International Scientific Meeting for PIK3CA Related Conditions

Thursday October 28 – Friday October 29, 2021

CLOVES Syndrome Community is planning a virtual International Scientific Meeting for PIK3CA related conditions and PIK3CA Related Overgrowth Spectrum (PROS) conditions. We are hosting this meeting as part of our patient led PIK3CA Related Conditions Research Network development with the Rare As One Network.

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The planning committee for this meeting includes the following patient advocacy organizations:

Opening Keynote Speaker:

  • Lewis Cantley, PhD
  • Meyer Director, Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center
  • Professor of Cancer Biology, Joan and Stanford I. Weill Department of Medicine

Lewis Cantley, Ph.D., has made significant advances in cancer research stemming from his discovery of the signaling pathway phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) in 1984. A graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College (B.S., Chemistry, 1971) and Cornell University (Ph.D., Biophysical Chemistry, 1975), Dr. Cantley has been a professor at Tufts University and Harvard University. He served as director of the Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center and is currently the Meyer Director of the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine. The author of more than 400 papers and 50 book chapters, Dr. Cantley has received several prestigious accolades, including membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, and the European life sciences academy EMBO.

Scientific Meeting Chairs:

  • Dr. Denise Adams
  • Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist Director, Comprehensive Vascular Anomalies Program (CVAP) at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
  • Co-Director, Frontier CVAP Program
  • Alan Cohan Endowed Chair In Pediatrics
  • Professor, University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Adams is a prominent pediatric hematologist-oncologist. She is the Director of the Comprehensive Vascular Anomalies Program (CVAP), a cutting-edge, multidisciplinary program that seeks breakthrough treatments and cures for children, adolescents and young adults with rare, life-threatening tumors and malformations of the vasculature, which includes the arteries, veins, capillaries, lymphatics and combined lesions.

As a leading expert in the field, Dr. Adams is actively engaged in clinical and translational research on complex vascular anomalies and regularly publishes studies in leading journals on the topic. She has received numerous awards, for her teaching and mentorship and for her research and clinical accomplishments. Hospitals, universities, and conferences around the world have invited her to speak on the topic of vascular anomalies, recognizing her expertise in this area.

  • Dr. Miikka Vikkula
  • Professor of Human Genetics
  • Co-Director of de Duve Institute

Professor Vikkula obtained his M.D. at the University of Helsinki in 1992 and his Ph.D. in molecular genetics, in 1993. He was a Research Associate at Harvard Medical School 1993- 1997, during which time he became interested in vascular and lymphatic anomalies. With his wife, Professor Laurence Boon, Plastic Surgeon, Co-ordinator of the Vascular Anomaly Center, Brussels, the couple discovered the gene for familial venous malformation in 1996, and since then many others. They settled in Brussels in 1997, where Dr. Vikkula developed his own laboratory. He obtained a “docentship PhD”; in 2000, and was nominated Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Medicine in UCL. He is a member of the Directorate of the de Duve Institute since 2004, and a full professor of Human Genetics since 2013. He has received numerous honors and awards, including the Inbev-Baillet Latour Clinical Prize in 2013, and the first Belgian Generet Award for rare disease research in 2019. He is a Member of the Royal Belgian Academy of Medicine since 2012. Professor Vikkula’s research led to the identification of first somatic mutations as explanation for sporadically occurring vascular anomalies, generation of first ever animal models for vascular malformations, and proof of concept treatment with small molecular inhibitors. Clinical trials are now being conducted with various molecules in various countries. Professor Vikkula is well-known internationally as a major contributor to the understanding of molecular basis of vascular anomalies and lymphedema with more than 160 peer-reviewed publications and more than 50 reviews and chapters in major biomedical textbooks.

  • Jean J. Zhao, Ph.D.
  • Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
  • Harvard Medical School

Jean Zhao is Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). Her research centers on understanding signaling pathways in tumor and tumor immune environments. Her laboratory has pioneered a new front for understanding signal transduction by integrating mouse genetics, chemical biology and immunology to facilitate translational cancer research. Prof. Zhao’s productive and insightful work has not only addressed important basic science questions; it has also guided the design of current clinical trials integrating immunotherapy and targeted therapy at multiple cancer centers. Prof. Zhao has been widely recognized for her innovation and excellence in the field. Her honors and awards include the V Scholar Award, the Starr Foundation Award, the Outstanding Investigator Award from NIH/NCI, and the Breakthrough Award from DoD. She serves as a member on multiple scientific boards and committees, including the Executive Committee for Research and Clinical Science, the Committee for Women Faculty at DFCI, the Steering Committee of Breast Cancer at Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and the Advisory Council of the National Brain Tumor Society.

Registration will open in February of 2021Sign up to receive updates about this meeting.