Dr. Mark Kieran Director, Pediatric Medical Neuro-Oncology Dana Farber Cancer Institute Boston, Massachussets U.S.A

Children's Hospital Foundation of Manitoba Lectureship

Lecture Title: “Novel biologic inhibitors in pediatric central nervous system tumors”

Biography
Dr. Mark Kieran received his PhD in Immunology from the University of Alberta studying mechanisms of cancer mediated metastasis. He then received his MD from the University of Calgary before moving to the Department of Molecular Biology at the Pasteur Institute in Paris where he was the first to clone the transcription regulator NFkB. He then returned to Canada to undertake his pediatric residency at Montreal Children's Hospital. Dr. Kieran entered the pediatric hematology/ oncology fellowship program at Children's Hospital Boston before joining Harvard Medical School as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as the first Director of Pediatric Medical Neuro-Oncology. He is an active member of the Brain Tumor Steering Committee of the Children's Oncology Group (COG), the
Principle Investigator for the Harvard brain tumor program within the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium (PBTC), and runs an active laboratory in pre-clinical CNS models of anti-angiogenic approaches through the Vascular Biology Program of Dr. Judah Folkman at Children's Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Minesh Mehta Professor and Chair, Human Oncology University of Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin U.S.A.

Health Sciences Centre Foundation Lectureship

Lecture Title: “Innovative Radiotherapeutic Approaches for GBM”

Biography
Dr. Minesh Mehta was recruited to the position of Assistant Professor (CHS) in the Department of Human Oncology at the UW Medical School in November 1988, after completing his Residency training at the UW. He was appointed to Associate Professor with Tenure in 1997, and promoted to the level of Professor with Tenure in 2003. Dr. Mehta has made outstanding contributions in the areas of administration, teaching, and clinical care and has established a national and international reputation as an expert in the treatment of CNS and lung cancer patients. His major research contributions include the use of a novel technology, Tomotherapy, leading to the recent award of a Program Project Grant, and the installation of the world’s first tomotherapy unit at the UW Hospital and Clinics. He’s also involved in various brain tumor research programs, the introduction of new therapeutic approaches based upon molecular biology advances, the introduction of new technologies for delivery of radiotherapy to patients with brain tumors. His lung cancer research programs include the implementation of continuous hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy, quality-of-life analysis, tomotherapy-based dose-perfraction escalation, and modulation of tumor radiation sensitivity. Dr. Mehta has close to 400 published manuscripts, abstracts, and book chapters to his credit.

Dr. Alfred Yung Chairman, Department of Neuro-Oncology University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Houston, Texas U.S.A.

University of Toronto Peters Lectureship in Brain Tumour Research

Lecture Title: “Targeting the P13K Pathway in Malignant Glioma”

Biography
Dr. Yung has been a faculty member in the Department of Neuro-Oncology since 1981. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, in 1971, graduating summa cum laude. For his medical training, he attended the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and received his M.D. degree in 1975. Internship and residency training followed at the University of California, San Diego from 1975-1978, and chief residency and fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center from 1978-1981. Dr. Yung currently holds the title of full Professor in the Departments of Neurology and Cancer Biology, as well as the Margaret and Ben Love Chair of Clinical Cancer Care. He has served as Chair of the Department of Neuro-Oncology since 1999. He is also Professor of Neurology at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston Medical School and serves on the faculty of the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Houston. Dr. Yung is very active in basic, translational and clinical research. He serves as Principal Investigator on R01 grants, and is Project Leader for a Clinical Center and the Data Management Core for the North American Brain Tumor Consortium U01 grants. He has published over 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals, and for 19 years his research has been continuously funded by NCI grants.

Dr. Yung has extensive experience and expertise in the field of brain tumor research. His primary research interest focuses on development of molecular therapeutic strategies targeting the PTEN/PI3 kinase pathway to modulate the aberrant growth and development of brain tumors and the angiogenic regulatory mechanisms that are crucial to human glioma genesis and progression. His research programs have developed several adenoviral vectors that are capable of down-regulating VEGF production and angiogenesis in glioma cells. Another research project investigates the subcellular localization of the tumor suppressor MMAC/PTEN and its signaling activities. In collaboration with Dr. Juan Fueyo, he is investigating the anti-tumor effects of the replication-competent adenovirus Delta24, which is oncolytic only in tumor cells with deficient Rb pathway is being investigated. Preclinical studies with this virus are under way in preparation for a Phase I clinical trial in patients with recurrent glioblastoma.

