The goal of the Wells Brain Tumor Center Seminar Series is to bring together the interdisciplinary UF research communities to discuss and address contemporary issues in neuro-oncology and immunotherapy. The platform is designed to provide faculty and students the opportunity to hear from leading researchers and to foster discussion and collaboration.
Format: Every month, seminar attendees will hear on a weekly rotation: i) Laboratory presentation, ii) Journal club discussion, iii) External guest speaker lecture, and iv) Book club discussion.
When: Fridays; 12:00-1:00pm EST
Where: Zoom (link provided by email)
For additional information, please contact Jennifer Bergeron at 352-294-8538 or jennifer.bergeron@neurosurgery.ufl.edu
Spring 2022 Schedule
| Dates | Host | Speaker/author | forum | talk title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/8/2022 | Carlos Rinaldi-Ramos, PhD | Angelie Rivera Rodriguez, PhD, University of Florida | Lab presentation | Therapeutic Efficacy of Adoptively Transferred T Cells Labeled with Optimized Magnetic Particle Imaging Tracer |
| 4/15/2022 | Carlos Rinaldi-Ramos, PhD | Hayden Good, PhD candidate, University of Florida | Journal Club | Tomographic magnetic particle imaging of cancer targeted nanoparticles |
| 4/22/2022 | Christina Von Roemeling, PhD | Amy Lam, PhD, ClearLight Biotechnologies | Guest speaker | Tissue Clearing, 3D IHC, and Imaging with ClearLight Biotechnologies |
| 4/29/2022 | Carlos Rinaldi-Ramos, PhD | Israt Alam, PhD, Stanford University | Guest speaker | Imaging T cell activation markers using immunoPET |
| 5/6/2022 | Gregory Sawyer, PhD | Gregory Sawyer, PhD, University of Florida | Lab presentation | iVITA: in Vitro ImmunoTherapy Assays |
| 5/13/2022 | Michalina Janiszewska, PhD | Michalina Janiszewska, PhD, University of Florida | Lab presentation | Mapping tumor heterogeneity in glioblastoma |
| 5/20/2022 | Gregory Sawyer, PhD | Duy Nguyen, PhD | Journal Club | Engineering T cells to enhance 3D migration through structurally and mechanically complex tumor microenvironments |
Summer 2022 Schedule
| DATES | HOST | SPEAKER/AUTHOR | FORUM | TALK TITLE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/3/2022 | Paul Castillo, MD | Paul Castillo, MD, University of Florida | Lab presentation | Sensitizing surface antigen negative tumors to CAR T cells using RNA-NP vaccine |
| 6/10/2022 | Wells Brain Tumor Center | Shirzad Chamine | Book club | Positive Intelligence: Why Only 20% of Teams and Individuals Achieve Their True Potential and How You Can Achieve Yours |
| 6/17/2022 | Maryam Rahman, MD | Mark Rosenblum, MD, Henry Ford Health System | Guest speaker | Neurosurgery’s Impact in Neuro-oncology — Lessons Learned Over 50 Years |
| 6/24/2022 | Jeffrey Harrison, PhD | Jeffrey Harrison, PhD, University of Florida | Lab presentation | Glioma:myeloid cell interactions |
| 7/8/2022 | Jeffrey Harrison, PhD | Gregory Takacs, University of Florida | Journal Club | Systemic Delivery of an Adjuvant CXCR4-CXCL12 Signaling Inhibitor Encapsulated in Synthetic Protein Nanoparticles for Glioma Immunotherapy |
| 7/15/2022 | Christina Von Roemeling, PhD | Rajappa Kenchappa, PhD, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine | Guest speaker | Combination of Kinase Inhibitors to Treat Glioblastoma and Prevent Development of Tumor Resistance |
| 7/29/2022 | Matthew Sarkisian, PhD | Matthew Sarkisian, PhD, University of Florida | Lab presentation | Primary cilia as a novel venues for promoting immunosuppression in GBM |
| 8/5/2022 | Loic Deleyrolle, PhD | Nicole Golden, PhD, Nanostring | Guest speaker | Resolving Tissue Heterogeneity with Flexible, High-Plex Spatial Multiomics |
| 8/12/2022 | Elias Sayour, MD, PhD | Jeff Li, PhD & Hannah Schuyler, Rosalind | Guest speaker | ROSALIND: the most advanced collaborative bioinformatics platform |
