Esteemed Featured Lectures Headline SSO 2025

SSO Presidential Address
Friday, March 28, 2025
11:05 - 11:55 a.m.

The Gist of Discovery
Ronald P. DeMatteo, MD

James Ewing Lecture
Thursday, March 27, 2025
7:45 - 8:15 a.m.

Genetic Testing in Cancer Patients: Which Patients? Which Genes?

Susan M. Domchek, MD

Executive Director, Basser Center for BRCA

Director, MacDonald Cancer Risk Evaluation Center

Basser Professor in Oncology

Dr. Domchek is the Basser Professor in Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania, executive director of the Basser Center for BRCA at the Abramson Cancer Center, and director of the Mariann and Robert MacDonald Cancer Risk Evaluation Program. A medical oncologist, Dr. Domchek’s research focuses on improving the genetic evaluation and medical management of individuals with inherited risk factors for cancer. She is particularly interested in developing cancer interception strategies, including the possibility of immune-interception, for those with a genetic susceptibility. In her seminal work, Dr. Domchek demonstrated that risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy is associated with improved survival in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers. She has been critical to the development of PARP inhibitors in BRCA associated cancers. Her work has also addressed the real-world complexity of the clinical application of germline genetics, particularly with multigene panel testing. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the Association of American Physicians, and the American Society of Clinical Investigation, and has authored/co-authored more than 450 articles appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, and the Journal of Clinical Oncology among others.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Lecture
Thursday, March 27, 2025
1:15 - 1:45 p.m.

Centering on the Margins: Strategies for Ensuring Health Equity in Uncertain Times

John H. Stewart, IV, MD, MBA, FACS

Surgeon in Chief

Morehouse School of Medicine

Dr. Stewart currently holds the position of Surgeon in Chief at Morehouse School of Medicine, where he is responsible for guiding the clinical vision, mission, and strategic direction of the surgery department. His extensive career includes significant roles in both academic and clinical settings, emphasizing cancer care and research.

Prior to his current role, Dr. Stewart was instrumental in the development of the Louisiana State University - Louisiana Children's Medical Center Cancer Center, serving as its founding director. In this position, he was a professor of surgery at the Louisiana State University New Orleans School of Medicine. His leadership at LSU was marked by his efforts in setting the direction for multidisciplinary cancer care and clinical cancer research for both LSU Health New Orleans and LCMC Health.

Before joining LSU, Dr. Stewart had a notable tenure at the University of Illinois, where he was the deputy director of the University of Illinois Cancer Center and the physician executive for oncology services for the University of Illinois Health System. Additionally, he was a distinguished Presidential Scholar at the University of Illinois. His leadership experience also includes roles such as the chief of surgery at Durham VAMC, vice-chair in the Department of Surgery at the Wake Forest School of Medicine, and associate dean for clinical research and innovation at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Dr. Stewart's academic achievements began with earning his medical degree from Howard University, followed by a general surgery residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. His postgraduate training includes fellowships in surgical oncology, tumor immunology, and molecular oncology at the National Cancer Institute. These experiences have established him as a national figure in medical education, scientific research, and the delivery of cancer care to underserved populations.

Clinically, Dr. Stewart specializes in general surgical oncology with a focus on melanoma, tumor immunotherapy, and peritoneal surface malignancies. His leadership extends beyond his clinical work, as he serves on several prestigious boards, including the American Board of Surgery, the American College of Surgeons Advisory Council for General Surgery, and the Halsted Society Board of Directors.

Recognized for his patient care achievements, Dr. Stewart has been honored by Best Doctors, Top Doctors, and Top Surgeons. His research, primarily focused on cancer and funded by organizations like the National Cancer Institute, Amgen, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has led to over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals. These include notable journals such as Cancer, Annals of Surgery, JAMA Surgery, and the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, among others.

John Wayne Clinical Research Lecture
Friday, March 28, 2025
10:05 - 10:35 a.m.

Pancreatic Cancer: Survivors to Solutions

Vinod Balachandran, MD

Director, The Olayan Center for Cancer Vaccines

Associate Member, Immuno-Oncology Service, Human Oncology & Pathogenesis Program Associate Attending Surgeon, Hepatopancreatobiliary Service, Department of Surgery

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Surgeon-scientist Vinod Balachandran completed his undergraduate degree in Physics at Cornell University, medical degree at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, general surgery residency at Weill Cornell’s New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and complex surgical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). In 2015, he joined MSK as faculty, where he is an attending hepatopancreatobiliary surgeon, laboratory head in the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program, and Director of The Olayan Center for Cancer Vaccines, an academic biohub focused on catalyzing next-generation precision cancer vaccines.

Vinod’s lab has discovered promising new immunotherapies for pancreatic cancer, a common, deadly cancer with no effective treatments. In 2017, his group observed that rare long-term survivors of pancreatic cancer have immune-activated tumors enriched in T cells that recognize neoantigens – immunogenic byproducts of mutations in cancer cells. As pancreatic cancer was historically considered immunologically inert, this evidence of natural T cell immunity spurred efforts to understand and therapeutically phenocopy the “long-term survivor state”. To recreate this state, his team led a landmark clinical trial of personalized RNA neoantigen vaccines in pancreatic cancer that demonstrated precision vaccines trigger potent, durable immunity that correlates with delayed cancer recurrence. This discovery that vaccines targeting ubiquitous byproducts of cancer may impact outcome in one of the most challenging cancers has ignited global efforts to extend principles of successful vaccination in pancreatic cancer to other high-need cancers.

Vinod has received several honors for his work, including the 2023 Trailblazer Prize for Clinician-Scientists from the Foundation for the NIH.