Professor of Biological Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA

After receiving his Ph.D. from Florida State University in 1997 and completing a post-doc at the University of Virginia from 1997-1999, Forest White joined MDS Proteomics as a Senior Research Scientist and developed phosphoproteomics capabilities for the company. In July 2003 he joined the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT. Research in the White lab is focused on understanding how protein phosphorylation-mediated signaling networks regulate normal and pathophysiological cell biology. Specific applications include novel drug target discovery in glioblastoma, analysis of mechanisms underlying therapeutic resistance and metastasis in cancer, and mechanisms underlying development of neurodegenerative diseases as well as Type II diabetes. This research is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and various pharmaceutical companies. In addition to his appointment in the Department of Biological Engineering, Forest is a member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and the Center for Environmental Health Sciences at MIT.

Assistant Professor, The Hormel Institute, Austin, MN

My Ph.D. at Queen Marys and Imperial College at the University of London, University of London, focused on the identification and of novel study tumors suppressor genes. My postdoctoral work at the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah focused on the study of oncogenic driver mutations in glioma and melanoma. As an Assistant Professor at the Hormel Institute at the University of Minnesota, my research focuses on the use and development of pre-clinical models to define the genes required for tumor initiation, maintenance, dormancy, and progression with the ultimate goal of identifying novel targets for therapeutic intervention.

Director of the Center for Bioengineering and Tissue Regeneration, University of California - San Francisco

Dr. Weaver is Professor and Director of the Center for Bioengineering and Tissue Regeneration in the Department of Surgery, with a cross-appointment in Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences at UCSF. She has a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Waterloo, and an Honors BSc and PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Ottawa, Canada. She completed postdoctoral training at the Canadian NRC and with MJ Bissell at LBNL, Berkeley California, and joined the Pathology Department at the University of Pennsylvania and IME before relocating to UCSF. In recognition of her seminal contributions on the biochemical and biophysical properties of the extracellular matrix in tissue morphogenesis and cancer she is an elected fellow of the AIMBE and ASCB and has received numerous accolades including DOD BCRP career development, Scholar and Scholar expansion awards, an ASCB WICB Midcareer award, and recently The Colin Thomson Medal of Honor from Worldwide Cancer Research

Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

David Odde is a professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Minnesota who studies the mechanics of cell division and migration. Trained academically as chemical engineer, Odde joined the newly created Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota in 1999. In his research, Odde's group builds computer models of cellular and molecular self-assembly and force-generation-dissipation dynamics, and tests the models experimentally using digital microscopic imaging of cells ex vivo and in engineered microenvironments. Current applications include the modeling of chemotherapeutic effects on cell division, molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration, and migration of cancer cells through complex microenvironments such as the brain. Ultimately, his group seeks to use the models to perform virtual screens of potential therapeutic strategies. Dr. Odde is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES).

Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Dr. Elizabeth Neil is both a board certified neurologist and neuro-oncologist. Dr. Neil completed a 2-year neuro-oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and has significant experience in caring for patients diagnosed with primary tumors of the central nervous system. Additionally, she evaluates and manages patients with systemic cancers that have metastasized to the brain and/ or spinal cord as well as manage neurological complications of cancer including but not limited to; chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, headaches, and epilepsy. Being informed and educated on the best practices in the field is critical and provides the foundation for Dr. Neil to facilitate a team approach in providing comprehensive, advanced, yet compassionate cancer care.

Professor of Dance, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Carl Flink is an American choreographer, dancer, director and academic based in Minneapolis, MN USA. He is the founder and artistic director of Black Label Movement, a contemporary dance company based in Minneapolis. He is also the Nadine Jette Sween Professor of Dance and director of the dance program at University of Minnesota. Flink was a member of the Jose Limón Dance Company from 1992 to 1998, among other NYC based dance companies including Creach/Koester Men Dancing, Janis Brenner & Dancers and Nina Winthrop & Dancers. He has been a frequent guest artist with Shapiro & Smith Dance.

Flink's work is focused in choreography, theatrical movement direction, contemporary dance and partnering technique, and dance/science collaborations. His work as a dancer, choreographer and director has been featured in the media numerous times.

