Partnership Cancer Research Symposium Renews Passion and Energy

At the beginning of November, more than 200 Henry Ford Health and Michigan State University researchers gathered for the 4th Annual Henry Ford + MSU Cancer Research Symposium.

“It was phenomenal to see all the engagement and collaboration of researchers and clinicians from both Henry Ford and MSU,” said Benjamin Movsas, M.D., Henry Ford + MSU Cancer Committee co-chair and Henry Ford Cancer medical director and Radiation Oncology chair. “The symposium has improved year after year as the synergies continue to expand. To me, that's really what it's all about.”

Held in Detroit this year, the symposium focused on Maximum Impact: Working Together to Eliminate Cancer in Our Patients and Community. Attendees had the opportunity to hear from colleagues about various cancer research topics ranging from patient engagement and diversity to advancing the genomic landscape.

“The symposium has really been transformative with regards to a global research-intensive university coming together with a leading clinical academic health system,” said Jeff MacKeigan, Ph.D., Henry Ford + MSU Cancer Committee co-chair and MSU Office of Research and Innovation senior advisor. “This is the essence of the partnership and you're seeing it manifest through this symposium in the numerous bold research presentations that have the potential to impact cancer patients across Michigan and beyond.”

Taking part in these research presentations were the poster session winners. The winners of the 4th Annual Henry Ford + MSU Cancer Research Symposium were:

• Anisse Chaker, M.D. (Henry Ford): First Use of Cesium-131 Embedded Collagen Tiles for Brachytherapy in the Spine: Combined Surgical Resection and Brachytherapy for Recurrent Rectosigmoid Adenocarcinoma Metastasis to the Sacrum
• Sandhya Kilari, Graduate Student, (MSU): Leveraging Multifaceted Patient Data and Patient-Reported Outcomes for Prediction of Survival
• Kalpana Subedi, Ph.D. (Henry Ford): VPS72 Controls Regulatory T Cell Adaptation and Stability in the Tumor Microenvironment
• Bogdan Done, Ph.D. (Henry Ford): Noninvasive Classification of Central Nervous System Tumors Using cfDNA Methylation Profiling: Development and Validation of a Multiclass Random Forest Model

“These poster session awardees are typically our younger investigators,” said Benjamin A Rybicki, Ph.D., Henry Ford + MSU cancer committee member and Henry Ford researcher. “It’s a great opportunity for career growth and to get them excited about the research they are doing.”

Symposium participants also had the chance to hear a special keynote from Teresa Woodruff, Ph.D., former MSU interim president and MSU Research Foundation professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology and Biomedical Engineering. Woodruff presented on Oncofertility: Bench to Bedside to Babies.

“I think cancer care is getting better and better, so survivorship issues become really paramount,” said Woodruff, who spoke on how fertility management after cancer survivorship is something that needs to be considered at the time of diagnosis, not later.

As demonstrated in the standing ovation after Woodruff’s talk, attendees found her presentation and many of the other symposium’s research topics encouraging.

“I'm impressed with the quality of the science and the collegiality of the investigators from Henry Ford and MSU, the enthusiasm of everybody and the great potential for these two extraordinary cancer teams to come together,” said Derek Raghavan, M.D., Ph.D., Henry Ford + MSU executive strategic consultant, who attended the partnership symposium for the first time. “I see this as easily being a one plus one equals four or five.”