Day 1: Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026
2–5:30 p.m. ET
Tinkham Veale University Center
| 2-2:05 p.m. | INTRODUCTION |
| 2:05–2:25 p.m. | YEAR OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS Gary Schwartz, MD Director, Case CCC |
| 2:30 p.m. | TED STYLE TALKS |
| 2:30–2:50 p.m. | Don't Open Your Business to Make Money |
| 2:50–3:10 p.m. | From Disparities to Precision Gregory Hall, MD Founder & Board Chairman, National Institute for African American Health, Medical Director, Cutler Center for Men – University Hospitals of Cleveland |
| 3:10–3:30 p.m. | The Weight of W.A.IT. Trauma, Survival, and the Biology of Healing Honey Bell-Bey Cuyahoga County Poet Laureate, Poet/Activist and Founder of The Distinguished Gentleman of the Spoken Word |
| 3:30–3:40 p.m. | POSTER TRANSITION |
| 3:40-5:30 | EARLY CAREER FACULTY SPOTLIGHT, POSTER SESSION, AND RECEPTION |
Day 2: Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2025
7:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m. ET
Tinkham Veale University Center
| 7:30 a.m. | BREAKFAST |
| 8–8:10 a.m. | WELCOME REMARKS Rebecca Obeng, MD, PhD and Monica Wagner, PhD, RN |
| 8:10–8:30 a.m. | INTRODUCTION, VISION, AND STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS Gary Schwartz, MD Director, Case CCC |
| 8:30–8:35 a.m. | SESSION I: Tumor Host Interactions MODERATORS: Daniel McGrail, PhD and Kristen VanHeyst, DO |
| 8:35–8:55 a.m. | Multipronged Mechanisms by which VISTA Drives Immune Evasion in the Tumor Microenvironment Li Lily Wang, PhD Member, Immune Oncology Program Cleveland Clinic |
| 8:55–9:15 a.m. | Sex-Skewed Estrogen Activity Alters Self-Renewal and Vascular Dynamics in Glioblastoma Chris Hubert, PhD Member, Molecular Oncology Program Case Western Reserve University |
| 9:15–9:35 a.m. | Targeting the Factor XII - uPAR Axis in Ovarian Cancer: From Immunothrombosis to Therapy Evi Stavrou, MD Member, Molecular Oncology Program Case Western Reserve University |
| 9:35–9:55 a.m. | HER3 Inhibition Sensitizes Metastatic Colorectal and Pancreatic Cancer to Immunotherapy Chao Wei, PhD Postdoctoral Scholar, Wang Lab Case Western Reserve University |
| 9:55–10:05 a.m. | PANEL DISCUSSION/QUESTIONS |
| 10:05–10:20 a.m. | BREAK |
| 10:20–10:25 a.m. | SESSION II: Novel Therapeutics MODERATORS: Melissa Lumish, MD and Jesse Coker, DPhil |
| 10:25–10:45 a.m. | From Echo to Action: Smart Nanobubbles for Precision Oncology Agata Exner, PhD Program Leader, Cancer Imaging Program Case Western Reserve University |
| 10:45–11:05 a.m. | Fragment-Based Discovery of TEAD inhibitors for TAZ-CAMTA1-Driven EHE and YAP/TAZ Dependent Malignancies Shaun Stauffer, PhD Member, Developmental Therapeutics Program Cleveland Clinic |
| 11:05–11:25 a.m. | Host Organ-Cancer Crosstalk, the Other Targetable Component of the Tumor Microenvironment Rui Wang, PhD Member, Molecular Oncology Case Western Reserve University |
| 11:25–11:35 a.m. | Structure-Guided Development of Selective SLC1A1/EAAT3 Inhibitors Targeting Renal Cancer Metabolism Pooneh Koochaki, MD Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Chakraborty Lab Cleveland Clinic |
| 11:35–11:45 a.m. | PANEL DISCUSSION/QUESTIONS |
| 11:45 a.m.–1 p.m. | LUNCH/PROGRAM BREAKOUT ROOMS
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| 1:15–1:20 p.m. | INTRODUCTION TO KEYNOTE ADDRESS Aaron Gerds, MD, MS Deputy Associate Director for Clinical Research, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center |
| 1:20–2:20 p.m. | KEYNOTE ADDRESS Deciphering and Targeting Clonal Evolution Ross Levine, MD Chief Scientific Officer, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center |
| 2:20–2:30 p.m. | BREAK |
| 2:30–2:35 p.m. | SESSION III: Genetics and Clinical Outcomes MODERATORS: Jacob Miller, MD and Madelyn Stevens, MD |
| 2:35–2:55 p.m. | From Clinical Phenotypes to Cancer Biology: How Inherited Cellular Defects Shape Cancer Risk Richa Sharma, MD Member, Cancer Genomics and Epigenetics Program Cleveland Clinic |
| 2:55–3:15 p.m. | Somatic Mutations in the Germline, Aging, and Disease Jonathan Shoag, MD Member, Population and Cancer Prevention Program Case Western Reserve University |
| 3:15–3:35 p.m. | Pediatric Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Survivorship, and cGVHD Seth Rotz, MD Member, Population and Cancer Prevention Program Cleveland Clinic |
| 3:35–3:45 p.m. | An Estrogen-MuvB Axis Governs Stem Cell Fate and Therapy Response in Glioblastoma Evan Joseph, BS, PhD Candidate, Hubert Lab Case Western Reserve University |
| 3:45–3:55 p.m. | PANEL DISCUSSION/QUESTIONS |
| 3:55–4:10 p.m. | POSTER AWARDS CONCLUDING REMARKS |
| 4:10–4:30 p.m. | PROGRAM LEADERS/EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (CLOSED SESSION) |