Agenda

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Thursday, Aug 27 Friday, Aug 28

Thursday, August 27, 2026

08:00 am EST
Welcome

Giorgio Trinchieri, M.D.
Center for Cancer Research, NCI

08:10 am EST
Opening Remarks

Anthony Letai, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, National Cancer Institute

08:25 am EST
Introduction of Keynote Speaker

Chair: Remy Bosselut, Ph.D.

08:30 am EST
From Machine Learning to Autonomous Intelligence

Yann LeCun, Ph.D.
New York University

SESSION I: DATA SCIENCE AND DEEP LEARNING IN CANCER IMMUNITY
Chair: Eytan Ruppin, Ph.D.

09:15 am EST
Do T cells have a World Model?

Paul François, Ph.D.
Université de Montréal

09:45 am EST
Towards Fast and Accessible Precision Oncology

Eytan Ruppin, M.D., Ph.D.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

10:15 am EST
BREAK
10:35 am EST
AI-Predicted Spatial Transcriptomics Unlocks Breast Cancer Biomarkers from Pathology

Eldad Shulman, Ph.D.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

11:00 am EST
What is Immune Health? Can AI, Perturbation, and Systems Immunology Help Decode it?

John Tsang, Ph.D., MMath
Yale School of Medicine

11:30 am EST
LUNCH AND POSTER SESSION

SESSION II: TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT
Chair: Tim Greten, Ph.D.

01:30 pm EST
Understanding Microbiota Regulation of the Tumor Microenvironment and Response to Cancer Therapy

Romina Goldszmid, Ph.D.
Center for Cancer Research, NCI

01:55 pm EST
Understanding the Role of Neutrophils in the Prostate Bone Tumor Niche

Leah Cook, Ph.D.
Center for Cancer Research, NCI

02:20 pm EST
The Immune Tumor Microenvironment in Liver Cancer

Tim Greten, M.D.
Center for Cancer Research, NCI

02:45 pm EST
BREAK
03:05 pm EST
Deciphering the Multicellular Spatial Architecture of Liver Cancer

Lichun Ma, Ph.D.
Center for Cancer Research, NCI

03:30 pm EST
Omics & Agentic AI Discovery of Secreted Proteins as Cancer Immunotherapies

Peng Jiang, Ph.D.
Center for Cancer Research, NCI

03:55 pm EST
Guardians Gone Rogue: Dendritic Cells as the Bridge from a Dysbiotic Gut to Autoimmunity

Roxane Tussiwand, Ph.D.
Limes Institute, University Bonn

04:25 pm EST
Imaging Tumor Initiation and Progression in Live Animals at Cellular and Sub-Cellular Resolution

Roberto Weigert, Ph.D.
Center for Cancer Research, NCI

04:50 pm EST
ADJOURN FOR THE DAY

Friday, August 28, 2026

SESSION III: MICROBIOME AND CANCER
Chair: Barbara Rehermann, M.D.

08:30 am EST
Genes, Bugs, Metabolites and Intestinal Inflammation

Ramnik Xavier, M.D., Ph.D.
MGH and Broad Institute, Harvard University

09:00 am EST
Human ICI Response-Associated Ruminococcus Gnavus Potentiates Checkpoint Therapy

Marlies Meisel, Ph.D.
University of Pittsburgh

09:30 am EST
Targeting the Gut Microbiome in Cancer Immunotherapy

Giorgio Trinchieri, M.D.
Center for Cancer Research, NCI

09:55 am EST
BREAK
10:10 am EST
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy and the Gut Microbiome: A Complex Relationship with Significant Implications in Cancer Treatment

Amiran Dzutsev, M.D., Ph.D.
Center for Cancer Research, NCI

10:35 am EST
Commensals Enhance Checkpoint Blockade in Preclinical Models

Barbara Rehermann, M.D.
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases, NIH

11:00 am EST
Targeting Intratumor Bacteria to Overcome Immunotherapy Resistance in NSCLC

Chen Zhao, M.D.
Center for Cancer Research, NCI

11:25 am EST
LUNCH

SESSION IV: T CELLS IN CANCER IMMUNITY
Chair: Grégoire Altan-Bonnet, Ph.D.

12:30 pm EST
Genome Organization in T Lymphocytes

Golnaz Vahedi, Ph.D.
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

01:00 pm EST
Long Lived Multipotential Precursors Maintain the Adult Mouse Thymus

Avinash Bhandoola, M.D., Ph.D.
Center for Cancer Research, NCI

01:25 pm EST
CD4 T Cell Functions in Tumors

Remy Bosselut, M.D., Ph.D.
Center for Cancer Research, NCI

01:50 pm EST
The Influence of Immunogenetic Variation on Viral Disease and Cancer

Mary Carrington, Ph.D.
Center for Cancer Research, NCI

02:15 pm EST
The Early Metastatic Microenvironment and Approaches to Rebalance the Dysregulated Niche

Rosandra Kaplan, M.D.
Center for Cancer Research, NCI

02:40 pm EST
BREAK
03:00 pm EST
Human Immunity Over Space and Time

Donna Farber, Ph.D.
Columbia University

03:30 pm EST
The Paradoxical Role of anti-Tumor Immunity in Tumor Control and Dormancy

Li Yang, Ph.D.
Center for Cancer Research, NCI

03:55 pm EST
Fueling Anti-Tumor T Lymphocytes: CARs and More

Naomi Taylor, M.D., Ph.D.
Center for Cancer Research, NCI

04:20 pm EST
Designing Immunotherapies by the Numbers

Grégoire Altan-Bonnet, Ph.D.
Center for Cancer Research, NCI 

04:45 pm EST
ADJOURN