Opening Plenary Session: Global Burden of Cancer in Adolescents and Young Adults

Amber Skinner, MPH | Session Co-Chair

Amber Skinner, MPH | Session Co-Chair

Moffit Cancer Center

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Amber Skinner is the Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Program Administrator at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. Amber has served as the liaison between the AYA population, program leader and multidisciplinary committee at Moffitt for six years and leads daily program management activities for the eight AYA program pillars. Amber also serves as an AYA Program representative, creating community partnerships, aligning resources for patients, and organizing advocacy and research efforts for Moffitt’s AYA Program. Amber is passionate in advocating for young adult cancer patients and improving health equity in the AYA population. Ms. Skinner earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Murray State University and a Master of Public Health from the University of South Florida.

 Elysia Marie Alvarez, M.D., M.P.H.

Elysia Marie Alvarez, M.D., M.P.H.

UC Davis

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Dr. Alvarez is a pediatric hematologist/oncologist at the University of California Davis School of Medicine. She received her medical degree from the University of California Irvine School of Medicine and Master of Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Alvarez provides care to children, adolescents and young adults with cancer. She has a special clinic interest and expertise in adolescent and young adult patients with solid tumors. She is also the co-leader of the Pediatric, Adolescent, and Young Adult Comprehensive Sarcoma Clinic at the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Alvarez’s research focuses on investigating factors that impact health outcomes in adolescent and young adult patients with cancer both in the United States and globally. She is currently focused on identifying barriers to care of adolescent and young adult patients in Latin America and developing strategies to improve outcomes in this patient population. She believes that all children, adolescents and young adults deserve access to high quality specialized care to treat their cancer regardless of where they are from.

 Stuart Siegel, M.D. | Session Co-Chair

Stuart Siegel, M.D. | Session Co-Chair

DNA-SEQ Alliance, Inc

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I am a retired Pediatric hematologist-oncologist and University Professor who is currently involved in leadership roles in several regional and national non-profit organizations in the medical arena, especially dealing with children’s health, as well as serving in consulting roles in the area of pediatric health and hospital development internationally and in the area of programmatic development in pediatric and young adult oncology. I served as the head of one of the largest academic pediatric cancer and blood diseases program in the country at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the Keck School of Medicine at USC from 1976 until 2015.

Dan Stark, Prof.

Dan Stark, Prof.

University of Leeds

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Dr. Stark has been the lead for the Teenage and Young Adult Oncology Unit, since 1996. He received his medical degree from the University of Cambridge, and completed his studies for a PhD in Oncology in the University of Leeds in 2000.

Dr. Stark is the clinical lead for Germ cell tumours in the Yorkshire Region of the UK. Clinical Research in the Unit includes the epidemiology, biology, early presentation and management in clinical trials. He also conducts clinical trials in Sarcoma.

The main objectives of Dr. Stark’s research are: To improve outcomes for Teenagers and Young Adults with cancer, by studying the epidemiology, diagnosis, care and treatment for this patient group. He conducts this research grateful for competitive grant funding support from the EU FP-7, UK NIHR, Cancer Research UK, Teenage Cancer Trust and others.  Within the ENCCA project Dr Stark provides leadership for the work on Teenagers and Young Adults

Dr. Stark is member of the UK National Cancer Research Institute Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Studies group, the English Clinical Reference Group for Teenagers and Young Adults with cancer, and the Association of Cancer Physicians.

Mental Health in AYAs: The Impact of Cancer on Life and the Impact of Life on Cancer

Brad Zebrack, PhD, MSW, MPH | Session Co-Chair

Brad Zebrack, PhD, MSW, MPH | Session Co-Chair

University of Michigan

Brynn Fowler, MPH | Session Co-Chair

Brynn Fowler, MPH | Session Co-Chair

Northwestern University

Joey Lynch

Joey Lynch

Canteen Australia

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Brad Zebrack, PhD, MSW, MPH is a Professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work and member of the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences. He is a fellow to the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR), the American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS), and the Association for Oncology Social Work (AOSW). Dr. Zebrack has clinical social work experience in both pediatric and adult oncology, and also has been involved in the development and evaluation of peer support programs for adolescent and young adult cancer survivors. His research on quality of life and cancer survivorship over the past 20 years has been supported by the National Cancer Institute (K07, R03, R01), the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), and HopeLab Inc. Brad is also a long-term survivor of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, diagnosed in 1985 at the age of 25. In 1988-1989, Brad and his wife Joanne embarked on and completed a one-year, 11,000-mile bicycle tour around the perimeter of the United States to promote cancer survivorship.

