2022 Leadership Committee

TONI CHOUEIRI, MD
Director, Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology

HANS HAMMERS, MD, PhD
Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology

SUMANTA PAL, MD
Professor, Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research

BRYAN LEWIS
President

SUSAN POTEAT
Medical Science Liaison

PEDRO BARATA, MD, MSc
Assistant Professor of Medicine

STEPHANIE BERG, DO
Assistant Professor of Medicine

MEHMET BILEN, MD
Director, Genitourinary Medical Oncology Program

BRAD MCGREGOR, MD
Clinical Director, Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology

RANA MCKAY, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine

SUMANTA PAL, MD
Professor, Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research

FABIO A SCHUTZ, MD
Oncologista Clinico

MARIA CARLO, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine

ERIC JONASCH, MD
Professor, Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology

MEDHI MOLLAPOUR, PhD
Professor

TIAN ZHANG, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine

NEERAJ AGARWAL, MD
Senior Director of Clinical Research Innovation

DAVID BRAUN, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine

GIL MORGAN, MD
Medical Oncologist

PAVLOS MSAOUEL, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology

FABIO SCHUTZ, MD
Oncologista Clinico

QING ZHANG, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pathology

TIAN ZHANG, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine

ADRIAN HAYES
KidneyCAN
Communications
Fireside Chat

TONI CHOUEIRI, MD
Director, Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology

HANS HAMMERS, MD, PhD
Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology

ANDREW SEWELL, PhD
Professor, Division of Infection and Immunity
The research team at Cardiff, led by Professor Sewell, has discovered unconventional T-cells equipped with a new type of T-cell receptor (TCR) which recognizes and kills most human cancer types while ignoring healthy cells. The discovery holds out the tantalizing possibility of a universal approach to killing cancer. The Nature Immunology article on this TCR found it recognized and killed most human cancer types via the monomorphic MHC class I-related protein, MR1.
The hope is this new TCR may provide the scientific community with a different route to target and destroy a wide range of cancers in all patients, opposed to the widely known therapy, CAR-T, which is personalized to each patient and targets only a few types of cancers and has not been successful in solid tumors. Research has shown that TCR kills cancer cells in the lung, skin, blood, colon, breast, bone, prostate, ovarian, kidney, and cervix while ignoring healthy cells. This approach is now in promising early clinical trials with other cancers.
Dr. Sewell will open the Friday morning Immunotherapy session talks and discussions. We’re looking forward to learning more about the progress of this treatment which could someday be available to kidney cancer patients.

DREW PARDOLL, MD, PhD
Director, Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy
Dr Pardoll is the inventor of numerous immunotherapy vaccines and has published over 300 articles related to cancer vaccines, gene therapies, and cancer prevention technologies.
His lab focuses on T-cell responses and approaches to modify these responses for targeted immunotherapy. These novel therapies target neoantigens, which could revolutionize the treatment of cancer patients in the decades to come by fulfilling the promise of a personalized, individual treatment.
In this video, “A Future Immune to Cancer,” Dr. Pardoll discusses his work with immunology. He also speaks about the importance of advocating for and donating to research funding.

SUZANNE TOPALIAN, MD
Associate Director, Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy
In the laboratory and in the clinic, Dr Topalian serves as a physician-scientist whose research interests focus on cancer immunology and immunotherapy. She has published over 100 original research articles and reviews in this field and is internationally recognized for this work. Dr Topalian’s research continues to focus on immune checkpoints, such as PD-1 alone and in combinations.
Checkpoint research has broadly changed the options for cancer care in many cancers including kidney cancer, and for some patients, it is offering long-term responses.
We’re honored to have Dr Topalian and her husband and collaborator Drew Pardoll discussing new directions in immunotherapy at Thursday’s “Fireside Chat” to open KCRS22.
session 1
Metabolism and Mechanisms with Focus on Health Disparities

MARIA CARLO, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine

MEDHI MOLLAPOUR, PhD
Professor of Urology, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

KEN BATAI, PhD
Assistant Professor of Oncology

XIJUAN LIU
Postdoctoral Fellow

ADAM METWALLI, MD
Associate Professor in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology

FAEZE SAATCHI, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
session 2
Novel Pathways for Therapeutics Beyond Checkpoint Inhibitors

NEERAJ AGARWAL, MD
Senior Director of Clinical Research Innovation

TIAN ZHANG, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine

KATHLEEN MAHONEY, MD, PhD
Attending Physician of Medicine

WAYNE MARASCO, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine

GUANG PENG, MD, PhD
Associate Professor

HAIFENG YANG, PhD
Assistant Professor
session 3
Rapid Abstract Presentations

STEPHANIE BERG, DO
Instructor of Medicine

RANA MCKAY, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine

MARICE ALCANTARA, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
ABHISHEK CHAKRABORTY, PhD
Assistant Professor

KEVIN HAKIMI
Medical Student

TEJAS JAMMIHAL, MS
Research Investigator

LUIS MEZA, MD
Postdoctoral Fellow

ANUPAMA REDDY, PhD
Data Scientist and COO

CERISE TANG
PhD Student

NISHITA TRIPATHI, PhD
Post Doctorate Fellow

QING ZHANG, PhD
Associate Professor
session 4
Clinical Trials in Progress

MARTIN VOSS, MD
Clinical Director, Genitourinary Medical Oncology Service

WESLEY YIP, MD
Clinical Fellow

KATY BECKERMANN, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor

BRADLEY MCGREGOR, MD
Clinical Director, Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology

RANA MCKAY, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine

PRAFUL RAVI, MB, BChir, MRCP
Medical Oncologist
special session 5
Breaking Barriers to Trial Enrollment

MICHAEL B ATKINS, MD

CHANA WEINSTOCK, MD
FDA Oncology Center of Excellence
Team Lead, GU Cancers Team

Jose Ricardo Perez, MD
Exelixis
VP, GU Portfolio, Medical Affairs

S. Hariharan, MD, FACP
Pfizer
Global Medical Affairs

RICK BANGS
SWOG Cancer Research Network
Chair, Patient Advocate Committee
session 6
Clinical and Scientific Updates in Kidney Cancer

TONI CHOUEIRI, MD
Director, Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology

LAURENCE ALBIGES, MD, PhD
Urology Committee Chairman

RANA MCKAY, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine

SUMANTA PAL, MD
Professor, Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research

TOM POWLES, MBBS, MRCP, MD
Director, Barts Cancer Centre

BRIAN RINI, MD
Chief of Medical Trials

MARTIN VOSS, MD
Clinical Director, Genitourinary Medical Oncology Service
session 7
Immunotherapy Advances and Research

HANS HAMMERS, MD, PhD
Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology

ARI HAKIMI, MD, PhD
Associate Professor

ESRA AKBAY, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology

SIDI CHEN, PhD
Assistant Professor

ANDREW SEWELL, PhD

EDUS WARREN, MD, PhD
Professor, Program in Immunotherapy
session 8
Oral Abstract Presentations

PEDRO BARATA, MD, MSc
Assistant Professor of Medicine

RANA MCKAY, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine

MEHMET BILEN, MD
Director, Genitourinary Medical Oncology Program

REGINA BARRAGAN CARRILLO, MD
Chief Oncology Fellow

CHRIS LABAKI, MD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow

JUSTINE PANIAN
Medical Student

RENEE MARIA SALIBY, MD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow/Visiting Scientist

SRINIVAS VISWANATHAN, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School