Paul R. O’Hara II Esophagogastric Symposium

Remembering Paul R. O’Hara

When Paul O’Hara II was diagnosed with advanced esophageal cancer, he traveled to Colorado where his sister Katy Rady lived to meet with the medical team at the CU Cancer Center. They had learned about the multidisciplinary care and positive patient outcomes offered by the University of Colorado Cancer Center. Soon they became overwhelmed – in the best way possible – by the multidisciplinary care at the CU Cancer Center. Their first visit to the CU Anschutz Medical Campus came on a cold January morning. After the appointment, Paul and Katy walked to the Fitzsimons Building. They visited the Eisenhower Suite where President Dwight D. Eisenhower spent seven weeks recovering from a heart attack in 1955. Then they strolled onto the roof of the eight-story building, and Paul surveyed the campus and Colorado’s wide-open skies. They were impressed and had hope. 

Paul O’Hara II succumbed to his illness in 2015, but the quality care he received convinced the Rady’s to support the CU Cancer Center and accelerate the pace of research for esophageal and gastric cancer. With an initial gift, they created the Paul R. O’Hara II Esophagogastric Cancer Symposium, the Paul R. O’Hara II Endowed Chair in Esophageal Cancer and the Paul O’Hara Esophageal Cancer Biorepository as a lasting tribute to his memory.

Madeleine Kane, MD, PhD, became the Paul R. O’Hara II Endowed Chair in Esophageal Cancer. Kane developed a close relationship with the Rady family when they came to the CU Cancer Center seeking treatment for Katy’s brother. “Caring for a patient throughout cancer treatment, when there is no known cure, is a foundation for a sacred relationship,” she said. “Through the Radys’ gift to establish the Paul O’Hara symposium, I saw their commitment to funding innovative research. I was also fortunate to develop a relationship with Dr. Sachin Wani; I was amazed by his research and knew that a stronger partnership between our groups would be a catalyst for our leadership in esophageal cancers.”

Dr. Sachin Wani was later named as the Executive Director, Katy O. and Paul M. Rady Esophageal and Gastric Center of Excellence. The center was established  in late 2022 in the hopes of advancing esophageal and gastric cancer research, clinical trials, screening, and treatments.

Continuing Medical Education

The University of Colorado School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The University of Colorado School of Medicine designates this live activity for 5.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this activity, learners will be able to:

1. Identify various treatment strategies and outcomes for esophagogastric cancers and benign conditions.
2. Identify the latest research advancements in esophagogastric studies.
3. Identify the guidelines for screening Barrett's esophagus and adenocarcinoma.
4. Recognize important potential issues experienced by patients with esophagogastric conditions.
5. Recognize the societal impact of esophagogastric conditions.

2025 Paul R. O’Hara Invited Speakers

Program Directors:

Sachin Wani, MD

Dr. Wani is the Katy O, and Paul M. Rady Endowed  Chair in Esophageal Cancer Research and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus specializing in esophageal diseases and therapeutic endoscopy. He has a long-standing research focus in the field of Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma.

Madeleine Kane, MD, PhD

Dr. Kane has served as the Principal Investigator (PI) of the ACS IRG for over 15 years and holds the Paul R. O’Hara II Endowed Chair for Esophagogastric Cancer. Additionally, Dr. Kane has been the program director for the Paul O’Hara Symposium for the past five years. Dr. Kane's commitment to providing seed funding for junior faculty establishing cancer research careers is exemplified by their role as the recipients of the Paul R. O’Hara II Seed Grant Awards.

Keynote Speakers:

Raghav Sundar, MBBS, PhD

Raghav Sundar, MBBS, PhD, is an ­­­­ Associate Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology) and cares for patients with gastrointestinal malignancies including gastroesophageal, hepatobiliary, and colorectal cancer as part of the Center for Gastrointestinal Cancers at Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center in New Haven. He received his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery from the National University of Singapore where he also pursued his PhD. He underwent fellowship training at the Drug Development Unit, Royal Marsden Hospital, UK, and joins Yale from the National University Cancer Institute in Singapore.

Dr. Sundar specializes in experimental therapeutics and was part of a Phase 1 clinical trials team in Singapore where he was a Senior Consultant Medical Oncologist and Research Director for the Department of Haematology-Oncology. His research interests are in genomics and epigenetics of gastroesophageal cancers and tumors that metastasize to the peritoneum, as well as chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy. His work has identified predictive biomarkers of systemic therapy in gastric cancer as well as potential novel therapeutic targets. He has published over 110 manuscripts in high impact journals such as Cancer Discovery, Journal of Clinical Oncology, British Medical Journal, JAMA Oncology, Gastroenterology and Gut.

         Daniela Molena, MD

Dr. Daniela Molena is a graduate of the University of Padova Medical School in Italy. She completed residencies in general surgery both at the University of Padova and at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, NY. She completed a gastrointestinal research fellowship at the University of California in San Francisco and cardiothoracic clinical fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and Weill Cornell Medical College. She joined Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in 2015 to serve as the Director of the Esophageal Program within the Thoracic Surgery Division.

