Update from the President

 Dear Colleagues:

 Happy belated Thanksgiving to you and your families and friends!

I would like to take this opportunity to share with you some recent accomplishments of the iSBTc.

 Three weeks ago, the 24th Annual Meeting of the iSBTc was held and, in the process, a series of records for the iSBTc were set:

• Highest attended iSBTc event with the broadest representation from around the world:

  • Investigators from 26 countries submitted abstracts.
  • Representatives from 28 countries attended the iSBTc meeting activities.

• The iSBTc-FDA-NCI Workshop, an outstanding event, beat the previous attendance record by more than 100 people.

• More than 500 people were present at the Annual Meeting and our membership has increased to almost 700 members, an all time high.

 Attendees of the 2009 iSBTc Business Meeting pose for a group photo.  View more photos of the programs on the iSBTc website.

The meeting also featured an expansion of “Career Opportunities” with a focus on early/mid Career professionals. This first time event was extremely well attended and will be expanded next year.

Thank you to all who attended these record-setting programs. In addition to the exceptional science, the fact that the Checkpoints (the iSBTc house band) played for the Presidential reception may have helped put the meeting over-the-top. The Checkpoints will be back for the 25th Anniversary meeting in 2010. Mark your calendars now for October 1-4!

The Checkpoints: Tom Gajewski, Jim Allison,
Rachel Humphrey, Dirk Spitzer, Pat Hwu,
Keith Bahjat (not pictured).

The iSBTc is delighted at the positive feedback received at the meeting, through the evaluations and in emails. We are grateful for the support of members who worked hard to organize the meeting and to the Sponsors who supported it.  Thank you!

A summary of recent accomplishments and events for the iSBTc are listed below, as well as an outline of events leading up to our 25th Annual Meeting, Oct 1-4 2010, in Washington D.C. We hope you will attend!

2009 Accomplishments...

•  iSBTc-FDA Taskforce on Immunotherapy Biomarkers formally initiated. Task was to address the FDA “Critial Path” as it relates to immunotherapy biomarkers.View the preparatory manuscript.

• iSBTc Symposium held at 2nd European Congress of Immunology.

• NCI-Japan Meeting -Numerous iSBTc Members participated. View the summary.

• NHLBI PACT T cell Therapy Meeting - iSBTc representatives served on the Organizing Committee and as participants.

• Partnership established with Journal of Translational Medicine
  Editor in Chief, Francesco Marincola, MD.
  
  • Launched iSBTc Subsection within the Journal of Translational Medicine
    
    • Tumor Immunology and Biological Cancer Therapy.
      Editor in chief, Pedro J. Romero, MD.

This Journal was launched to provide an open access venue for articles of the iSBTc membership and for workproducts of the iSBTc. As we continue to reach out globally to Investigators in the cancer immunotherapy communities, it is clear that many do not have ready access to all journals. In an effort to increase accessibility to the workproducts of the Taskforce on Immunotherapy Biomarkers and to promote discussion, the iSBTc open access venue was established.       

• iSBTc Clinical Endpoint and Response Criteria Working Group (manuscript under revision.)

• iSBTc Workshop on Cancer and Inflammation: Promise for Biological Therapy (manuscript under revision.)

• Represented at the Town Hall Meeting with Constituent Organizations with Francis Collins.

• Participated on Program Committee for FDA/NCI Workshop on Therapeutic Vaccines.

• iSBTc Taskforce on Immunotherapy Biomarkers - Ongoing collaborations with 9 organizations.
        -Association for Immunotherapy of Cancer (CIMT)
        -Biologics Development Association (BDA)
        -Cancer Research Institute/Cancer Vaccine Consortium (CRI/CVC)
        -Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
        -Italian Network for Tumor Biotherapy (NIBIT)
        -Japanese Society of Cancer Immunology (JSCI)
        -National Cancer Institute (NCI)
        -National Institutes of Health (NIH)
        -Nordic Center for Development of Antitumor Vaccines (NCV-Network)

• iSBTc response submitted for FDA “Draft Guidance” on Cancer Vaccines

Upcoming in 2010...

• Publications
       -Protocols on the iSBTc website

• Satellite Meeting of the International Congress of Immunology (ICI)
       -August 21, 2010 - Kobe, Japan

• 2010 iSBTc Meeting off the Mall in D.C.
  
  • To be held 1 month earlier to synchronize with the CRI meeting in NYC.
  • Featuring Immunotherapy Biomarkers Taskforce satellite meeting to drill-down on topics identified from this year's Workshop. Tentative date is September 30.
  • Tumor Immunology Primer returning to agenda on October 1.
  • Interactive Workshop on Monoclonal Antibodies planned for October 1.
  • Annual Meeting will begin on Saturday, October 2 and end at noon on Monday, October 4 with the popular Hot Topics session.
    
    • In celebration of the 25th Anniversary Meeting, the 2010 Presidential reception will be held at an exciting off-site venue.

and Beyond...

• Plans are in the works for a full Immunotherapy Biomarkers Workshop in 2011.  Stay tuned!

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