Dr. David Akhavan is an Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology and Cancer Biology at the University of Kansas. He completed his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, CA, and his M.D. at the University of California, Los Angeles, in the Medical Scientist Training Program. Then, Dr. Akhavan, in collaboration with Dr. Tim Cloughesy, went on to complete his Ph.D. in Dr. Paul Mischel’s laboratory, studying the mechanisms of resistance to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Akhavan then completed his residency in radiation oncology at the City of Hope National Medical Center. There, he completed embedded postdoctoral training at the T Cell Research Laboratory (TCTRL) in the laboratory of Dr. Christine Brown, studying CAR T cells for glioma. He is a member of the Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center Scientific Advisor Committee, a member of the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy, and a member of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer. Dr. Akhavan also conducts an active research laboratory developing cell-based immunotherapy targeting malignant brain tumors, including Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cells. His laboratory focuses on a molecular dissection of tumor antigen loss, T cell exhaustion, and cell manufacturing bottlenecks.
Dr. Jeffrey YC Wong is currently the co-director of City of Hope’s leading-edge Center for Theranostic Studies. Dr. Wong received his B.S. degree from Stanford University, M.D. degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and residency training from the University of California, San Francisco. He is a Professor and the Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, City of Hope. He is also a Radiation Oncologist with the City of Hope. His primary areas of research include the development of novel strategies and agents for image-guided and biologically targeted radiation therapy for patients with locoregional and systemic disease. He has been involved with the development and implementation of TMLI protocols at City of Hope, and has also helped to lead the effort to use TomoTherapy and VMAT to deliver TBI. A TMI database has been developed to capture data for patients receiving IMRT-based TBI, TMI, and TMLI worldwide. His team has collaborated with centers in Asia and Europe to initiate TMI and TMLI programs. As co-director of the Center for Theranostic Studies, Dr. Wong works on the development and use of targeted radiopharmaceuticals for therapy, imaging, and image-guided radiotherapy, focusing on the development and clinical evaluation of radiolabeled antibodies for the last 25 years.
Dr. Stephen J. Forman is the leader of City of Hope’s Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation Institute and the Francis & Kathleen McNamara Distinguished Chair in Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. He received the 2019 DKMS Mechtild Harf Science Award in honor of his outstanding achievements in cancer immunology, hematology, stem cell transplantation, and CAR T cell therapy on March 25 in Frankfurt, Germany. He completed his B.A. in Philosophy at St. John’s College, Annapolis, in 1970, and his M.D. at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, in 1974. Dr. Forman’s research is focused on combining CMV-specific T cells and a CAR against CD19, a leukemia and lymphoma biomarker. CAR T cells are tested in patients who have received a transplant to decrease the chances of relapse of CD19-positive acute lymphocytic leukemia and lymphoma, and also to reduce the chances of CMV disease. Dr. Forman is the co-editor of “Thomas’ Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation”, a definitive textbook for clinicians, scientists, and health care professionals. His current projects are focused on immunotherapy—using the body’s own immune system to attack cancer. Much of his current work centers on T cells and their cancer-fighting potential.
Dr. Christine E. Brown is the Heritage Provider Network Professor in Immunotherapy and Professor in the departments of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and Immuno-Oncology. She is also the Deputy Director of the T Cell Therapeutics Research Laboratories (TCTRL), where she leads multi-functional teams to translate CAR T cell therapies to the clinic. Dr. Brown received her doctoral degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and was a Leukemia & Lymphoma Scholar during her postdoctoral fellowship at Pennsylvania State University. Over the past decade, she has led and built multi-disciplinary teams for CAR T cell GMP manufacturing, quality control release, patient correlative studies, and regulatory protocol management. Dr. Brown’s laboratory focuses on the treatment of malignant brain tumors. Her efforts to develop glioblastoma-targeted CAR T cells, improve T cell manufacturing, and optimize the routes of T cell delivery have led to the initiation of several first-in-human clinical trials, including the clinical testing of IL13Rα2-, HER2-, and CLTX-directed CAR T cell therapies for the treatment of glioblastoma. Dr. Brown’s ongoing research efforts also aim to develop strategies to limit tumor antigen escape and to overcome the suppressive tumor microenvironment, critical challenges limiting the effectiveness of CAR T cell therapy for the treatment of solid tumors.
