Cancer Symposium: Innovations in Care

8 to 8:10 am | Welcome | Nayana Dekhne, MD

8:10 to 8:25 am | The BITS: Breast Imaging Toolbox for Screening | Lori Gallardo, MD

8:25 to 8:40 am | Take Care Down There – Gynecologic Cancer Screening in 2026 | Morgan Gruner, MD

8:40 to 8:55 am | What’s New in Prostate Cancer Screening | Frank Burks, MD

8:55 to 9:15 am | Genetics of Pancreas Cancer and High-Risk Surveillance | Andrew Aneese, MD and Dana Zakalik, MD

9:15 to 9:30 am | Stool in a Box, Is It Enough? Colorectal Cancer Screening in 2026 | Harry Wasvary, MD

9:30 to 9:45 am | Lung Cancer Screening: Where Do We Stand in 2026? | Thomas Watson, MD

9:45 to 10:15 am | Break

10:15 to 11:15 am | Mced Testing for Early Cancer Detection – Is It Ready for Prime Time? | Kenny Lin, MD, MPH

11:15 pm to noon | Beyond Hematologic Malignancies: Cellular Therapy Advances and Opportunities in Solid Tumors | Abhinav Deol, MD

Noon to 1 pm | Lunch/Networking

1 to 2 pm | Innovation in Radiation Oncology:

• Proton Beam Radiation Advantages for Malignancies | Joshua Dilworth, MD
• MRI LINAC: Eyes of the World | Thomas Quinn, MD
• Beyond the Beam: Building a World-Class Radioligand Research and Therapy Program | Drew Thompson, MD

2 to 2:45 pm |  Robotics in Plastic Surgery: Past, Present, and Future | Jesse Selber, MD

2:45 to 3:05 pm | Break

3:05 to 4:05 pm | Artificial Intelligence in Oncology Application | Keynote Speaker: David Jaffray, MD

4:05 to 4:15 pm | Closing Remarks | Peter Chen, MD

Abhinav Deol, MD, is a Professor in the Department of Oncology, Division of Hematology Oncology at Wayne State University School of Medicine/ Karmanos Cancer Institute. He is the program director of the Hematology/Oncology fellowship program. Dr. Deol is also co-director of the J.P. McCarthy Cord Stem Cell Blood Bank at Karmanos Cancer Institute.

He is a member of Malignant Hematology and Hematopoietic Stem Cell transplantation MDTs at KCI. He is an active member of the American Society of Hematology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. He is a member of the acute leukemia, chronic leukemia, and lymphoma working committees of ASBMT/CIBMTR (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research). Dr. Deol is author of numerous original research papers, review articles, and research abstracts related to bone marrow and stem cell transplantation, leukemia, lymphoma, and immunotherapy research. He is the principal investigator and co-investigator on several studies.

Dr. Deol is a graduate of the Government Medical College Amritsar in Punjab, India. He completed his residency in 2007 and his fellowship training in hematology oncology in 2010 at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan. Dr. Deol’s interests include the pursuit of innovative ways to harness and redirect the immune system to target malignancies. He is actively involved in clinical care for patients enrolled in immunotherapy trials at Karmanos Cancer Center. He has mentored multiple students, residents, and fellows who are interested in cancer research and future careers in hematology/oncology.

Kenny Lin, MD, MPH, is Associate Director of the Lancaster General Hospital (PA) Family Medicine Residency Program, Professor of Clinical Family Medicine at Georgetown University, Adjunct Clinical Professor of Family and Community Medicine at Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, and Deputy Editor of American Family Physician, the most widely read journal in primary care. Dr. Lin is a graduate of Harvard University, New York University School of Medicine, and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He completed his residency at Lancaster General Hospital and a fellowship in medical editing and faculty development at Georgetown University School of Medicine. Dr. Lin has supported the activities of the US Preventive Services Task Force as a medical officer at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. He chairs the American Academy of Family Physicians’ Science Advisory Panel and serves on the board of directors of the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR). His areas of expertise include cancer prevention, screening guidelines, medical overuse, and diagnostic test interpretation. Dr. Lin writes monthly commentaries for Medscape Family Medicine and shares his views on health and health policy topics on his blog and Substack, Common Sense Family Doctor.

Recruited to MD Anderson in May 2019, Dr. Jaffray serves as the IDSO director and is the institution’s inaugural chief technology and digital officer, bringing more than two decades of scientific expertise and proven skill as an innovator. In this role, he directs the strategic design, acquisition, management, and implementation of an enterprise-wide technology infrastructure to safeguard the integrity and availability of the institution’s systems and intellectual property assets. He and his leadership team advance data integration, data governance, and data security across MD Anderson’s campuses and its national network, as well as coordinate technology-enabled innovation. He is also a professor with dual appointments for Radiation Physics and Imaging Physics.

Over the course of his career, he has played an important role in bridging the fields of biomedical engineering and medical physics. He continues to facilitate dialogue and partnership between these two important disciplines and how they can tackle major health challenges worldwide. For his leadership, Dr. Jaffray was recognized in 2021 as a Fellow of the International Union for Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine and in 2022 as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

Dr. Jaffray holds 47 patents and has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications in cancer science and technology, including the development of new radiation treatment machines, the exploration of the fundamental limits of imaging system performance, the development of novel nanoparticle formulations for improved detection of cancer, and challenges in global health.

Present title and affiliation

Senior vice president and chief technology and digital officer, Division of Office of the Senior Vice President and Chief Technology and Digital Officer, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas

Dual/joint/adjunct appointment

Professor, Department of Radiation Physics, Division of Radiation Oncology, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas

Professor, Department of Imaging Physics, Division of Diagnostic Imaging, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas