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UF Health University of Florida
Preston A. Wells Jr. Center
for Brain Tumor Therapy University of Florida
Consultations: 352.273.6990
Research Overview

Seminar Series

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

Spring 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

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