Flink's TED talk in 2011 entitled Dance v. PowerPoint has received media recognition. He has been named to the University of Minnesota Theatre Arts & Dance Department Wall of Note and was featured in Dance Magazine in an article entitled "Flying through Space."

Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Dr. Olin graduated from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, in 1995 with a BS in biochemistry and a BA in chemistry. After graduating, he worked in industry for 5 years before returning to the U of M to complete his PhD in Veterinary Medicine (Infectious Disease) in 2005. From 2006-2008 Dr. Olin did a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Philip Peterson studying the effects of opioids on tuberculosis meningitis, and from 2008-2011 he did a second post doctoral fellowship with Dr. John Ohlfest in brain tumor immunotherapy. Dr. Olin joined the Department of Pediatrics Faculty as an Assistant Professor in 2011.

Director, Division of Brain Tumor Research, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN

Suzanne J. Baker, PhD is the Associate Director for Basic Research and Co-Leader of the Neurobiology and Brain Tumor Program at the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center. She received her PhD degree in Molecular Biology and Human Genetics from The Johns Hopkins University, where she was the first to identify p53 mutations in human cancer when training with Dr. Bert Vogelstein. After postdoctoral training with Dr. Tom Curran at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology, she joined the faculty at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The Baker laboratory is focused on molecular, cellular and genetic mechanisms driving high-grade gliomas, including oncogenic activity of histone H3 mutations identified by her group and others.

Associate Professor, Neurosurgery, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO

Graner's lab pioneered work in brain tumor exosomes/extracellular vesicles (EVs) in studies of vesicle biology and immunology. Their work has covered how EVs influence immune cells and brain cells such as astrocytes, along with impacts in stress biology. At CU Anschutz he is the Research Director of the Neurosurgery Tissue Bank. Graner is a core member of the American Society for Exosomes and Microvesicles (ASEMV) and the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV), and is the Immediate Past President of the Society for Thermal Medicine, and is a Fellow of the Cell Stress Society.

Professor, Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

Jann N. Sarkaria, M.D., is a consultant in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Sarkaria’s translational neuro-oncology laboratory is focused on developing novel therapeutic strategies for people with glioblastoma (GBM) and brain metastases. Global interests in the lab include understanding the basis of resistance to chemotherapy and radiation, identifying methods to overcome therapy resistance, integration of novel signal transduction inhibitors into conventional therapies for newly diagnosed or recurrent GBM, and use of next-generation sequencing and proteomics to guide individualized therapy for patients with GBM. His research is funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Cancer Institute.

Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Dr. Andrew Venteicher specializes in minimally invasive, endoscopic endonasal, and traditional open microsurgical approaches to cranial base tumors and cerebrovascular diseases. He is the neurosurgical director of the Center for Cranial Base Surgery, which focuses on diagnosis and comprehensive treatment for patients with tumors along the base of the brain, pituitary gland, and brainstem.

Dr. Venteicher earned his BA from the University of Pennsylvania in Mathematics, Biochemistry and Economics, as well as an MS in Chemistry. He attended Stanford for both his MD and PhD in Biophysics, trained at Harvard Medical School for his residency, and was selected for the prestigious cerebrovascular and cranial base fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh.

On the research side, Dr. Venteicher is part of a new translational research initiative between the U's Medical School and the Masonic Cancer Center that is exploring the genomics of brain tumors. His laboratory focuses on using new molecular techniques to understand how and why brain tumors develop and resist chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Translational research efforts such as these are of particular importance to identify new treatment options for patients with these diseases. He will one of the first to move into the new multidisciplinary consortium located at the Masonic Cancer Center Discovery Labs in the Malcolm Moos Health Sciences Tower on campus.

Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Dr. Elizabeth Neil is both a board certified neurologist and neuro-oncologist. Dr. Neil completed a 2-year neuro-oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and has significant experience in caring for patients diagnosed with primary tumors of the central nervous system. Additionally, she evaluates and manages patients with systemic cancers that have metastasized to the brain and/ or spinal cord as well as manage neurological complications of cancer including but not limited to; chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, headaches, and epilepsy. Being informed and educated on the best practices in the field is critical and provides the foundation for Dr. Neil to facilitate a team approach in providing comprehensive, advanced, yet compassionate cancer care.

