ABOUT

The Neuroendocrine Cancer Foundation is hosting an in-person Neuroendocrine Cancer Educational Event for patients and caregivers in Santa Monica, California on Saturday, May 17th, from 3:45 -7:30 PM. 

• Hear four presentations from neuroendocrine cancer experts.

• Engage in two Q&A sessions.

• Listen to a patient story.

• Learn about liver-directed therapy, systemic therapy, PRRT, and clinical trials.

• Network with other patients and caregivers. A light dinner will be served.

• There is no cost to attend. This event is made possible by the generosity of donors and sponsors.

Special thanks to our host, Dr. Alexandra Gangi (Cedar-Sinai Medical Center).

This event will not be broadcast or recorded.

Note: The Neuroendocrine Cancer Foundation was formerly known as LACNETS. Read the full announcement here >>>

LOCATION

Sandbourne Santa Monica

1740 Ocean Avenue

Santa Monica, CA 90401

THANKS TO OUR SUPPORTERS

AGENDA

This agenda is subject to change. Please check this page for the most updated agenda.

ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS

Callisia Clark, MD, MS, FACS, FSSO

Chief of MCW Surgery

Medical College of Wisconsin

Panelist

Dr. Clarke is Chief of Surgical Oncology and Associate Professor of Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin with a focus on tumors of the upper gastrointestinal tract, sarcomas, melanomas and regional therapies for advanced malignancies. She specializes in hepato-pancreatic-biliary malignancies, primary and metastatic neuroendocrine tumors, melanoma and sarcoma. Her research efforts focus on personalized cancer care and targeted approaches in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. 

Dr. Clarke also serves on the Executive Committee of the Association for Academic Surgery and is the Chair of the North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (NANETS) Mentoring and Early Career Development Committee. President Biden recently announced she will be appointed as a Member of the National Cancer Advisory Board. Dr. Clarke will play a key role in guiding the Director of the National Cancer Institute in setting the course for the national cancer research program and help advance breakthroughs to prevent, detect, and treat diseases like cancer.

Alexandra Gangi, MD

Surgical Oncologist

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Moderator/Panelist

Dr. Alexandra Gangi is a board-certified surgical oncologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Dr. Gangi completed a general surgical residency at Cedars-Sinai and completed her surgical oncology fellowship at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida.

She currently serves as the director of the Gastrointestinal Tumor and Cancer Regional Therapies Programs with specialization in Pancreatic and GI Neuroendocrine tumors, Metastatic colorectal cancer, and Peritoneal Surface Malignancies. Her research focuses on understanding GEPNET heterogeneity between and within tumors subtypes and mechanisms of chemotherapy induced liver injury.

Thorvardur Halfdanarson, MD

Medical Oncologist

Mayo Clinic

Speaker/Panelist

Thor R. Halfdanarson, M.D., is a medical oncologist and Professor of Oncology at Mayo Clinic who specializes in the management of patients with neuroendocrine neoplasms, gastrointestinal malignancies and unknown primary malignancies.  His specific research interests include the epidemiology, risk factors and treatment of neuroendocrine tumors and neuroendocrine carcinoma and improving outcomes for pancreatic adenocarcinoma and rare types of pancreatic tumors. He is a principal investigator and co-investigator for multiple industry-sponsored and cooperative group clinical trials.

Dr. Halfdanarson holds several leadership positions within Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is chair of the Hepato-Pancreatico-Biliary Cancer Disease Group and co-chair of the Pancreatic/Neuroendocrine Tumor Board. He is associate medical director of the Cancer Clinical Trials Office in Rochester, Minnesota, co-chair of the Feasibility Committee, and a member of the Clinical Research Leadership Committee. He also represents Mayo Clinic on the Neuroendocrine Tumors Guidelines Panel of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). Dr. Halfdanarson is the President Emeritus for the North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (NANETS).

