Because of the current global pandemic, the 2021 CureSearch Summit will be hosted as a series of four virtual sessions, all focused on the State of Solid Tumor Biopsies, each lasting approximately three (3) hours.

Friday, May 14, 2021 - Blurred Lines: Therapeutic vs Research-only Biopsies

This session will highlight technologies, including liquid biopsies and single-cell sequencing, that have to potential to allow researchers to collect more data while decreasing the tissue needed from solid tumor biopsies.

Panel Discussion

Richard Drachtman, MD – TChair, Pediatric Central Investigational Review Board (pedsCIRB)
Donald L. Very, PhD – Parent of stage IV osteosarcoma survivor
Robert Wechsler-Reya, PhD – Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute
Ethicist – to be named
Institutional IRB – to be named

Open Question & Answer Session
Divide into Breakout Groups for Small Group Session
Reconvene, Session Wrap Up, Preview of Next Session, Next Steps

Tuesday, July 13, 2021 - The Journey of a Post-Mortem Tissue Donation Panel Discussion

This session will focus on post-mortem tissue donation and the research potential for this tissue. Panelists will discuss approaching families about tissue donation, the collection process, and the applications for post-mortem tissue in research.

Panel Discussion

Sanda Alexandrescu, MD Harvard Medical School
Patti Gustafson Swifty Foundation
Xiao-Nan Li, MD, PhD Northwestern University
Rebecca Pentz, PhD Emory University School of Medicine

Open Question & Answer Session
Divide into Breakout Groups for Small Group Session
Reconvene, Session Wrap Up, Preview of Next Session, Next Steps

September 14, 2021 - Biorepository Form and Function

This session will provide insight into biorepositories, specifically how tissue is acquired, the types of samples and data that they house, and their accessibility.

Panel Discussion

Helen Moore, PhD NCI Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis
Nilsa C. Ramirez, MD Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Adam Resnick, PhD Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Daniel Rhee, MD, MPH Johns Hopkins University
Angela Waanders, MD Lurie Children&'s
Representative from Nicklaus Biorepository to be named

Open Question & Answer Session
Divide into Breakout Groups for Small Group Session
Reconvene, Session Wrap Up, Next Steps

CureSearch had great success hosting our inaugural Pediatric Early Development Symposium (PEDS) via Hubilo in October 2020. We will use this virtual event platform for the 2021 Summit Series to provide audience engagement, sponsor promotion and networking opportunities.

After each Summit session, CureSearch will produce a White Paper highlighting the results approximately one month after reach session (April, June, August, October 2021).