About the 2021 CoVA Cancer Research Conference
Hosted by VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center in November 2021, the CoVA Cancer Research Retreat brought together more than 200 attendees - including trainees, faculty, and physicians - from six institutions across the commonwealth, with more than 100 research abstracts submitted and presented by students and trainees.
Keynote speaker
Yves Pommier, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief, Developmental Therapeutics Branch
National Cancer Institute
Learn more about Yves Pommier, M.D., Ph.D.
Abstract awardees
Cancer Biology abstract awardees
- Absence of toll-like receptor 5 confers survival in mice bearing ovarian tumors treated with anti-PD-L1
Mitchell T. McGinty and Melanie Rutkowski (UVA) - High dose acetaminophen reinvigorates exhausted T cells in non-small cell lung cancer
Pavani Pingali, Howard Y. Li and Bhaumik B. Patel (VCU) - Pilot study of partial ablation with mechanical high-intensity focused ultrasound (histotripsy) in dogs with spontaneously occurring soft tissue sarcomas
Ester Yang, Lauren Arnold, Sheryl Coutermarsh-Ott, Nick Dervisis, Eli Vlaisavljevich and Shawna Klahn (Virginia Tech)
Developmental Therapeutics abstract awardees
- Periostin+ stromal cells guide lymphovascular invasion by cancer cells
Jamie L. Null, Dae Joong Kim, James V. McCann and Andrew C. Dudley (UVA) - Cancer heterogeneity since the beginning: Disparate progression of ovarian cancer initiating cells revealed by in vivo clonal analysis
Jianhao R. Zeng, Eli Casarez, Ying Jiang, Kristen A. Atkins, Brianna E. Kelly, Eugene Ke, Taylor Jenkins, Jill K. Slack Davis, Hui Zong (UVA) - Sex differences in the innate immune response to lung cancer in men and women
Lauren A. May, Joseph W. Landry, Howard Y. Li and Paula D. Bos (VCU)
Cancer Prevention and Control abstract awardees
- The use of reverse phase protein array, principal component analysis, and cancer scape pathway mapping to identify new tumor vulnerability and actionable drug targets against high-grade malignant human cancer cell lines
Andrew Howell, Julia Wulfkuhle, Natalie Stahr, Rosa Gallagher, Emanuel Petricoin, and Amy Tang (Eastern Virginia Medical School) - A novel approach to self-guided weight loss among young men: Findings from the activate pilot randomized clinical trial
Jean M. Reading, Melissa M. Crane and Jessica Gokee LaRose (VCU) - Exploring factors related to maintenance phase medication adherence among pediatric patients with cancer
Stephanie Romo, Clara Ko and Jennifer Rohan (VCU)
Breakout session awardees
Scientific session 1
- 1A: Profiling to evaluate signaling and therapeutics
Holly Byers (VCU) - 1B: Cancer immunotherapy
Cory Fines (VCU) - 1C: Oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes I
Saranya Chidambaranathan Reghupaty (VCU) - 1D: Miscellaneous concepts in cancer studies
Lois Akinola (VCU) - 1E: Novel approaches for cancer detection and treatment I
Willough Sloan (College of William & Mary)
Scientific session 2
- 2A: Cancer genetics and genomics
Charlotte Chambers (Eastern Virginia Medical School)
Jacqueline Grible (VCU)
Christiana Appiah (VCU) - 2B: Oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes II
Rosalie Hoyle (VCU) - 2C: Health policy, behavior and communication
Kelcie Willis (VCU) - 2D: Tumor metastasis
Patrick Faughnan (UVA) - 2E: Cancer survivorship among children, adolescents and young adults
Kelly Tran (VCU)
Scientific session 3
- 3A: Predictive biomarkers, precision medicine trials and health disparity research
Emily Breeding (Eastern Virginia Medical School) - 3B: Cancer metabolism
Maryam Jamil (VCU)
Rowan Boyd (VCU) - 3C: Cancer cell signaling
Brooke Brown (UVA)
Holly Morrison (Virginia Tech) - 3D: Novel cancer therapies
Rio Boothello (VCU) - 3E: Cancer treatments – ultrasound, nanoparticles and pulsed electric fields
Ester Yang (Virginia Tech)
Scientific session 4
- 4A: Tumor microenvironment and metabolism
Karl Kowalewski (UVA) - 4B: Novel approaches for cancer detection and treatment II
Narmeen Rashid (VCU) - 4C: Critical events in tumorigenesis
Wendy Stewart (College of William & Mary) - 4D: Gene regulation in cancer
Nicholas R. Dunham (UVA) - 4E: Novel combination theories
Johnson Ung (UVA)