Dr. Arie Perry Associate Professor Division of Neuropathology Director, Anatomic Pathology FISH Lab Washington University School of Medicine Washington, DC U.S.A.

Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada Lectureship
in honour of Dr. Rolando Del Maestro

Lecture Title: “Meningiomas: current classification and molecular features”

Biography
Dr. Perry is currently an Associate Professor in the Division of Neuropathology and medical director of the Anatomic Pathology FISH lab at Washington U. School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA. He received his MD and pathology residency training at U. Texas Southwestern, followed by subspecialty training in surgical pathology, neuropathology, and molecular cytogenetics at the Mayo Clinic under the mentorship of Drs. Bernd Scheithauer, Joe Parisi, and Robert Jenkins. During this time, Dr. Perry published two large clinicopathologic series on meningiomas that provided the basis for the current WHO grading scheme. His academic career has focused on clinicopathologic and genetic features of brain tumors, including the use of molecular diagnostic assays and the development of clinically useful biomarkers. Dr. Perry has over 140 scientific publications, serves on numerous editorial boards and professional committees, has received several teaching awards, and maintains a busy international neuropathology consult service.

Dr. Mitchel S. Berger Professor and Chair, Neurological Surgery Director, Brain Tumour Research Center University of California San Francisco, California, U.S.A

The Crolla Family Brain Tumour Lectureship

Lecture Title: “Neurosurgical Methodologies and Techniques to Enhance Glioma Resection”

Biography
Mitchel S. Berger MD, Kathleen M. Plant Distinguished Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), is an expert in the fields of neurosurgery and neuro-oncology. He serves as Director of UCSF’s Brain Tumor Research Center and as Principal Investigator of UCSF’s Specialized Program of Research Excellence for brain tumors. He is also the Principal Investigator of the Brain Tumor Research Center’s Program Project Grant in neuro-oncology, funded by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

After graduating from Harvard University in 1974, Dr. Berger earned his medical degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine. He completed a clinical fellowship in neuro-oncology at UCSF, a fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery at the Hospital for Sick Children of the University of Toronto, and his neurosurgical residency at UCSF. In 1986, he became Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine, after which he was named Associate Professor (1990) and Professor (1996). He returned to UCSF as Chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery in 1997.

Dr. Berger has clinical expertise in treating adult and pediatric brain and spinal cord tumors, as well as epilepsy related to brain tumors. He is a pioneer of intraoperative brain mapping, which is a technique used to avoid functional areas of the brain during surgical resection of a tumor. His work has enabled surgeons to perform more extensive resection of tumor with less chance of producing sensorimotor or language deficit. 

His current research involves identifying molecular markers related to the progression and prognosis of glial tumors, as well as the development of small-molecule therapeutic agents that can be administered directly to the brain via convection-enhanced drug delivery. Dr. Berger is also a co-investigator at UCSF’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, where he works to develop immunoliposome-directed targeted therapy for treating gliomas that express epidermal growth factor receptors.

During his distinguished career, Dr. Berger has received numerous accolades and has served as President of the Society of Neuro-Oncology, President of the North Pacific Society of Neurology, and Vice President of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. He is an active member of numerous professional organizations, including the American Organization for Cancer Research, the American College of Surgeons, and the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies. He is also a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and will serve as Chairman of the 2006 AANS Scientific Program Committee.

A prolific author, Dr. Berger has contributed over 250 scientific articles to peer-reviewed journals, has edited 5 textbooks, and has written over 65 chapters on various neurosurgical topics. He is currently on the editorial boards of several leading journals including Journal of Neurosurgery, Journal of Neuro-Oncology, Neurosurgery, and American Journal of Neuroradiology.

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