City of Hope Research on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Precision Medicine, Immunotherapies and Other Topics to be Presented at American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2025

April 17, 2025 at 11:00 AM EDT

More than 74 chaired, plenary and educational sessions, minisymposium, posters and more will report on new technologies and novel treatments related to breast, nasopharyngeal, colon and other cancers

Researchers with City of Hope^®, one of the largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment organizations in the U.S. with its National Medical Center named top 5 in the nation for cancer by U.S. News & World Report, will present the latest cancer research at the AACR Annual Meeting 2025, which will take place April 25 to 30 in Chicago.

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John D. Carpten, Ph.D. (Photo Credit: City of Hope)

City of Hope experts will present more than 74 chaired, plenary, educational, minisymposium, poster and other sessions on the use of artificial intelligence (AI), multiomics and other emerging technologies in cancer research, advances in the clinical application of natural killer cells, new clinical trial results, translating research into policy through community engagement and much more.

“The extensive breadth and depth of research being presented at AACR by City of Hope’s researchers exemplifies our commitment to making hope a reality for all cancer patients,” said John D. Carpten, Ph.D., City of Hope’s chief scientific officer, Irell & Manella Cancer Center Director's Distinguished Chair and Morgan & Helen Chu Director's Chair of the Beckman Research Institute “We are proud to share our dedication to developing innovative technologies and treatments for improved care through a combination of scientific discovery, clinical ingenuity and compassion.”

Chaired sessions

David W. Craig, Ph.D., professor and founding chair of the Department of Integrative Translational Sciences within Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, is chairing the final plenary session of the conference, “Opportunities in Predicative Oncology.” He will deliver opening and closing remarks for the session focused on exploring emerging computational, biological and clinical approaches to learn more about tumors at multiple levels and improve precision medicine. “Opportunities in Predictive Oncology,” plenary session PL05, will take place on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, 8 to 10 a.m.

“This session will explore how researchers are working at the forefront of our field and pushing the boundaries of cancer care by using leading-edge technologies to improve how we can target disease on an individual basis,” Dr. Craig said. “Combining multifaceted sets of data allows us to better understand treatment resistance, build stronger predictive models and enhance outcomes using precision medicine.”

Dr. Craig is also chair of an educational session on integrating AI and data science to gain deeper insights into the causes of cancer and how it progresses. He will present on using a biological analysis approach called multiomics to investigate the unique genetic makeup of different cell populations in solid tumors.

“Accelerating Cancer Research with AI and Data Science: Multi-scale Multi-Modal Integration for Deeper Insights,” educational session ED04, is on Friday, April 25, 2025, 4:45 to 6:15 p.m. Dr. Craig’s presentation, “Resolving spatial subclonal genomic heterogeneity using the integration of multi-omic genomic approaches in solid tumors,” is the first of the session.

In addition, Nina (Jiarong) Song, a graduate student in Dr. Craig’s lab, will present new data from a team of researchers that highlights the use of AI to integrate digital pathology, genomics and spatial transcriptomics to gain new insights into glioblastoma, triple-negative breast cancer and colorectal cancer progression. Part of the minisymposium MS.BCS01.01 “Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Basic and Translational Research,” held on Sunday, April 27, 2025, 3 to 5 p.m., Song’s presentation, “Decoding tumor microenvironment with deep learning: merging spatial transcriptomics and histopathology,” is the first talk of the minisymposium.

Michael A. Caligiuri, M.D., former president of City of Hope National Medical Center and professor in the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, is the chair of two educational sessions. He will introduce a session on advances in the application of natural killer (NK) cells — a type of white blood cell that destroys cancer and can be harnessed as a therapeutic intervention, which is being researched at City of Hope — and present on “Innate immune lymphocytes, including NK cells.” The educational session ED57, “Natural Killer Cells: Advances in Basic Biology and Clinical Applications,” is on Saturday, April 26, 2025, 10 to 11:30 a.m. Dr. Caligiuri’s presentation is the first of the session.

Dr. Caligiuri is also chair of ED54, “Academic Entrepreneurship: Getting Your Discovery to Patients, Part 1—Liftoff,” on Saturday, April 26, 2025, 8 to 9:30 a.m., which will help define the steps required for translating research from the bench to the bedside.

Select presentations by City of Hope scientists and physicians include:

“Managing and predicting toxicities from new and emerging ADCs”

As part of a session on advances in diagnostics and therapeutics, Hope Rugo, M.D., who recently joined City of Hope as director of its Women’s Cancers Program, will talk about new findings in managing toxicities from antibody-drug conjugates. (Advances in Diagnostics and Therapeutics session ADT04: Monday, April 28, 2025, 1:25 to 1:45 p.m.)

