Dr. Gary Kruh Cancer Research Symposium and Poster Competition 2025

The Dr. Gary Kruh Cancer Research Symposium and Student Poster Competition is the University of Illinois Cancer Center’s annual celebration of scientific inquiry and innovation in cancer research. The event, held in honor of late Cancer Center Director Gary Kruh, MD, PhD, will feature presentations by nationally renowned cancer researchers and a community advocate before wrapping up with a student poster competition, which is open to all University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) students, postdocs and fellows. The Cancer Center is part of UI Health, UIC’s academic health enterprise.

Register here for this FREE event

Student/Trainee Poster Competition Abstracts

FEATURED SPEAKERS

Community Advocate

Karen Hall
Founder and CEO
Cancer Support Team, Inc.

Karen Hall is an accomplished professional with a wealth of experience and expertise in the healthcare industry. She is a two-time cancer survivor, mother, caregiver, advocate, volunteer, and former Health Care Ministry Director. Her cancer journey began in 2006 when an annual mammogram detected the disease. She underwent a mastectomy, reconstructive surgery and years of treatment. Eight years later, an aggressive tumor surfaced, resulting in even more treatments. However, she defined cancer as “an opportunity for God to reveal Itself in and through her body.” So, she faced the situation head-on and got RADICAL about LIVING instead of being consumed with dying. She trusted the medical team and became her own advocate. She shares her story to remind people that no matter how difficult things may seem, there is always hope. She wants us to all be advocates for each other and support those who are fighting their own battles.

Translational Oncology

Roger Davis, PhD, FRS

H. Arthur Smith Professor and Chair, Program in Molecular Medicine,
University of Massachusetts, Chan Medical School

Roger Davis, PhD, PhM, is the H. Arthur Smith Professor and Chair of the Program in Molecular Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. His studies of signal transduction mechanisms led to the molecular cloning of the first human stress-activated MAP kinase, the cJun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK). Subsequent studies defined the molecular structure of the JNK pathway, including the identification of upstream and downstream pathway components and scaffold proteins. This signaling pathway is activated in response to many pathological/physiological stimuli and is implicated in inflammatory diseases (e.g. arthritis), cancer, stroke, heart disease and diabetes. The overall goal of his research is to understand the molecular basis for these diseases and to design novel therapeutic strategies.

Cancer Prevention and Control

Elena Martinez, PhD, MPH
Professor, Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science;
Associate Director of Population Sciences
University of California San Diego, Moores Cancer Center

Elena Martinez, PhD, MPH, is an epidemiologist with expertise in cancer disparities research. She is a Professor at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science and Associate Director of Population Sciences at the University of California, San Diego, Moores Cancer Center. Nationally, she has established strong leadership and commitment to the area of cancer health disparities, particularly in relation to Hispanic/Latino populations in the U.S. She is the immediate past President of the American Society for Preventive Oncology; has served on the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Board of Scientific Counselors and Board of Scientific Advisors; and was 1 of 28 members nationally who served on the prestigious Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel. She is a multiple principal investigator (MPI) of several NCI-funded team science research projects that focus on addressing disparities and inequities, in addition to the MPI of the UC San Diego Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST) award. She also serves as a mentor in the Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials program.

Cancer Biology

Ernst Lengyel, MD, PhD
Arthur L. and Lee G. Herbst Distinguished Service Professor and Chair
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
University of Chicago, UChicago Medicine

The Lengyel lab has elucidated, at least in part, the first critical steps of ovarian cancer metastasis by paying close attention to the host microenvironment. They have collected the 25 most commonly used ovarian cancer cell lines from all over the world, including those which are chemotherapy resistant. They have established several mouse models for ovarian cancer, and using a genetic mouse model (K-rasG12D/+/Pten-/- — established by Tyler Jacks, PhD), a syngeneic orthotopic mouse model using mouse ovarian cancer cells (ID8 — established by K. Roby, PhD), and several xenograft ip models using primary and cultured human ovarian cancer cells. He has also established a prospective ovarian cancer tissue bank and, together with two gynecologic pathologists, they have assembled 13 tissue arrays including normal tissue, borderline tumor and primary tumor, and corresponding metastasis. As a surgeon, the main focus of his practice is patients with ovarian cancer.