UCSF Experts Featured at International Neuro-Oncology Conference
Next week, brain tumor researchers and physicians from UC San Francisco will join colleagues from around the world in Honolulu for the 7th Quadrennial Meeting of the World Federation of Neuro-Oncology Societies. This year’s meeting, which also marks the Society for Neuro-Oncology’s 30th anniversary, will highlight the progress in the field over the last three decades.
UCSF neuro-oncologist Jennie Taylor, MD, will kick-off the conference events by co-chairing the 10th Annual Neuro-Oncology Review Course on Wednesday, November 19. This course is specifically designed for physicians, residents, fellows, nurse practitioners and other health care professionals to learn the latest about the management of brain and spinal tumors. Taylor will also serve as one of the SNO co-chairs of the Survivorship Subject Matter Track.
Joanna Phillips, MD, PhD, a UCSF Brain Tumor Center principal investigator and the Director of the Neurosurgery Biorepository, will serve as one of SNO’s scientific co-chairs for the meeting.
UCSF neuro-oncologist Susan Chang, MD, will receive the 2025 Lisa DeAngelis Award for Excellence in Neuro-Oncology Education during the Plenary I session on Friday, November 21. This award recognizes her dedication to advancing the field through new teaching and mentoring initiatives, like the SNO Editorial Scholars Program.
Saritha Krishna, PhD, an adjunct assistant professor of neurosurgery, will receive the Cancer Neuroscience Abstract Award for her research in the Hervey-Jumper lab. She will present her talk, “Targeting neuron-glioma chloride cross-talk in glioblastoma,” on Friday at 10:15 a.m.
On Saturday, November 22 at 2:05 p.m., Sabine Mueller, MD, PhD, the Director of the Pediatric Brain Center at UCSF, will present the keynote lecture, “Beyond Borders: Lessons learned from DMG-ACT in coordinating science, trials, and care for children with rare brain tumors.”
SNO is also recognizing UCSF neuro-psychologist Christina Weyer Jamora, PhD, RN, with the 2025 Survivorship Award for her work studying the efficacy of telehealth cognitive rehabilitation for managing the cognitive impairments common in patients with low-grade gliomas. She will present preliminary results from the Loglio clinical trial in her talk, “Tele-cognitive rehabilitation for adult lower-grade glioma: A prospective feasibility study,” on Sunday, November 23 at 8:30 a.m.
At the end of the conference, UCSF neurosurgeon Shawn Hervey-Jumper, MD, will assume his responsibilities as President-Elect of SNO. Hervey-Jumper is the sixth neurosurgeon and fourth UCSF physician to serve in this role.
In addition to these awards, this year’s conference includes dozens of posters and talks from UCSF experts. Here are all the presentations by researchers at the UCSF Brain Tumor Center.
Clinical trial study designs and biostatistics
Invited Speaker: Annette Molinaro, PhD
9:20 a.m.
Clinical Trials Workshop
Co-chair: Susan Chang, MD
Editorial Scholars Session
Co-chair: Susan Chang, MD
Management of IDH-mutant gliomas
Invited speaker: Jennie Taylor, MD
10:52 to 11:20 a.m.
Management of Meningioma
Invited Speaker: Thomas Nelson, MD
1:42 to 2 p.m.
2025 WFNOS and SNO Education Day - Welcome and Introduction to Global Approaches and Emerging Technologies in Neuro-Oncology
Co-chair: Steve Braunstein, MD
Biospecimen Working Group Session
Co-chair: Mitchel Berger, MD
7th Annual Neuro-Oncology Fellow and Early Clinician/Investigator Career Retreat
Invited speakers: Joseph Costello, PhD, and Susan Chang, MD
WHO Classification and c-IMPACT Now – Where Are We Going?
Global Approaches to Neuro-Oncology – Diagnosis (CME)
Invited Speaker: Arie Perry, MD
10:30 to 10:45 a.m.
30 Years of Therapy in Neuro-Oncology
Global Approaches in Neuro-Oncology – Therapies (CME)
Featured Speaker: Susan Chang, MD
1:05 to 1:35 p.m.
