Dear Colleagues,
The letter below was written before
the COVID-19 pandemic transformed our lives. First, I hope all of you and your
families are safe. For our members involved in delivery of health care, we are
grateful for your courage, sacrifice and dedication to your patients. Many in
our society are likely turning their attention to research focused on the COVID
pandemic and to care of COVID patients. I am aware that many of you are cooperating
with your infectious disease, critical care and pulmonary colleagues to secure
the resources required to take care of as many infected patients as possible.
At the urging of two of our past
Presidents (Jon Wigginton, MD, and Bernard Fox, PhD), the society has already
taken steps to enable our members to exchange information on the pandemic,
particularly how it impacts cancer care and patients receiving anti-cancer
immunotherapy (see
below). SITC members have substantial expertise in immunology and
clinical trial methodology, and this experience in cancer could help our
colleagues to reduce the overall impact of the pandemic. For example,
translational studies to define the immunologic responses to the virus and
identify abnormal/ineffective responses that fail to clear virus and/or produce
immune-mediated pathology could lead to novel therapeutics. Our members are
very familiar with the urgent need to find therapies for life-threatening
diseases and can advocate to make potentially life-saving medications available
to patients. At the same time, we can also advocate for developing therapies
based on sound scientific evidence produced in high quality clinical research;
in our own field, we are keenly aware of potentially misleading conclusions from
anecdotal reports, uncontrolled trials and small randomized studies of
therapeutic agents. We live in a time of amazing science, and I feel confident
that science will rapidly produce effective diagnostics, therapeutics and
vaccines for this pandemic and the next pandemic we will face in the future.
Please take note that SITC 2020 will
take place on new days this year (Tuesday, Nov. 10–Sunday, Nov. 15), and we
will return to the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center in National
Harbor, Md.
We are also very much looking
forward to the Richard V.
Smalley, MD, Memorial Award and Lectureship, our society's highest
award and named in honor of
the SITC charter member. This fall, we honor three researchers whose
contributions to the area of immune checkpoint inhibitors fundamentally changed
the treatment of cancer: Lieping Chen, MD,
PhD (Yale School of Medicine), Gordon Freeman,
MD, PhD (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute), and Arlene Sharpe, MD,
PhD (Harvard Medical School). I would like to thank this year's
keynote speakers for sharing their expertise with SITC 2020 attendees and for
their continued contributions in the field.
SITC 2020 will again include
workshops and programs for an intense focus on specific scientific topics and
for broader educational objectives. Our annual workshop, a pre-conference
program, will delve more deeply into the rapidly expanding area of Engineering Immune
Cells for Cancer Therapy. This year's industry program will address Immunotherapy
Resistance and Failure for immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Applications for consideration to present your research during the
Immunotherapy Resistance and Failure Pre-Conference Program are also open, and
are due on July 31, 2020, at 5 p.m. PDT. The Primer on Tumor
Immunology and Cancer Immunotherapy™ is a critical and timely
educational program covering the basic principles and a variety of techniques
within tumor immunology and immunotherapy. New for this year, the Primer will
also touch on emerging therapies and technologies in the field.
In our society's continued effort to
provide early career investigators with meaningful professional development and
networking opportunities, SITC will again host a workshop on building skills to
write successful grants; a Meet-the-Expert Lunch for attendees to connect with
leaders in the field in a small group setting; and an evening early career
scientist networking event. SITC's Career Connections program will return for a
second year and will include a networking reception, on-site job board and
other opportunities for attendees to connect directly (and don't forget to
peruse our Online Job Board,
available year-round). Further, SITC, through support from the Forward Fund, will present
35 travel awards to young investigators this year, recognizing their research
achievements. The early career scientists will be honored during the Award
Ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 14. I will do my best to pronounce all the names
correctly this year.
Please be sure to attend the 35th
Anniversary Reception in celebration of the society's special
anniversary year, which will take place the evening of Saturday, Nov. 14, at
the National Museum of American History. This will be an amazing night of
Washington D.C. fun and frolic and you will be able to celebrate 35 years of
immense dedication to discovery and application of cancer immunotherapy with
your colleagues in an impressive museum, and the night will include heavy hors
d'oeuvres, drinks and dancing. Purchase your tickets through your SITC 2020
registration.
In celebration of our 35th
anniversary, SITC will offer 35 Young Investigator
Awards, all recognizing excellence in novel research and providing
young investigators with the experience necessary for successful careers. SITC
is also accepting research applications on immune checkpoint inhibitor
resistance or failure for the opportunity to present during SITC 2020's
Immunotherapy Resistance and Failure Pre-Conference Program.
We've covered only a small portion
of the agenda that will make SITC 2020 another remarkable Annual Meeting. I
will continue to provide updates about programing as the year progresses.
Meanwhile, for those who have not yet signed up for a
SITC membership in 2020, please do so now to receive access to the
exclusive SITC 2020 members-only registration period and access to housing.
Public registration opens on April 20. Click here to
learn more about SITC 2020 registration or continue reading this
month's edition of the Immune Monitor.
I look forward to seeing in National
Harbor this Nov. 10–15 for SITC 2020.
Sincerely,
Mario Sznol, MD
SITC President