Recent technological advances and scientific breakthroughs have improved our understanding of disease pathogenesis. These improvements in sequencing, computing, and much more allow for more precise and faster diagnosis and treatments. Join us at the Advanced
Technologies for Diagnostics and Precision Medicine conference program as we discuss new technologies to guide patient health.
Final Agenda
10:30 Conference Program Registration Open
11:45 Organizer’s Opening Remarks
Ngoc ‘Emily’ Le, PhD, Conference Producer, Cambridge Healthtech Institute
11:50 Chairperson’s Remarks
Ralph Snyderman, MD, Chancellor Emeritus, Duke University; Director, Duke Center for Personalized Health Care
11:55 FEATURED PRESENTATION: The Precision Health Care Resolution – From Now into the Future
Ralph Snyderman, MD, Chancellor Emeritus, Duke University; Director, Duke Center for Personalized Health Care
Personalized, precision health is forging a transformation in care from its current focus on one-size-fits-all treatment for established diseases to a personalized, predictive approach that improves health, prevents disease, and treats it precisely when
it occurs. This allows personalized care for each individual’s specific needs. This field is driven by the explosive development of capabilities stemming from genomic technologies, targeted therapies, digital and mobile health technologies,
big data collection, artificial intelligence, and clinical awareness of personalized, proactive, patient-driven approaches to care. The harmonization of the new technologies with effective clinical application is a great challenge, but an even greater
opportunity.
12:25 pm AI-Enabled Precision Medicine in Clinical Decision Support and Point-of-Care Diagnosis
Matthew Lungren, MD, MPH, Associate Director, Stanford Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Imaging, Stanford Child Health Research Institute; Faculty Scholar; Assistant Professor of Radiology, Radiology, Stanford University, School
of Medicine, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital
Can machine learning help all clinicians achieve expert-level diagnosis and patient-specific risk predictions at the point of care? We will explore frame-shifting research that opens new approaches to care delivery in a precision medicine paradigm while
also discussing some of the pitfalls and lessons-learned from our field-leading medical AI work at Stanford with partner institutions all over the world.
12:55 Session Break
1:05 LUNCHEON PRESENTATION: Accelerate Assay Adoption
by Partnering with a Proven Leader in Instrumentation
Bernard Andruss, PhD SVP, Operations
and Regulatory Affairs, Asuragen, Inc.
Searching for a platform partner to meet your assay commercialization needs? Come learn about how working with Thermo Fisher Scientific, a proven leader in instrumentation, can accelerate test adoption in your target markets. Leverage the
strength of Thermo Fisher's nucleic acid extraction, PCR, qPCR, Capillary Electrophoresis, microarray and Next Generation Sequencing platforms. Partnership models include reagent rental agreements and private label options.
2:05 Session Break
2:20 Chairperson’s Remarks
Kiana Aran, PhD, Assistant Professor, Medical Diagnostics and Therapeutics, Henry. E. Riggs School of Applied Life Sciences, Keck Graduate Institute
2:25 Noninvasive Magneto-Nanosensors for Point-of-Care Gene Expression Analysis
Shan
X. Wang, PhD, Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, and Electrical Engineering, Stanford University
Gene expression analysis at the POC is important for rapid disease diagnosis, but traditional techniques are limited by multiplexing capabilities, bulky equipment and cost. We present a giant magnetoresistive (GMR) biosensor platform well suited for multiplexed
transcript detection and quantification. The technology has shown great promise in detecting influenza detection and vaccination response based on Influenza Meta Signature (IMS) resulting from host immune responses to viral infections.
2:55 CRISPR-Chip: CRISPR-Powered Transistors for DNA Biosensing
Kiana Aran, PhD, Assistant Professor, Medical Diagnostics and Therapeutics, Henry. E. Riggs School of Applied Life Sciences, Keck Graduate Institute
CRISPR-chip is a graphene field effect transistor (gFET) electronic biosensor that utilizes the sequence-specific targeting capabilities of CRISPR to detect target DNA sequences. The graphene surface of the CRISPR-Chip is functionalized with nuclease-deactivated
CRISPR RNA-guided ribonucleoproteins (dRNPs) which scan the genomic sample, bind to their target sequence, and produce a detectable change in the gFET signal output. CRISPR-Chip harnesses the search function of CRISPR/Cas9 and the ultra-sensitivity
of graphene-based nanoelectronics to detect two distinct mutations in patients with confirmed muscular dystrophy disorder without the need for gene amplifications.