 

[2:07 PM] Tori Swinehart

Nina Jackson Levin:

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Brynn Fowler, MPH is the AYA Program Manager at Northwestern Medicine and Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, IL. Brynn received her master’s in public health at the University of Utah where she worked with researchers to investigate AYA medication adherence and program development. Brynn has been involved in various capacities in AYA oncology for 9 years now in both Utah and Illinois, ranging from research to program development and implementation. Brynn has a deep passion for working with AYAs and loves all of the different hats she gets to wear in her work. Brynn lives in Chicago, IL with her husband and two small children.  

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Joey Lynch was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma as a 16-year-old in 2008 and across the subsequent 15 years has experienced almost every type of treatment out there — including multiple stem cell transplants (developing severe graft versus host in 2013), total body irradiation, and several clinical trials (one of which required him to crowdfund over half a million $USD to access). Still in treatment today, Joey was first cajoled into joining Canteen Australia to access psychosocial support by his mother in late 2019 and has now been a board director since 2016, serving as chair from 2019 to 2022. Professionally, he works as a freelance sports journalist in Australia, primarily covering soccer for outlets such as The Guardian, ESPN, and the Australian Associated Press

Nina Jackson Levin, MSW

Nina Jackson Levin, MSW

University of Michigan

Ursula Sansom-Daly, PhD

Ursula Sansom-Daly, PhD

Sydney Youth Cancer Service

Tori North

Tori North

Patient & Survivor

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Nina Jackson Levin, MSW (she/her) is National Cancer Institute T32 Research Fellow at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, and is expected to complete her PhD in The Joint Program in Social Work and Social Science (Anthropology) at the University of Michigan in May 2023. Her research explores sexual and reproductive health care among adolescents and young adults with cancer whose fertility is affected by treatment. In particular, she is interested in health disparities among AYAs from diverse and marginalized backgrounds, such as sexual and gender minority patients. Jackson Levin uses multimedia ethnographic methods to better understand young people’s experiences of cancer in order to improve upon service delivery.

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Dr. Ursula Sansom-Daly is a Clinical Psychologist at Sydney Youth Cancer Service, a large multidisciplinary service that specialises in the care of adolescents and young adults aged 15-25 with cancer. She is also a Senior Research Fellow, and Director of the Behavioural Sciences Unit, UNSW Medicine & Health, the largest psychological research group in child/adolescent cancer in Australasia. Dr Sansom-Daly focuses on applying evidence-based psychological models and methods to address the mental health implications of cancer among adolescents and young adults with cancer, across the lifespan, from the time young people are diagnosed with cancer, through to survivorship, and for some, end of lifeen.  

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Tori North was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia at 19 years old. Now, almost 27, Tori celebrates being 7 years cancer free thanks to their med team at Children’s Hospital of Orange County. Having earned their degree in psychology, Tori’s passion for providing a safe space for others continues to thrive as they work as an instructional assistant at a behavioral school. Tori plans to continue their education with hopes of becoming a teacher, and maybe one day, a child psychologist.

Brian Smith

Brian Smith

Patient & Survivor

Peter Dawes

Peter Dawes

Patient & Survivor

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Brian Smith is a 35 year old testicular cancer survivor and AYA advocate. Throughout his 11 years of being cancer free, Brian has faced a number of mental health challenges. His faith, his family, and other support carried him through those troubled times. In 2018 Brian joined Teen Cancer America’s Play It Back Music Program where he learned about the healing power of music. He continues to create songs with other AYAs and help develop the program. Brian lives with his fiancé Alexa and family in Palestine, TX

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Peter Dawes is from Hampshire, England, and was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia when he was 18 years old. He had a few months of chemotherapy as an inpatient before receiving an allogenic stem cell transplant from an unrelated donor later that year, which was successful. Now 4 years later and cancer free, He’s just finished the first year of a degree in adult nursing at Southampton university and hospital, where he was treated.