Julie Hallet, MD, MSc., FRCSC

Surgical Oncologist

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center

Panelist

Dr. Hallet is an Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto and a Surgical Oncologist with a clinical practice devoted to hepato-biliary, pancreatic and upper gastrointestinal malignancies at the Odette Cancer Centre - Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Her practice further focuses on neuroendocrine tumors as part of the Susan Leslie Multidisciplinary Clinic for Neuroendocrine Tumors. She completed general surgery residency and MSc in clinical epidemiology at Université Laval in Québec City, followed by a Surgical Oncology and hepato-pancreatico-biliary clinical fellowship at the University of Toronto, and additional training in advanced minimally invasive surgery at the Institut de recherche contre les cancers de l’appareil digestif (IRCAD) in Strasbourg, France.

Dr. Hallet’s research focuses on health services research to improve the fidelity of care delivery in cancer surgery through patient-centred quality monitoring, high-performing team care models, and patient risk-communication support. Her work has obtained over $10 millions in peer-reviewed operating grants and led to more than 220 peer-reviewed publications.

J. Randolph Hecht, MD

Medical Oncologist

UCLA Health

Speaker/Panelist

Dr. Hecht is a Professor of Clinical Medicine in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA School of Medicine. He holds the Carol and Saul Rosenzweig Chair for Cancer Therapies Development and is the Director of the UCLA Gastrointestinal Oncology Program.

Dr. Hecht attended medical school at Eastern Virginia Medical School. He took his internal medicine residency at Northwestern and completed fellowships in gastroenterology research at the University of Chicago, and in gastroenterology and medical oncology at UCLA. Dr. Hecht is an internationally known clinical and translational researcher in the field of gastrointestinal cancers. He has published widely on the molecular biology, early detection, and treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies. He has lead and is currently directing small trials with new molecules as well as large international randomized trials. Current ongoing research includes preclinical models of therapy with biological agents, early studies with gene therapy vectors and tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and leading phase II and phase III trials with novel agents.

Andrew Hendifar, MD

Medical Oncologist

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Moderator

The current research focus of Andrew Hendifar, MD, is on developing new therapies for pancreatic cancer and neuroendocrine tumors. Dr. Hendifar has helped form multidisciplinary teams that specialize in the treatments of pancreatic cancer, and carcinoid and neuroendocrine tumors. Dr. Hendifar is the primary investigator for several groundbreaking therapies, including radioimmunotherapy for neuroendocrine tumors, anti-inflammatory therapy for pancreatic cancer and novel approaches to cancer cachexia. His national roles include SWOG GI Committee Member and a member of NIH Neuroendocrine Tumor Task Force. He also serves as the steering committee member for the Precision Promise Consortium and chairs the associated Supportive Care Committee. At Cedars-Sinai, he leads the Gastrointestinal Disease Research Group and is the founding Director of the Hematology and Oncology Fellowship Program.

J. Gabriel Lipshutz, MD

Interventional Radiologist

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Speaker/Panelist

H. Gabriel Lipshutz, MD is a board-certified, fellowship-trained vascular and interventional radiologist with the Cedars-Sinai S. Mark Taper Foundation Imaging Center.

Dr. Lipshutz performs all peripheral endovascular and interventional procedures including embolizations and minimally invasive oncological treatments (chemoembolization, Y-90 radioembolization, RFA, cryoablation, microwave ablation, and irreversible electroporation (IRE). His responsibilities include consultation and treatment of outpatients and inpatients, including the evaluation of patients in the IR outpatient clinic.

After earning his bachelor's degree from Wesleyan University, Dr. Lipshutz earned his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco. He completed his internship in internal medicine at the University of Washington, his radiology residency at the Oregon Health and Sciences University, and his fellowship in interventional radiology at UCLA.

Dr. Heloisa Soares

Medical Oncologist

Huntsman Cancer Institute

Speaker/Panelist

Dr. Heloisa Soares is a medical oncologist who focuses on neuroendocrine cancers. She is an associate professor at the Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah, where she is also the Medical Director for the Clinical Trials Office. Nationally, she serves as the NCI NET task force co-chair and the chair of the North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (NANETS) inaugural NET Patient Action Team of the NETPact Committee. She also recently served as a member of the directors for NANETS. Dr. Soares is a passionate advocate for patients. You can follow her on Twitter at @helops79.