Translating Science into Survival at the 8th Annual CICON Conference 

CRI is proud to co-host the eighth annual Cancer Immunotherapy Conference (CICON) alongside the European Network for Cancer Immunotherapy (ENCI), from September 8-11 in National Harbor, Maryland. The theme of this year’s conference is “Translating Science into Survival.” The conference will be located mere minutes from Washington, D.C.  

The final day to register is Saturday, September 7. A five percent discount can be applied to three or more participants in the same lab, provided all lab members are registered at the same time. Hotel group rates are available for CICON attendees through Friday, August 23. 

During the four days of CICON, dozens of leaders in immunology and immunotherapy will take part in informative and interesting sessions, or groupings of scheduled presentations. Elizabeth Jaffee, MD, Deputy Director of The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins and CRI Scientific Advisory Council associate director, and 2021 William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic Immunology recipient Özlem Türeci are set to be two of the conference’s four co-chairpersons. 

Dr. Jaffee said CICON presents a unique networking opportunity for everyone working in the immunotherapy field, regardless of seniority. 

“Whether you are an early-career scientist, trainee, or an expert, this is the place to network if you want to be a part of the discussion,” Dr. Jaffee explained. “We have experts who will be talking about the challenges and the progress made in areas of data science, new technologies, and cancer biology.”

Several CRI-affiliated scientists will be participating in the upcoming CICON program. CRI Lloyd J. Old STAR Ping-Chih Ho, PhD, professor at the University of Lausanne and Ludwig Cancer Research, will participate in the session on “Metabolic Pathways in the Clinic” scheduled for Tuesday, September 10. Dr. Ho is excited to share new ideas and for the potential collaboration that CICON could produce.

“I will present a story regarding how the mitochondria mediate regulation of CAR T cell behavior and regulate your circadian clock, a regulation which is unknown in terms of the contribution in T cell dysfunction,” Dr. Ho said. “Our work aims to understand how we can target those processes to improve and restore T cell-based immunotherapy efficacy.”

In total, there will be nine CICON ‘sessions,’ or presentation themes, over the course of four days – ranging from discussions about clinical trials to cancer vaccines. Additionally, several other CRI-affiliated scientists have been tasked as CICON planning committee members: 

• James Allison, PhD, chair of Immunology, the executive director of the Immunotherapy Platform, and deputy director for Applied Research of Genitourinary Cancers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; National Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel member; CRI scientific advisory council director. 

• Tullia Bruno, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Immunology and faculty member in the Tumor Microenvironment Center and the Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy Program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Hillman Cancer Center; former CRI-V Foundation CLIP Investigator. 

• Yvonne Chen, PhD, professor of microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics; professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering; co-director, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC) Tumor Immunology Program at the University of California, Los Angeles; CRI Lloyd J. Old STAR. 

• Ming Li, PhD, member of the Immunology Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; professor at Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences; CRI Scientific Advisory Council member; former CRI CLIP Investigator. 

• Ellen Puré, PhD, chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences and the director of the Penn Vet Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania; CRI scientific advisory council associate director. 

• Gregory Sonnenberg, PhD, associate professor of microbiology and immunology in medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine; CRI Lloyd J. Old STAR. 

CICON will provide a great opportunity for learning and networking among scientists, clinicians, patient advocates, and more. We hope to see you at CICON and thank you for helping us create a world immune to cancer.