Transitions of Care & Resiliency:

Lessons Learned From AYA patients, Clinicians, and Communities

Pamela Simon, NP | Session Co-Chair

Pamela Simon, NP | Session Co-Chair

Stanford University Medical Center

Alec Kupelian | Session Co-Chair

Alec Kupelian | Session Co-Chair

Teen Cancer America

Abby Rosenberg, MD

Abby Rosenberg, MD

Seattle Children's Research Institute

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Abby R. Rosenberg, MD, MS, MA, is the Chief of Pediatric Palliative Care at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Director of Pediatric Palliative Care at Boston Children’s Hospital, and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.  She received her MD from Stanford University and completed her pediatrics residency and hematology/oncology fellowship training at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital.  Her additional training includes a Master of Science in Clinical Research Methods and a Master of Arts in Bioethics, both from the University of Washington. Prior to joining the team at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children’s, she held the Aldarra Endowed Chair for Survivorship and Outcomes Research at Seattle Children’s and directed both the Palliative Care and Resilience Program at Seattle Children’s Research Institute and the Pediatrics section at the Cambia Palliative Care Center of Excellence at the University of Washington.  Her national leadership positions have included the Chair of the American Society of Clinical Oncology Ethics committee, the Chair of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Scientific Program committee, the Chair of the American Cancer Society’s standing peer-review section for palliative care and outcomes science, and the chair of the Children’s Oncology Group Patient-Reported Outcomes committee. 

Dr. Rosenberg’s scholarship is focused on promoting the quality of life of children, adolescents, and young adults with serious illness.  Specifically, she and her team endeavor to create evidence-based programs to promote patient and family resilience, in turn enabling both children and families to thrive. Dr. Rosenberg has been continuously funded by the NIH for her entire career, and currently holds multiple independent grants to test and disseminate her novel resilience-coaching program. She has published over 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts related to pediatric and AYA palliative care, supportive oncology, and survivorship, and has been an invited speaker at over 80 national and international meetings.  She has received scientific recognition awards from organizations such as the American Cancer Society, the Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO, the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, the National Palliative Care Research Center, the Cambia Health Foundation, and the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. In 2022, she received the Trish Green Lifetime Achievement Award for Quality of Life research from the American Cancer Society. 

Finally, Dr. Rosenberg is dedicated to training the next generation of survivorship and outcomes researchers.  She has been a leader for multiple NIH-sponsored training grants and programs.  Her mentoring mission is to support the development of women and people who have been historically marginalized trainees in science. In the past 5 years, 100% of her mentees successfully secured level-appropriate extramural funding and academic positions for career their development.  Dr. Rosenberg is the recipient of the 2021 “Excellence in Mentoring Women” award from the University of Washington.  

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Sidney Kushner, BS

Sidney Kushner, BS

University of Georgia

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Sidney Kushner, BS, founded Connecting Champions as a 19-year-old in memory of his friend Lauren. He graduated with a degree in Applied Mathematics from Brown University and was named a top 100 student entrepreneur in the nation by Stanford University. In 2021, he gave a TED talk: “How one question can forever change the life of a child with cancer.” He has been honored in Pittsburgh’s inaugural class of 30 Under 30, featured in Harvard Business Review and Forbes, and highlighted as a guest writer in Pittsburgh Magazine. 

Sumit Gupta, MD, PhD

Sumit Gupta, MD, PhD

SickKids

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Sumit Gupta, MD, PhD is a Staff Oncologist and Clinician Investigator at SickKids, an Associate Professor at both the Faculty of Medicine and the Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, and an Adjunct Scientist with the Cancer Research Program at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. He completed a PhD in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Toronto, during which time he was supported by a CIHR (Canadian Institutes of Health Research) Fellowship Award. He is one of the Assistant Chairs of the Lancet Oncology Commission on Sustainable Paediatric Cancer Care in low- and middle-income countries. Dr. Gupta has worked extensively with pediatric oncologists and policymakers throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, and India. He currently holds grant funding from The Garron Family Cancer Centre, CIHR and the Terry Fox Research Institute.

