By Candace Gwaltney
April 14, 2025
IU cancer experts share findings at 2025 AACR annual meeting
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2025 will bring together tens of thousands of people April 25-30 in Chicago. Many IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers will present impactful work that advances cancer research. With more than 45 abstracts selected for the meeting, the cancer center will be well-represented during the annual meeting.
More than 50 cancer center members are authors of abstracts for this year’s meeting. Highlights include:
- Yong Zang, PhD, will present a methods workshop, “Dose optimization design and strategy for oncology drug development,” on April 25.
- Ken Nephew, PhD, and Melissa Fishel, PhD, are co-chairs for a mini symposium, “Molecular Targets for Overcoming Resistance,” on April 27. Cancer center trainee Eyram K. Kpenu (Kelley lab) will present “Targeting DNA repair pathways in PDAC: APE1 BER and its therapeutic role in PDAC homeostasis” as part of that minisymposium.
- Feng Guo, a trainee in the Wang lab, will present a minisymposium, “In vivo CRISPR/Cas9 screening identifies fatty acid synthase (FASN) as a target to enhance anti-PD-1 therapy in pancreatic cancer,” on April 29.
The AACR Annual Meeting program covers the latest discoveries across the spectrum of cancer research — from population science and prevention; to cancer biology, translational, and clinical studies; to survivorship and advocacy — and highlights the work of the best in research and medicine from institutions all over the world. The theme of this year’s scientific program is “Unifying Cancer Science and Medicine: A Continuum of Innovation for Impact.”
The following cancer center members are authors on abstracts that will be part of poster sessions: Steve P. Angus, PhD; Spyridon Bakas, PhD; Sandeep Batra, MD; Michele L. Cote, PhD; Nur P. Damayanti, PhD; Utpal Dave, MD; John M. DeWitt, MD; Greg Durm, MD; Lawrence Einhorn, MD; Asmaa El-Kenawi, PhD; Michael Feldman, MD, PhD; Melissa Fishel, PhD; Silpa Gamapala, PhD; Fei Gao, MD, PhD; Peter C. Hollenhorst, PhD; Kyle W. Jackson, MD; Shadia I. Jalal, MD; Mark Kaplan, PhD; Mark R. Kelley, PhD; Ateeq Muhammed Khaliq, PhD; Ana Sofia Mendes Leal, PharmD, PhD; Kelvin P. Lee, MD; Karen T. Liby, PhD (posthumously); Yunlong Liu, PhD; Ashiq Masood, MD; Amber Mosley, PhD; Harikrishna Nakshatri, PhD; Kenneth P. Nephew, PhD; Heather O'Hagan, PhD; Mateusz Opyrchal, MD, PhD; Pankita H. Pandya, PhD; Karen E. Pollok, PhD; Elizabeth A. Potchanant, PhD; Saranya Rajendran, PhD; Steven D. Rhodes, MD, PhD; M. Reza Saadatzadeh, PhD; C. Max Schmidt, MD, PhD; Reza Shahbazi, PhD; Misty D. Shields, MD, PhD; Rakesh Shiradkar, PhD; Patricia Silveyra, PhD; Kirk A. Staschke, PhD; Jason Tennessen, PhD; Thoa Tran, PhD; Lois Travis, MD; Jun Wan, PhD; Y. Alan Wang, PhD; Brian D. Weiss, MD; Ronald C. Wek, PhD; Jianjun Zhang, MD, PhD; and Ji Zhang, PhD.
Additionally, the following cancer center trainees, are on authors abstracts that will be part of poster sessions: Maksat Babayev, Omar Borges-Sosa, Sunandan Chakrabarti, Ishani Chattopadhayay, Afrin Sultana Chowdhury, Rodney Claude, Haddie DeHart, Nicholas Frederick Downing, David Eisenbarth, Carolyn Damilola Ekpruke, Yuan Feng, Feng Guo, Pei-Yu Peggy Hung, Ryli E. Justice, Maya Shraddha Krishnan, Chunliang Liu, Samaneh Maleknia, Rada Malko, Tara X. Metcalfe, Jessica A. Moerland, Matthew S. O'Malley, Christopher J. Occhiuto, Noah Richardson, Niknam Riyahi, Madhura Shirish Shukla, Noah R. Sommers, Olivia C. Terry, Jia Wang, Tadahito Yasuda, Shu Zhang, and Yanchi Zhou.
Additionally, Shukla, a trainee in Nakshatri’s lab, was selected to an AACR-TOUCH The Black Breast Cancer Alliance Scholar-in-Training Award. She will be honored at a Scholar-in-Training Awards Reception during the meeting.
Follow the cancer center’s X/Twitter account for details on the poster sessions with cancer center researchers at AACR. Starting April 25, poster titles and session locations will be shared daily.
