Yuman Fong 2016-present, Sangiacomo Family Chair in Surgical...

• Yuman Fong 2016-present, Sangiacomo Family Chair in Surgical Oncology, City of Hope, Duarte, CA

• 2014-present, Professor and Chair, Department of Surgery, City of Hope, Duarte, CA

• 2001-2014, Murray F. Brennan Chair in Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY

• 2007-2014, Adjunct Professor of Surgery, Downstate Medical Center, New York, NY

• 2000-2014, Professor of Surgery, Weill Cornell Medical College

• 2000-2014, Tenured Member, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

• 2006-2012, Vice Chair for Technology Development, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY

• 2004-2008, Chief, Gastric and Mixed Tumor Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY

• 1994-2000, Assistant Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Cornell University Medical College, New York, NY

• 1993-2000, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Cornell University Medical College, New York, NY

• 1997-2000, Associate Attending Surgeon, Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases, New York, NY

• 1997-2000, Associate Member, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY

• 1993-1997, Assistant Attending Surgeon, Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases, New York, NY

Beginning around 2004 Wiedermann began to working on the technology that evolved into HER-Vaxx, aB cellpeptidecancer immunotherapy that could induce an antibody response targeting HER-2 overexpressing tumours. Following on from favourable pre-clinical data,^[10]Wiedermann et al. ran a small 10-patient safety study of HER-Vaxx in ten patients with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer, albeit with low HER-2 expression. This study found the vaccine to be safe, with no observed cardiotoxicity. The patients developed anti-HER-2 antibodies andin vitro, those anti-HER-2 antibodies showed potent anti-tumour activity. Alsoin vitro, blood from the patients carried markers of a cellular immune response such asIL-2,IFN-γandTNF-α(meaning that ultimately patients could be expected to develop T cells to kill the cancer cells, and not just antibodies). The vaccine took down the ‘T reg’ cell count in the patients, potentially indicating an overcoming of the cancer’s immunoresistance.^[11]In 2012 a start-up company called Biolife Science was incorporated to develop this immunotherapy. Early-stage funding was secured from Australian and US investors in 2013, after which Biolife was taken public in December 2013 in areverse takeoverof an Australian drug development company called Imugene, whose name was retained after the merger. Wiedermann joined Imugene's Scientific Advisory Board in January 2014^[12]and was named Chief Scientific Officer of Imugene in June 2015.^[13]

Pravin Kaumaya is Professor of Medicine in the Department of Ob/Gyn at the OSU Wexner Medical Center and the James Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr Kaumaya is internationally recognized as an expert in the fields of vaccine research with emphasis on peptide vaccines for cancer. His work over 3 decades in developing B-cell epitope-based cancer vaccines is a paradigm shift in the immune-oncology landscape. Dr. Kaumaya is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and he was elected as the treasurer of the American Peptide Society since 2009. He has lectured worldwide and has published over 130 peer-reviewed articles in major scientific journals. He is an inventor on several issued and pending patents for peptide cancer vaccines and immune-therapeutic technologies. He conducts translational research from bench to the clinic with the goal of designing and developing new combination immunotherapies and immunologic strategies for cancer treatment and prevention. Dr Kaumaya’s laboratory has recently developed a PD-1-Vaxx B-cell peptide cancer vaccine and has also developed vaccines for PD-L1, CTLA-4, TIGIT, TIM3 and LAG-3 which will be developed as combination immunotherapy. This work demonstrates a growing immune-oncology platform for developing combination immunotherapy, widely considered the next frontier in treating cancer and the potential to deliver many breakthroughs in cancer care.