Marginalized and Minoritized: Disparities and Unequal Treatment in AYA Oncology

 Michael Roth, M.D. | Session Co-Chair

Michael Roth, M.D. | Session Co-Chair

MD Anderson Cancer Center

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Dr. Michael Roth is a pediatric oncologist and AYA research investigator at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. His research focuses on improving care and outcomes for children, adolescents and young adults diagnosed with cancer with a specific interest in improving the long-term health, quality of life and survival for these patients.  He is the co-director of the AYA Program and director of the Childhood Cancer Survivorship Program at MD Anderson. In addition he is the current chair of the AYA Oncology Discipline Committee in the Children’s Oncology Group and he leads the AYA Responsible Investigators Network, whose mission is to optimize enrollment of AYAs onto cancer clinical trials.

Christabel K. Cheung, PhD, MSW | Session Co-Chair

Christabel K. Cheung, PhD, MSW | Session Co-Chair

University of Maryland, Baltimore

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Christabel Cheungs: Christabel K. Cheung, PhD, MSW is a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work and Member of the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Cheung’s research focuses on the psychosocial issues of cancer survivorship among adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients (diagnosed between ages 15-39 years) in the domains of disparities and social determinants of health and mental health, financial hardship and disability, antiracist and gender-affirming patient engagement, and embodied research methods. As a social and behavioral scientist in pursuit of these interests, she has led research projects as principal investigator and co-investigator and contributed to numerous cancer care optimization, patient education, and advocacy initiatives aimed at improving health and behavioral mental health outcomes. As an embodied BIPOC AYA patient scientist and two-time survivor of cancer in the AYA years (Hodgkin’s lymphoma), she is recognized for writing one of the first cancer blogs advocating for racially minoritized young adult patients, JadeGangster.com. She holds a Bachelor of Journalism from University of Missouri-Columbia, a Master of Social Welfare from University of California, Berkeley, and a PhD in Social Welfare from University of California, Los Angeles.

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Reginald Tucker-Seeley MA, ScM, ScD

Reginald Tucker-Seeley MA, ScM, ScD

ZERO, the End of Prostate Cancer

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With over 20 years of experience, Dr. Reggie Tucker-Seeley joins the ZERO team as the Vice President of Health Equity. With decades of experience in cancer, public health, and health disparities research, Reggie is eager to drive solutions and make significant strides in one of the most urgent challenges today in prostate cancer: racial/ethnic disparities in outcomes from prevention to survivorship and end-of-life care.

Dr. Tucker-Seeley completed a master’s and doctoral degrees in public health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH) and a postdoctoral fellowship in cancer prevention and control at HSPH and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. His research has focused on social determinants of health across the life course and on socioeconomic determinants of multimorbidity, mortality, and one’s physical, mental, and oral health. His research has also investigated the association of financial hardship with health across the chronic disease continuum from prevention to end-of-life care.

Dr. Tucker-Seeley has a longstanding interest in the impact of health and social policy on racial/ethnic minorities and across socioeconomic groups. He has experience working on local and state-level health disparities policy, and in the measuring and reporting of health disparities at the state and local level. In 2017, Dr. Tucker-Seeley was selected for the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship Program. The fellowship included a one-year residency in Washington, D.C. working on health policy issues with Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office and her health policy team. He also has a personal connection to prostate cancer, as his great uncle who was a Vietnam Veteran is a survivor of the disease. 

In his new role, Dr. Tucker-Seeley will work closely with ZERO’s leadership and members of ZERO’s Prostate Cancer Racial Disparities Task Force, to create greater access to high-quality healthcare, support in navigating the care process, and improve prostate cancer outcomes.

When he’s not working, Dr. Tucker-Seeley enjoys playing tennis, exploring his city of Los Angeles, and staying up to date with all things Star Wars AND Star Trek. For more information about ZERO’s Racial Disparities Task Force and ZERO’s mission for health equity, click here to connect with Dr. Tucker-Seeley. 

Kimberly Miller, PhD, MPH

Kimberly Miller, PhD, MPH

Keck School of Medicine of USC

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Kimberly Miller, PhD, MPH is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences and Department of Dermatology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. Her research focuses on understanding the health behaviors, healthcare engagement, and cancer-related health disparities of children, adolescents, and young adult cancer survivors. She is leading two National Cancer Institute-funded R01 studies in this area. With Drs. David Freyer (Children’s Hospital Los Angeles) and Joel Milam (University of California, Irvine), she is co-director of the Center for Young Adult Cancer Survivorship Research, an interdisciplinary research collaborative whose mission is to study and improve the health outcomes of young adult cancer survivors.

Court Simmons

Court Simmons

Patient & Survivor

Nelson Peralta

Nelson Peralta

Patient & Survivor

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Nelson Peralta, MA (He/Him) is a Philosophy Graduate Student, Latinx Leadership Coach, and AYA Leukemia Survivor. He identifies as a queer indigenous scholar whose philosophical interests meet at the intersection of Epistemology (the study of knowledge), Queer Theory, and Latin American Thought. An avid self-development nerd, Nelson enjoys synthesizing innovative ways to bring together authentic leadership, emotional resilience, and healing for young Latinx professionals.

Changing Epidemiology of AYA Cancer

Susan K. Parsons, MD, MRP | Session Co-Chair

Susan K. Parsons, MD, MRP | Session Co-Chair

Tufts Medical Center

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Dr. Susan Parsons’ career has combined formal graduate training in health economics and planning, with extensive clinical training and experience in hematology/oncology, and cancer survivorship. Dr. Parsons graduated from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons with top honors in pediatrics. She completed a residency and chief residency at Boston Children’s Hospital, followed by a fellowship in pediatric hematology/oncology at the Boston Children’s/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

 

Her research has focused on strategies to improve the patient’s experience with healthcare, reduce regimen-related toxicity, and optimize functioning. Nationally, she serves as a member of the Children’s Oncology Group’s (COG) Steering Committee for Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL) and member of the study team of three frontline clinical trials. In the recently completed high risk pediatric study (AHOD 1331), she led an embedded study on chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy and co-leads a cost effectiveness analysis. In two other trials, she serves as the Quality of Life chair, examining the trajectory of health-related quality of life, symptom burden, and financial toxicity, associated with novel therapy. In 2019 Dr. Parsons was appointed chair of cancer care delivery research (CCDR) for COG and has served as a member of the NCI’s Scientific Steering for CCDR for almost seven years. Within her own research, she is co-founder of the HoLISTIC Consortium (Hodgkin Lymphoma International Study for Individual Care) with the goal of enhancing patient-provider communication on treatment trade-offs in HL. Dr. Parsons is a Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine, Director of the Center for Health Solutions within the Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies, and founding Medical Director of the Reid R. Sacco AYA Cancer Program at Tufts Medical Center, providing survivorship care to AYA-aged survivors diagnosed in childhood, adolescence or young adulthood.

 

Mafalda von Alvensleben | Session Co-Chair

Mafalda von Alvensleben | Session Co-Chair

Teen Cancer America

Hirini Johnston | Session Co-Chair

Hirini Johnston | Session Co-Chair

CanTeen NZ

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Dr. Ugai, MD, PhD is faculty member at Harvard University and a physician epidemiologist with expertise in pathology, clinical oncology, cancer epidemiology, and molecular epidemiology. His current research focuses on evaluating risk factors and disease burden of early-onset cancers, incidence of which has increased worldwide for unknown reasons (Ugai et al. Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology).  Another research focus is investigating tissue-based cancer biomarkers, including immune and microbial characteristics of cancer, using large-scale-population studies.  Dr. Ugai is now a chair of Cancer Spectrum Working Group and a co-leader of Molecular Pathological Epidemiology Working Group at Harvard-affiliated institutions.   Dr. Ugai has also taken a leadership role in several global collaborative projects in the epidemiological consortium, including the Genetics and Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer Consortium (GECCO).

