VIP Volunteer Reception and Medical Update

Tonight was the American Cancer Society Silicon Valley Central Coast VIP Volunteer Reception and Medical Update. Volunteers were honored and thanked by the American Cancer Society for all their hard work and local scientist presented their cancer fighting research reminding us of the positive impact volunteers are making around the world.

Dr. Edgar Engleman (MD, PhD), Dr. Christina Curtis (PhD, MSc), Chair Dr. Arthur Douville (MD), Dr. Billy W. Loo Jr. (MD, PhD), and Honorary Chair Dr. George A. Fisher Jr. (MD, PhD) (left to right)

Dr. Curtis is Assistant Professor of Medicine (Oncology) and Genetics at Stanford University and Co-director of the Molecular Tumor Board at the Stanford Cancer Institute. Her research uses computational modeling to develop a systems level, multi-scale view of cancer that spans single cells to patient populations. She and her tea have developed "big data" computer technologies to discover personalized approaches to the treatment of cancer. Her research has redefined the molecular map of breast cancer, revealing new approaches using data that defines patient subgroups responding to particular, individualized treatments. 

See live video of presentation.

Dr. Engleman is Professor of Pathology and of Medicine at Sanford, and a member of the Stanford Cancer Center. The immune system impacts a wide range of processes in most tissues and organs. By applying new and more precise analytical tools for assessing this system in mice and humans, Dr. Engleman and his team have been successful at identifying disease-promoting immune abnormalities. By targeting the cells responsible for or affected by these abnormalities, his team has succeeded in reversing the abnormalities and ameliorating the diseases they cause, including the basis for the Sipuleucel-T vaccine for treatment of metastatic prostate cancer. See live video of presentation.

Dr. Loo is a Professor of Radiation Oncology, a member of Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS) in the Department of Radiology, and a member of the Stanford Cancer Institute, in the School of Medicine. Since conceiving of a fundamentally new approach to delivering ultra-rapid, ultra-precise radiation therapy, pluridirectional high-energy agile scanning radiotherapy (PHASER), Dr. Loo's major laboratory research focus has been to co-lead a collaborative effort between the Stanford Cancer Institute and Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) to develop PHASER into a transformative yet clinically practical technology utilizing the rapid, high intensity FLASH radiotherapy technology. See live video of presentation.