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SUMMARY:Early Detection International Webinar: Looking beyond scopes\, sca
 ns and smears - the future of cancer screening - Dr Sana Raoof\, MGH Cance
 r Center and Grail Bio
DTSTART:20210415T150000Z
DTEND:20210415T160000Z
UID:TALK158371@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Catherine Atkins
DESCRIPTION:For the sixth talk in our international early detection webina
 r series please join Dr Sana Raoof\, MGH Cancer Center and Grail Bio. Sana
  will speak on Looking beyond scopes\, scans and smears - the future of ca
 ncer screening\n\nTalk abstract\n\nSince the 1971 "War on Cancer" in Ameri
 ca\, hundreds of billions of dollars and countless careers have been faith
 fully invested into cancer research in America. An explosion in our knowle
 dge of modern biology over the last 30 years has transformed the world of 
 therapeutics but not the world of diagnostics. Research on drug developmen
 t and the basic mechanisms of cancer have improved survival time in select
  metastatic cancers\, but science has not driven an appreciable decline in
  the incidence of metastatic cancer to begin with. Why is our science not 
 translating to significant improvements in overall survival\, what are the
  economic and clinical reasons for this stagnation\, and what can we do ab
 out it? This presentation will introduce liquid biopsy technology: a tool 
 (now in clinical trials) utilizing our modern biological insights in order
  to screen healthy populations for cancer with the intention of downstagin
 g the landscape of oncology. The basic science\, as well as the future cli
 nical\, regulatory\, and business opportunities it will create\, will be h
 ighlighted.\n\nSpeaker biography\n\nSana Raoof is a graduate of the Harvar
 d MD-PhD program with a strong interest in early cancer detection. Her gra
 duate research at MGH Cancer Center focused on drug development for oncoge
 ne-mutant non-small cell lung cancer developing resistance to targeted the
 rapies. During this period\, 1) the general limitations of drug developmen
 t in qualitatively improving outcomes in oncology\, 2) the predominant foc
 us nationally on drug development for metastatic cancers rather than early
  detection and prevention efforts\, and 3) the lack of modern cancer biolo
 gy being utilized for standard cancer diagnostics versus therapeutics spar
 ked an interest in shifting research focus. She subsequently became involv
 ed in the development of multi-cancer early detection technology via DNA m
 ethylation-based liquid biopsy. She is a resident physician at MGH and pro
 vides medical testimony at NY/MA state and local government in favor of an
 ti-tobacco legislation of varied forms. For her scientific and policy effo
 rts\, she was the Intel Young Scientist of 2008\, received the 2015 Nation
 al Excellence in Public Health Award from the Surgeon General\, and was on
  Forbes 2020 list of the "30 under 30" in Healthcare.
LOCATION:This talk will happen virtually via Zoom
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