GI CONNECT Update from ESMO 2022

Dr Jenny Seligmann gained her MBChB and BMedSci at the University of Aberdeen in 2005 then gained her PhD in 2015 from the University of Leeds on Biomarkers of Prognosis and Prediction of Response in Colorectal Cancer. She was appointed a Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Fellow in 2015, then a University Academic Fellow and Consultant in Medical Oncology in Leeds in 2017. Her research interests are in clinical trials and biomarkers of prediction of response in colorectal cancer. She is involved in several ongoing clinical trials, including the FOCUS-4 trial and has an ongoing lab-based programme of research. She has been involved in several national and international committees, including the UK Colorectal Clinical Studies Group and is currently the EORTC GI Group Young Investigator. She has received several awards including an ASCO Merit Award in 2013.

Prof. Dr Dominik Modest studied medicine at the Charité in Berlin, Germany and at the University of Bern, Switzerland. Currently, after 10 years at the LMU in Munich, Germany, he is a physician at the Charité Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Germany. His research activities focus on metastatic colorectal cancer and include the concept and coordination of trials for the FIRE study group and the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Internistische Onkologie (AIO). Prof. Dr Modest also coordinates the translational research components of these trials, aiming to identify prognostic and predictive biomarkers of metastatic colorectal cancer. His research has been published in several papers in scientific journals. In 2015, he received a postdoctoral qualification on factors for personalisation of metastatic colorectal cancer therapy and a full professorship in 2020.  Prof. Dr Modest is an active member of several national and international cancer associations and served as spokesman for the Young Medical Oncologists of the AIO until 2014.

Dr Thomas Winder is board certified for haematology and medical oncology. Since January 2020 he has been Head of the Department for Haematology and Oncology at the University Teaching Hospital Feldkirch, Austria. In addition, since 2017 he has been President of the Swiss Tumor Molecular Institute in Zürich Switzerland. Dr Winder’s research focuses on molecular markers to individualize medical treatment of cancer patients. He achieved his expertise in internationally renowned laboratories at University of Southern California, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles and University Hospital Zürich, Switzerland. His research activity has been honoured by several national and international awards and high impact publications.

Dr Samuel J. Klempner is a GI medical oncologist with research and clinical focus on esophagogastric cancers and cancer genomics. Dr Klempner completed his residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, followed by a combined hematology-oncology fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School. While at Harvard, Dr Klempner studied the mechanisms of resistance to targeted therapies in tumor cells in the lab of Dr Lewis Cantley, PhD. Dr Klempner is board certified in medical oncology, hematology, and internal medicine. Prior to joining The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute Dr Klempner served as an Assistant Clinical Professor in the division of Hematology-Oncology at the University of California Irvine. Dr Klempner’s research interests include the intersection of genomics and immunotherapies, oncogene-driven tumors, acquired resistance, and experimental therapeutics. Dr Klempner is involved in professional societies including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), and the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO).

Yelena Y. Janjigian MD, is Associate Professor and Chief of Gastrointestinal (GI) Oncology Service in the Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). Her research career and clinical practice are focused on improving treatment outcomes for patients with GI malignancies. She is an international expert in the management of cancers of oesophagus and stomach and lead several seminal studies that changed practice and set the standard of care for these diseases. She produced high impact publications describing the genomic basis for oesophagogastric cancer pathogenesis and secure federal grants to fund future studies. Her research is focused on developing new treatments, with a special emphasis on defining the therapeutically relevant molecular characteristics of tumors in the GI tract, with 120 peer-reviewed publications to date.

Dr Janjigian received her BS from the University of California, San Diego and her MD from the New York University School of Medicine. She did her internal medicine residency at New York School of Medicine/Bellevue Hospital and her haematology/oncology fellowship training at MSKCC. She joined the MSK faculty in 2009 as a member of the GI Oncology Service.

Dr Janjigian is an active member of American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) and European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) holding an array of leadership positions. As Chief of the GI Oncology Service, Dr Janjigian’s mission is to foster research and innovation that transform the future of GI oncology to help patients worldwide.