3:25 Artificial Intelligence-Enhanced Ecosystem of Point-of-Care Technologies for Antimicrobial Resistance Detection
Nam
K. Tran, PhD, HCLD (ABB), FACB, Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Chemistry, Special Chemistry/Toxicology, and Point-of-Care Testing, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California, Davis
Artificial intelligence (AI) may provide new opportunities for predicting and perhaps preventing antimicrobial resistance in the community. The application of AI at the point of care (POC) could help identify infectious disease trends within patients
and/or whole populations to optimize antimicrobial prescribing practices and combat the emergence of resistant pathogens. Lastly, the integration of POC testing with other laboratory methods under a diagnostic “ecosystem” is instrumental
prior to leveraging AI analytics.
3:55 Point-of-Care, Quantitative Procalcitonin Test Using Electrochemistry Sensors
Ming
Tan, PhD, CEO, Wainamics
Point-of-care (POC) testing of procalcitonin allows rapid confirmation of blood stream bacterial infection and assessment antibiotics treatment. Wainamics presents here a low cost, disposable microfluidic cartridge for high-sensitivity, quantitative measurement
of procalcitonin. Together with a compact instrument, such system provides a platform for high precision POC testing.
4:10 Drivers for Utilizing Cloud Solutions in POC Device Development
Christian Valcke, PhD, Global Director, Software Engineering, Invetech
The rise of connected devices, centralized data storage, and machine learning are changing the way POC diagnostics deliver value. We consider the critical success factors of POC device development (timeline, cost, differentiation) and how the adoption
of cloud solutions can impact those factors as products are defined, developed and deployed.
4:25 Refreshment Break and Transition to Plenary Keynote
4:35 Welcome Remarks
Cindy Crowninshield, RDN, LDN, HHC, Executive Event Director, Cambridge Healthtech Institute
4:45 PLENARY KEYNOTE INTRODUCTION
Thomas Westerling-Bui, PhD, Senior Scientist, Regional Business Development, Aiforia
5:00 PLENARY KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: High-Performance Medicine
Eric Topol, MD, Founder and Director, Scripps Research Translational Institute (SRTI); Author, Deep Medicine: How Artificial
Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again
6:00 Grand Opening Reception in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing, Speed Networking, Book Signing, and Meetup Group
7:30 End of Day
Tuesday, March 3
7:30 am Registration Open and Morning Coffee
8:00 Organizer’s Remarks
Marina Filshtinsky, MD, Executive Director, Conferences, Cambridge Healthtech Institute
8:05 Chairperson’s Remarks
8:10 NEW: Liquid Biopsies for Precision Medicine in Cancer Treatment
Walter Koch, PhD, Vice President, Global Research, Roche Molecular Systems
8:40 Biomarkers in the Era of Immuno-Oncology: Update on Keytruda and Combinations
Andrea Webber, PhD, Assistant Head, Clinical Biomarkers in Translational Oncology, Merck & Co., Inc.
This talk will discuss the evolving landscape of biomarkers in the field of immuno-oncology, on immunohistochemistry and genomic approaches, for both immune-checkpoint single-agent treatments and combination therapies.
Presentation delivered via a live, interactive video conferencing platform.
9:10 An Introduction to Chip Cytometry: Bridging the Gap Between Pathology and Flow Cytometry
Spencer Schwarz, Field Application Specialist, Canopy Biosciences
Chip cytometry is a mature and flexible methodology combining the multi-dimensionality and single-cell discrimination of flow cytometry with the spatial and morphology information of pathology. Flow cytometry provides high-dimensional biomarker information
resolved at the single-cell level. Yet flow’s destructive sampling omits morphological and spatial relationship information. Conversely, pathology provides spatial and cell morphology information, but prohibits high-dimensionality biomarker
interrogation. Chip cytometry intersects these methods, providing a complete and precise picture of proteomic expression.
9:40 Refreshment Break in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing, Speed Networking, Book Signing, and Meetup Group
10:40 Chairperson’s Remarks
Keith L. Ligon, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Pathology, Harvard Medical School; Associate Pathologist and Neuropathologist, Pathology; Director, DFCI Center for Patient Derived Models, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
10:45 Translating Ten Trillion Points of Data into Diagnostics, Therapies and New Insights in Health and Disease
Atul Butte, MD, PhD, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg Distinguished Professor; Director, Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California, San Francisco; Chief Data Scientist, University of California Health (UC Health)
We build and apply tools that convert trillions of points of molecular, clinical, and epidemiological data – measured by researchers and clinicians over the past decade and now commonly termed “big data” – into diagnostics,
therapeutics, and new insights into disease. Dr. Butte, a computer scientist and pediatrician, will highlight his center’s recent work on integrating electronic health records data across the entire University of California, and how analytics
on this “real world data” can lead to new evidence for drug efficacy, new savings from better medication choices, and new methods to teach intelligence – real and artificial – to more precisely practice medicine.
11:15 Using Networks to Decode Cancer Risk
John Quackenbush, PhD, Professor and Chair, Biostatistics, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health
Precision medicine is based on the idea that single mutations can inform our understanding of disease and response to therapy. But we know that cancer is multifactorial, with many genetic variants moderating disease and disease risk. By using
network methods, we can better understand how and why cancer develops and assess disease risk.
11:45 Machine Learning-Based Patient Subgroup Identification for Precision Medicine
Jie Cheng, PhD, Director, Exploratory Statistics, Abbvie
Central to precision medicine is the ability to detect patient subgroups with differential treatment effects in clinical trial datasets. These patient subgroups are defined by clinical variables and biomarkers. We will provide a brief overview
of existing methods for patient subgroup identification and then present our novel approach. The performance of our method is evaluated against other state-of-the-art methods using both simulation and real-world clinical trial datasets.
12:15 pm Session Break
12:20 LUNCHEON PRESENTATION I: A Modern Molecular LIMS Built for Precision Medicine
Nabil Hafez, MS, Senior Director, Product Management, Precision Medicine, Sunquest Information Systems
With the advent of precision medicine, molecular labs are facing greater testing demand than ever before. Molecular diagnostics are complicated, rapidly changing, and subject to detailed regulatory auditing. Learn how modern labs
are streamlining molecular testing, scaling for volume and growth, and mastering compliance with purpose-built LIMS technology.
12:50 Luncheon Presentation II (Sponsorship Opportunity Available)
1:20 Refreshment Break in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing, Speed Networking, Book Signing, and Meetup Group
2:00 Breakout Discussions in the Exhibit Hall (please click here for details)
3:00 Transition to Keynote Session
3:15 Organizer’s Remarks
Christina Lingham, Executive Director, Conferences and Fellow, Cambridge Healthtech Institute
3:20 Keynote Introduction
Allison Mallory, PhD, Director, R&D Molecular Biology, Stilla Technologies
3:35 What Does the New Era of Genomic Medicine Look Like? Effects on Patient Care, Therapeutics, and Diagnostics
20 years after the completion of the first draft of the Human Genome Project, there is compelling evidence of genomics delivering the rich promise of precision medicine. There have been major advances in the throughput and affordability of
genome sequencing, enhanced tools for genome analysis and interpretation, new paradigms for therapeutics and strong signs of clinical benefit using genome editing. But major challenges remain. In this special plenary roundtable, three
established pioneers of genomic medicine – David Haussler, Stephen Kingsmore, and Liz Worthey – offer their insights on the extraordinary advances in genomic medicine over the past 1-2 decades and share their hopes and concerns
for the future of our field.
