Sparkathon 2023 Schedule

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Sparkathon 2023 Schedule

Toxicities in Cancer Immunotherapy

SITC will select up to 12 eligible, qualified early career scientists that will meet on Sept. 27–29, 2023, in Chicago, IL.

Accepted participants will also convene at a second meeting on Nov. 1, 2023, prior to the society’s 38th Annual Meeting & Pre-Conference Programs (SITC 2023) in San Diego, CA.

Select a day >

Wednesday, Sept. 27

Thursday, Sept 28

Friday, Sept 29

Wednesday, Sept. 27

Session 1 
8-9 a.m. Registration/Badge Pickup and Breakfast
9-9:10 a.m. Opening Remarks
Organizers: 

Jennifer Guerriero, PhD – Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Marco Ruella, MD – University of Pennsylvania

9:10-9:55 a.m.

Keynote: The Unique Toxicities of CART Immunotherapy for Cancer

Marco Davila, MD, PhD – Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
9:55-10:25 a.m.

What is Needed to Become an Independent Investigator Panel Discussion

Ivan Maillard, MD, PhD – University of Pennsylvania

Chloe Villani, PhD – Massachusetts General Hospital
10:25-10:55 a.m.

Break

Session 2 
10:55-11:25 a.m.

Mentoring Session: How to Give an Effective Talk

 Marco Ruella, MD - University of Pennsylvania

11:25 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

Team Building Activity

Jennifer Guerriero, PhD – Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Marco Ruella, MD - University of Pennsylvania
12:15-1:15 p.m. Networking Lunch

Session 3
1:15-1:45 p.m.

Mechanisms of Action of IO Toxicities

Chloe Villani, PhD – Massachusetts General Hospital

1:45-2:15 p.m.

Immune Checkpoint Toxicities

 Laura Cappelli, MD – John’s Hopkin’s University School of Medicine
2:15-2:45 p.m.

Preclinical Models of CART Toxicities

Saad S. Kenderian, MB, ChB, - Mayo Clinic
2:45-3:15 p.m.

Break

Session 4
3:15-3:45 p.m.

Mentoring Talk: Supporting Your Research by Getting Research Funding: Grant Writing and Other Mechanisms

Brian Brown, PhD – Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

3:45-4:15 p.m.

Mentoring Talk: The Role of Mentorship in Career Development

Ivan Maillard, MD, PhD – University of Pennsylvania
6-8 p.m.

Networking Reception

Thursday, Sept. 28

Session 5
8-9 a.m. Breakfast
9-9:05 a.m. Welcome

Jennifer Guerriero, PhD – Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Marco Ruella, MD - University of Pennsylvania

9:05-9:35 a.m.

Toxicity Management: Cellular Therapies

Michael Bishop, MD – University of Chicago
9:35-10:05 a.m.

Toxicity Management: Checkpoint Inhibitors

Elad Sharon, MD – Dana Farber Cancer Institute
 10:05-10:15 a.m.

Introduction to the Class of 2023 Presentations
 10:15-10:25 a.m.

Class of 2023 Presentation

Steven Blum, MD - Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital
 10:25-10:35 a.m.

Class of 2023 Presentation

Kelly Burke, MD, PhD - Dana Farber Cancer Institute
 10:35-10:45 a.m.

Class of 2023 Presentation

Simon Deycmar, PhD - Wake Forest University
10:45-11:15 a.m.

Break

Session 6
11-:15-11:25 a.m.

Class of 2023 Presentation

Guido Ghilardi, MD - University of Pennsylvania

11:25-11:35 a.m.

Class of 2023 Presentation

Felix Korell, MD - Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center

 11:35-11:45 a.m.

Class of 2023 Presentation

Caleb Lareau, PhD - Stanford University

 11:45-11:55 a.m.

Class of 2023 Presentation

Margaret Ottaviano, PhD - UOSC Melanoma, Immunotherapy, Development Therapeutics INT Fondazione

 11:55 a.m.-12:05 p.m.

Class of 2023 Presentation

Alexander Rankin, MD - National Cancer Institute

 12:05-12:15 p.m.

Class of 2023 Presentation

Saurabh Sharma, PhD - Stanford University
12:15-1:15 p.m.

Networking Lunch

Session 7

 1:15-1:25 p.m.

