Robert (Bob) Abraham, PhD is the Chief Scientific Officer at Vividion Therapeutics. His major research interests included characterization and functional analysis of the mammalian Target of Rapamycin signaling pathway, cancer metabolism, signal transduction mechanisms in T-lymphocytes, and molecular mechanisms underlying cell proliferation and cellular responses to DNA damage. Bob is the author of over 220 scientific publications and has served on and chaired grant review panels at the National Institutes of Health. His published work has been cited more than 40,000 times. He is a reviewer for many top journals, including Nature, Science, and Cell. He has received several awards for his scientific contributions, including the Legacy Laureate Award as an outstanding alumnus of the University of Pittsburgh.

Bob was the Senior Vice President and Group Head of the Oncology R&D Group in Pfizer Worldwide Research, Development and Medical and Vice President of Oncology Research at Wyeth Discovery Research. Prior to joining industry, Bob was a Professor at the Sanford-Burnham-Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBPMDI) in La Jolla, CA, where he founded the Signal Transduction Research Program and served as the Director of the SBPMDI Cancer Research Center. Bob retains an appointment as an Adjunct Professor at the SBPMDI, together with an Adjunct Professor Appointment in Pharmacology at the University of California-San Diego. Bob was a Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at the Duke University Medical Center, where he also served as Associate Director of Translational Research in the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center. Before his arrival at Duke University, Bob was a Professor in both the Department of Immunology and the Department of Pharmacology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN where he also served as Director of Basic Sciences in the Mayo Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Bob received his B.S. in Biology from Bucknell University and completed his Ph.D. studies in Pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh and completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Pharmacology and Immunology at the Mayo Clinic.

Dafna Bar-Sagi, Ph.D., is the Saul J. Farber Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Professor, Department of Medicine, Executive Vice President and Vice Dean for Science, Chief Scientific Officer of NYU Langone Health. In these roles, she serves as the principal strategist to advance the NYU Langone’s research enterprise. Additionally, Dr. Bar-Sagi oversees all clinical, translational, and basic science operations, graduate education, and administration for the research enterprise through the Office of Science and Research.

Dr. Bar-Sagi is a world-renowned cancer biologist whose research has had a major impact on the understanding of mechanisms that control tumor initiation and progression. The focus of her work is the Ras oncogene and its role in the regulation of cell proliferation and survival, tumor immunity, cellular metabolism, and cell-to-cell signaling.

Prior to joining NYU Langone in 2006 as chair of the Department of Biochemistry, she headed the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook. She earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees from Bar-Ilan University, Israel, and her PhD from SUNY at Stony Brook. She was a postdoctoral fellow in the cell biology group at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Dr. Bar-Sagi is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including Member of the National Academy of Sciences (2020-current), IUBMB Jubilee Lectureship Award (2020), Fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research (2019-current), an NCI Outstanding Investigator Award (2016-2023), the AACR-WICR Memorial Award (2018), and an NCI Merit Award (1996-2006). She has been a member of many advisory boards including Chair of the NCI Board of Advisors (2018-2021), Fox Chase Cancer Center External Advisory Council (2017-current), AACR Board of Directors (2016-2019), Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (2010-current), Wistar Institute External Advisory Board (2015-current), Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Board of Scientific Reviewers (2015-current), and the Starr Cancer Consortium Scientific Review Board (2010-current).

Dr. Cravatt is a Professor and the Norton B. Gilula Chair of Chemical Biology in the Department of Chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute. His research group is interested in developing chemical proteomic technologies that enable protein and drug discovery on a global scale and applying these methods to characterize biochemical pathways that play important roles in human physiology and disease, especially as pertains to the nervous system and cancer. Dr. Cravatt obtained his undergraduate education at Stanford University, receiving a B.S. in the Biological Sciences and a B.A. in History. He then received a Ph.D. from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in 1996. Professor Cravatt joined the faculty at TSRI in 1997. Dr. Cravatt is an Associate Editor for JACS and is a co-founder of Activx Biosciences, Abide Therapeutics, and Vividion Therapeutics. His honors include a Searle Scholar Award, the Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry, a Cope Scholar Award, the ASBMB Merck Award, the RSC Jeremy Knowles Award, the AACR Award for Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research, and memberships in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, and National Academy of Sciences.

Jeffrey L. Cummings, MD, ScD, is Vice Chair of Research, UNLV Department of Brain Health. He is Founding Director of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Professor of Medicine (Neurology), Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Cummings is Principal Investigator/Director of the NIH/NIGMS-funded Center for Neurodegeneration and Translational Neuroscience.