Moderator:
Kevin Davies, PhD, Executive Editor, The CRISPR Journal, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
Panelists: Stephen Kingsmore, MD, DSc, President/CEO, Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine
David Haussler, PhD, Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Distinguished Professor, Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz; Scientific Director, UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute; Scientific Co-Director,
California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3)
Elizabeth Worthey, PhD, Director, Genomic Medicine, University of Alabama, Birmingham School of Medicine
4:50 Spring Fling Celebration in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing, Speed Networking, Book Signing, and Meetup Group
6:00 End of Day
Wednesday, March 4
6:45 am Registration Open
7:00 BREAKFAST PANEL DISCUSSION: The Time is NOW: Creating Meaningful Change for Women in the Workplace (Sponsorship Opportunity Available)
(please see Women in Science page for details)
Moderator: Robin Toft, Author of WE CAN, The Executive Woman’s Guide to Career Advancement; Founder and Chairman, Toft Group Executive Search
Panelists: Camille Samuels, MBA, Partner, Venrock
Paul Hastings, President and CEO, Nkarta Therapeutics, Inc
Teresa L. Wright, MD, Staff Physician, Medicine, San Francisco Veterans Administration
8:00 Organizer’s Remarks
Christina Lingham, Executive Director, Conferences and Fellow, Cambridge Healthtech Institute
8:05 Chairperson’s Remarks
Stuart S. Martin, PhD, Professor, Physiology, Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine
8:10 FEATURED PRESENTATION: Cytophone Platform for in vivo Noninvasive Liquid Biopsy
Vladimir Zharov, PhD, DSc, Professor, Josephine T. McGill Chair in Cancer Research; Director, Arkansas Nanomedicine Center, Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; CSO, Cytoastra LLC
We developed the versatile Cytophone platform for real-time diagnosis and therapy (theranostics) of rare circulating disease markers in the whole blood pool (up to 5-liter) through intact skin. Based on the principle of photoacoustics, this
platform with portable and wearable sensors provides noninvasive (no blood draw, no needle), label-free (no label injection) and safe identification of a single marker of interest in relatively deep vessels in minutes. The broad spectrum
of the Cytophone application includes stroke prevention through circulating clot detection, diagnosis of infections (e.g., malaria), sickle anemia, and real-time drug efficiency monitoring, as well as diagnosis of other diseases by molecular
targeting of CTCs and other circulating markers with conjugated nanoparticles having high photoacoustic contrast.
8:40 Profiling Protein Expression for Individual CTCs
Shana O. Kelley, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto
The analysis of heterogeneous ensembles of rare, circulating tumor cells (CTCs) requires single-cell resolution to allow phenotypic and genotypic information to be collected accurately. We developed a new approach – magnetic ranking
cytometry – that uses the magnetic loading of individual cells to be monitored as a means to report on biomarker expression at the single cell level. This approach can be used to profile circulating tumor cells in blood and provides
a high-information content liquid biopsy in a single measurement. It profiles both protein (Nature Nanotechnology, 2017) and nucleic acid (Nature Chemistry, 2018) analytes at the single-cell level. We have used this approach to monitor
markers of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and predictors of response to therapy for lung and prostate cancer patient samples.
9:10 Tumor Antigen-Independent and Cell Size Variation-Inclusive Enrichment of Viable Circulating Tumor Cells via Integrated Ferrohydrodynamic Cell Separation (iFCS)
Leidong Mao, PhD, Professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Georgia
We developed a novel method based on contrast of cell magnetization in biocompatible ferrofluids, termed as integrated ferrohydrodynamic cell separation (iFCS), that enriches CTCs in a tumor antigen-independent and cell size variation-inclusive
manner, with a high-throughput, high recovery rate and low WBC contamination, and is also biocompatible.
9:40 Refreshment Break in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing, Speed Networking, Book Signing, and Meetup Group
10:40 Miniaturized Electrofluidic Technologies for Health and Environmental Monitoring
Mehdi Javanmard, PhD, Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rutgers University New Brunswick
In this talk, I will discuss my group’s work on fabricating micro- and nanosensing platforms for biomolecular and biochemical detection. In the first part of my talk, I will discuss a digital microfluidic platform for detection of
inflammatory proteins in blood and saliva. I will then discuss a novel scheme for barcoding microparticles nanoelectronically, for multiplexed detection of analytes. We have also developed a novel electrochemical sensor using reduced
graphene oxide for detection of inflammatory markers in exhaled breath condenstate for management of chronic respiratory diseases. Finally, I will talk about my group’s efforts in developing novel probes for characterization
of biological organisms on-the-field in environmental samples, along with sensors for detection of toxic compounds in our regional water sources.
11:10 Recent Progress with Rapid Single-Use NAAT-Based Pathogen Detection Devices
Paul Yager, PhD, Professor, Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington
Detection of pathogens by untrained users in low resource environments is challenging. Our current approach is to use isothermal nucleic acid amplification. As opposed to the prevalent instrument/disposable paradigm, we have been emulating
the simplicity of the user interface of the modern home pregnancy test. Ongoing projects include detection of tuberculosis using oral swabs, detection of chlamydia using urine, and detection of HIV from finger-stick blood samples.
