AACR Grantees Present Their Work at the AACR Annual Meeting 2025
The AACR Annual Meeting 2025 welcomes the global cancer community to the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, April 25-30. Dozens of AACR grantees have been selected to present their work in oral and poster presentations, showcasing the progress they have made with support from the AACR and its funding partners.
Please explore the breadth of topics that will be covered over the six days of the conference. Follow the links below to learn more and add the sessions to individual itineraries.
Sunday, April 27
OPENING PLENARY
9:30-11:30 a.m., Hall GH, Ground Level, Convention Center
Matthew G. Vander Heiden, PhD, AACR Annual Meeting 2025 Program Committee Co-Chair, recipient of the 2014 AACR Gertrude B. Elion Cancer Research Award
MINISYMPOSIUM
The Stromal-Immune Interplay in Cancer Progression
4:35-4:50 p.m., Room S106, McCormick Place South (Level 1)
Milos Spasic, PhD, recipient of the 2023 AACR-AstraZeneca Breast Cancer Research Fellowship
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Session: Gene Regulation and Transcription Factors
Epigenetic dysregulation of IGF1 and PPARG2 in dedifferentiated liposarcoma
Erica M. Pimenta, MD, PhD, recipient of the 2024 AACR-QuadW Foundation Sarcoma Research Fellowship in Memory of Willie Tichenor
Session: Genomic Diversity and Disparities in Cancer: Global Insights into Epidemiology, Risk, Outcomes and Precision Medicine
Germline-somatic interactions in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients from Latin America
Javiera Garrido, PhD, recipient of the 2023 AACR Maximizing Opportunity for New Advancements in Research in Cancer (MONARCA) Grant for Latin America
Monday, April 28
MINISYMPOSIUM
Metabolic Frontiers in Cancer: Amino Acids, Nutrient Dependencies, and Therapeutic Opportunities
2:35-2:50 p.m., Room E450 B, McCormick Lakeside Center (Level 4)
Christina Demetriadou, PhD, recipient of the 2024 AACR Anna D. Barker Basic Cancer Research Fellowship
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Session: Cancer Disparities in Behavioral, Psychological, Psychosocial, and Molecular Factors
Molecular epidemiology of high-risk HPV circulating in women living with HIV in Nigeria: protocol for a multi-center cross-sectional study
Ijeoma M. Ifeorah, BMLS, MSc, PhD, recipient of the 2024 Beginning Investigator Grant for Catalytic Research (BIG Cat)
Session: Genome Maintenance: Mechanisms and Novel Therapeutics
POLQ facilitates annealing mediated long deletions at chromosomal break in homologous recombination deficient cancers
Manisha Jalan, DPhil, recipient of the 2020 AACR-Swim Across America Cancer Research Fellowship
Session: Targeting the Tumor Microenvironment: A Brave New World
An ex vivo culture platform of invasive lobular breast cancer for the screening of novel drugs targeting the tumor microenvironment
Julia M. Houthuijzen, PhD,recipient of the 2024 AACR-Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance-Deborah Mueller Foundation Fund Invasive Lobular Carcinoma Innovation and Discovery Grant
Session: Novel Drug Delivery Technologies
Use of lipid nanoparticles to generate CAR T cells targeting colon cancer
Pedro Pires Goulart Guimaraes, PhD, recipient of the 2024 AACR Maximizing Opportunity for New Advancements in Research in Cancer (MONARCA) Grant for Latin America
Session: Novel Drug Resistance Mechanisms
Fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase (FAH) stimulates resistance to CDK4/6 inhibitors in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer via a novel non-canonical function
Jenny Hogstrom, PhD, recipient of the 2023AACR-AstraZeneca Breast Cancer Research Fellowship
Tuesday, April 29
AWARDS AND LECTURES
AACR Gertrude B. Elion Cancer Research Award Lecture: Deconstructing benign-to-malignant transition in the colon
12-12:30 p.m., Room S101, McCormick Place South (Level 1)
Peter Maxwell Kienitz Westcott, PhD, recipient of the 2024 AACR Gertrude B. Elion Cancer Research Award
FORUM
Testing Diet with the Rigor of Drug: Dietary Interventions to Improve Cancer Treatment Outcomes
5-6:30 p.m., Room 5, Upper Level, Convention Center
Marcus DaSilva Goncalves, MD, PhD, recipient of the 2020 AACR-The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research “Science of the Patient” (SOP) Grant
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Session: Development of Chemopreventive Agents and Preclinical Models
Interactions between endocrine-targeting therapies and short-chain fatty acids in reducing ER+ breast cancer
Alana A. Arnone, PhD, recipient of the 2024 AACR-AstraZeneca Breast Cancer Fellowship for Endocrine Therapy Research
Session: Metabolic Reprogramming
Metabolic shift towards the de novo serine pathway in non-transformed breast cells drives epigenetic plasticity, oxidative DNA damage, and pro-tumorigenic changes associated with aging
Mariana Bustamante Eduardo, PhD, recipient of the 2023 AACR-Pfizer Breast Cancer Research Fellowship
Session: Innate Immunity to Tumors
Therapeutic benefits of innate immunity stimuli in hepatocellular carcinoma
Longyue Lily Cao, MD, PhD, recipient of the 2024 AACR-Genentech Immuno-oncology Research Fellowship
Session: The Tumor Immune Interplay as a Driver of Progression
Targeting mTORC2 in lung squamous cell carcinoma improves anti-tumor immunity through the PSGL-1-VISTA axis
Verra Ngwa, PhD, recipient of the 2024 AACR- Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson Stimulating Therapeutic Advances through Research Training (START) Grant
Session: The Immune Microenvironment in Cancer
The significance of CD200R1 on NK cells in the endometrial cancer tumor microenvironment
Youssef Youssef, MD, recipient of the 2024 AACR-AstraZeneca Endometrial Cancer Research Fellowship
Session: Proteomic Biomarkers and Therapeutics
Covalent ligands that selectively disrupt CDK4-CDC37/HSP90 interactions in cancer cells
Zachary E. Potter-Engelskirger, PhD, recipient of the 2024 AACR-AstraZeneca Breast Cancer Fellowship for Endocrine Therapy Research
Wednesday, April 30
PLENARY SESSION
Opportunities in Predictive Oncology
8-10 a.m., Arie Crown Theater, McCormick Lakeside Center (Level 2)
Marleen Kok, MD, PhD, recipient of the 2023 Victoria’s Secret Global Fund for Women’s Cancers Rising Innovator Research Grant, in Partnership with Pelotonia & AACR
MAJOR SYMPOSIUM
Hubs of Anti-Tumor Immunity: Lymph Nodes and Lymphoid Structures
10:15-11:45 a.m., Location to be announced
Amanda W. Lund, PhD, recipient of the 2022 AACR-Bristol Myers Squibb Midcareer Female Investigator Grant
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Session: Late-Breaking Research: Tumor Biology
Capture the early benign-to-malignant transition of colon cancer in the mouse
Peter Maxwell Kienitz Westcott, PhD, recipient of the 2024 AACR Gertrude B. Elion Cancer Research Award
Session: Mechanisms of Cancer Therapeutics
Influence of glutathione S transferase T1 and M1 polymorphisms on tamoxifen metabolism in Malian women with breast cancer
Brehima Diakite, MD, PhD, recipient of the 2023 Beginning Investigator Grant for Catalytic Research (BIG Cat)
Session: Revolutionizing Cancer Care through Inclusive Clinical Research
Understanding race-specific differences in the predictive performance of computational outcome models for breast cancer
Francisco Sanchez-Vega, PhD, recipient of the 2024 Breast Cancer Research Foundation-AACR Career Development Awards to Promote Diversity and Inclusion