Past Forum: 2016

The 2016 World Medical Innovation Forum focused on cancer and opened with a wave of young investigators highlighting promising developments in a series of rapid-fire presentations. Recurring themes of the First Look session included the use of RNA in-situ hybridization (RNA-ISH) as a diagnostic tool, liquid biopsies for exosome analysis, and precision medicine approaches to patient care. Multiple presentations also highlighted the capabilities of the AMIGO suite at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which uses intraoperative imaging to guide precise localization and analysis of patient tumors during surgery.

Attendees then had the chance to liaise with established Harvard Medical School faculty over lunch during the Discovery Café session, which paired interested Forum attendees with renowned leaders in their respective fields. Nearly 30 faculty members covered topics such as immunotherapy, diagnostics, therapy resistance, and the potential of CRISPR for research and therapeutics.

The Forum plenary opened with David Torchiana, MD, CEO and Anne Klibanski MD, Chief Academic Officer of Partners HealthCare, who welcomed an audience representing more than two dozen countries and introduced a program filled with high-caliber speakers and hot topics including immunotherapy, epigenetics, and bioinformatics. They emphasized the importance of collaboration to accomplish the goal of providing better care and support to cancer patients and their families and noted that the “engine of innovation is running better than ever” as we seek to push the boundaries of the many diseases collectively known as cancer.

Additional Highlights

• Remarks from Greg Simon, Executive Director, The White House Moonshot Initiative
• Executive Fireside Chats with health care leaders: Richard Gonzalez, CEO of AbbVie, Robert Bradway, CEO of Amgen, Giovanni Caforio, MD, CEO, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Kathy Giusti, Founder MMRF, and Joseph Jimenez, CEO, Novartis
• War or Moonshot: Where do we stand? Nancy Snyderman, MD, Medical Advisor at GE Healthymagination, sat down with Monica Bertagnolli, MD, Chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Daniel Haber, MD, PhD, Director of the MGH Cancer Center to discuss what’s to come in a new era of cancer research and care. Panelists were tasked with advising on whether cancer research and care over the next decade will be a war or a moonshot. They agreed on both perspectives – a war because, from a patient perspective, it is a personal battle against disease and we must come together as an army to combat the disease and work effectively towards a cure, and a moonshot because progress in cancer happens with huge steps forward and reflects the combined efforts of a large group of people working toward a common goal, much like landing on the moon.
• Sessions moderated by leading broadcast journalists, experienced healthcare executives and venture capital leaders, including: Nancy Snyderman, MD, Medical Advisor at GE Healthymagination, CNBC Biotech and Pharma Reporter Meg Tirrell, Robert Tepper, MD of Third Rock Ventures, Sue Sigel, CEO, GE Ventures and Healthymagination, Thomas Lynch, CEO, MGPO, Sheila Dharmarajan, Head of BD, Zelnick Media Capital, Caroline Chen, Reporter, Bloomberg Business, Mallika Marshall, MD, Health Reporter, WBZ-TV/CBS Boston
• Astellas Pharma announced the launch of the inaugural C3 Prize™

Partners HealthCare announced the Disruptive Dozen, 12 technologies predicted to have the greatest impact on cancer care in the next decade. The main stage was filled with 12 influential leaders in cancer research and clinical care from Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, who came together for an exciting and insightful discussion around these state-of-the-art medical technologies and what they mean for the future of the field.