| 8/19/2022 | Matthew Sarkisian, PhD | Joshua Breunig, PhD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center | Guest Speaker | Expanding the zoo and feature set of MADR brain tumor models |
| 8/26/2022 | Elias Sayour, MD, PhD | Anna DeVries, University of Florida | Lab Presentation | Establishing the cross-talk mechanisms between innate and adaptive immunity following systemic mRNA vaccination |
Fall 2022 Schedule
| Dates | HOST | SPEAKER/AUTHOR | FORUM | TALK TITLE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/2/2022 | David Tran, MD, PhD | David Tran, MD, PhD, University of Florida | Lab Presentation | Novel Mechanisms of Action and Resistance in Tumor Treating Fields |
| 9/9/2022 | John Ligon, MD | Rosendra Kaplan, MD, NCI | Guest speaker | Genetically Engineered Myeloid Cells (GEMys) to Rebalance Dysregulated Microenvironments |
| 9/16/2022 | David Tran, MD, PhD | Son Le, PhD, University of Florida | Lab Presentation | Netzen – application of AI and network in biological problems |
| 10/14/2022 | John Ligon, MD | Sneha Ramakrishna, MD, Stanford University | Guest speaker | Leveraging reverse translation to advance CAR T cell therapy in brain tumors and beyond |
| 10/21/2022 | Duane Mitchell, MD, PhD | Ranjan J. Perera, PhD, Johns Hopkins | Guest speaker | The long non-coding RNA lnc-HLX-2-7 as a potential therapeutic target ingroup 3 medulloblastoma |
| 10/28/2022 | Loic Deleyrolle, PhD | Dennis Watson, PhD, Cleveland Clinic | Guest speaker | Mitochondrial transfer from astrocytes enhances glioblastoma tumorigenicity |
| 11/4/2022 | Christina Von Roemeling, PhD | Dereck Wainwright, PhD, Northwestern University | Guest speaker | Aging, immunotherapy, and glioblastoma in adults: Targeting the clock to improve survival |
| 12/8/2022 | Bently Doonan, MD | Bently Doonan, MD, University of Florida | Lab Presentation | A Discussion on the results of DCVax-L(R): Moving treatment forward or clinical trial smoke and mirrors? |
| 12/16/2022 | Michalina Janiszewska, PhD | Stephen Zorc, PhD | Journal Club |
Spring 2023 Schedule
| Dates | HOST | SPEAKER/AUTHOR | FORUM | TALK TITLE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/20/2023 | Wells Brain Tumor Center | Duane Mitchell, MD, PhD, University of Florida | Annual report and vision statement | Wells Brain Tumor Center: 2023 and Beyond |
| 1/27/2023 | Duane Mitchell, MD, PhD | Mohammed Gbadamosi, PhD, University of Florida | Journal Club | A single-cell analysis of breast cancer cell lines to study tumour heterogeneity and drug response |
| 2/3/2023 | Duane Mitchell, MD, PhD | Christina von Roemeling, PhD, University of Florida | Lab Presentation | The IRAK-4 inhibitor Emavusertib (CA-4948) for the treatment of primary CNS lymphoma |
| 2/17/2023 | Frank Bova, PhD | Matthew Frain, University of Florida | Journal Club | Radioactive 198Au-Doped Nanostructures with Different Shapes for In Vivo Analyses of Their Biodistribution, Tumor Uptake, and Intratumoral Distribution |
| 2/24/2023 | Frank Bova, PhD | Matthew Frain, University of Florida | Lab Presentation | Development and efficacy of stereotactic murine laser interstitial thermotherapy system2/24/2023Frank Bova, PhDMatthew Frain, University of FloridaLab Presentation |
| 3/3/2023 | Maryam Rahman, MD | Anjali Chauhan, PhD, University of Florida | Journal Club | A vaccine-based nanosystem for initiating innate immunity and improving tumor immunotherapy |
| 3/10/2023 | Maryam Rahman, MD | Maryam Rahman, MD , University of Florida | Lab Presentation | “Glioblastoma: Overcoming Treatment Failure.” |
| 3/31/2023 | Mohammed Gbadamosi, PhD | Erik Marchese (Mission Bio) / Andrew Ressler (Duke) | Guest speakers | MB solutions for solid tissue |
