On June 12 – 13, 2024, Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital hosted the annual Lung Cancer SPORE Workshop at Yale West Campus. This year’s two-day workshop was held in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the discovery of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation in lung cancer, which launched the era of personalized medicine in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), leading to a dramatic shift in treatment.

Chaired by Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, Ensign Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology) and Professor of Pharmacology, Deputy Director, Yale Cancer Center, and Chief of Medical Oncology at Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital, and Katerina Politi, PhD, Joseph A. and Lucille K. Madri Professor of Pathology, the workshop included presentations from featured speakers, panel discussions, and posters sessions. Invited speakers in the field of lung cancer came from various institutions including Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School, The Ohio State University, Emory University, and UT Southwestern, among many others.

Speakers included:

  • Pasi Jänne, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School,
  • Suresh Ramalingam, MD, Executive Director, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University; Associate Vice President for Cancer, Woodruff Health Sciences Center,
  • Helena Yu, MD, Associate Attending Physician, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center,
  • Robert Winn, MD, Director and Lipman Chair in Oncology, VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center,
  • Rev. Tyron Williams, DDiv, MDiv, community advocate, VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center,
  • Diane Legg, patient advocate, Massachusetts General Hospital.

The session concluded with a panel discussion featuring:

  • Mark Lemmon, PhD, FRS, Alfred Gilman Professor and Chair of Pharmacology,
  • Christine Lovly, MD, PhD, Ingram Associate Professor of Cancer Research; Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology/Oncology),
  • Harold Varmus, MD, Lewis Thomas University Professor of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College,
  • Kwok-Kin Wong, MD, PhD, The Anne Murnick Cogan and David H. Cogan Professor of Oncology, Department of Medicine, NYU Langone Health.