Sunday morning’s Opening Plenary Session borrows its name from the Annual Meeting theme, “Advancing the Frontiers of Cancer Science and Medicine,” and will set the stage for this year’s scientific program, according to Program Committee Chair Robert H. Vonderheide, MD, DPhil.

NCI Director Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, will discuss the Cancer Moonshot during a special session on Monday, April 17. It’s one of a handful of sessions at the Annual Meeting that will examine the initiative, which was reignited by President Joe Biden in 2022.

AACR President Lisa M. Coussens, PhD, FAACR, will encourage collaboration across teams and disciplines during her presidential address Sunday evening. As cancer science delves deeper into chemistry, physics, data science, basic biology, immunology, and other disciplines, collaboration is critical, she said.

Annual Meeting Program Committee Chair Robert H. Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, shares a few highlights from Sunday’s schedule to help you plan your day.

Carl H. June, MD, FAACR, recipient of the AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research, will discuss how CAR T-cell therapy is advancing the treatment of cancers and rare diseases during his Sunday award lecture.

Carolyn R. Bertozzi, PhD, recipient of the AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research, will review her research on glycocalyx for cancer immune therapy during her award lecture Sunday afternoon.

Alexander S. Baras, MD, PhD, Amin H. Nassar, MD, and Tali Mazor, PhD, demonstrated specific applications of Project GENIE genomic datasets and described how the increasing availability of large clinico-genomic datasets generated through routine cancer care affords the opportunity to conduct precision oncology research using observational data at scale.