It's hard to believe SITC's 39^th Annual Meeting & Pre-Conference Programs is in the rearview mirror! A sincere thank you to all the attendees, supporters, organizers, faculty, staff and other volunteers who made our society's meeting a success. More than 5,000 professionals in the cancer research and medical community gathered in Houston and virtually to present and hear the latest data and research with more than 1,500 abstracts presented.

 

I am so impressed and inspired by the remarkable science and research showcased at this year's meeting. We heard an outstanding Keynote Address from Rafi Ahmed, PhD, FAIO on T cell exhaustion, and an amazing presentation from Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD, FAIO, FAACR, FACP, FAAAS, who provided the Richard V. Smalley Memorial Award & Lectureship - The Era of Cancer Vaccines Has Arrived. We also honored many SITC award winners, and inducted the fourth class of the Fellows of the Academy of Immuno-Oncology (FAIO).

 

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 Tatiana Delgado Cruz, MD – Weill Cornell Medical College, Dipyaman Patra, PhD – University of Pittsburgh, Catherine Phelps, MS – University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Hieu M. Ta, PhD – Cleveland Clinic Foundation. We congratulate Catherine Phelps, MS on receiving the Presidential Award, SITC's most prestigious Young Investigator Award, for the quality of her research and presentation.

One special moment of the 39^th Annual Meeting was our remembrance of Dr. Jeffrey Weber, who we lost in August to pancreatic cancer. A special video was created to honor his legacy to the immune-oncology community and our SITC family has set up a memorial fund that will provide Annual Meeting travel awards for early career investigators. I encourage you to contribute, and to continue developing cancer immunotherapies so we can meet the needs of all people with cancer.

 

Don't forget, for all those who registered for SITC 2024, you can access program presentations on-demand through Jan. 7, 2025 on the SITC 2024 virtual platform. Also, if you didn't attend SITC 2024, you can register by Nov. 22 and receive access to the virtual platform, with all of the recorded sessions.

 

While we continue to reflect on the conversations, connections, and knowledge from this year's meeting, I am already looking forward to the 40^th Anniversary Annual Meeting & Pre-Conference Programs taking place Nov. 5–9, 2025, in National Harbor, MD. We are quite excited for this milestone event, and look forward to seeing you all there!