April 17, 2026
We are proud to showcase the depth and breadth of cancer research at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center during the AACR Annual Meeting 2026.
Explore our presentations, connect with our faculty, and discover how UPMC Hillman Cancer Center is shaping the future of oncology.
Saturday, April 18
10:00 - 11:30 a.m.
Greg Delgoffe, PhD: “Tumor-induced immune suppression and its targeting with checkpoint blockade”
ED23 - Tumor Immunology For Non Immunologists: Back to Basics (Ballroom 20 AB - Upper Level - Convention Center)
12:30 - 2:30 p.m.
Marija Balic, MD: “Whole-exome sequencing tumor-informed circulating tumor DNA detection after completion of neoadjuvant treatment predicts non-pCR and distant recurrence in patients with early triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) — Results from a sub-study of the NSABP B-59/GBG-96-GeparDouze Trial”
STMS02 - Aiming for Cure: Perioperative Clinical Trials (Ballroom 6 A - Upper Level - Convention Center)
2:30 - 4:00 p.m.
Carissa Low, PhD: “Consumer wearable devices for remote patient monitoring during cancer treatment”
ED20 - Continuous Oncology: Wearables, Digital Biomarkers, and the Future of Cancer Interception (Room 16 - Mezzanine Level - Convention Center)
Sunday, April 19
3:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Laura Stabile, PhD: “Feasibility of plasma ctDNA for detecting brain metastasis-specific alterations in lung cancer”
MS.CL01.01 - Liquid Biopsy Frontiers: ctDNA, Fragmentomics, and MRD to Guide Precision Oncology (Ballroom 6 DE - Upper Level - Convention Center)
Posters: 2:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Po-Yuan Chen, PhD: 58 / 20 - Characterizing tumor-stroma interfaces in chemotherapy-treated ovarian cancer via spatial transcriptomics
PO.BCS01.01 - Application of Bioinformatics to Cancer Biology 1 (Section 4)
Tyler Yasaka: 90 / 21 - Histologic stratification of hepatocellular carcinoma using deep learning informed by spatial transcriptomics
PO.BCS01.06 - Digital Pathology 1 (Section 4)
Monday, April 20
10:15 - 11:45 a.m.
Greg Delgoffe, PhD: “Mitochondrial reprogramming in T cell exhaustion”
SY15 - Immunometabolism in Cancer (Room 29 - Upper Level - Convention Center)
2:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Julia Foldi, MD, PhD: “Early findings from MONITOR-Breast: ctDNA dynamics during neoadjuvant therapy using an ultrasensitive MRD assay”
CTMS04 - Focus on ctDNA (Hall H - Ground Level - Convention Center)
Posters: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Roja Baruwal: 2010 / 3 - Ovarian cancer drives mitochondrial dysfunction via WT1 in tumor associated stroma
PO.MCB09.01 - Metabolic Regulation in Breast and Gynecologic Cancers (Section 24)
Kathryn Demanelis, PhD: 2318 /17 - Environmental exposures, metabolomic profiles and mutational signatures in never and ever smokers with lung cancer
PO.PS01.01 - Biomarkers of Endogenous or Exogenous Exposures, Early Detection, Biological Effects, and Prognosis (Section 35)
Ying-Ju Lai: 1478 / 17 - Unifying molecular structure and cellular morphology to enhance drug-target interaction modeling in cancer
PO.BCS01.09 - Integrative Computational Approaches 1 (Section 5)
Posters: 2:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Yibing Guo: 2761 / 25 - Large language model-derived re-contextualization reveals functional landscapes across cancers
PO.BCS02.02 - Large Language Models in the Clinic (Section 3)
Anwaar Saeed, MD: CT144 / 8 - Pharmacokinetics of spevatamig (PT886), a bispecific antibody targeting CLDN18.2 and CD47, in patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancers as monotherapy or combination therapy
Session PO.CT01.05 - Phase II and Phase III Clinical Trials (Section 52)
Li-Ju Wang, MS: 2733 / 26 - An interactive web platform for integrative analysis of drug responses in polyploid giant cancer cells
PO.BCS01.16 - Integration of Clinical and Research Data (Section 2)
Tuesday, April 21
2:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Kalil G. Abdullah, MD, MSc: “Metabolite signaling drives oncogenic neuron-glioma crosstalk”
MS.MCB09.01 – Metabolic Signaling and Therapeutic Vulnerabilities in Cancer (Ballroom 6 CF – Upper Level – Convention Center)
Posters: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Diwakar Davar, MD: CT224 / 19 - Adaptive phase 2/3 study of EIK1001, a TLR7/8 dual agonist, in combination with pembrolizumab, as first-line therapy in participants with advanced melanoma (Teluride-006)
PO.CTP01.03 - Phase II and Phase III Clinical Trials in Progress (Section 51)
Anwaar Saeed, MD: 4219 / 15 - Predicting immunotherapy response in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma from clinical and textual features using AI techniques
PO.BCS02.06 - Machine Learning Approaches for Cancer Prediction (Section 5)
Posters: 2:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Sindhu Karnam: LB388 / 18 - Early postoperative liver outcomes differ by bariatric surgery procedure in multi-site cohort study
LBPO.PS01 - Late-Breaking Research: Population Sciences (Section 55)
Shriya Kamlapurkar, PhD: 6087 / 1 - SOX2-LGR5 signaling mediates ovarian cancer cell survival in response to loss of anchorage.
PO.TB03.03 - Mechanisms of Metastasis (Section 27)
Hua Zhang, MD, PhD: 5718 / 7 - Cbx5 as a potential target to enhance immunotherapy in small cell lung cancer
PO.ET06.05 - Molecular Targets 2 (Section 13)
Wednesday, April 22
10:15 - 11:45 a.m.
Ravi Patel, MD, PhD: “Development of immunostimulatory RLT to enhance efficacy of immunotherapeutic regimens”
SY33 - Radioligand Therapy: Immunity and Biological Mechanisms (Room 16 - Mezzanine Level - Convention Center)
Additional University of Pittsburgh presentations are listed by Pitt’s Office of Industry and Economic Partnerships here.
