U.S. National Institute of Health www.cancer.gov National Cancer Institute
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Meeting Objectives

  • Identify major barriers in cancer research that impede progress today
  • Identify major areas of the physical sciences that are critical to understanding cancer at the molecular and atomic levels, with consideration to the dimensions of space and time
  • Assess current "state of the art" in terms of the application of the physical sciences to problems in cancer research/oncology
  • Explore physical sciences solutions to problems solved in other fields that may bear on similar barriers in oncology
  • Develop guidance for the development of a new generation of centers of excellence that integrate and leverage physics, chemistry, and mathematics to accelerate progress in cancer research and the conquest of cancer
Outcomes
  • A meeting report that captures the major ideas and consensus suggestions and input from the participants
  • A white paper (perhaps a publication) that can serve to inform the NCI in achieving its goal to enable the convergence of the physical sciences and cancer biology
  • Beyond this meeting, further define the focus scientific areas and ideas that will shape a new generation of physical sciences-oncology centers
Funding Opportunities
Find out more about funding opportunities available in physical sciences. More
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News & Events
Read the latest on Physical Sciences in Oncology and related activities. More

Agenda

February 26, 2008
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Registration
6:00 p.m. - 7:15 p.m. Reception and Buffet Dinner Grand Ballroom
Salon III
7:15 p.m. - 7:25 p.m. Welcome and Introductions
Anna D. Barker, Ph.D.
Deputy Director
National Cancer Institute, NIH		 Grand Ballroom
Salons I and II
7:25 p.m. - 7:45 p.m. Background and Introduction of Keynote
Speaker
John E. Niederhuber, M.D.
Director
National Cancer Institute, NIH
7:45 p.m. - 8:45 p.m. Keynote Presentation
Confronting Complexity: Cancer at the Intersection of Physics and Biology
Paul Davies, Ph.D.
Professor of Physics
Director, Beyond Institute
Arizona State University
  Questions and Discussion
8:45 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. The Why, What, and How of the Think Tank-Introduction of Robert J. Mittman
Anna D. Barker, Ph.D.
Deputy Director
National Cancer Institute, NIH
9:00 p.m. - 9:10 p.m. Expectations
Facilitator: Robert J. Mittman, M.S., M.P.P.
Founder/President
Facilitation, Foresight, Strategy
February 27, 2007
7:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
8:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Introductions and Welcome
Anna D. Barker, Ph.D.
Deputy Director
National Cancer Institute, NIH		 Grand Ballroom
Salons I and II
  Process and Flow for the Think Tank
Facilitator: Robert J. Mittman, M.S., M.P.P.
Founder/President
Facilitation, Foresight, Strategy
Introduction-Keynote Presentation
8:30 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. Keynote Presentation
"State of the Science" in Cancer Research: Potential for the Physical Sciences to Remove Major Barriers
John E. Niederhuber, M.D.
Director
National Cancer Institute, NIH
9:15 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. Brainstorming Session and Group Discussion: Relevant Scientific Barriers Blocking Progress in Cancer Research
Facilitator: Robert J. Mittman, M.S., M.P.P.
Founder/President
Facilitation, Foresight, Strategy
10:15 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Break
10:30 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. Keynote Presentation
21st Century Physics-Relevant Intersections With Barriers in Oncology
Robert H. Austin, Ph.D.
Professor of Biophysics
Department of Physics
Princeton University
11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. Brainstorming Session and Group Discussion: Ideas/Concepts From the Physical Sciences That Represent Important Strategies to Address and Remove Barriers in Oncology (including solutions to nonbiologic problems that may be relevant)
Facilitator: Robert J. Mittman, M.S., M.P.P.
Founder/President
Facilitation, Foresight, Strategy
12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. Lunch
1:15 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. Brainstorming Session and Group Discussion: Integrating Physical Chemistry, Mathematics, and Systems Models Into a Transdisciplinary Approach to Cancer Research

Emmanuele DiBenedetto, Ph.D.
Centennial Professor of Mathematics
Vanderbilt University

James R. Heath, Ph.D.
Elizabeth W. Gilloon Professor
California Institute of Technology

Mina J. Bissell, Ph.D.
Distinguished Scientist
Life Sciences Division
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
2:15 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Keynote Presentation
The Integration of Systems Thinking, Emerging Technologies, and the Biological, Physical, and Computational Sciences to Attack the Challenges of Cancer
Leroy Hood, M.D., Ph.D.
President
Institute for Systems Biology
3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Discussion: Role of Advanced Technologies in Enabling the Convergence of the Physical Sciences and Cancer Biology
3:30 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. Break
3:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Framing and Prioritizing the Most Relevant Barriers in Cancer Research as Viewed From the Physical Sciences

Table Discussions: Finalizing and Prioritizing Key Barriers and Identifying Key Areas of Physics, Mathematics, and Chemistry to Meet Challenges Through Transdisciplinary Centers
Facilitator: Robert J. Mittman, M.S., M.P.P.
Founder/President
Facilitation, Foresight, Strategy
5:00 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. Perspective on Today's Discussions
Discussant TBA
5:15 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Plan for Tomorrow
6:30 p.m. Reception and Dinner Ristorante Murali
Pentagon City
February 28, 2008
7:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
8:00 a.m. - 8:15 a.m. Review of Day 1
Facilitator: Robert J. Mittman, M.S., M.P.P.
Founder/President
Facilitation, Foresight, Strategy
Grand Ballroom
Salons I and II
8:15 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Keynote Presentation
The Physical Sciences and Cancer Biology-Early Glimpses Across the Frontier
Donald S. Coffey, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Urology
Johns Hopkins University
9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Brainstorming Session and Panel Discussion: Current Examples of Contributions of the Physical
Sciences to Contemporary Oncology

Nanotechnology: Capitalizing on the Physical Properties of Cancer Cells for New Intervention Strategies
Scott R. Manalis, Ph.D.
Professor
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Questions and Answers

Interrogating Cancer: The Mechanics of Metastasis
Ann F. Chambers, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Western Ontario

Questions and Answers

Information Theoretic Approaches to the Dissection of Oncogenic Pathways
Andrea Califano, Ph.D., Laureate in Physics
Professor
Columbia University
10:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. Break
10:45 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Converging on the Major Areas of the Physical Sciences Critical to Addressing the Identified Barriers

Group Discussions: Concept Development Group Input and Recommendations
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Working Lunch
Work groups continue and prepare to report out.
1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Brainstorming Session-Bringing It All Together: Input/Recommendations, Specific Scientific Focus and Problem Areas, Disciplines, Personnel and Other Resource Needs, and Key Specific Challenges for Transdisciplinary Physical Sciences-Oncology Centers
3:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. Break
3:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Summary of Our Collective Thinking
Anna D. Barker, Ph.D. (Discussant)
Deputy Director
National Cancer Institute, NIH
3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Summary and Next Steps
John E. Niederhuber, M.D.
Director
National Cancer Institute, NIH

 
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