AKT Symposium

October 2016 marks the 25th anniversary of a landmark study that originated in a laboratory at Fox Chase Cancer Center. The study, by Fox Chase researchers Philip Tsichlis, Joseph R. Testa and Alfonso Bellacosa, and by Kaiser Permanente oncologist Stephen Staal, revealed that the retroviral oncogene AKT codes for a kinase, an enzyme that phosphorylates other cellular proteins, and also contains a regulatory region similar to molecules that function in protein-protein interactions involved in critical cell signaling pathways.  This study is considered the starting point for a plethora of research that significantly impacted the field of cancer throughout the world (more than 50,000 research articles have been published that include AKT in the title or abstract).  AKT kinases are often activated in human cancer and increase survival and tumorigenicity of cancer cells.  Alterations of AKT sequence and/or activity are also reported in non-cancerous disease, such as developmental disorders, autistic spectrum disorders, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.  This one-day Symposium will feature state-of-the-art presentations by the original authors and leaders in the AKT field, and will showcase the long-term impact of basic science, including improvement of cancer therapy through precision medicine.

Speakers: 

• Leslie Biesecker, MD, National Human Genome Research Institute
• Lewis C. Cantley, PhD, Weill Cornell Medical College
• Elizabeth Henske, MD, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard University 
• Tony Hunter, PhD, Salk Institute for Biological Studies
• Neal Rosen, MD, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Ramon Parsons, MD, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• Sridhar Ramaswamy, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University
• Alex Toker, PhD, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School
• Ashley Webb, PhD, Brown University
• Alfonso Bellacosa, MD, PhD, Fox Chase Cancer Center 
• Joseph Testa, PhD, FACMG, Fox Chase Cancer Center 
• Stephen Staal, MD, University of Florida
• Philip Tsichlis, MD, Tufts University  

Chairpersons: 

• Thomas Franke, PhD, NYU School of Medicine
• Andrew Godwin, PhD, University of Kansas Medical Center 
• Robin C. Muise-Helmericks, PhD, Medical University of South Carolina
• Tomasz Skorski, MD, PhD, DSc, Fels Institute for Cancer Research
• Jonathan Chernoff, MD, PhD, Fox Chase Cancer Center

Check-in: Check-in begins at 8:00 a.m. and a continental breakfast will be provided. 

Parking: Valet and self-parking are available in the garage adjacent to the hotel for a fee. Directions to the hotel can be found using the following link: http://www.marriott.com/hotelwebsites/us/p/phldt/pdf/PHLDT_Directions_V4.pdf. [PDF]