| 4/14/2023 | Carlos Rinaldi-Ramos, PhD | Esteban G. Bermudez, University of Florida | Journal Club | An optimized ionizable cationic lipid for brain tumor-targeted siRNA delivery and glioblastoma |
| 4/28/2023 | Loic Deleyrolle, PhD | Justine Johnson, Nanolive, Inc | Guest Speaker | Nanolive Live Cell Analytics: Label-free 4D imaging at High Resolution |
| 5/5/2023 | Carlos Rinaldi-Ramos, PhD | Bo Yu, University of Florida | Lab Presentation | Tracking Dendritic Cell Vaccination Using Magnetic Particle Imaging |
| 5/12/2023 | Wells Brain Tumor Center | Tim Fung, BioRender | Workshop | Top tips for better graphical abstracts webinar |
| 5/19/2023 | Wells Brain Tumor Center | Timothy P. Spicer, Ph.D, UF Scripps | Lab Presentation | Chemoresponse Profiling Using 3D Primary Tumor Models |
| 5/26/2023 | Loic Deleyrolle, PhD | Amy Johnson, Nanostring | Guest Speaker | Introduction to the CosMx Spatial Molecular Imager |
Summer 2023 Schedule
| Dates | HOST | SPEAKER/AUTHOR | FORUM | TALK TITLE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/2/2023 | Wells Brain Tumor Center | Chris Fleming, PhD, CYTEKBio | Guest Speaker | High Quality Multicolor Flow Cytometry: Seeing the WholePicture Through Full Spectrum ProfilingTM (FSPTM) |
| 6/16/2023 | Wells Brain Tumor Center | Jens Eberlein, PhD, Lumicks | Guest Speaker | Cell Avidity – A crucial biomarker for predicting effector cell function |
| 6/23/2023 | Loic Deleyrolle, PhD | Prajwal Rajappa, M.D., M.S, The Ohio State University | Guest Speaker | Developing Precision Immunotherapies to Reprogram the Glioma Tumor Microenvironment |
| 7/14/203 | Wells Brain Tumor Center | Brian P. Moran | Book Club | The 12 week Year:Get More Done in 12 Weeks than others do in 12 Months |
| 7/21/2023 | Jeffrey Harrison, PhD | Matthew Sarkisian, PhD, University of Florida | Lab Presentation | TTFields ‘shocking’ effect on glioma primary cilia |
| 7/28/2023 | Fan Zhang, PhD; Jeffrey Harrison, PhD | Chad Littrell, MS, MBA, University of Florida | Lab Presentation | Dendrimers for selective drug delivery in glioblastoma |
| 8/18/2023 | John Ligon, MD, PhD | Christian Capitini, MD, University of Wisconsin | Guest Speaker | Targeting GD2: CAR T vs. NK cells |
Fall 2023 Schedule
| Dates | HOST | SPEAKER/AUTHOR | FORUM | TALK TITLE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/8/2023 | Elias Sayour, MD, PhD | Christiano Marconi, University of Florida | Journal Club | Personalized RNA neoantigen vaccines stimulate T cells in pancreatic cancer |
| 9/15/2023 | Mariza Miranda, PhD | Omar Zid, CEO, EasyPanel | Workshop | EasyPanel: a new tool to develop flow panel |
| 9/22/2023 | Elias Sayour, MD, PhD | Yodarlynis Campaneria, University of Florida | Journal Club | Vaccine-boosted CAR T crosstalk with host immunity to reject tumors with antigen heterogeneity |
| 10/13/2023 | Elias Sayour, MD, PhD | Leighton Elliot, MD, MSE, University of Florida | Lab presentation | Using superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles to characterize and augment immunotherapy vaccines for cancer |
| 10/20/2023 | Wells Brain Tumor Center | BioRender | Workshop | BioRender “Top Design Tips for Better Posters |
| 10/27/2023 | Elias Sayour, MD, PhD | Paul Castillo, MD, University of Florida | Lab presentation | Unleashing Immunity Against Refractory Cancers |
2024 Schedule
| Dates | HOST | SPEAKER/AUTHOR | FORUM | TALK TITLE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/12/2024 | John A Ligon, MD | Gabriel Jobin, University of Florida | Journal Club | Vaccine-boosted CAR T crosstalk with host immunity to reject tumors with antigen heterogeneity |
| 1/19/2024 | John A Ligon, MD | John A Ligon, MD, University of Florida | Lab presentation | Upcoming pediatric RNA-LP trials |