Class of 2023 Presentation

Yapeng Su, PhD - Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
 1:25-1:35 p.m.

Class of 2023 Presentation

Deanne Tibbitts, PhD, MCR - Oregon Health and Science University
 1:35-1:45 p.m.

Class of 2023 Presentation

Aleksei Tikhonov, PhD - Gustave Roussy
1:45-2:15 p.m.

Break

Session 8
2:15-2:45 p.m.

Strategies to Get Published

James Gulley, MD, PhD, FACP – National Cancer Institute
2:45-3:15 p.m.

Update on White Paper from Class of 2022

Michelle Williams, PhD - University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus 

3:15-3:45 p.m.

Brainstorming for Class of 2023 White Paper
3:45-3:55 p.m.

Best of Class Presentation Awards 
 

Offsite Team Bonding Activity

Friday, Sept. 29

Session 9
8-9 a.m. Breakfast 

9-10:30 a.m.

DEI Session: Unprejudiced Habit Breaking and Unconscious Bias Training
Trish Devine, PhD – University of Wisconsin-Madison
10:30-11 a.m. Break

11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

 DEI Session: Unprejudiced Habit Breaking and Unconscious Bias Training
Trish Devine, PhD – University of Wisconsin-Madison
12:30-1:30 p.m. Networking Lunch

Session 10
1:30-2 p.m.

Mentoring Session: Job Market and Negotiating Your Appointment/Contract

Marco Ruella, MD – University of Pennsylvania

Brian Brown, PhD – Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Ivan Maillard, MD, PhD – University of Pennsylvania

2-2:30 p.m.

Mentoring Session: How to Give an Effective Chalk Talk

Jennifer Guerriero, PhD – Brigham and Women’s Hospital

2:30-3 p.m.

Mentoring Session: Establishing Effective Collaborations Between MD and PhDs and Academia and Pharma

Lisa H. Butterfield, PhD – Merck

3-3:30 p.m.

 Break

Session 11
3:30-4 p.m.

Careers in Government

Elad Sharon, MD – Dana Farber Cancer Institute

4-4:30 p.m.

Careers in Industry

Ashley Koegel, MD – Bristol Myers Squibb

4:30-4:40 p.m.

 Closing Remarks

Jennifer Guerriero, PhD – Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Marco Ruella, MD - University of Pennsylvania

Wednesday, Nov. 1

Session 1 
1:30-2 p.m.  Registration/Badge Pickup
2-2:10 p.m. Opening Remarks
Organizers: 

Jennifer Guerriero, PhD – Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Marco Ruella, MD – University of Pennsylvania

2:10-2:40 p.m. 

Mentoring Session: Resilience in Academia: Getting Personal

Jennifer Guerriero, PhD – Brigham and Women’s Hospital
2:40-3:25 p.m.

Mentoring Session: Challenges in Being Faculty/Leadership in Academia, Government, and Industry

Michael Bishop, MD - University of Chicago

Ashley Koegel, MD - Bristol Myers Squibb

Ivan Maillard, MD, PhD – University of Pennsylvania

Elad Sharon, MD  - Dana Farber Cancer Institute
3:25-3:55 p.m.

Mentoring Session: How to Become an Effective Mentor

James Gulley, MD, PhD, FACP - National Cancer Institute

Patrick Hwu, MD  - Moffitt Cancer Center

Chloe Villani, PhD  - Massachusetts General Hospital 
3:55-4:15 p.m.

Class of 2023 White Paper Update

Class of 2023 Participant
4:15-4:45 p.m.

Break

Session 2
4:45-5:15 p.m. Mentoring Session: Intellectual Property: Friend and Foe

Robert Schneider, PhD - NYU Langone Medical Center

5:15-5:45 p.m.

Mentoring Session: Managing the Finances of Your Lab/Group

Marco Davila, MD, PhD - Rosewell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

E. John Wherry, PhD - University of Pennsylvania
5:45-6:15 p.m.

Mentoring Session: Hiring, Managing, and Firing Panel Discussion

Saad Kenderian, MB, ChB  - Mayo Clinic

Thomas Marron, MD, PhD  - Mount Sinai Hospital
6:15-6:20 p.m.

Closing Remarks

Jennifer Guerriero, PhD - Brigham and Women's Hospital

Marco Ruella, MD - University of Pennsylvania
7-8 p.m. 

Networking Dinner