SITC is pleased to announce the reinvigoration of the society’s innovative program designed to foster leadership development, collaborations and scientific exchange among early career investigators who are emerging leaders in the field of cancer immunotherapy: Sparkathon Accelerator: Emerging Leaders Igniting Innovation.
Accepted participants in the Sparkathon Class of 2021 will meet with luminaries in the field for a one-and-a-half day training November 9-10, 2021, prior to SITC’s 36th Annual Meeting & Pre-Conference Programs. These leaders will provide mentorship and the group will address mechanisms of resistance to checkpoint inhibitors. Participants and faculty will also convene at a one-day virtual symposium in December 2021 for additional education and to continue work on program outputs.
Accepted applicants into this elite program will participate for free and receive travel reimbursement to SITC Sparkathon Accelerator, being held prior to SITC’s 36th Annual Meeting & Pre-Conference Programs (SITC 2021).
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
This two-year program will kick off with an in-person retreat Nov. 9–10, 2021, prior to SITC 2021, in Washington, D.C. Sparkathon Class of 2021 participants will present their research on this year’s chosen topic of mechanisms of resistance to peers and luminaries in this area of the field. Participants will learn from each other and receive guidance from the experts in a synergistic and intimate environment.
In addition to addressing hurdles that mechanisms of resistance pose to the field, SITC’s Sparkathon Accelerator explores topics specifically designed for emerging leaders in the cancer immunotherapy field, including:
- How to manage your lab and team
- How to provide, as well as how to seek mentorship
- Career trajectories across academia, industry and government
Participants will spend one-and-a-half days with the top early career investigators and luminaries in the field to advance their work and accelerate the study of mechanisms of resistance through new knowledge gained, convergent field discussions and long-term cross institutional collaboration. Sparkathon Class of 2021 participants will continue to meet each year at SITC’s Annual Meeting with future Sparkathon Classes, creating a broad network of early career scientists focused on moving the field forward.
Program Organizers
- Co-Chair: Jennifer Guerriero, PhD – Brigham and Women’s Hospital
- Co-Chair: Marco Ruella, MD – University of Pennsylvania
- Lisa H. Butterfield, PhD – Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy/University of California San Francisco
- Kristen Hege, MD – Bristol Myers Squibb/University of California San Francisco
- Howard L. Kaufman, MD, FACS – Amkyra Therapeutics/Massachusetts General Hospital
Program Faculty
- Lisa H. Butterfield, PhD – Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy/University of California San Francisco
- Sandra Demaria, MD – Cornell University
- Kristen Hege, MD – Bristol Myers Squibb/University of California San Francisco
- Howard L. Kaufman, MD, FACS – Amkyra Therapeutics/Massachusetts General Hospital
- Michael Klichinsky, PharmD, PhD – Carisma Therapeutics
- Amanda Lund, PhD – New York University Medical Center
- More Faculty to be Announced
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS/APPLICATION PROCESS
Participants must be a SITC student member or regular member in good standing. The Sparkathon target audience will be early career physicians and scientists (MD, PhD or MD/PhD) who are in the last few years of their postdoctoral fellowship, medical fellowship, or residency or are junior faculty members (within one year of appointment and do not hold an R01 or equivalent funding) or within the last year obtained a full time position in government, industry, pharma or similar. Applicants must submit an application by 5 p.m. PDT on August 16.
Complete applications will consist of: a. cover letter; b. letter of recommendation from outside your home institute; c. recommendation from inside your institute; d. statement of purpose; e. specific aims page OR research summary; and f. the applicant’s NIH biosketch.
Applicants should exhibit dedication and research related to the 2021 Sparkathon Accelerator topic, “Mechanisms of Resistance in Cancer Immunotherapy.”
Please review the complete application requirements and review criteria for further information.