altman CTRI Auditorium
The Head and Neck Cancer Retreat brings together leading scientists and clinicians from UCSD, Salk, Sanford Burnham Prebys Cancer Center.
Contact:
Tia Smith