Pedal the Cause San Diego held the third installment of their Forums lecture series at our La Jolla campus Wednesday, July 23. Pedal the Cause Forums are an exciting and understandable TED-like lecture series focused on the future of cancer research, life sciences, health and wellness, and more.
Over 40 local biotechnology community members and business leaders from throughout San Diego gathered in Chairmen’s Hall to enjoy delicious canapés and summer cocktails, while mingling with local cancer researchers, Pedal the Cause riders, and Sanford-Burnham supporters.
At 6pm, the presentation titled “Drug Discovery and Development” began and was presented by Drs. Garth Powis, director of our NCI-designated Cancer Center and Bob Abraham, PhD, senior vice president and chief scientific officer at Pfizer Oncology Research Unit.
The pair, both leading experts in their respective fields, guided guests through the often-misunderstood process behind the development of new therapeutics—from the initial research breakthrough through pharmaceutical development.
The presentation was followed by a lively question and answer session with Drs. Powis and Abraham, where guests were encouraged to delve deeper into the areas of the discussion that interested them the most.
It was a fantastic evening, brimming with enthusiasm for the upcoming Pedal the Cause event and the astounding research breakthroughs that the organization is helping to fund.
To learn more about the Forums series, or more about the next Pedal the Cause San Diego event, please visit Pedal the Cause San Diego’s website here.
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About Pedal the Cause
Founded in 2012, Pedal The Cause-San Diego is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation established to fund, plan and manage an annual cycling fundraiser in which 100 percent of the net proceeds stay in San Diego to benefit cancer research at the three National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers in San Diego (C3). It is our hope that research funded by Pedal The Cause will ultimately lead to a cure for cancer, and propel San Diego to the forefront of cancer cures and care. For more information, please visit sandiego.pedalthecause.org. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PedalTheCauseSanDiego and on Twitter, @pedalSD
About the C3
The mission of the C3 is to encourage interactions between the San Diego National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated centers, with a special focus on clinical, translational, basic science, and educational activities. Each San Diego institute will share its unique capabilities and talents. Sanford-Burnham will provide access to its Chemical Library Screening Core, enabling Salk and UC San Diego to use the extensive chemical biology and drug development resources of the Prebys Center. The Prebys Center provides assay development and robust, sensitive high-throughput assays. The Center helps identify chemical compounds that lead to drug candidates that may be further developed into cancer therapies. The Salk Institute’s Cancer Center Gene Transfer, Targeting, and Therapeutics Core (GT3) will offer design, consultation, and production services for viral vectors. Viral vectors are “biological vehicles” that deliver new genes to cells to alter their function, potentially “fixing” cells that are malfunctioning. Viral vectors may be used to replace faulty genes in cancer cells, or used to boost cell functions that protect against cancer. The UC San Diego Biorepository Core will provide access to its centralized resource for patient samples and clinical information. Allowing researchers access to human samples is essential to discovering biological targets to treat cancer, translating experimental results to human disease, and for developing cancer diagnostic tests. By sharing knowledge and valuable resources, the C3 institutes are creating an era of inter-institutional support and cooperation to accelerate the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer.