The absolute highlight of the week was our first annual Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center Consortium retreat, which was held on Friday night and Saturday. Supported by a generous donation, the retreat had a singular objective — to create actionable outcomes such as collaborative grants and investigator-initiated clinical trials that leverage our strengths across the consortium.
The process actually started in January, when the Georgetown Lombardi Senior Leaders Committee approved the project and released a request for one-page proposals for collaborative research. Thirteen groups responded, and four projects were eventually selected by the committee for further evaluation, focusing on: 1) improving the efficacy of CAR-T cell therapy; 2) developing immunotherapies for colon cancer; 3) identifying and targeting novel oncogenes in glioblastoma; and, 4) designing and implementing dynamic precision medicine to treat myeloproliferative disease. Each selected group was asked to prepare a presentation for the retreat and to provide a clear set of specific aims, timelines and budgets to achieve their objectives.
A group of about 30 people converged on a hotel in Philadelphia (to minimize travel burdens on the group). We started off with a one-hour reception punctuated by brief presentations by me, Bob Garrett (president and CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health), Eugenie Dieck from the President’s Office (representing Georgetown), Mike Sachtleben (representing MedStar Health), and Georgetown Lombardi Deputy Directors Mike Atkins, David Perlin and Andre Goy. Then, we had a brief walk to a wonderful Greek restaurant, Estia, which is across the street from the Philadelphia Academy of Music.
A Zoom meeting this was not. I think we all were incredibly energized to personally engage with colleagues we have known all too often through their two-dimensional Zoom images. Nothing can beat the pleasure of breaking bread together, having “offline” conversations and experiencing the joy of bonding over a common objective.
The good vibes continued on Saturday morning. After breakfast, Lucile Adams-Campbell and Lisa Carter-Bawa from New Jersey discussed our catchment area, its needs and how Georgetown Lombardi science needs to be responsive to the community and its needs. Neil Weissman from MHRI was particularly intrigued by the approach we use to focus on the community. Then, each team made its presentation to the larger group. Andrew Ip, from JTCC (who I found out grew up 20 minutes away from me and shares my passion for Philly sports), discussed several ideas for improving CAR-T cell efficacy in collaboration with Yi Zhang and Noa Biran from New Jersey and Alaa Ali at MedStar Georgetown; in our discussion, we recommended that the proposal emphasize the role of the EZH2 transcription factor (building on Yi’s work) in promoting the survival of infused CAR-T cells.
Binfeng Lu, also from JTCC, is teaming up with Martin Gutierrez and Kevin Tong from New Jersey and Ben Weinberg from MedStar Georgetown to develop checkpoint antibody therapy for colorectal cancer. In the discussion, Mike Atkins suggested that the therapy include an anti-PD1 antibody plus a novel, high potency anti-CTLA4 antibody that shows efficacy in colon cancer, and that the treatment be administered neoadjuvantly. This suggestion galvanized a discussion for a new ITT with high potential for patient benefit, and for the development of a companion R01 or R21. Laura Rozek noted that this project offers new opportunities to engage diverse populations.
Nagi Ayad, Rob Suter, Ben Tycko from JTCC and George Kaptain, a neurosurgeon at Hackensack, propose to employ a novel epigenetics platform and workflow developed by Ben to identify novel oncogenic drivers of glioblastoma and then to identify the potentially targetable pathways that they drive. This work is not yet ready for an IIT, but certainly has the potential to attract funding with a bit more preliminary data.
Finally, Bob Beckman teamed up with Gary Kupfer and Alvin Makohon-Moore from New Jersey to use Alvin’s promising long-term culture methods to evolve and characterize resistant subclones from myeloproliferative disorder patient samples; Bob provides the mathematical modeling inspiration, and Gary is providing clones with defined mutations to facilitate this work. At David Perlin’s urging, this team plans to accelerate its efforts to apply for peer-reviewed funding.
After lunch, each group went into a lightly facilitated breakout room session to refine its proposal. We then reconvened for a brief read-back session and closed out the retreat in the midafternoon.
It was a fabulous experience. Like many retreats, we emerged with a greater sense of familiarity, unity and purpose. Unlike many retreats, we emerged with a set of concrete plans. Our Senior Leaders Committee will allocate cancer center resources to help each of the teams succeed. We will have each team present to the Georgetown Lombardi Executive Committee in a few months to describe their work and progress to date, and will continue to monitor and support each team. This is a great way to foster translation, to build community and to lay the groundwork for high-impact work that builds upon the best of what we have to offer to the world. Watch out for next year’s retreat, which promises to be at least as productive!
Many thanks to Daniella Galbo, Allison Moya and Sharon Levy for their contributions to the success of the retreat, and to Andrew Pecora and Ihor Sawczuk from New Jersey for providing the stimulus and identifying the resources to make this happen.
Stay safe, and be well.
Lou
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