“We used to think HIV costs would overwhelm us…but we figured it out and let drug development progress…similarly, cancer care will evolve.” Ira Klein, M.D., M.B.A., FACP, Chief of Staff, Office of the Chief Medical Officer, Aetna
“Millions of current and future cancer patients are relying on us all to change the face of cancer on their behalf. We should ask no less of ourselves at this critical juncture. We are now maximizing the impact of fundamental discoveries made over the past 40 years by seizing on the unprecedented opportunities to translate these discoveries into improved patient care. Working together, we will turn the tide on cancer.” Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), CEO, American Association for Cancer Research
“There is no question that when we talk about turning the tide against cancer, the most exciting opportunities, the new opportunities in fact, are understanding the biology and applying that biology to new treatments. We are certainly at a turning point.” J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, M.D., MACP, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, American Cancer Society
“Our rapidly growing knowledge of cancer biology combined with technological advances, make this the most promising time for providing patients with new cancer treatment and prevention opportunities. ASCO’s cancer research blueprint report and several abstracts from ASCO’s recent meeting exemplify the potential that molecularly-driven therapies have to transform clinical research. ASCO is pleased to work with the conference organizers to collaborate to advance cancer research and care.” Sandra M. Swain, M.D., ASCO President 2012-2013 and Medstar Washington Hospital Center
“We have to reward the private sector for innovation; we have to have a system in place that allows industry to put an innovative new therapy into a selected population long enough to see that it actually works.” Anna Barker, Ph.D., Director, Transformative Healthcare Networks; Co-Director, Complex Adaptive Systems Initiative; Professor, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University
“Let’s turn the system on its head. Let’s do practice-based evidence development.” Denis Cortese, M.D. Foundation Professor and Director of the Healthcare Delivery and Policy Program, Arizona State University; President, Healthcare Transformation Institute; Emeritus President and CEO, Mayo Clinic
“Biomarker discovery and validation is equally as complex as drug discovery and development and to treat it differently is a prescription for failure.” George Poste, D.V.M., Ph.D., Chief Scientist, Complex Adaptive Systems Initiative; Regents’ Professor and Del E. Webb Chair in Health Innovation, Arizona State University
“From our roots, more than ten years ago, as the first company developing miRNA research products evolving to our current focus on commercializing diagnostic oncology products, our goal has been to ‘make a dent in cancer.’” Matt Winkler, Ph.D., CEO & CSO, Asuragen, Inc.
“As a leading provider of comprehensive, cancer-diagnostic laboratory services, Clarient is dedicated to enhancing personalized cancer care by translating biomarker discovery to aid the development of new therapeutics and to assist physicians in determining the eligibility of their patients to receive the most appropriate therapy.” Ms. Carrie Eglinton Manner, Chief Executive Officer, Clarient, a GE Healthcare company
“It’s an unprecedented time to make science count for patients.” Kenneth C. Anderson, M.D., Director, Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center and LeBow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Kraft Family Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
“It always strikes me that the people who have the most to lose or gain from high-quality cancer care, those touched by cancer themselves, are disenfranchised; they are not brought in to help us find the solutions.” Amy Abernethy, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine; Director, Duke Cancer Care Research Program
"Everyone in the cancer community agrees we are at a special juncture with huge opportunity. Whether we seize that opportunity is up to us. All of us, who used to exist in our separate silos, must now work differently in a coordinated, systematic, and transparent way – or instead of 'turning the tide against cancer' we will be consumed by it." Marcia A. Kean, M.B.A., Chairman, Feinstein Kean Healthcare
“Policy initiatives need to be patient-centric.” Bruce Quinn, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Health Policy Specialist, Foley Hoag LLP
“For a national consensus, start with a patient-centric view.” Ellen Sigal, Ph.D., Founder and Chairperson, Friends of Cancer Research
“Personalized Medicine will allow this country to attack healthcare in a way that will provide for prevention and therefore, ultimately address cost effectiveness.” Sue Siegel, CEO, healthymagination, GE
“You have to create a system where you have the patients’ permission to follow them throughout their lifetime so that you can define the population that a particular technology or treatment is beneficial. This is where society will weigh in.” William S. Dalton, Ph.D., M.D., President, CEO, and Center Director, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute
“I believe that the diseases that will do the best are those that can form a community.” Kathy Giusti, M.B.A., Founder and CEO, Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium
“We urgently need better therapies and improved outcomes for brain tumor patients, so we are pleased to be a sponsor of the Turning the Tide Against Cancer conference, the agenda for which correlates to our own organization’s mission and current initiatives. Through approaches such as systems biology, the National Brain Tumor Society is pursuing a goal of personalized cancer care by advocating for and funding targeted, innovative, high-value research, and encouraging other organizations to do the same.” N. Paul TonThat, Executive Director, National Brain Tumor Society
“We believe that the science alone won’t lead to the new paradigm called personalized medicine. Rather, we need to focus on the space between the science and the patient, including regulation, reimbursement, and education of providers. To date, these things have gotten much less attention.” Edward Abrahams, Ph.D., President, Personalized Medicine Coalition
“While we still have a long way to go in treating and understanding cancer, we have also made incredible progress. Cancer is an extremely complicated disease that has impacted tens of millions of American lives. The more we learn about it, the more dauntingly complex we realize it is. To move forward, we must band together to find ways to continue to advance care in an era of cost-containment. I am proud to be part of this discussion to seek pathways forward and improve the future for cancer patients.” John J. Castellani, President and CEO, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
“We are missing the legal, ethical and infrastructural components needed to allow us to study combinations of drugs in situations that are life-threatening, where I believe the patient would be willing to take risks.” John Mendelsohn, M.D., Past President; Director, Khalifa Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
“I think it’s going to be possible to have drug signatures where you’ll be giving cocktails of drugs rather than single-gene single-drug target therapies.” Lawrence J. Lesko, Ph.D., F.C.P., Professor and Director, Center for Pharmacometrics and Systems Pharmacology, University of Florida College of Pharmacy (Lake Nona)