2025 Cancer TEC Annual Meeting

13 Eleven SpringHill Suites Hotel Bar and Restaurant.

Join us in the hotel restaurant for a casual meet and greet from 7:00 - 9:00 PM. Food and drink is not hosted, but will be available for purchase.

Coffee provided by the MC²  Center / Sage Bionetworks

Tech check for all Day 1 Speakers

Daniel Pelaez (University of Miami)

Jennifer Couch, Chief of the Division of Cancer Biology (DCB) Biophysics, Bioengineering, and Computational Sciences Branch

All poster presenters please attach their posters.

Chairs: Daniel Pelaez (University of Miami) and Shannon Mumenthaler (Ellison Institute/USC)

This session will describe the goals and plans of these two new TEC SIGs and further input is welcomed by all TEC participants.

Chair: Shannon Mummenthaler (Ellison Institute) and Madison Howard (Purdue)

11:00 - 11:10 AM     Melika Mehrabi Dehdezi (UT-Austin), “Investigating Space Invasion in Inflammatory Breast Cancer Using a Vascularized 3D Microfluidic Platform”

11:15 - 11:25 AM     Dr. Michael Greene and Kwaghtaver S. Desongu (Auburn) “Obesity-linked Colorectal Cancer (CRC) and Consensus Molecular Subtype 4 (CMS4) Colorectal Cancer Models”

11:30-11:40 AM     Nikolas Ala-Kokko (Univ. of Arkansas), Breast Tumor Microenvironment and Metabolic Reprogramming Promotes Innervation” (Song lab)

11:45-11:55 AM     Dr. Esak Lee (Cornell), Tissue-Engineered Models of Lymphatic Drainage in Breast Cancer        

Lunch is provided by the MC² Center / Sage Bionetworks

If you have not attached your posters, please do so now

Chair: Christopher Hughes (UC Irvine) and Natalie Curry (Rice)

1:15-1:25     Dr. Mike King (Rice), High throughput studies of the mechanotransduction of cancer cell aggregates

1:30-1:40     Dr. Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic (Columbia), Recapitulating organotropic breast cancer metastasis using a human multi-tissue platform

1:45-1:55     Madison Howard (Purdue), Investigating the Effects of Tensile Strain on Breast Cancer Cell Dormancy Using a Lung-Mimetic Magnetic Actuation Platform” (Solorio lab)

2:00- 2:10     Dr. Shannon Mumenthaler and Curran Shah (Ellison Institute/USC), A colorectal cancer-on-a-chip model to study mechanical forces and disease progression

2:15-2:25     Dr. Joanna Burdette (Univ of Illinois-Chicago), Ovulation as a risk factor for high grade serous cancer

Chair: Kwaghtaver Samuel Desongu (Auburn) and Hunain Khawaja (University of Arizona)

Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Boardroom Room #252

Join via Zoom

In-person talk: Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic (Columbia)

Recorded talks:

•    Rhiannon David(Astrazenaca/IQ-MPS Affiliate)

•    Richard McFarland (BioFabUSA)

Session Chair:  Y. Shrike Zhang (Harvard)

• #2 Natalie Curry, Rice University
• #5 Madison Howard, Purdue University
• #6 Samantha McLaughlin, University of Miami
• #8 Faith Muriuki, Cornell University
• #9 Angela Russo, University of Illinois at Chicago
• #10 Mehdi Salar Amoli, Emory University & Georgia Tech
• #11 Curran Shah, University of Southern California

Poster session starts at 4:00 pm
Retter Patio (underneath the Auditorium)

Appetizers provided by Sage Bionetworks

4:00 - 4:30 PM     Presenters at Odd Posters

4:30 - 5:00 PM     Presenters at Even Posters

At Puttshack Miami. Join us for dinner, mini-golf, and plenty of time to network! Cash bar is available.

Coffee provided by the MC² Center / Sage Bionetworks

Tech check for all Day 2 Speakers

Setup for Tech Showcase presenters

Chair: Joanna Burdette (Univ of Illinois-Chicago) and Samantha McLaughlin (University of Miami)

9:00-9:10am     Dr. Maheswari Senthil and Dr. Christopher Hughes (UC-Irvine), Novel Vascularized Microphysiologic system of Peritoneal Carcinomatosis

9:15-9:25am     Dr. Meenakshi Upreti and Jennifer Ritchie (Children's Hospital Los Angeles), Investigating Targeted Therapeutics in Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma Using Tumor-Tissue Analogs

9:30-9:40am    Dr. Xiling Shen (MD Anderson), Patient micro-organoids driving clinical drug development decisions

9:45-9:55am    Dr. Y. Shrike Zhang (Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School), 3D Bioprinting for Modeling the Brain and Glioblastoma

Session Chairs: Daniel Pelaez & Emma Drabbe (University of Miami);   Kris Killian (UNSW Sydney) and Thomas Molley (UCSD)

McKnight Vision Research Center, 8th Floor - Rooms 815 & 822.

Lunch is provided by the MC² Center / Sage Bionetworks

Richard McFarland (ARMI)

Session Chair: Jennifer Couch, NCI / NIH

Chair: Yitshak Zohar (University of Arizona) and Nikolas Ala-Kokko (University of Arkansas)

2:00-2:10 PM     Dr. Kris Kilian (UNSW Sydney), Deconstructing a complex microenvironment with structured microtumours

2:15-2:25 PM     Dr. Geeta Mehta (Univ. of Michigan), Fluid Assisted   Transformation and Dissemination of Fallopian Tube Epithelial Cells                                                                    

2:30-2:40 AM     Dr. Stephanie Seidlits (UT- Austin), Effects of matrix mechanics and hypoxia on glioblastoma metabolism

Concurrent Breakout Sessions:

• Biomaterials & TME (Kris Kilian) -  Jose Berrocal Auditorium

• Metastasis (Luis Solorio) - McKnight Vision Research Center 1st Floor Room #102

• Drug Screening and Discovery (Xiling Shen & Meenakshi Upreti) - McKnight Vision Research Center 1st Floor Room #111

Chairs: Breakout Session Leads

Planning Committee Chairs / NCI