Redefining IDH-Mutant Glioma Management: Insights into the Modern Paradigm of Care
Speaker: Shawn Hervey-Jumper, MD
7 to 8:15 a.m.
The most common non-coding mutation in cancer: How it works
Invited Speaker: Joseph Costello, PhD
Telomere Biology in Gliomas (CME)
10:18 to 10:33 a.m.
Abundance of transposable elements is associated with inferior survival in IDH-wildtype glioblastoma
Rapid Orals Session III A
Speaker: Susan Chang, MD
11:30 to 11:33 am.
Electrocorticographic analysis and detection of speech networks in glioma-infiltrated cortex
Neurosurgery Abstracts – Session I
Speaker: Vardhaan Ambati, Hervey-Jumper lab
10:22 to 10:29 a.m.
Rapid Orals Session II A
Moderator: David Raleigh, MD, PhD
Multivariate survival risk stratification in GBMs lacking necrosis and microvascular proliferation
Rapid Orals V A
Speaker: Annette Molinaro, PhD
11:36 to 11:39 a.m.
Milton Marks Neuro-Oncology Family Camp (MMFC): 10 years of community building and support for families with a parent diagnosed with brain cancer
Rapid Orals V A
11:42 to 11:45 am.
Speaker: Abigail Levinson Marks
Development of in vivo CRISPR interference screens in diffuse midline glioma xenografts to identify genetic vulnerabilities controlling responses to radiation therapy
Rapid Orals II B
I-Ching Wang, PhD, Liu lab
12 to 12:03 p.m.
Synaptic remodeling drives IDH-mutant astrocytoma progression and evolution
Rapid Orals Session I A
Sena Oten, Hervey-Jumper lab
12:09 to 12:12 p.m.
Molecular Pathology Abstracts – Session I
Moderator: Melike Pekmezci, MD
Poster session (11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.)
Poster judge: Mitchel Berger, MD
Andy Daniel, PhD, Hervey Jumper lab
Glioma-infiltration induces drug-responsive multiscale remodeling of human cortical circuitry
Zulekha Qadeer, PhD, Weiss lab
Dissecting MYC-driven epigenetic mechanisms that promote group 3 medulloblastoma utilizing humanized iPSC models
Harish Vasudevan, MD, PhD
Alternative RNA splicing analysis identifies patterns underlying malignant transformation and therapeutic response in peripheral nerve tumors
William A Weiss, MD, PhD
Bitopic inhibitors of mTORC1 cooperate with inhibitors of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase to drive cytotoxicity in glioblastoma
Polly Chuntova, PhD, Young lab
Novel Dyrk1a inhibitors impair glioblastoma proliferation and enhance the effectiveness of other cell-cyle-directed therapies
Nicholas Stevers, Costello lab
An AI-engineered bioPROTAC reverses immortality of TERT promoter mutant tumors
Xiaonan April Xing, Yan Li lab
Characterization of recurrent IDH-mutant glioma using multiparametric 1H/Hyperpolarized 13C MRI and histopathological analysis
Tracy Luks, PhD, Yan Li lab
Relationship between cognitive performance and central executive network functional connectivity in lower grade glioma
Brian Na, MD, PhD
DNA sequencing identifies NF1 variant classes associated with malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) formation in neurofibromatosis type I
Kirti Singh, Viswanath lab
Fructose metabolism is a unique feature of immunosuppressive myeloid cells in brain tumors
Meeki Lad, Aghi lab
Reversing glioblastoma-induced changes in bone marrow hematopoiesis slows tumor growth
Ankita Sati, PhD, Aghi lab
Cancer-associated fibroblasts mediate the invasion of glioblastoma stem cells and promote therapeutic resistance
The Society for Neuro-Oncology: 30 Years of Progress
Panelist: Susan Chang, MD
9:25 to 9:50 a.m.
Rapid Orals VI B
Session moderator: John de Groot, MD
Dissecting MYC-driven epigenetic mechanisms that promote group 3 medulloblastoma utilizing humanized iPSC models
Rapid Orals III B
Speaker: Zulekha Qadeer, PhD Weiss lab
11:45 to 11:49 a.m.
