Dr. Stephen Forman is the director of the Hematologic Malignancies Research Institute, Co-Leader of the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center Hematologic Malignancies Program, and Professor of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and Medical Oncology and Therapeutics Research. Dr. Forman is an international leader in the field of leukemia, lymphoma, cancer immunotherapy and bone marrow transplantation. In addition to his translational research, in the last 15 years directing his laboratory research program, his focus has been on developing cellular immunotherapy approaches for treatment of hematologic malignancies and solid tumors, including pancreatic cancer. He has also cared for patients with cancer for over 40 years. 

Dr. D.B. Evans is the Ausman Family Foundation Professor of Surgery and Chair of the Department of Surgery at The Medical College of Wisconsin. Prior to joining the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2009, he was the Hamill Foundation Distinguished Professor of Surgery at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Evans is a graduate of Bates College, where he has received the Benjamin E. Mays Medal for alumni achievement, and the Boston University School of Medicine. He completed a residency in surgery at Dartmouth followed by a surgical oncology fellowship at UT M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Dr. Evans has devoted his professional career to the research and treatment of pancreatic cancer; his interests include translational laboratory research, clinical trial development and innovative technical solutions to the surgical management of cancer. He has authored or co-authored over 400 journal articles, over 100 book chapters and has edited 10 books. He is past President of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons (AAES) and received the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO) honorary member award. As a member of the LaBahn Pancreatic Cancer Program at MCW, Dr. Evans remains committed to improving the outcome for patients with pancreatic cancer.  

Dr. Anthony El-Khoueiry completed his medical degree, residency in internal medicine and fellowship in hematology and oncology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. He is currently associate professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Medical Oncology, a member of the Gastrointestinal Cancers Program and director of the phase I drug development clinical program. He has been the medical director of the Clinical Investigations Support Office at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center since 2007.

His primary research interests include the development of novel drugs for the treatment of solid tumors, especially gastrointestinal malignancies, the design and conduct of phase I and II clinical trials to test these drugs, and translational research focused on developing prognostic and predictive markers in patients with GI malignancies. Dr. El-Khoueiry has established a national reputation in the area of hepatobiliary cancers clinical research; he is the co-chair of the hepatobiliary cancers committee of the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) and a member of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) hepatobiliary cancers task force. He is the principal investigator on several clinical trials that are evaluating the role of novel drugs for the treatment of biliary and hepatocellular cancers.

As the phase I program director, Dr. El-Khoueiry has formed an experienced and highly skilled phase I clinical research team and established an efficient infrastructure for the conduct of high quality and innovative phase I studies. He has also worked with basic scientists at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center to design phase I studies to test novel compounds or novel combinations that had undergone pre-clinical testing at USC. Dr. El-Khoueiry is frequently invited to give lectures nationally about gastrointestinal malignancies, particularly hepatobiliary cancers, and has a large number of peer-reviewed publications in his areas of research. 

Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2009 for discovering the molecular nature of telomeres, the ends of chromosomes that serve as protective caps essential for preserving genetic information, and for co-discovering telomerase, an enzyme that maintains telomere ends. In addition to the Nobel Prize, Blackburn has received nearly every major award in science, including the Lasker, Gruber and Gairdner prizes. She was named to the TIME 100 in 2007, the magazine’s yearly list of the most influential people in the world.

Blackburn has shown an abiding commitment to public service in the scientific, academic and public policy arenas. She has served as president of both the American Association of Cancer Research and the American Society for Cell Biology, and has served on the editorial boards of several scientific journals, including the influential journals Cell and Science. She was also a member of the President’s Council of Bioethics, an advisory committee to the President of the United States. Blackburn was born in the small city of Hobart in Tasmania, Australia, to a family of doctors and scientists. Inspired by her fascination with animals and a biography of the iconic French scientist Marie Curie, Blackburn chose to also pursue a career in science. Dr. Blackburn earned her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from the University of Melbourne, her Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in England and was a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University.

