A Message from the President
It’s hard to believe SITC’s 38th Annual Meeting & Pre-Conference Programs has come and gone! I remain in awe of the science and research presented at this year's meeting. We saw multiple sessions highlight the dynamic remodeling of lymphoid and myeloid cell populations in the tumor microenvironment during the anti-tumor immune response. Additionally, the relationship between metabolism, immune cell function and fate, and anti-tumor immunity was a common theme throughout the meeting.
We are currently at the inflection point of the next big wave of progress in IO, with multiple innovative, diverse I/O drugs under rapid development. Over the last ten years, we have had over 100 I/O drug approvals. SITC is now aiming for 100 approvals of unique cancer IO agents over the next ten years. We plan to reach this goal in part through SITC’s Biotech initiative, which launched at NASDAQ a week prior to the Annual Meeting and continued its splash in San Diego with co-chairs Zhen Su, MD, MBA – Marengo Therapeutics and Kristen Hege, MD. We also discussed emerging therapeutic innovations during a special session dedicated to the biotech community. SITC is excited about the impact this new venture will have in accelerating progress in bringing cutting edge cancer I/O medicines to patients who are waiting.
Cellular therapies will certainly play a significant part in IO’s next wave as well. With this in mind, SITC established a strategic initiative to accelerate cell therapies with the formation of the Cell Therapy Committee, co-chaired by Marco Ruella, MD – University of Pennsylvania and Shari Pilon-Thomas, PhD – H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute. We are seeing the success of SITC’s cell therapy initiative and committee with the cellular therapies abstract category in the top five categories at the Annual Meeting, illustrating the key role cellular therapies will continue to play in improving cancer patient outcomes with I/O.
The Presidential Session is always a highlight of the Annual Meeting. This year presentations of the highest ranked research from four award-winning young investigators provided new insights into improving the efficacy of existing cancer immunotherapies – these young investigators were Kelsey Bennion, BS – Emory University, Hussein Sultan, PhD – Washington University, School of Medicine, Carlos Wagner de Souza Wanderley, PhD – Brigham and Women's Hospital and Elise Wilcox, PhD – Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. We congratulate Hussein Sultan, PhD, on receiving the Presidential Award, SITC’s most prestigious Young Investigator Award, for the quality of his research and the clarity of his presentation.
Finally, a huge shout out to SITC's house band, The CheckPoints! They always deliver a fun and lively concert to energize our members. This year's show was no exception. I personally appreciated their original rap that honored SITC staff for their commitment and hard work on behalf of our community. We are immensely grateful to all SITC staff, who work side-by-side with us every day to advance I/O for the benefit of patients everywhere.
While we continue to reflect on the conversations, connections, and knowledge from this year’s meeting, I am looking forward to the 39th Annual Meeting & Pre-Conference Programs taking place
Nov. 6–10, 2024, in Houston.
Leisha A. Emens, MD, PhD
SITC President