Session Abstract – PMWC 2020 Silicon Valley

Track 3 - January 22 11.30 A.M.-12.00 P.M.


An increasing amount of evidence supports the connection between microbes and human diseases. In this ses-sion we investigate the association between the microbiome and cancer and explore the unique opportunities for novel medical applications.

 Session Chair Profile

Ph.D., Executive Director, Center for Microbiome Innovation, Professor of Practice, Bioengineering, UCSD

Biography
Dr. Sandrine Miller-Montgomery’s team is focused on expanding industry and academic collaborations of microbiome research in the consumer world as well as enabling major clinical breakthroughs. Previously, she led MO BIO Laboratories, now a QIAGEN Company, having started as their director of sales and marketing where her team contributed to the consistent business growth resulting in its acquisition by QIAGEN. She has held global marketing management positions at large companies such as Abbott Laboratories, Illumina, and Invitrogen (now part of Thermo Fisher), and originally came from France in 2000 to join Genset in their R&D department. Sandrine received both her PharmD and her PhD in Life Science from the University of Bordeaux (France), with an emphasis in molecular biology, biology of aging, and thrombosis and hemostasis.


 Speaker Profile

MBBS, Ph.D., Physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Biography
Dr. Markey is a physician-scientist, with a current research focus on the influence of the gastrointestinal microbiota on the complications of cancer therapy. She completed an MBBS/PhD program at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, in 2010, and has since continued to develop her interest in the immunological and infectious complications of stem cell transplantation and cancer therapy. Dr Markey moved to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, in 2018, and she is an attending physician on the Adult Bone Marrow Transplantation service.


 Speaker Profile

M.D., Assist. Prof., Dept. of Genomic Medicine & Dir. Microbiome Core, MD Anderson

Biography
Dr. Jenq is a practicing medical oncologist and his research efforts focus on studying the effects of the intestinal bacterial flora on outcomes following immune therapy for cancer, including hematopoietic cell transplantation and checkpoint blockade. Dr. Jenq received his medical training at Oregon Health and Science University, Duke, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.


 Speaker Profile

Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, Karius

Biography
Dr. Kertesz is leading the paradigm shift in infectious disease diagnostics towards genomics based insights. As CEO of Karius, he has led the company from concept through commercialization to bring the Karius Test to hospitals nationwide. The company’s rapid, broad-spectrum blood test accurately detects over a thousand pathogens, usually in a single day. By mapping each patient’s entire microbial landscape, Karius moves closer to their vision of a world where infectious disease is no longer a major threat to human health. Prior to Karius, Dr. Kertesz was the CEO and co-founder of Moleculo which was acquired by Illumina. He earned an MS in computer science from Tel Aviv University and a PhD in computational biology from the Weizmann Institute of Science. He completed his postdoctoral work at Stanford University.