Chief Resident, University of Minnesota's Internal Medicine Residency Program, Minneapolis, MN

Courtney Burnett is an internal medicine physician in the Twin Cities. She currently works as a chief resident for the University of Minnesota's internal medicine residency program. During her third year of residency, Courtney was studying medicine in Thailand when she started to have unexplainable neurologic symptoms. It was there that she diagnosed herself with partial seizures, and eventually, with a brain tumor. Since that time, Courtney has lived her life as both physician and patient. Courtney is actively involved in brain tumor advocacy and outreach. She recently published her first book about her experience living with anaplastic astrocytoma, Difficult Gifts: A Physician's Journey to Heal Body and Mind.

Difficult Gifts is described as an honest, intimate, and liberating memoir written by a physician who becomes a patient. At first filled with sadness, she learns she can also find joy. Facing mortality before the age of thirty, she finds courage rather than fear. Through it all, she shares how to embrace the life we have been given.

Link to Pre-Order Difficult Gifts: https://www.elephantlotusbraintumor.com/pre-order

Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Christopher Wilke, MD, PhD, is a radiation oncologist at the University of Minnesota. He received his BSE in biomedical engineering from the University of Iowa in 2013. He completed a PhD in biomedical engineering the University of Minnesota in 2009. In 2011, he received his MD at the University of Minnesota, where he also completed his residency in radiation oncology in 2016. He completed his fellowship in advanced radiation oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Research Center in Houston, Texas, in 2017. His research interests are in image guided radiotherapy and functional brain imaging.

Groupleader Division of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology, Hopp Children’s Cancer Center, Heidelberg, Germany

Marcel Kool, Ph.D., is a cancer biologist at the Hopp Children’s Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, Germany, and the Princess Máxima Center (PMC) for Pediatric Oncology in Utrecht, the Netherlands. He is deputy of the division of Pediatric Neurooncology headed by Prof. Dr. Stefan M. Pfister and group leader of the Preclinical Research Group in this division at the KiTZ / DKFZ. Since April 2011 he is working at the DKFZ in Heidelberg and since September 2019 he started his second research group on pediatric brain tumors at the PMC in Utrecht. Marcel Kool’s expertise is the genomics of pediatric brain tumors. He and the teams in Heidelberg and Utrecht aim to (1) characterize each brain tumor entity in full detail at the genomic and epigenomic level in order to identify clinically relevant subgroups; (2) to find the oncogenic driving events in these tumors and the best therapeutic targets; (3) to find diagnostic, prognostic and/or predictive biomarkers for these tumors and their subgroups for use in clinical settings; (4) to build a large repertoire of molecularly characterized tumor models representing all the different molecular subtypes of pediatric brain tumors and use them for preclinical studies in order to translate the genomic findings into new therapeutic options. Overall, Marcel Kool has co-authored >230 publications of which >150 only in the last five years. Several of these recent papers are landmark papers in the field of pediatric neurooncology describing the identification of new molecular entities and/or molecular subtypes of known entities with their respective oncogenic drivers and mutational landscapes.

Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Dr. Chambers attended Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine. After practicing as a veterinarian for approximately five years, she returned to medical school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), completed the Halsted Surgical fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD and neurosurgical residency at Vanderbilt in Nashville, TN, She returned to UAB, where she is now professor of Neurosurgery. As a veterinarian and board-certified neurosurgeon, Dr. Chambers is a strong proponent of the One Health Initiative, an effort to improve animal and public health worldwide and strengthen medicine by working together. She is founder of the Alabama Comparative Oncology Network, principal investigator of the regional Southeastern Comparative Oncology Network, and founding member of the Comparative Brain Tumor Consortium at the Center for Cancer Research, NIH National Cancer Institute, each a collaboration of veterinary and medical scientists and clinicians working together to identify genetic targets for treatment of disease through comparative genomics.