11:40 Catalytic Enhancement of Lateral Flow Immunoassays: More Signal Amplifies Our Opportunity
Shawn P. Mulvaney, Section Head, Surface Nanoscience and Sensor Technology, Chemistry Division, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
In field forward and remote settings, lateral flow immunoassays are one of the most important diagnostic technologies. However, they are limited by their sensitivity. We have developed a catalytic enhancement scheme where Pd replaces
the traditional Au labels and we are realizing orders of magnitude more sensitivity. Our approach promises to reinvigorate a classic technology resulting in far more capable diagnostic that is perfectly suited for the most remote
of locations, yet applicable to many more.
12:10 pm Reducing Manufacture Costs of Autologous Cellular Immunotherapy via a Benchtop System for QA/QC Automation
Xinyi Zhou, PhD, Senior Engineer, Triple Ring Technologies
Autologous cell therapies have shown unprecedented promise for patients with previously incurable disease. However, skyrocketing costs limit patient access to these life-saving therapies. QA/QC of autologous cell therapies accounts
for up to 50% of manufacture cost due to the need for QA/QC of a small (single-patient) batch. We present a prototype for benchtop automation of common sterility and purity assays. A compact QC/QA instrument paired with disposable
cartridges can reduce labor costs in cell therapy manufacture and increase patient access to care.
12:25 Sponsored Presentation (Opportunity Available)
12:40 Session Break
12:50 PRECISION HEALTH LUNCHEON PRESENTATION: Validation of A Next Generation Sequencing Gene Panel for Detection of Variants in Plasma Total Nucleic Acid
Xin-Xing Tan, PhD, Principal Scientist, Molecular, NeoGenomics Laboratories, Inc.
Liquid biopsy next generation sequencing (NGS) gene panel assays provide a powerful non-invasive tool to detect tumor-derived variants for clinic diagnostics in a massively parallel manner. We present here a NGS assay designed specifically
for liquid biopsy clinical applications, and its analytical and clinical validation to assess accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, repeatability, and reproducibility, etc.
1:20 Refreshment Break in the Exhibit Hall with Last Chance Poster Viewing, Speed Networking, Book Signing, and Meetup Group
2:00 Chairperson’s Remarks
Adrian Chernoff, Former Worldwide Vice President, Global Head of Research and Development, Johnson and Johnson
2:05 Wearables and Health
Michael Snyder, PhD, Stanford W. Ascherman Professor & Chair, Department of Genetics; Director, Center for Genomics & Personalized Medicine, Stanford University
We have been using smart watches and continuous glucose monitoring to track people’s health and find early signs of disease.
2:25 Patient-Centricity, the Future to Enabling Digital Health
Adrian Chernoff, Former Worldwide Vice President, Global Head of Research and Development, Johnson and Johnson
Payers, providers and patients are beginning to encounter changes to the healthcare landscape with the introduction of new digital tools. As we shift into this new reality a key component will be to put the patient at the center shifting
the relationship dynamics in how we deliver digital applications and build digital ecosystems to meet the growing needs of patients at any stage of care from health-care, home-care or self-care.
2:45 The Power and Potential of VR Medicine
Ramsay Brown, Director, Product Services, AppliedVR
With over 30 years of clinical research, the healthcare industry has embraced virtual reality (VR). Today, rapidly advancing mobile technology yielding ever more immersive experiences at a lower cost, is driving the use of VR beyond
research environments into the clinical trenches and patient homes. Therapeutic VR is a promising new modality with the potential to treat serious and debilitating medical conditions, including pain – one of the most widely
studied of all disease areas to date – by delivering a low-risk, non-pharmacological intervention.
3:05 Virtual Worlds, Real Results: How VR Is Transforming Healthcare
Howard Rose, MEd, CEO & Co-Founder, Firsthand Technology
Howard will share the compelling evidence from clinical applications of VR therapy. VR’s potential to induce deep changes in the brain unlocks new therapies for challenging conditions and populations. Propelled by the tsunami
of consumer technologies, VR is poised to be the engine for personalized medicine that will fundamentally transform our health and the healthcare industry.
3:25 Close of Conference