Presidential Symposium
This year’s Presidential Symposium, led by ASTRO President Neha Vapiwala, MD, FASTRO, consists of four sessions that will highlight varying facets of the meeting theme Data to Dialogue: Communicating Radiotherapy’s Value to Advance Care.
Session I - Organ-Preservation: The Undersung Value of RT
Moderator: Vivek S. Kavadi, MD, MBA, FASTRO, ASTRO CEO
8:20 a.m. - 9:40 a.m.
This session will examine the critical role of radiation therapy in organ-sparing treatment paradigms, focusing on three to four disease sites, looking at both medical and surgical perspectives.
Speakers include:
- Lori Pierce, MD, FASTRO, University of Michigan
- Thomas DeLaney, MD, FASTRO, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
- Steven Frank, MD, FASTRO, MD Anderson Cancer Center
- Najjia Mahmoud, MD, University of Pennsylvania
Session II - Challenges and Opportunities in Scientific Knowledge Creation and Dissemination
Moderator: Sue Yom, MD, PhD, MAS, FASTRO, University of California San Francisco
9:40 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
This session will explore how today’s science and healthcare information will be disseminated tomorrow, and look at the roles of journals, websites, online platforms and AI-powered content.
Speakers include:
- Mandy Hill, Cambridge University Press and Assessment
- John Halamka, MD, MS, Mayo Clinic
- Travis Zack, MD, PhD, University of California San Francisco
Session III - Patients’ Perceptions of Radiation Therapy
Moderator: Drew Moghanaki, MD, MPH, FASTRO, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
This session will explore what clinician attributes patients appreciate the most while understanding patient influences in communicating the value of RT to others and strategizing how to partner with advocacy groups to improve public perceptions of radiation therapy.
Speakers include:
- Benjamin Corn, MD, FASTRO, Hebrew University Faculty of Medicine
- Shelley Fuld Nasso, MPP, Cancer Nation
- Andrea Ferris, LUNGevity Foundation
Session IV - Stakeholder Perspectives
Moderators: Casey Chollet-Lipscomb, MD, FASTRO, Tennessee Oncology; Curtiland Deville, MD, FASTRO, Johns Hopkins University
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
This session will delve into multiple stakeholder perspectives, including government, foundation, cancer center administrator/non-radiation oncology colleagues, media, industry, insurance (specifically prior authorization) and policy/legislative.
Panel 1 speakers include:
- Michael Kolodziej, MD, Canopy
- Fahad Tahir, MAS, MBA, Ascension Saint Thomas
Panel 2 speakers include:
- Karen Knudsen, MBA, PhD, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy
- Yun Liu, PhD, Google
- Mallika Marshall, MD, CBS News/WBZ-TV News
