Speaker Profile
M.D., Associate in Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital; Medical Director, Center for Integrated Diagnostics; Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School
Biography
Dr. Iafrate is the director of the Center for Integrated Diagnostics, a clinical laboratory for molecular diagnostics at Massachusetts General Hospital. He oversees the Translational Research Laboratory (TRL), a shared effort of the Pathology Department and Mass General Cancer Center. The TRL provides rapid personalized genomic testing to help inform cancer treatment decisions for patients. Dr. Iafrate joined the Massachusetts General Hospital staff in 2005. His post-doctoral work involved the discovery and description of a novel source of human genetic diversity, termed “copy number variation” (CNV). He established a cancer diagnostics lab focusing on genetic fingerprints that help guide novel, targeted therapies. His laboratory launched SNaPshot several years ago, an assay that tests over 100 of the most common mutations in tumors. His research is focused on lung and brain tumors, and he has been closely involved in the clinical development of crizotinib and companion diagnostics in ALK-positive lung cancers.
Session Abstract
Session Synopsis: NGS-based liquid biopsy assays have great promise for multiple clinical applications, but challenges associated with detection sensitivity, bioinformatic analysis and validation must be overcome in order to drive routine clinical adoption. Join leaders in the field as we discuss the progress, potential and remaining obstacles of using NGS for this application.