Dr. Molena has authored over 100 manuscripts and several book chapters. She is part of the Editorial Board of several renown Journals. She is a Member of the American Surgical Association, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, Society for Surgeons of the Alimentary Tract, American Association for Thoracic Surgery and International Society for the Diseases of the Esophagus. She holds leadership positions in several of these surgical societies and she is President of the Women in Thoracic Surgery.

Speakers:

Kelli DeLay, MD

Dr. Kelli DeLay is an Assistant Professor within the Division of Gastroenterology at the University of Colorado. Kelli is a regional expert in esophageal disease and upper GI motility disorders and is the Clinic Director for the Benign Esophageal and Gastric Multidisciplinary Clinic (MDC). 

Andrea Dwyer

Ms. Andrea (Andi) Dwyer is the Director of the Colorado Cancer Screening Program (CCSP) and the AD of Katy O. and Paul M. Rady Esophageal and Gastric Center of Excellence at the University of Colorado Cancer Center and The Colorado School of Public Health and serves as a co-investigator on a number of dissemination and implementation science grants,  particularly focusing on health equity and sustainability strategies for lung, hereditary and colorectal cancer screening.  Ms. Dwyer is on the Executive Committee of the Alliance of Community Health Workers, Patient Navigators and Promotores de Salud. Andrea is the Chair of the National Navigation Roundtable, supported by the American Cancer Society and is on the Leadership Council of AONN+.  Ms. Dwyer also advises Fight Colorectal, a national colorectal survivorship nonprofit, in their health promotion and research aims.

Daysha Ferrer-Torres, PhD

Dr. Daysha Ferrer-Torres earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, receiving multiple prestigious honors, including the Sloan Undergraduate Minority Research Award. She later worked under the mentorship of Dr. David G. Beer at the University of Michigan, focusing on the molecular characterization of esophageal adenocarcinomas and investigating racial disparities in cancer incidence. 

During her Ph.D., Dr. Ferrer-Torres was awarded the Rackham Merit Fellowship and the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship from the National Cancer Institute. In 2017, she joined the Spence Lab, applying single-cell RNA sequencing to characterize human in vitro models that mimic the cellular heterogeneity of the esophagus. Her postdoctoral efforts earned her the MICHR Postdoctoral Translational Scholars Program (PTSP) Fellowship and an appointment to the Center for Organogenesis Training Fellowship. 

Dr. Ferrer-Torres is also an award-winning public speaker and skilled science communicator with expertise across written, verbal, and visual platforms. She is the recipient of the K99-R00 award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) for research focused on cancer progression and the use of human-derived organoids to explore racial disparities in disease.

Dr. Ferrer-Torres currently serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, where she has established the Ferrer-Torres Lab. Her lab focuses on esophagogastric diseases and translational research, supported by the Katy O. and Paul M. Rady Esophageal and Gastric Center of Excellence at the University of Colorado Cancer Center.

Sunnie Kim, MD

Dr. Sunnie Kim is an Associate Professor and GI medical oncologist at the University of Colorado Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Kim received her medical degree at Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City and completed residency in internal medicine at New York University. She completed her oncology fellowship at New York Presbyterian Hospital - Weill Cornell Campus. Currently, Dr. Kim serves on the NCCN Panel for gastric and esophageal cancers and is the PI on multiple investigator initiated and industry sponsored clinical trials in gastric and esophageal cancers.

Benedetto Mungo, MD

I am an Assistant Professor of Surgery within the division of Surgical Oncology. I am one of the surgeons hosting the Esophageal Multidisciplinary Conference and a large part of my practice consists of gastroesophageal malignancies.

My research aims to improve surgical and oncological outcomes for patients with gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary malignancies, with a focus on minimally invasive surgical techniques and new technology.

I have a background in GI Surgical Oncology, with specific training on robotic foregut and hepatobiliary surgery, and every stage of my professional development has taken place at a major cancer center.

My early work, during my Postdoctoral Fellowship, was focused on the surgical treatment of esophageal cancer and has led to the consolidation of expertise in implementation of minimally invasive esophagectomy programs and in developing research tools to improve outcomes of patients affected by this disease. I successfully led several projects in this arena and collaborated with other researchers in multidisciplinary teams, producing several peer reviewed publications on esophageal disease.

Richard Schulick, MD, MBA

Lauren Zimmaro, PhD

I am a behavioral scientist, licensed clinical psychologist, and registered yoga instructor who is dedicated to improving individuals’ emotional and physical well-being through research and clinical work. With my training in clinical health psychology, biobehavioral science, and mind-body therapies, I use an integrative approach to my science and psychotherapy services to help people live fulfilling and meaningful lives, especially in the face of illnesses such as cancer. 

Special thanks to our generous sponsors!

Coming soon….

You can view agendas from previous O’Hara Symposium’s below:

2023 Program

2021 Program

2020 Program

2019 Program