Brain Tumor Center Seminars & Events
The Brain Tumor Program hosts strategic initiatives to educate and engage faculty, administrators, trainees, scientists and stakeholders:
Seminar Series: The series was introduced in 2011 and aims to expose our trainees, faculty and brain tumor researchers in the Texas Medical Center to various hot topics and leaders in brain tumors and cancer-related central nervous system pathology. The virtual presentations are held on Fridays from noon to 1 p.m. Central Time via Zoom. The seminars have an educational component for trainees and junior faculty.
Strategic Events: These initiatives are related to academic year priority objectives and include meetings, symposiums and workshops designed to discuss scientific developments and advancements.
2025 Seminars
October 24
Gregory N. Fuller, M.D., Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Department of Anatomical Pathology, Former Professor of Neuropathology and Neuroradiology, MD Anderson Cancer Center
June 13
Lei “Vino” Peng, Ph.D.
May 23
“FLASH Forward for pediatric brain tumors: Ultra-high dose rate radiation alters immune response and improves neurotoxicity”
Robyn Gartrell, M.D., M.S., Assistant Professor, Department of Oncology and Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
May 16
“Deciphering the Diverse Roles of Astrocytes in Stroke-Glioma Interaction”
Qi Ye, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Glial Biology, Baylor College of Medicine
May 9
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Conference Highlights
MD Anderson Cancer Center Featured Presenters:
- Nora Lawson, M.S., Assistant Data Scientist, Neurosurgery, “Single cell spatial profiling reveals ERBB2 and EGFR co-expression in primary esophageal adenocarcinoma and brain metastasis tumors”
- Kyung Serk (Kevin) Cho, Ph.D., Research Assistant, Genomic Medicine, "Pan-cancer spatial characterization of tertiary lymphoid structures"
- Dongxue Mao, Ph.D., Data Scientist, Genomic Medicine, "Identifying druggable target in medulloblastoma"
- Mesut Unal, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Neurosurgery, "Integrating single-molecule localization microscopy and computational pipelines to elucidate ecDNA dynamics"
April 18
“Liquid Biopsies in the Diagnosis and Monitoring of CNS Tumors”
Leomar Ballester, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor with dual appointment in the Department of Pathology as well as the Department of Translational Molecular Pathology, MD Anderson Cancer Center
April 11
“Evaluating Immune Evasion Programs in IDH Mutant Gliomas”
Nduka M. Amankulor, M.D., Division Chief, Section of Neurosurgical Oncology, Director, Brain Tumor Center, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania
March 28
“Glioblastoma: Modeling A Complex Aberrant Neurodevelopmental Organ”
Howard A. Fine, M.D., Chief, Division of Neuro-Oncology, Department of Neurology, Director, Brain Tumor Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York
March 7
"CD8 T cell function in brain tumors"
William H. Hudson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Baylor College of Medicine
February 21
"Lessons Learned from a Half Century of Life Spent in Critical Thinking and Diagnostic Medicine"
Gregory N. Fuller, M.D., Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Department of Anatomical Pathology, Former Professor of Neuropathology and Neuroradiology, MD Anderson Cancer Center
February 14
"Novel murine glioblastoma models that reflect the immunotherapy resistance profile of a human disease"
Chao-Hsien (Alex) Chen, M.D., Ph.D., Stanley H. Appel Department of Neurology, Houston Methodist Neurological Institute