Dr. Rugo will also serve as a discussant at the Clinical Trials Plenary Session on Biologics and T-cell Engagers on Tuesday, April 29, 10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

“Multi-omics analysis of MYC gene and WNT signaling pathway alterations in early-onset colorectal cancer in Hispanic/Latino patients, enhanced with spatial transcriptomics approaches”

Francisco (Paco) Carranza, a postdoctoral scientist in the lab of Enrique Velazquez Villarreal, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., M.S., assistant professor in the Department of Integrative Translational Sciences, will present on the investigation of early-onset colorectal cancer in young Hispanic/Latino populations using multi-omics analysis to improve precision medicine in underrepresented populations. (Minisymposium session 3742: Monday, April 28, 2025, 2:35 to 2:50 p.m.)

“PM-AI agent: A conversational artificial intelligence system for precision medicine and advancing health equity through integrative clinical, genomic and social determinants of health data analysis”

Dr. Velazquez Villarreal will also present a poster on the development of a new precision medicine AI tool that addresses key challenges in the integration of clinical, genomic, population-specific variables and social determinants of health to promote better equity in cancer research. (Poster presentation 1115/1: Sunday, April 27, 2025, 2 to 5 p.m.)

“Penpulimab versus placebo in combination with chemotherapy as first-line treatment for recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A global, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, phase 3 trial (AK105-304)”

Medical oncologist Aditya Shreenivas, M.D., M.S. will present new data from phase 3 of a clinical trial testing Penpulimab, a humanized anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody, in patients with advanced nasopharyngaeal carcinoma. (Clinical trials minisymposium session CT011: Sunday, April 27, 2025, 3:50 to 4 p.m.)

“Overcoming intrinsic mechanisms of cell cycle inhibitor resistance in estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer”

Kimya Karimi, a postdoctoral scholar in the lab of Andrea Bild, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research, will present new data from a City of Hope study exploring a combination treatment to overcome primary endocrine therapy resistance in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. (Minisymposium session 6383: Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 3:05 to 3:20 p.m.)

“The science and art of community engagement for translating research into cancer-related policy and implementation”

Kimlin Tam Ashing, Ph.D., professor and founding director of the Center of Community Alliance for Research & Education at City of Hope will present during an educational session on building community outreach and engagement partnerships for improved health outcomes. (Educational session ED39: Friday, April 25, 2025, 3:30 to 3:50 p.m.)

Highlighted poster sessions

Jing Qian, a senior research associate in the lab of Dr. Carpten is first author on “Spatial transcriptomics reveals differences in the tumor and immune microenvironment of high-grade serous ovarian cancers with differing responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors.” (Late breaking poster session LB076/12: Sunday, April 27, 2025, 2 to 5 p.m.)

Peter Zang, M.D., a hematology and oncology fellow is first author on “Digital spatial profling with GeoMx to identify differential protein expression in Non-Hispanic/Latino and Hispanic/Latino Patients with metastatic hormone sensitive prostate cancer,” a poster abstract that outlines work from the lab of senior author Tanya Barauskas Dorff, M.D., professor in the Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research on the complex interplay between ethnicity and disease biology in prostate cancer. (Poster session 5103/8: Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 2 to 5 p.m.)

A poster presentation by Sydney Grant, a postdoctoral fellow, and Aritro Nath, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research, “Integrating multimodal data with survival-based variational autoencoders to predict recurrence-free survival in breast cancer,” highlights a new model the team developed to predict recurrence-free survival in breast cancer patients. (Poster session 5011/15: Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 9 a.m. to noon)

About City of Hope

City of Hope's mission is to make hope a reality for all touched by cancer and diabetes. Founded in 1913, City of Hope has grown into one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the U.S. and one of the leading research centers for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses. City of Hope research has been the basis for numerous breakthrough cancer medicines, as well as human synthetic insulin and monoclonal antibodies. With an independent, National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center at its core, City of Hope brings a uniquely integrated model to patients spanning cancer care, research and development, academics and training, and innovation initiatives. City of Hope’s growing national system includes its Los Angeles campus, a network of clinical care locations across Southern California, a new cancer center in Orange County, California, and cancer treatment centers and outpatient facilities in the Atlanta, Chicago and Phoenix areas. City of Hope’s affiliated group of organizations includes Translational Genomics Research Institute and AccessHope™. For more information about City of Hope, follow us on Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.