CRISPR Cures for Cancer
Don’t miss the annual CRISPR Cures for Cancer Symposium—a one-day event bringing together investigators from the CRISPR Cures for Cancer network. This tri-institutional initiative is dedicated to accelerating the design and development of novel cell therapies for cancer using cutting-edge genomic technologies.
Throughout the symposium, researchers will present their most recent findings, showcasing innovative applications of CRISPR and other genomic tools in the fight against cancer.
In addition to learning about the latest advancements, this symposium offers the space to foster collaborations and build connections with fellow scientists across institutions. Whether you’re an investigator, lab member, or collaborator, you’ll have the opportunity to share knowledge, spark new ideas, and drive future innovation in cancer research.
This event is open to researchers within the CRISPR Cures for Cancer initiative, their lab members, and members of Gladstone Institutes, UC San Francisco, and the Innovative Genomics Institute.
Program
| 9:00am | Welcome and Introduction Alex Marson, MD, PhD | Gladstone Institutes; UC San Francisco |
| SESSION 1: TOOLS & TECHNOLOGIES | |
| 9:15am | Technical Updates from Investigational Cell Therapy Program Brian Shy, MD, PhD | Gladstone Institutes; UC San Francisco |
| 9:30am | Selective Cancer Cell Elimination Using Transcript-Activated Chromatin Shredding Jingkun Zeng, PhD | Gladstone Institutes |
| 9:45am | A Preclinical Immune Hub Perturbation Platform to Improve Immunotherapy in Colorectal Cancer Anna Ralser, MD, PhD | Gladstone Institutes |
| 10:00am | Translational Cell Engineering for Solid Tumors Greg Allen, MD, PhD | UC San Francisco |
| 10:15am | mRNA Delivery with Non-Immunogenic Lipid Nanoparticles Niren Murthy, PhD | UC Berkeley |
| 10:30am | In Vivo Generation of TRAC-Targeted CAR T Cells: Cell-Specific Engineering and Potent Antitumor Activity Pierre-Louis Bernard, PhD | UC San Francisco |
| 10:45am | Break |
| 11:15am | Panel Discussion |
| 12:00pm | Lunch |
| KEYNOTE ADDRESS | |
| 1:00pm | The Coming Renaissance of Cancer Immunotherapy Ira Mellman, PhD | President of Research, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy |
| SESSION 2: NEW PROJECT LIGHTNING TALKS | |
| 2:00pm | Designer mRNA Lipid Nanoparticles to Boost CAR T Cell Function Derfogail Delcassian, PhD | UC Berkeley |
| 2:10pm | Directed Evolution of Reverse Transcriptases for Gene‐Sized Insertions Seth Shipman, PhD | Gladstone Institutes; UC San Francisco |
| 2:20pm | Integrated Genetic and Proteomic Maps for Human Cell-Based Immunotherapies Nadia Arang, PhD | UC San Francisco |
| 2:30pm | Break |
| SESSION 3: RFP PROJECT UPDATES | |
| 3:00pm | Designing Resilient Dendritic Cells Through Cell-Extrinsic CRISPR Screens Matthew Spitzer, PhD | Gladstone Institutes; UC San Francisco |
| 3:10pm | Towards EvolvR-Mediated Diversification of Targeted Genomic Loci in Primary T Cells John Dueber, PhD | UC Berkeley |
| 3:20pm | Targeting KRas G12C Mutant Cancers Using Inhibitor-Specific CAR-Ts Charles Craik, PhD | UC San Francisco |
| 3:30pm | Development of a Pooled CRISPR-Enhanced TCR T Cell Therapy for Solid Malignancy Omar Khan, MD, PhD | Gladstone Institutes; UC San Francisco |
| SESSION 4: DISCOVERY & PRECLINICAL DEVELOPMENT | |
| 3:40pm | From Bench to Bedside: GIGI's Pursuit of Patient-Centered Innovations Shanshan Lang, PhD | Gladstone Institutes; UC San Francisco |
| 3:55pm | Decoding and Reprogramming Human T Cell Circuits with CRISPR Alex Marson, MD, PhD | Gladstone Institutes; UC San Francisco |
| 4:10pm | Engineering T Cell Therapies to Overcome Solid Tumor Challenges Julia Carnevale, MD | Gladstone Institutes; UC San Francisco |
| 4:25pm | Computationally-Engineered CD70-Targeting CAR T Cells for Hematologic Cancers Arun Wiita, MD, PhD | UC San Francisco |
| 4:40pm | Fast-Tracking Clinical Development of T Cell Therapies for Solid Tumors Kole Roybal, PhD | Gladstone Institutes; UC San Francisco |
| 4:55pm | Closing Alan Ashworth, PhD, FRS | UC San Francisco |
| 5:00pm | Symbiont Seed Grant Poster Session and Reception |
CRISPR Cures for Cancer is a tri-institutional initiative to accelerate cell therapy design and development using genomic technologies. CRISPR Cures for Cancer unites researchers at UC San Francisco, Gladstone Institutes, and the Innovative Genomics Institute at UC Berkeley to accelerate the development of novel therapies for a wide variety of cancers by combining genetic discovery and design with innovations in CRISPR technology.
Details
Dates
October 6, 2025Time
9:00am-6:00pm PDTLocation
Mahley AuditoriumContact(s)
CSV file successfully filtered and rewritten.CSV file successfully filtered and rewritten.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
At Gladstone, we are committed to providing events and professional development activities that resonate with our community’s diverse members. Our goal is to develop creative programming that encompasses a wide variety of ideas and perspectives to inspire, educate, and engage with everyone within our walls.
We want to effect positive change through our events and activities by providing a platform for discussions on important topics related to increasing diversity and inclusiveness in the sciences.