You may have heard the recent excitement in cancer therapy, then you have probably heard of CAR T Immunotherapy, but what exactly is it? If you are anything like us, then you are a bit confused by the concept, but have no fear, two cutting edge researchers from St Jude, Dr Stephen Gottschalk and Dr Giedre Krenciute are ready to explain it all to us in an easily digestible format.
Timeline
6:30pm
Doors will be open at 6:30pm. Enjoy a bounty of food and drinks (both with and without alcohol) offered by the Growlers while chatting with new friends.
7:00-9:00pm
Following a brief introduction to taste of science and thanks to our sponsors, we will hear from our speakers with plenty of time between for questions and refills.
Seating is limited; only a limited number of tickets will be available for purchase at the door.
Cell Therapy: A living drug to 'fight cancer'
Stephen Gottschalk, MD
I am a pediatric oncologist, who conducts lab-based as well as clinical studies
My talk is meant to be in conjunction with a talk given by Dr. Krenciute. I will focus on giving a broad overview over the field of cell therapy, highlighting the rationale, accomplishments and challenges. She will then focus on one particular cell therapy approach.
Engineering the Immune System to Fight Cancer
Giedre Krenciute, PhD
I am a Research Associate at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital working on immunotherapy for brain tumors
I will talk and show how we engineer immune cells. Then I will tell the success story of blood cancer treatment using genetically engineered T cells followed by challenges for solid and brain tumors.
Meet our hosts...
Peter Mercredi
I am currently a scientist working on the production of novel immune- and gene-therapuetics to treat patients with rare blood diseases. I previously worked on the structural biology of retroviral assembly and cellular division (mitosis), understanding how viruses assemble in cells and how our cells produce new cells, respectively. I hope to share my interest in science and continue the growth of Memphis' scientific curiosity and excitement in the mid-south.
Kamalika Mukherjee
I am a pharmaceutical research scientist at St Jude Children's Research Hospital where I study drug transporters which play a major role in the effectiveness as well as toxicity of drugs in the human body. I love communicating and sharing different perspectives of science with others. Outside work, I love cooking adventures and trying out different cuisines!