Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center Innovations in Oncology Symposium

Dr. Ulrickson specializes in cellular therapy on the staff of the Division of Cancer Medicine at Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center in Gilbert, Arizona where he is the section chief for hematology. He completed residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and fellowship at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He is an associate professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson and at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.

Erin Nicoson serves as the Clinical Trials Director at Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center. She is responsible for integrating and leading administrative and clinical research operations for Banner MD Anderson’s main site and affiliate sites in Arizona and Colorado. She has over 10 years of research experience working in community-based, academic research, and contract research organization (CROs), in addition to 12 years of oncology nursing experience in academic and community-based Cancer Centers. Erin earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Grand Valley State University Kirkhof College of Nursing and her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences & Chemistry at Western Michigan University

Dr. Overman is the Associate Vice President of Research for the MD Anderson Cancer Network. In addition, Dr. Overman is a clinical researcher focused upon intestinal cancers and upon the optimal conduct of clinical trials. Dr. Overman has led a number of innovative clinical trials, especially exploring the activity of immunotherapy for colorectal cancer.

Dr. Michael Samuels is an academic radiation oncologist with over 30 years’ experience as a clinical trialist. He joined Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center in September 2021, after spending 11 years at the University of Miami Sylvester Cancer Center. There, he served as Professor of Clinical Radiation Oncology, Director of Head-Neck Radiation Oncology and Co-Leader of the Head-Neck Cancer Multidisciplinary Program. From 2011-2020 Dr. Samuels served as Medical Director of the Sylvester Clinical Trials Office. The size of the staff and the interventional enrollment both increased about eight-fold during his tenure as CTO. His success as a CTO played an important role in Sylvester achieving NCI Cancer Center designation in 2019. Dr. Samuels has experience conducting trials with novel agents in combination with radiation or with standard chemotherapy agents and radiotherapy. He currently serves as Co-PI on an NCI national trial (NRG HN008) using a DNA protein-kinase inhibitor in the phase I setting with radiation therapy for head and neck cancer patients who are not eligible for cisplatin chemotherapy.

Dr. Subbiah oversees SCRI’s nine drug development units and leads the expansion of early-phase capabilities and programs across the organization's growing research network of more than 1,300 physicians at more than 250 locations in 24 states. Dr. Subbiah held several leadership roles in his 15-year tenure at MD Anderson Cancer Center including Executive director, Medical Oncology Research, MD Anderson Cancer Network as well as Clinical Medical Director, Clinical Center for Targeted Therapy, Division of Cancer Medicine where he oversaw both the outpatient and inpatient clinical care delivery operations for the Phase I program. He served as the Principal Investigator in over 100 Phase I/II trials- and co-PI in over 200 trials. His research interests are patient centric drug development in rare cancers, precision oncology and basket trials. He has led several first-in-human and practice changing clinical trials that have led to US FDA approval, EMA approval and approval in multiple geographies eg. Dabrafenib+ trametinib for anaplastic thyroid cancer, vemurafenib for erdheim-chester disease, lurbinectedin for small cell lung cancer, selpercatinib and pralsetinib for RET positive non-small cell lung cancer and RET positive thyroid cancer in addition to tissue agnostic approvals for RET + cancer and BRAF+ cancers. He has an exceptional track record of effectively bringing together multidisciplinary clinical trials teams, early career physician investigators, and physicians in training, all with the shared commitment to bringing novel therapies to patients with cancer. Having trained in both pediatric hematology & oncology as well as adult medical oncology, Dr. Subbiah is uniquely positioned to bring cutting-edge therapeutics across the age continuum from adolescent/young adults (AYAs) to older adults with cancer. He has won numerous awards including Emil Frei III award for Excellence in Translational Research and 2021 Andrew Sabin Family Fellowship. He is the section editor and social media editor for American Cancer Society Journal, Cancer. He is a member of the ESMO Translational Research and Precision Medicine Working Group and in the Annals of Oncology Editorial Board.

Dr. Madappa Kundranda serves as the Division Chief in the Department of Cancer Medicine at Banner MD Anderson and an Associate Professor (Adj) in the Division of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson, MD Anderson Cancer Center. He is also the Co-Director of the multidisciplinary GI Cancer Program. Dr. Kundranda completed his medical school from Bangalore University in India followed by a PhD in Cancer Biology from Meharry Medical College in Nashville. He then completed his residency in Internal Medicine from the Cleveland Clinic Health System followed by a fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Kundranda is actively involved in the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Association for Cancer Research. He has been a prolific clinical and translational researcher and has authored more than 125 peer-reviewed publications, abstracts, and book chapters. He is a very strong patient advocate and actively involved in several patient advocacy organizations including PANCAN, Colorectal Foundation and the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation. Additionally, he has been listed multiple times in U.S. News and World Report’s Top Doctors.