| 2/16/2024 | Loic Deleyrolle, PhD | James R. Mansfield, Visiopharm | Guest Speaker | Visiopharm: Pathology image analysis software from H&E and IHC to multiplex and beyond |
| 2/23/2024 | Christina Von Roemeling, PhD | Savannah Carpenter & Jeet Patel, University of Florida | Journal Club | Genetically engineered cerebral organoids model brain tumor formation |
| 3/1/2024 | Duane Mitchell, MD, PhD | Changlin Yang, MD, University of Florida | Journal Club | Intra-tumoral T cells in pediatric brain tumors display clonal expansion and effector properties |
| 3/8/2024 | Wells Brain Tumor Center | Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, & Les Hewitt | Book Club | The Power of Focus: How to Hit Your Business, Personal and Financial Targets with Absolute Confidence and Certainty |
| 3/29/2024 | John A Ligon, MD | David Steffin, MD, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital | Guest Speaker | Optimizing GPC3-CAR T cells for solid tumors |
| 4/5/2024 | Mohammed Gbadamosi, PhD, | Arlen Gyden, University of Florida | Lab presentation | Variant Pathogenicity Prediction in Cancer |
| 4/12/2024 | Christina Von Roemeling, PhD | Christina Von Roemeling, PhD, University of Florida | Lab presentation | Sensitization of glioblastoma to anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint blockade throughAAV induced CXCL9 expression |
| 4/19/2024 | Duane Mitchell, MD, PhD | Pallavi Tiwari, PhD, University of Wisconsin | Guest Speaker | Artificial Intelligence and Computational Imaging:Opportunities for Precision Medicine |
| 4/26/2024 | John A Ligon, MD | Ramon C. Sun, PhD, University of Florida | Guest Speaker | Leveraging spatial metabolomics for cancer research |
| 5/17/2024 | Wells Brain Tumor Center | Duane Mitchell, MD, PhD, University of Florida | Annual report and vision statement | Brain SPORE 2026 – Precision Immunotherapy for Refractory Brain Tumors |
| 5/31/2024 | Loic Deleyrolle, PhD | Russell Mellen, PhD, Lumicks | Guest Speaker | Next Generation Binding: Measuring Cell Avidity to Fully Characterize Cell-CellInteractions and Understand Mechanism of Action for Cellular Therapies |
| 6/7/2024 | Serendipity Zapanta Rinonos, MD, PhD | Serendipity Zapanta Rinonos, MD, PhD, University of Florida | Lab presentation | Targeted Epigenetic Editing: A novel therapeutic strategy for malignant glioma |
| 6/21/2024 | Wells Brain Tumor Center | John Maxwell | Book Club | How Successful People Think |
| 7/12/2024 | Duane Mitchell, MD, PhD | Malisa Sarntinoranont, PhD | Guest Speaker | Towards new computational models of glioma that capture blood-brain-barrier breakdown and perivascular clearance |
| 7/26/2024 | Wells Brain Tumor Center | John Maxwell | Book Club | How Successfull People Grow: 15 ways to get ahead in life |
| 8/6/2024 | Matthew Sarkisian, PhD | Matthew Sarkisian, PhD, University of Florida | Lab presentation | Ciliated glioma cells promote Immune evasion in GBM |
| 8/23/2024 | Loic Deleyrolle, PhD | Connor West, PhD & Tawnie Cordes (Lunaphore), Hinda Najem MD, MS (Northwestern University) | Guest Speaker | Meet the COMET, a unique approach to Spatial Biology / The impact of spatial proteomics in CNS tumors’ therapeutic implications |
| 9/6/24 | Maryam Rahman, MD | Anjali Chauhan, PhD, University of Florida | Lab presentation | Neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade with LITT triggers robust lymphocyte infiltration within the tumor microenvironment in a brain metastasis murine model |
| 9/13/2024 | Maryam Rahman, MD | Ravi Kumar, PhD, University of Florida | Journal Club | Immune phenotyping of diverse syngeneic murine brain tumors identifies immunologically distinct types |
| 9/19/24 | Maryam Rahman, MD | Thomas E. Angelini, PhD, University of Florida | Guest Speaker | 3D bioprinted minimal tissue models for studying tissue function, disease, and therapeutic strategies |