Cancer Research Day 2025
The Purdue Institute for Cancer Research (PICR) Cancer Research Day will take place on November 7, 2025. The annual event brings together scientists, trainees and collaborators to share and discuss discoveries while sparking new ideas in the fight against cancer. Throughout the day, members of the PICR community showcase the depth and breadth of cancer research across the university.
This year’s keynote speaker will be Helen Piwnica-Worms.
Keynote speaker
Helen Piwnica-Worms
Piwnica-Worms is a professor in the Department of Experimental Radiation Oncology, Division of Radiation Oncology, and the Senator A.M. Aikin Jr. Distinguished Chair at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX.
Piwnica-Worms will be discussing her research on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) as an aggressive subtype of breast cancer, neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT), with or without immunotherapy, as the standard treatment for patients with early-stage disease, how patient outcomes are closely tied to response to NACT: those with high residual cancer burden (RCB) after therapy face significantly worse recurrence and survival rates, and her work to identify mechanisms driving resistance to NACT and develop strategies to overcome that resistance.
Additionally, there will be three presentations by PICR trainees and a poster session highlighting emerging talent.
Cancer Research Day serves both as a catalyst for collaboration and a celebration of Purdue’s growing impact in cancer science. Please join us to learn more about the research being done within the institute and the impact it has around the world.
We look forward to seeing you there!
2025 PICR Cancer Research Day Agenda
| Registration & Opening Remarks – North Ballroom |
| 10:00 a.m. – Check-in Begins 10:15 a.m. – Posters MUST be set up. 10:30 a.m. – Opening Remarks: PICR Director Andrew Mesecar 10:50 a.m. – PICR Society of Research Fellows President Kenan Ozcan |
| Keynote Presentation – North Ballroom |
| 11:00 a.m. – Keynote Speaker: Dr. Helen Piwnica-Worms, Professor of Experimental Radiation Oncology, University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| Lunch & Trainee Presentations – North Ballroom |
| 12:00 p.m. – Lunch Served 12:15 p.m. – Trainee Presentations Excellence in Research Presentation Award – CIS Bozhi Liu (Hanna Lab) Excellence in Research Presentation Award – DDMS Sung-Ho Shin (Won Lab) Excellence in Research Presentation Award – TSD Jingmei Yu (Zhang Lab) |
| Poster Presentations – South Ballroom |
| 1:15 p.m. – Poster Session |
| Event Closing |
| 3:15 p.m. – Adjourn |