Dr. David Hong serves as Endowed Professor and Deputy Chair of the Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics (A Phase I Program) at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Clinical Medical Director of the Clinical Translational Research Center. He was a pioneering driver in forming one of the largest and most innovative Phase I clinical trial units in the world, with over 1,200 patients enrolled in clinical trials in FY2022 and over 280 active ongoing clinical trials. He has been Principal Investigator of ~110 research protocols supported by an array of sponsors, including the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program at the National Cancer Institute. He published over 400 publications in peer-reviewed journals such as New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Nature. His cumulative H-index is 76. Dr. Hong was heavily involved in the early development of cabozantinib, siltuximab, dabrafenib, trametinib, regorafenib, lenvatinib, larotrectinib, tesotumab vendotin, tepotinib, and sotorasib, ending in FDA approvals. He also helped found two companies: OncoResponse and Telperian. Dr. Hong is an expert on c-Met, NTRK, KRAS; adoptive cellular therapy in solid tumors; and has led several national trials such as the c-Met amplified, c-Met exon 14 deleted, and NTRK arms of NCI-MATCH. Dr. Hong was awarded the ASCO Young Investigator Award, the Jesse Jones Award, Best Boss Award at MD Anderson, Irwin Krakoff Award for Clinical Research, the Gerald P. Bodey Award for Education, Mentor of the Year Award and Entrepreneurship Award in the Division of Cancer Medicine at MD Anderson. Finally, Dr. Hong has a consistent track record of mentoring clinical and postdoctoral fellows, scientists and physician-scientists in Phase I/II clinical research.

Dr. Ecaterina Dumbrava is a Medical Oncologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr Dumbrava completed her medical oncology training at Gustave Roussy Cancer Center in Villejuif, France, followed by a Master of Science Degree from Paris-South University and a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Translational Molecular Pathology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. She completed two years of clinical fellowship in the Investigational Cancer Therapeutics Department, where she was elected Chief Fellow and during which she did a clinical research rotation at NCI/CTEP. She joined the Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics in August 2018 as an Assistant Professor. She is also a member of the Brain Metastasis Clinic. Dr. Dumbrava was the FY19 K12 Paul Calabresi Scholar Award and FY21 Gateway Foundation for Cancer Research Award recipient. Dr. Dumbrava is overseeing the inpatient service and leading the HER2 Working Group in the Investigational Cancer Therapeutics Department at MD Anderson Cancer Center and is also an active member in the Immunotherapy and Cellular Therapies working group. Dr. Dumbrava is also Director for MD Anderson Cancer Network Research for Investigational Cancer Therapeutics/Phase I. Her main area of research focuses on targeting p53 and HER2 and developing cellular therapies for solid tumors and genomically matched combination therapies and personalized immunotherapy clinical trials.

Dr. Stacey A. Cohen is a GI medical oncologist and Associate Professor in the Clinical Research Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and Division of Hematology/Oncology at University of Washington. She is the Co-Director of the Colorectal Cancer and Peritoneal Malignancy (HIPEC) multi-disciplinary clinics. She completed her medical training at University of Michigan and her fellowship at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. She focuses her clinical time on colorectal and lower GI cancers, as well as hereditary cancer conditions. Dr. Cohen’s research focuses on biomarkers that help individualize cancer care, including novel biomarkers, such as ctDNA. She has grant funding for longitudinal ctDNA assay collection and improving rapid molecular screening with paired liquid and tissue biopsies.

Dr. David Jaffray is a senior vice president and chief technology and digital officer (CTDO) at MD Anderson Cancer Center and a full professor in Radiation Physics and Imaging Physics. Before joining MD Anderson, Dr. Jaffray served as executive vice president for Technology and Innovation at the University Health Network in Toronto. He designed and led UHN’s digital transformation. In the 17 years there he also served as Head of Medical Physics vice chair of Research for the University of Toronto's Department of Radiation Oncology; founding director of the STTARR Innovation Centre; and founding director of the Techna Institute. He was a full professor in the Departments of Radiation Oncology, Medical Biophysics and IBBME at the University of Toronto and was active in strategic planning, teaching and graduate student supervision. Dr. Jaffray holds 47 patents and has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications in topics such as cancer, including, the development of new radiation treatment machines, exploring the fundamental limits of imaging system performance, the development of novel nanoparticle formulations for improved detection of cancer and challenges in global health. He has received many honors including the Sylvia Sorkin-Greenfield Award, the Farrington Daniels Award and the Sylvia Fedoruk Award. In 2018, he received the Gold Medal from the American Society for Radiation Oncology and was invited to join the US National Academy of Inventors in 2022. Dr. Jaffray has led the development of a variety of commercial products, including software and hardware for safe, high-quality cancer care and the development of cone-beam CT guided radiation therapy. Dr. Jaffray earned his B.Sc. in Physics from the University of Alberta, and his Ph.D. in medical biophysics from the University of Western Ontario. He is also Board Certified in the discipline of Medical Physics by the American Board of Medical Physics.