Dr. Cummings is a world-renowned Alzheimer’s researcher and leader of clinical trials. He has been recognized for his research and leadership contributions in the field of Alzheimer’s disease through the Henderson Award of the American Geriatrics Society (2006), the Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Award of the national Alzheimer’s Association (2008), and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Society for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology (2017). In 2010, he was honored by the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry with their Distinguished Scientist Award. In 2018, he was honored with the Leadership and Achievement Award by the International Society of CNS Drug Development, and he received the Bengt Winblad Lifetime Achievement Award from the national Alzheimer’s Association. In 2019, the International Psychogeriatric Association awarded him with the Distinguished Service Award and he received the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation’s Melvin R. Goodes Prize that honors an innovative researcher who has made a significant and lasting impact in the field. He was featured in the Gentleman’s Quarterly (June 2009) as a “Rock Star of Science^™.”

Dr. Cummings’ interests embrace clinical trials, developing new therapies for brain diseases, and the interface of neuroscience and society.

Dr. Cummings completed Neurology residency and a Fellowship in Behavioral Neurology at Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts. US training was followed by a Research Fellowship in Neuropathology and Neuropsychiatry at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, Queen Square, London, England. Dr. Cummings was formerly Augustus S. Rose Professor of Neurology and Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA, Director of the Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research at UCLA, and Director of the Deane F. Johnson Center for Neurotherapeutics at UCLA. He is past president of the Behavioral Neurology Society and of the American Neuropsychiatric Association.

Dr. Cummings has authored or edited 43 books and published over 750 peer-reviewed papers.

Frank McCormick, PhD, is a Professor at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Prior to joining the UCSF faculty, Dr. McCormick pursued cancer-related work with several Bay Area biotechnology firms and held positions with Cetus Corporation (Director of Molecular Biology, 1981-1990; Vice President of Research, 1990-1991) and Chiron Corporation, where he was Vice President of Research. In 1992 he founded Onyx Pharmaceuticals, a company dedicated to developing new cancer therapies, and served as its Chief Scientific Officer until 1996. At Onyx Pharmaceuticals, he initiated drug discovery efforts that led to the approval of Sorafenib in 2005 for treatment of renal cell cancer, and for liver cancer in 2007, and the approval of ONYX-015 in 2006 in China for treatment of nasopharyngeal cancer. In addition, Dr. McCormick’s group led to the identification of the CDK4 kinase inhibitor, Palbociclib, approved for treating advanced breast cancer. Dr. McCormick's current research interests center on ways of targeting Ras proteins and their regulators, including the NF1 protein neurofibromin.

Dr. McCormick holds the David A. Wood Chair of Tumor Biology and Cancer Research at UCSF. He is the author of over 330 scientific publications and holds more than 20 issued patents. Dr. McCormick was Director of the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center from 1997 to 2014. He also served as President, 2012-2013, for the American Association for Cancer Research. Since 2013, Dr. McCormick has led the National Cancer Institute’s Ras Initiative at the Frederick National Laboratories for Cancer Research overseeing the national effort to develop therapies against Ras-driven cancers. These cancers include most pancreatic cancers, and many colorectal and lung cancers, and are amongst the most difficult cancers to treat.

Dr. McCormick is a Fellow of the Royal Society and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Mobley is Associate Dean of Neurosciences Initiatives and Distinguished Professor of Neurosciences at UC San Diego. He serves as Executive Director of UCSD's Down Syndrome Center for Research and Treatment, and holds the Florence Riford Chair of Alzheimer Disease Research. He came to UCSD in June 2009 from Stanford University where he served as the John E. Cahill Family Professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences and was founding director of the Neuroscience Institute. Dr. Mobley’s research is focused on degenerative disease of the central nervous system, especially Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease.

He and his colleagues have for many years explored the hypothesis that deficient axonal transport of neurotrophic factor signals contribute importantly to the pathogenesis of neurodegeneration.

Dr. Mobley serves as the expert advisor to the Congressional Down Syndrome Caucus. He is Past President of the Association of University Professors of Neurology, of the Professors of Child Neurology, and of the International Society for Developmental Neuroscience. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine. He received both the Zenith Award and Temple Award from the Alzheimer's Association and the Cotzias Award from the American Academy of Neurology. In 2007 he received the Christian Pueschel Memorial Research Award, and in 2011 was honored with the International Sisley-Jérôme Lejeune Prize by the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation for his research contributions to Down syndrome and genetic intellectual disabilities. He was inducted into the Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars in 2014.

Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D., F.A.C.P., is currently Physician in Chief, Distinguished Professor Translational Research at TGen (Translational Genomics Research Institute) in Phoenix, Arizona. He is also Senior Consultant, Clinical Investigations for the City of Hope; Chief Scientific Officer for HonorHealth Research Institute; Medical Director of Research, Chief Scientific Officer, US Oncology, and Professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic.

Dr. Von Hoff's major interest is in the development of new anticancer agents, both in the clinic and in the laboratory. He and his colleagues were involved in the beginning of the development of many of the agents we now use routinely, including: mitoxantrone, fludarabine, paclitaxel, docetaxel, gemcitabine, irinotecan, nelarabine, capecitabine, lapatinib, vismodegibm, nab-paclitaxel, nal-IRI, and others. At present, he and his colleagues are concentrating on the development of molecularly targeted therapies for patients with pancreatic and other advanced cancers.

Dr. Von Hoff has published more than 690 papers, 140 book chapters and over 1400 abstracts. Dr. Von Hoff received the 2010 David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology for his outstanding contributions to cancer research leading to significant improvement in patient care.

Dr. Von Hoff was appointed to President Bush's National Cancer Advisory Board in 2004-2010. Dr. Von Hoff is the past President of the American Association for Cancer Research (the world's largest cancer research organization), a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a member and past board member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He is a founder of ILEX Oncology, Inc. (acquired by Genzyme after ILEX had two agents, alemtuzumab and clofarabine, approved by the FDA for patients with leukemia). Dr. Von Hoff is founder and the Editor Emeritus of Investigational New Drugs - The Journal of New Anticancer Agents; and, past Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. He is a co-founder of the AACR/ASCO Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop. He is also proud to have been a mentor and teacher for multiple medical students, medical oncology fellows, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows.

Geoffrey M. Wahl, the Daniel and Martina Lewis Chair, is a professor in the Gene Expression Laboratory at The Salk Institute and an adjunct professor at the University of California, San Diego in the Department of Biology.

A widely recognized expert in understanding the genetic instability of cancer cells and why tumors become resistant to drugs, Dr. Wahl’s group showed that such instability often results from mutations in key tumor suppressor genes such as p53. His group focuses on how cancer cells reprogram into more primitive, plastic cell states that contribute to intratumoral heterogeneity, a process also impacted by p53. An important emphasis is turning these fundamental findings into therapeutic opportunities to treat cancer more effectively. Dr. Wahl has published nearly 200 articles and reviews related to genetic instability, p53 functions, the control of DNA replication, normal and cancer stem cells, and tumor cell plasticity. His lab has developed many technologies in wide use in molecular and cellular biology.

He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Association for Cancer Research and American Academy of Arts and Science. He was appointed as a Susan G. Komen Scholar, and served as President of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Dr. Wahl obtained a B.A. in Bacteriology from the University of California, Los Angeles, a PhD in Biological Chemistry from Harvard University, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University. He joined The Salk Institute in 1979 and became Professor in the Gene Expression Laboratory in 1989.

Michael A. White, PhD is the Chief Scientific Officer at IDEAYA Biosciences. His focus is small molecule drug discovery for oncology. With over 2 decades of R&D leadership experience in industry and academia, he is recognized for deep expertise in cell regulation, oncogene mechanism of action, tumor biology, target discovery, technology development and fast-track drug discovery. He has held CSO positions at Biosplice and Pfizer, where he led cross-disciplinary groups to build oncology small-molecule pipelines focused on first-in-class therapies that intercept oncogenic signaling networks, modulate tumor/host interactions and promote productive anti-tumor immune responses. These efforts culminated in numerous INDs within a 5-year span. Prior to joining industry, Mike was Professor of Cell Biology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Associate Director of Basic Science for the Harold Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center and founding Director of the UTSW Cancer Intervention and Prevention Discovery training program. His appointments included the Hortense and Morton Sanger Professorship in Oncology, the Sherry Wigley Crow Cancer Research Endowed Chair, and the Grant A. Dove Distinguished Chair for Research in Oncology. In 2015, Mike was a recipient of the inaugural National Institute of Cancer’s Outstanding Investigator Award.

Mike’s academic research focused on oncogene effector networks, the molecular architecture of cellular signaling pathways, functional annotation of cancer genomes, and genomics-guided cancer target discovery. He has authored over 150 publications with over 22,000 citations.

Mike completed his postdoctoral training in cancer biology and signal transduction at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories in New York. He received his PhD in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his B.Sc. (Hons) from the University of Iowa.