Dr. Greg Beatty is an associate professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine and in the Division of Hematology/Oncology within the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Beatty is Director of Clinical and Translational Research for the Pancreatic Cancer Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated from Bucknell University (Chemical Engineering) and obtained his PhD (Immunology) from the University of Pennsylvania. He then earned his MD from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and completed a residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in medical oncology at the University of Pennsylvania. As an NIH-funded investigator at Penn Medicine, Dr. Beatty directs a discovery laboratory that incorporates both basic science research and clinical investigation to inform the development of novel immunotherapies. Dr. Beatty has led pivotal first-in-human clinical trials investigating CAR T cells for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. He has also led studies investigating strategies to target cancer inflammation, including CD40 agonists and inhibitors of IDO and JAK. He has published more than 70 peer-reviewed manuscripts with senior- or first-author papers in high-impact journals such as Science, Nature, Nature Immunology, and Cancer Discovery. He is internationally recognized for his expertise in pancreas cancer and cancer immunotherapy.

Nationally, Dr. Beatty is a member of Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Board of Scientific Advisors. He is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and recipient of several awards from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Stand Up To Cancer, Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, Lustgarten Foundation, and Mark Foundation for Cancer Research.

Dr. Dan Von Hoff is the chair of the SSAB and currently a distinguished professor at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, Arizona, and at City of Hope, Duarte, California. He is also a Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Dr. Von Hoff’s major interest is in the development of new anticancer agents, both in the clinic and in the laboratory. He and his colleagues were involved in the beginning of the development of many FDA approved agents we now use routinely, for treatment and improved survival for patients with breast, lung, colon, prostate, pancreas, skin cancers, as well as leukemia. The agents include mitoxantrone, fludarabine, paclitaxel, docetaxel, gemcitabine, irinotecan, nelarabine, capecitabine, lapatinib, vismodegib, nab-paclitaxel, nal-IRI, pexidartinib and others. His clinical trial work has led to the approval of 3 of the 4 drugs approved by the FDA for treatment of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. At present, he and his colleagues are concentrating on the development of therapies for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.

Dr. Von Hoff has published more than 800 papers, 143 book chapters and over 1190 abstracts. Dr. Von Hoff received the 2010 David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology for his outstanding contributions to cancer research leading to significant improvement in patient care and he received the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (the largest cancer research organization in the world), Distinguished Public Service Award in recognition of his extraordinary clinical research career and leadership in establishing the AACR/ASCO Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop to educate and train young clinical investigators. A named lectureship was established in his honor by AACR. He is also the recipient of the Gold Medal from Columbia University for his outstanding contributions to cancer research leading to significant improvements to patient care. He was recently awarded the designation of an Arizona Historymaker 2023.

Dr. Von Hoff was appointed to President Bush’s National Cancer Advisory Board in 2004-2010. Dr. Von Hoff is the past President of the American Association for Cancer Research (the world’s largest cancer research organization), a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a member and past board member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He is a founder of ILEX™ Oncology, Inc. (acquired by Genzyme after Ilex had 2 agents, alemtuzumab and clofarabine approved by the FDA for patients with leukemia). Dr. Von Hoff is founder and the Editor Emeritus of Investigational New Drugs — The Journal of New Anticancer Agents; and, past Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. He is a co-founder of the AACR/ASCO Methods in Clinical Trial Cancer Research Workshop, which has graduated more than 3,000 clinical trial physicians. He is also proud to have been a mentor and teacher for multiple medical students, medical oncology fellows, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows.

Chief Executive Officer and the Helen and Morgan Chu Chief Executive Officer Distinguished Chair at City of Hope. Under his leadership, City of Hope has expanded its impact in cancer research, treatment, and innovation, reinforcing its status as a leading comprehensive cancer center.

A seasoned healthcare executive, Dr. Payson previously served as CEO of Apria Healthcare and was the founder of Healthsource, Inc. and the Kiva Foundation. Dr. Payson has dedicated his career to improving health care accessibility and strategic management in the industry.

Michael Blend is the CEO, Chairman, and Co-Founder of System1, a leading digital marketing and data-driven technology company. With extensive experience in data analytics and online advertising, Blend has played a pivotal role in driving System1’s growth and innovation in the performance marketing space.

Tessa Stephenson-Brand is the owner of Tessa Lyn Events, a premier event planning company, and an active philanthropist supporting the University of Southern California and City of Hope. She is dedicated to both entrepreneurship and philanthropy, contributing to causes that support healthcare.