The AACR Annual Meeting unified cancer science and medicine in pursuit of breakthroughs for patients

More than 80 researchers from the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCCCC) presented their latest scientific discoveries at the 116th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Chicago. The topics they covered spanned the continuum of the cancer field, from fundamental research to clinical, translational and population research to patient advocacy.

Held April 25-30, 2025, at McCormick Place, the event brought together tens of thousands of researchers, physician-scientists, and patient advocates from around the world to explore breakthroughs, exchange ideas, and spark new collaborations aimed at advancing cancer science and medicine. This year’s theme, “Unifying Cancer Science and Medicine: A Continuum of Innovation for Impact,” underscored the vital need to bridge basic research and clinical application in the pursuit of curing and preventing all forms of cancer.

Educating future cancer researchers

A strong emphasis on education and knowledge exchange carried through the AACR meeting. On April 26, Alexander Muir, PhD, Melody Swartz, PhD, and Raymond Mollering, PhD, led sessions on tumor metabolism and the tumor microenvironment, lymph node biology in the context of tumor immune microenvironment and metastasis, and chemistry applications for undruggable targets in the clinic, respectively. The following day, Swartz also chaired a major symposium focused on tissue mechanics and the role of physical forces in cancer.

AACR provided an engaging environment for young students interested in cancer research. On April 26, 15 trainees from the UCCCC pathway programs presented at the 20th Annual AACR Undergraduate Student Caucus and Poster Competition. Undergraduate students presented their research and competed for prizes while also exploring future educational and career options in the cancer field. Kent Shechter received Meritorious Honors award for his poster.

On April 29, more than 200 Chicago Public Schools students spent the day at AACR Special Program for High School Students: “The Conquest of Cancer and the Next Generation of Cancer Researchers.” Co-sponsored and co-organized by the UCCCC, the program fosters meaningful connections between senior cancer scientists and promising students. It aims to inspire the next generation of researchers by encouraging student contributions to scientific discovery and sparking interest in careers in cancer science and medicine. UCCCC Deputy Director Eileen Dolan, PhD, delivered a compelling talk on the critical need for young scientists in the cancer field and highlighted the various opportunities available through the UCCCC.

On April 30, the conference's final day, the UCCCC hosted a half-day campus visit for 15 participants in the 2025 AACR Global Scholars-in-Training program. The visiting scholars comprised graduate students, medical students, and clinical and postdoctoral fellows from across the globe, including Brazil, Argentina, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Jordan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Zambia, who had the opportunity to build international collaborations with UChicago’s cancer research community.

Conference highlights

Several UCCCC faculty leaders were chairpersons for major sessions, including Everett E. Vokes, MD, as co-chair for a clinical trials plenary session that highlighted therapeutic advances in non-small cell lung cancer, and Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, as chair of the Cancer Immunology Working Group Town Hall and Networking Meeting.

Samantha Riesenfeld, PhD, from the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, chaired a mini-symposium on the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in basic and translational cancer research. During the session, Steven Song, an MD/PhD candidate in the Medical Scientist Training Program at UChicago's Pritzker School of Medicine and the Department of Computer Science, gave a talk on “Pretrained Machine Learning Models May Help Accurately Diagnose Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer in Resource-limited Settings.” This work was featured in the official AACR press program and garnered significant attention.

Alexander T. Pearson, MD, PhD, was both the chairperson and a presenter at a forum on AI-based biomarkers and digital pathology in precision medicine.

Two UChicago researchers presented at a mini-symposium on adoptive cell therapies, a promising type of immunotherapy where immune cells are modified or expanded in a lab and then infused back into a patient to help their body fight against cancer. Paulina Walczhak, a PhD student in the Odunsi Lab, shared research demonstrating that the overexpression of Serpin B9 in anti-tumor T cells restrains granzyme B mediated auto-destruction and improves the therapeutic effect of adoptive cell therapy in ovarian cancer. Yifei Hu, a fourth-year Pritzker School of Medicine student working in the Huang Lab, gave an oral presentation on two-stage CD8+ CAR T cell differentiation in patients with large B-cell lymphoma.

Finally, dozens of UCCCC faculty and trainees presented data in various poster sessions throughout the conference. Click here for the full list of presentations in PDF format.

Why research needs support

One important message reflected throughout the meeting for scientists as well as the general public is the vital importance of investing in research. The newly elected President of AACR, Lillian L. Siu, MD, FAACR, from Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, said, “None of the medicines and breakthroughs that we have would have happened without that support. Research takes funding to happen.”

The next AACR Annual Meeting will be held April 17-22, 2026, at the San Diego Convention Center.