 

Kayla Hamilton MS, CGC

Kayla Hamilton MS, CGC

Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center

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Kayla Hamilton is a senior genetic counselor in the Division of Cancer Genetics and Prevention at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders center. She counsels patients with a personal or family history of cancer and blood disorders and helps patients make informed decisions about genetic testing options and understand the results and implications of genetic tests. Her research focuses on psychosocial outcomes in adolescents and young adults with cancer predisposition syndromes as well as the impact of genetic results on family dynamics and communication.

Annalynn Williams, PhD

Annalynn Williams, PhD

University of Rochester Medical Center

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Dr. Williams is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery, Division of Supportive Care in Cancer at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Dr. Williams completed her PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Rochester and a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Pediatric Cancer  Control and Survivorship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Dr. Williams’ research is focused on treatment-related toxicities and late effects among survivors of pediatric, adolescent, and young adult cancer. Specifically, cancer-related neuropsychological and psychosocial sequelae, their underlying mechanisms, and effective interventions. Her current NCI funded research examines accelerated physiologic and biologic aging as an underlying molecular mechanism by which cancer-related sequelae arise in survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma, the most common cancer diagnosed in adolescents. This research provides critical information to help us exploit these pathways to design targeted interventions among high-risk subgroups to mitigate or prevent neurocognitive and psychosocial sequelae. 

Tomotaka Ugai, MD, PhD

Tomotaka Ugai, MD, PhD

Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School

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Dr. Ugai, MD, PhD is faculty member at Harvard University and a physician epidemiologist with expertise in pathology, clinical oncology, cancer epidemiology, and molecular epidemiology. His current research focuses on evaluating risk factors and disease burden of early-onset cancers, incidence of which has increased worldwide for unknown reasons (Ugai et al. Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology).  Another research focus is investigating tissue-based cancer biomarkers, including immune and microbial characteristics of cancer, using large-scale-population studies.  Dr. Ugai is now a chair of Cancer Spectrum Working Group and a co-leader of Molecular Pathological Epidemiology Working Group at Harvard-affiliated institutions.  Dr. Ugai has also taken a leadership role in several global collaborative projects in the epidemiological consortium, including the Genetics and Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer Consortium (GECCO).

 

Targeted Therapies

Joseph M. Flynn, DO, MPH, FACP | Session Chair

Joseph M. Flynn, DO, MPH, FACP | Session Chair

Norton Cancer Institute

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Dr. Joseph M. Flynn, DO, MPH, FACP, Chief Administrative Officer, Norton Medical Group and Physician-in-Chief, Norton Cancer Institute (a part of Norton Healthcare, Louisville, Kentucky).

 

Dr. Flynn served in several capacities with Ohio State University prior to accepting the lead role with Norton Cancer Institute, including co-director, division of hematology; medical director, James Cancer Network, Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute; and associate professor of medicine, School of Public Health.

 

Dr. Flynn earned his undergraduate degree from Skidmore College, and an MBA from Babson College. He is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and he received a master of public health degree from Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He has been extremely active in community education on a wide variety of cancer related topics, and has remained a dedicated advocate in the study of adolescent and young adult cancers and the impact.  Dr. Flynn has contributed to more than 100 medical publications.

Christina Best | Session Co-Chair

Christina Best | Session Co-Chair

Teen Cancer America

Sameek Roychowdhury, MD, PhD

Sameek Roychowdhury, MD, PhD

The Ohio State University

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Sameek Roychowdhury, MD, PhD, is a medical oncologist at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute who specializes in treating patients with advanced prostate and colorectal cancers, including soft tissue sarcoma. He is also an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and the Department of Pharmacology at The Ohio State University.  Proud to be a Buckeye, he earned his undergraduate degree in molecular genetics at Ohio State and received my medical degree and doctorate in immunology there as well. Since 2012, he has been developing clinical trials focused on genomic alterations.

