Annual Meeting Program Committee Chairs Christina Curtis, PhD, MSc, and Keith T. Flaherty, MD, FAACR, share a few highlights from today’s schedule to help you plan your day.

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The first day of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024 focuses on education and professional development. For those cancer professionals who are attending sessions today, bring your curiosity, your readiness to learn, and your career goals.

If you are just arriving in San Diego, the Registration Desk at the Convention Center opens at 12 p.m PT. Make sure you download the Annual Meeting 2024 app—you can find the link to download it on the Meeting Resources page along with many other helpful links, like the Virtual Meeting Platform and the Annual Meeting 2024 abstracts.

Starting at 1 p.m. PT, the day kicks off with the Professional Advancement session Grant Writing Workshop: Tips for Success from Experienced Scientists. This session aims to provide new investigators (postdoctoral fellows and new faculty) with the tools to write competitive grants, including writing tips and best practices for structuring an aims page. All Professional Advancement sessions are free and exclusive to AACR members.

Educational sessions and methods workshops throughout the day cover topics including social determinants of health, functional precision medicine, insights on the cancer microbiome, and the first of a multi-part workshop on designing clinical trials.

Educational sessions begin at 3 p.m. PT on the Upper Level of the Convention Center and go through the afternoon and early evening, concluding at 6:15 p.m. PT, including Measuring Structural and Social Determinants of Health in Cancer Research, in Ballroom 6 DE on the upper level of the convention center.

Methods workshops also begin at 3 p.m. PT and run through the evening, including Clinical Trial Design Workshop, Part 1: Increasing Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Clinical Trials — New Solutions for Old Problems, which will be at 4:45 p.m. PT in Ballroom 6 CF on the upper level of the convention center.

Don’t miss out on some of the fun outdoor opportunities to mix and mingle with fellow attendees while raising money for AACR’s mission to prevent and cure all cancers. The AACR Runners for Research 5K Run/Walk is set for 7:30 a.m. PT Saturday, April 6, at the Marriott Marquis Marina Terrace. You have until 7 a.m. PT Saturday to register, so sign up!

Enjoy an evening of major league baseball on Tuesday, April 9, when the San Diego Padres face off against the Chicago Cubs at Petco Park in downtown San Diego (just a few blocks from the San Diego Convention Center, home of the AACR Annual Meeting 2024). There’s still time to purchase a ticket! Proceeds from both the 5K and the ball game support AACR’s mission of preventing and curing all cancers.

Welcome to the AACR Annual Meeting 2024 — we’re thrilled to have you here, and we hope you enjoy the next six days of education, networking, and cutting-edge science.