Alternative RNA splicing analysis identifies patterns underlying malignant transformation and therapeutic response in peripheral nerve tumors
Rapid Orals III B
Speaker: Harish Vasudevan, MD, PhD
11:48 to 11:51 a.m.
Glioma-infiltration induces drug-responsive multiscale remodeling of human cortical circuitry
Rapid Orals I B
Speaker: Andy Daniel, PhD, Hervey-Jumper lab
12:09 to 12:12 p.m.
DNA sequencing identifies NF1 variant classes associated with malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) formation in neurofibromatosis type I
Rapid Orals V B
Speaker: Brian Na, MD, PhD
12:09 to 12:12 p.m.
Molecular characterization of CRISPRoff epigenetic editor activity reveals mutant alle-specific TERT repression in glioblastoma
Rapid Orals II B
Speaker: Akane Hubbard, Liu lab
12:36 to 12:42 p.m.
Targeting glioma-neuronal circuit remodeling to overcome immunosuppression: functional and therapeutic insights
Cancer Neuroscience Abstracts – Session II
Speaker: Takahide Nejo, PhD, Okada lab
3:29 to 3:36 p.m.
Genomic profiling of 1,104 consecutive, prospective meningiomas defines the population prevalence of molecular alterations and elucidates potential biomarkers of treatment response
Molecular Pathology Abstracts – Session II
Speaker: David Raleigh, MD, PhD
3:29 to 3:36 p.m.
Radiation rewiring of transcriptional responses in brain tumors
Strategies for tracking radiotherapy responses in vivo (CME)
Invited speaker: John Liu, MD, PhD
3:33 to 3:48 p.m.
Enabling the integration of advanced imaging into AI predications with AI-driven MRI
Glioblastoma accelerated biomarkers learning environment – Imaging biomarkers based on AI/machine learning (CME)
Invited speaker: Janine Lupo, PhD
3:50 to 4 p.m.
A coordinated care model for multidisciplinary meningioma treatment and research
Speaker: Zora Arum, Raleigh lab
4:30 to 4:37 p.m.
Advances in mapping and image guided surgery
SNO-Tumor Section Joint Session: Evolution of Neurosurgical Brain Tumor Care Over the Last 30 Years (CME)
Invited speaker: Shawn Hervey-Jumper, MD
4:33 to 4:48 p.m.
Basic Science Abstracts – Session III
Moderator: Joseph Costello, PhD
RANO – CARES
RANO Updates (CME)
Invited speaker: Jacob Young, MD
4:57 to 5:02 p.m.
Poster Session (11: 45 a.m. to 1: 05 p.m.)
Ekin Guney, MD, Weiss lab
Deciphering cellular translation control in neuron-GBM interactions
Marie Jaeger-Krause, MD
Evaluation of tocilizumab in childhood adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma: An international case series
Akane Yamamichi, MD, PhD, Okada lab
Operational strategies and regulatory navigation of an academic CAR T-cell trial for glioblastoma: Experience from the E-SYNC study
Darwin Kwok, PhD, Costello and Okada labs
Spatially resolved antigenic landscapes in low-grade glioma reveal targets for personalized immunotherapy
Janine Lupo, PhD
- A vision transformer-based approach to predicting glioblastoma recurrence from metabolic and diffusion MRI for personalizing radiation planning
- AI-based multimodal integration of clinical features with white matter infiltration maps for personalized RT planning of glioblastoma
Sena Oten, Hervey-Jumper lab
BrainTRACE enables reliable electrocorticography localization in patients with brain tumors
Irvane Ngnie Kamga, Lupo lab
Integrating AI-based models from physiologic MRI with MR spectra for differentiating treatment-effect from glioma tumor recurrence
Velmurugan Jayabal, PhD, Biomagnetic Imaging Laboratory
Network signatures of glioma: mapping neural excitability and synchrony with magnetoencephalography (MEG)
Pavithra Viswanath, PhD
- Non-invasive hyperpolarized 13C imaging of metabolic alterations induced by NF2 loss in meningiomas
- Serine biosynthesis is a druggable metabolic vulnerability in diffuse midline gliomas
