PROGRAM COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSON:
Gordon B. Mills, UT M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
CO-CHAIRPERSONS:
Laura J. van’t Veer, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Barbara L. Weber, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, PA
Please join us this September as AACR's home city of Philadelphia hosts the third conference in the Molecular Diagnostics series. This conference has quickly established itself as the most important conference devoted to the latest developments in the integration of molecular diagnostics with cancer drug development and patient treatment.
This meeting attracts a trans-disciplinary group of participants from diverse areas of research and institutions – industry, academia, and government, as well as patient-advocates and regulatory officials. Therefore, it serves as a powerful forum for the exchange of new ideas and information, the formation of new collaborations, and discussions concerning the opportunities and hurdles that are present in this exciting era of molecular diagnostics.
This year the conference program, sessions, and speakers have been markedly changed and updated to reflect a much greater emphasis on the challenges that have arisen during attempts at fulfilling the promise of personalized medicine. Importantly, approaches to limiting and overcoming the challenges will be presented. Further, there will be clear examples of successes and failures in this process that will be presented and discussed. We have added new education sessions on patient decision making, assay validation, non-coding RNAs, molecular imaging, the process from discovery to product, and clinical trial design. Discussion will be promoted during these sessions that will delve into the identifying, validating, and delivering on new ideas in molecular markers and patient treatment.
Together the education sessions and main conference will delineate the path to "Fulfilling the Promise of Personalized Medicine." The Plenary sessions will continue to maximize the opportunities for trans-disciplinary interactions by having no overlap with other scientific sessions. We are happy to announce that the conference will open on a high note with Joe W. Gray and David Sidransky, the founding Molecular Diagnostics Conference Chairperson, as our Keynote Speakers.
We hope you will find this meeting stimulating, informative, and conducive to the exchange of basic, translational, and clinical research information among scientists. Your participation will enrich the meeting and is necessary for us to fulfill the promise of personalized medicine by integrating the fields of molecular diagnostics and cancer therapeutic development. We look forward to seeing you in Philadelphia.