Session Abstract – PMWC 2017 Silicon Valley
Session Synopsis: The Cancer Moonshot’s Blood Profiling Atlas aims to accelerate the development and approval of accurate blood tests for cancer diagnosis and precision treatment. This PMWC panel of Cancer Moonshot participants discusses progress in creating an open database of liquid biopsy results and developing safe and effective blood profiling diagnostics.
Session Chair Profile
Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations, Seven Bridges
Biography
Heading up the Seven Bridges commercial operations effort with Bill Glauser, Bruce focuses on building relationships with early stage biotechnology companies and all types of pharmaceutical enterprises. He works closely with these organizations to help them leverage the Seven Bridges Platform to streamline analysis of next-generation sequencing data across both clinical and R&D efforts. Prior to his current role, Bruce was director of big data solutions for EMC, where he was responsible for helping clients in the life sciences market build out their big data analytics platforms. He also previously held positions at Alliance Technologies, CallidusCloud and GlaxoSmithKline, where he helped build both on-premises and cloud-based technology platforms, and worked with teams delivering data analytics, data warehousing, clinical informatics and clinical trial and analytic systems. He holds a B.S. in Engineering from The University of Massachusetts and an M.S. in Management from Purdue University.
Speaker Profile
M.D., D Chair in Urologic Oncology; Chief, Genitourinary Oncology Service; Member and Attending Physician, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Professor of Medicine Weill Cornell Medical College
Biography
Howard I. Scher, MD has helped elucidate key molecular and genetic features of prostate cancer and has translated these insights into the clinical evaluation of novel targeted agents including abiraterone and enzalutamide. His research is focused on the validation of circulating tumor cell and other blood based biomarker assays to biologically profile individual patient tumors to better select and monitor the effects of therapy. Dr. Scher led the international Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Working Group effort standardize the design and analysis of phase II trials, and serves as the principal investigator of an NIH-supported Specialized Program of Research Excellence in Prostate Cancer, Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Consortium and the Department of Defense Transformative Impact Award: Toward the Practice of Precision Medicine – A Biomarker Validation Coordinating Center.
Speaker Profile
Ph.D., Senior Director, Molecular Biology & Sequencing, Foundation Medicine
Biography
Geoff is currently leading the lab responsible for the research, development and optimization of clinically validated, targeted next-generation DNA and RNA sequencing assays to enable comprehensive genomic profiling of conventional formalin fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues and liquid biopsy samples from patients with cancer. Prior to joining Foundation, Geoff worked for Pacific Biosciences developing a single-molecule DNA sequencing system. Geoff received a BA degree from Cornell University in Cell Biology and a Ph.D. at Stanford University in Microbiology and Immunology where he researched the regulation of translation initiation by the Hepatitis C Virus IRES.
