Hepatobiliary Cancers: Translational Advances and Molecular Medicine

Alphonse E. Sirica, PhD, MS received his PhD degree in Biomedical Science from the University of Connecticut and his MS degree in Biology from Fordham University. After completing his Postdoctoral training in experimental oncology (liver carcinogenesis) with Dr. Henry C. Pitot at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he remained as faculty at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine from 1979 to 1984. In June 1984, he joined the VCU Department of Pathology faculty to develop a program in Experimental Pathology and in 1990 was promoted to the rank of full professor with tenure. From 1993 to 1999, he served as Chair of the Division of Experimental Pathology in the Department of Pathology. In 1999, he founded the Department's Division of Cellular and Molecular Pathogenesis and continued to serve as Division Chair for another 15 years, stepping down from this position in July 2014 to devote full time to his NIH funded research program. In 2019, he was appointed to a Distinguished Career Professorship at Virginia Commonwealth University and in 2020 appointed Professor Emeritus of Pathology at VCU.Dr. Sirica is an internationally recognized biomedical researcher and scholar in the areas of liver carcinogenesis, cholangiocyte biology and pathobiology, and cholangiocarcinoma, with extensive experience and expertise in cell and molecular cholangiocarcinogenesis and preclinical experimental therapeutics of cholangiocarcinoma. As principal investigator, Dr. Sirica had been funded by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health for 37 years. In June 2019, he was recognized by Expertscape as an Expertscape World Expert in Cholangiocarcinoma. He has previously edited four books on topics including the pathobiology of neoplasia, cellular and molecular pathogenesis, hepatocarcinogenesis, and bile duct pathobiology and pathophysiology, and has published in journals such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA, Cancer Research, Hepatology, Gastroenterology, Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Hepatology Research, Nature Reviews Disease Primers, Hepatology Communications, and the American Journal of Pathology. He has organized several national conferences on hepatobiliary cancers, most recently a Keystone Symposium titled “Hepatobiliary Cancers: Pathobiology and Translational Advances, which was held as a Keystone e-symposium in March 22-24, 2021, as well as a FASEB Catalyst Conference titled “Cholangiocarcinoma: Molecular Drivers, Microenvironment, and Precision Medicine held as a virtual event on April 7, 2021. Currently, he is serving as primary organizer of an approved 2023 FASEB Science Research Conference, “The Cholangiocarcinoma Conference: Molecular Drivers, Microenvironment, and Precision Medicine.

Paul B. Fisher, MPh, PhD, FNAI, Professor and Chairman, Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Director, VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine Thelma Newmeyer Corman Chair in Cancer Research in the VCU Massey Cancer Center, VCU, School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, and Emeritus Professor, Columbia University, College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, NY. Dr. Fisher is among the top 10% of NIH funded investigators over the past 35-years, published approximately 625 papers and reviews, and has 55 issued patents. He pioneered novel gene/discovery approaches (subtraction hybridization), developed innovative therapeutic approaches (Cancer Terminator Viruses), presented numerous named and distinguished lectures, founded several start-up companies, was Virginia Outstanding Scientist of 2014 and elected to the National Academy of Inventors in 2018. Dr. Fisher is a prominent nationally and internationally recognized cancer research scientist focusing on understanding the molecular and biochemical basis of cancer development and progression to metastasis and using this garnered information to develop innovative approaches for diagnosing and treating cancer. He discovered and patented novel genes and gene promoters relevant to cancer growth control, differentiation and apoptosis. His discoveries include the first cloning of p21 (CDK inhibitor), human polynucleotide phosphorylase, mda-9/syntenin (a pro-metastatic gene), mda-5 and mda-7/IL-24, which has shown promising clinical activity in Phase I/II clinical trials in patients with advanced cancers. Dr. Fisher alsohas a documented track record as a successful seasoned entrepreneur. He was Founder and Director of GenQuest Incorporated, a functional genomics company, which merged with Corixa Corporation in 1998, traded on NASDAQ and was acquired by GlaxoSmithKline in 2006. He discovered the cancer-specific PEG-Prom, which is the core technology of Cancer Targeting Systems (CTS, Inc.), a Virginia/Maryland-based company (at Johns Hopkins Medical Center) focusing on imaging and therapy (“theranostics ) of metastatic cancer (2014) by Drs. Fisher and Martin G. Pomper. He co-founded InVaMet Therapeutics (IVMT) and InterLeukin Combinatorial Therapies (ILCT) with Dr. Webster K. Cavenee (UCSD) (2017/2018).