Translational Systems Biology Symposium: New Computational Technologies and Trial Designs for a Continuum of Personalized Therapy
The Translational Systems Biology Symposium: New Computational Technologies and Trial Designs for a Continuum of Personalized Therapy was held on August 24-25, 2023. It focused on utilizing patient clinical and -omic data with systems biology models in clinical settings.
Advances in translational oncology using systems biology approaches have been significant in recent years. To take full advantage of these advancements for the benefit of patients, the symposium explored building innovative and streamlined clinical trials for incorporating biomarkers and new drug treatment strategies into clinical practice.
Attendees examined the areas of medicine that have the greatest potential to implement systems biology methods in the near future. They discussed plans for building the necessary clinical trial infrastructure across the nation to reduce barriers to entry of these methods and result in democratization of data and resources. Opportunities for collaboration between research institutes, pharmaceutical/biotech companies, NCI, ARPA-H, and foundations were also explored.
The meeting has led to the development of action items to facilitate the integration of systems biology into clinical trials in a manner that is efficient, accessible to research and clinical communities, and quickly benefits patients.
Documents from the Workshop
Recordings from the Workshop
Introduction and Meeting Overview
- Opening Remarks – Shannon Hughes, Ph.D. & Dinah Singer, Ph.D. (NCI)
- Meeting Overview – Andrea Bild, Ph.D. (City of Hope)
Session 1: Innovative technologies and methods for translational medicine
- Multiscale modeling of clinical cancer progression – Sylvia Plevritis, Ph.D. (Stanford University)
- Forging the future of precision oncology with AI/ML and multimodal biomarkers - Aritro Nath (City of Hope)
- DNA Methylation: From Bench to Bedside – Beth Chang, Ph.D. (GRAIL, Inc.)
- Integrative genomic biomarkers for cancer clinical studies – Andrew Kung, M.D., Ph.D. (MSKCC)
- Challenges for selecting and scheduling combination therapeutics – Matthew Lazzara, Ph.D. (University of Virginia)
Session 2: Innovative clinical trial designs that implement systems biology models
- Innovative clinical trial designs for applying thoracic systems biology – Wade Iams, M.D. (Vanderbilt University)
- Utilizing systems biology models to improve outcomes of metastatic hormone receptor-positive breast cancer – Rachel Layman, M.D. (MD Anderson Cancer Center)
- An algorithm-driven strategy for a novel targeted therapy in breast cancer – Jose Silva, Ph.D. (Icahn School of Medicine)
- Integrating evolutionary mathematical models into clinical trials – Robert Gatenby, M.D. (Moffitt Cancer Center)
- Challenges and opportunities for biomarker intensive studies in oncology – Sunil Sharma, M.D., F.A.C.P., M.B.A. (TGen)
Session 3: Opportunities for technology advancement and collaboration across pharma, biotech, government, and academia (landscape analysis)
- Transforming Cancer Care with Foundation Medicine – Mia Levy, M.D., Ph.D. (Foundation Medicine)
- Addressing problems in drug discovery and early development with molecular profiling: opportunities for new technology and collaboration – Paul Rejto, Ph.D. (Pfizer)
- Emerging uses of cfDNA analyses in clinical trials & oncology translational research – Shiva Malek, Ph.D. (Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research)
- AI-Enabled Precision Medicine is Here: Multi-Modal Data Collaborations to Advance Cancer Care and Drug Development – Calvin Chao, M.D. (Tempus)
- Clinical Research Opportunities in collaboration with the NCI Center for Cancer Research – James Gulley, M.D., Ph.D. (NCI)
Session 4: How to effectively match the speed of discovery and development with translation (implementation)
- Insights from I-SPY 2: A transformative Bayesian-driven platform trial – Anna Barker, Ph.D. (Ellison Institute)
- Key technologies to accelerate Biomarker-to-Bedside translation – Joris Van Dam, Ph.D. (Exact Sciences)
- Reaching Escape Velocity: Climb out of the valley of death & accelerate your product to market – Debbie Lin, Ph.D. (Caris Life Sciences)
- Public-private partnerships can accelerate path of drug development and clinical testing – Stacey Adam, Ph.D. (FNIH)
ARPA-H
- ARPA-H Overview - Tyler Best, Ph.D. (ARPA-H)
Session 5: Challenges and solutions for forward and reverse translational oncology
- Integrating research insights into clinical trials – Laura Heiser, Ph.D. (OHSU)
- Clinical Trial Designs: Looking Ahead - Sumithra Mandrekar, Ph.D. (Mayo Clinic)
- Technology and data foundations for accelerated therapeutic success, strong security and easy compliance - Kristy Cloyd-Warwick, Ph.D. (DNAnexus)
- Data Commons Lessons Learned and Future Directions - Jill Barnholtz-Sloan, Ph.D. (NCI)
Social Media Related to the Symposium
Social media posts related to the meeting can be found using #TranslationalSysBio.
DCB Contact for the Symposium
For additional information about the Translational Systems Biology Symposium, please contact Dr. Shannon Hughes.