Marco Gallus, MD, Okada lab
Focused ultrasound–mediated blood-brain barrier disruption, combined with antigen-presenting cell activation, promotes CNS antigen-specific T cell immunity and bypasses immunotherapy resistance mechanism in malignant brain tumors
Christina Weyer Jamora, PhD, RN
Build it and they will come: Cognitive rehabilitation in primary brain tumor
Abigail Levinson Marks
Milton Marks Neuro-Oncology Family Camp (MMFC): 10 years of community building and support for families with a parent diagnosed with brain cancer
Zora Arum, Raleigh lab
“Living with Meningioma”: A longitudinal survey on patient-reported quality-of-life outcomes
Annette Molinaro, PhD
Transfer learning with a conditional GAN and distance-based loss for generating synthetic MRI contrasts in glioma imaging
Aaron Diaz, PhD
Targeting telomere maintenance sensitizes group 3 medulloblastomas to ionizing radiation
Daniel B. Zamler, Costello lab
Role of LRRC25 in local and systemic immunosuppression and its reversal
Michael Oldham, PhD
Identifying and exploiting molecular abnormalities of glioma vasculature
Elaheh Hashemi, PhD, Phillips lab
MAPK-driven glioma progression and reprogramming of the tumor-associated immune response
Melissa Brie, PsyD
Benefit of group medical visits focused on integrative approaches for patients with primary brain tumors
Sanjeev Herr, Aghi lab
Distribution of pituitary tumor surgeons in the United States predicts community-level social vulnerability and barriers to access
Youssef Sibih, Hervey-Jumper lab
Aperiodic neural dynamics define a novel signature of glioma-induced excitation-inhibition dysregulation
Targeting malignant synaptogenesis and hyperexcitation with antiepileptics
Epilepsy and Brain Tumors: New Insights from Cancer Neuroscience for a Dual Efficacy Therapy
Invited speaker: Shawn Hervey-Jumper, MD
8:33 to 8:48 a.m.
Global impact: The importance of international clinical trials
Bridging Borders: Enhancing Global Collaboration in Brain Tumor Clinical Trials (CME)
Invited speaker: Sabine Mueller, MD, PhD
8:33 to 8:48 a.m.
Advanced practice nursing perspectives for interdisciplinary management of cognition and mood symptoms in primary brain tumor
Allied Health/Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) Enhancing Neuro-Oncology Research and Managing Cognitive Impairment and Emotional Distress Symptoms (CME)
Invited speaker: Charlotte Huie, RN
8:48 to 9:03 a.m.
Gene expression biomarker prediction of benefit from re-irradiation in recurrent glioblastoma
Radiation Abstracts – Session II
Speaker: Brooke C. Braman, MD, Raleigh lab
9:09 to 9:14 a.m.
Neuroimaging Abstracts Session II
Session moderator: Yan Li, PhD
Neurology of Cancer Abstract Session
Session moderator: Jennie Taylor, MD
A machine learning predictive model of aphasia in patients with diffuse glioma using radiomic, molecular, and clinical features
Neurology of Cancer Abstract Session
Speaker: Abraham Dada, Hervey-Jumper lab
10:24 to 10:29 a.m.
CAR T Cell Therapy
Session organizer: Hideho Okada, MD, PhD
Improving specificity and reducing exhaustion using a prime and kill CAR-T strategy
CAR T Cell Therapy (CME)
Invited speaker: Jennifer Clarke, MD
Advances in digital pathology and machine learning for CNS tumors
Session organizer: Melike Pekmezci, MD
Invited presentation: Raman spectroscopy and AI applications in diagnosis and classification of brain tumors
NF2 loss modulates Hippo signaling in NF1 mutant malignant nerve sheath tumors
Neurogenetic Tumor Syndromes Abstract Session
Speaker: Harish Vasudevan, MD, PhD
10:29 to 10:34 a.m.
Genetic lineage tracing of medulloblastoma under therapy with spatial context
Pediatric Abstracts – Session III
Speaker: Aaron Diaz, PhD
11:07 to 11:14 a.m.