Rachael Hough, MD

Rachael Hough, MD

University College London

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Rachael Hough, MD, is a Consultant Haematologist at University College London Hospital’s NHS Foundation Trust and Professor of Haematology and Haemopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation at University College London. She has worked exclusively with TYA patients with haematological malignancies since her consultant appointment in 2005. She has specialist expertise in the management of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, haematopoietic stem cell transplantation and CAR T cell therapy in this age group. She is also an international leader in the management of ALL in young people and has led on the TYA aspects of the UK ALL protocols, UKALL2003 and UKALL2011 and the currently recruiting international ALLTogether1 trial. TYA-specific leadership roles have included Lead Clinician of the UCLH Children and Young People’s Cancer Service 2008-2017, Chair of the North Thames TYA Cancer Network 2012-2022, Chair of the NHS England Teenage and Young Adult Clinical Reference Group 2012-2016 and Chair of NHS England’s Children and Young People’s Clinical Reference Group 2016-2022

Global Advances in AYA

  Peter Orchard, Chief Executive Officer | Session Co-Chair

Peter Orchard, Chief Executive Officer | Session Co-Chair

CanTeen, Australia

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Peter is the CEO of Canteen, an Australian not-for-profit organisation that provides free and tailored support to young people aged 12 – 25 years, who are impacted by cancer. Peter has been with Canteen since 2012.

Peter is continually struck by the sense of possibility and vulnerability that can be present during adolescence and early adulthood. This has inspired him to work with young people for over 30 years across across homelessness, mental health, community health, and now cancer. He was Deputy CEO at headspace – national youth mental health foundation and then, as a Director at Australian Healthcare Associates, he undertook evaluations of federal and state initiatives across organ and tissue donation, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, mental health, disaster recovery and drug and alcohol.

 

 

 Nick Laing, Chief Executive Officer | Session Co-Chair

Nick Laing, Chief Executive Officer | Session Co-Chair

CanTeen, Aotearoa

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Nick Laing – Chief Executive CanTeen Aotearoa (New Zealand): Nick has a background in social work and has held leadership roles within the health and not for profit sector in Aotearoa/ New Zealand for more than 20 years.  Nick has a passion for improving the wellbeing of rangatahi/ young people.  Before joining CanTeen Aotearoa in 2019,  he was the General Manager of the New Zealand AIDS Foundation and was a Board Advisor for the national LGBTIQ+ organisation Rainbow Youth. Nick lives on Waiheke Island in Auckland, New Zealand.

 Samuel Volchenboum, MD, PhD

Samuel Volchenboum, MD, PhD

University of Chicago

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Dr. Samuel Volchenboum, MD, PhD, is an associate professor of pediatrics and the associate chief research informatics officer for the Division of Biological Sciences at the University of Chicago. He is the Dean of Masters Programs, and he designed and launched the UChicago Master’s in Biomedical Informatics. His clinical specialty is pediatric hematology / oncology, caring for kids with cancer and blood diseases. His research group includes the University of Chicago’s Data for the Common Good (D4CG), dedicated to building communities, platforms, and ecosystems that maximize the potential of data to drive discovery and improve human health. D4CG’s flagship project, the Pediatric Cancer Data Commons is dedicated to liberating and democratizing international data for pediatric malignancies. He is the director of the Informatics Core for the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), and he is director of the UChicago Clinical Informatics fellowship program.

 Katie Rizvi

Katie Rizvi

Youth Cancer Europe

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Katie Rizvi is a founder of Youth Cancer Europe, an advocacy network for young people with cancer shaping European policy. She is a member of the EORTC Group of Patient Experts and the Patient Advisory Committee of the European Cancer Organisation. Since 2016 she is a member of the Children’s Medicines Working Party of The European Forum for Good Clinical Practice. For two terms she served on the Board of Directors of PanCare, a multidisciplinary pan-European network for the study of late effects of childhood cancer therapy. The Little People Children’s Cancer Charity she set up in Romania twenty years ago still provides daily psychosocial support services for Romanian childhood cancer patients and peer-support to young people in after-care through online & residential programmes, with a pre-pandemic annual reach of 1500 pediatric oncology patients in the clinical setting

Prakash Chitalkar

Prakash Chitalkar

Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences Indore

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Prakash Chitalkar had a career as a Physician and Medical Oncologist in India’s military.

He witnessed the poignancy and bewilderment of young persons with cancer during this time. He then helped create a national non-profit dedicated to AYAs with cancer that is now growing with both academic fervour and social entrepreneurship.  Sharing the journey is the first step of global collaboration.