Ninth Annual University of Colorado MSTP Retreat
On behalf of the MSTP Retreat Committee and MSTP Student Council, we invite you to the 9th annual MSTP retreat! This annual event strengthens our MSTP student and alumni community by providing a forum where current MSTPs, MSTP alumni, and mentors learn about the ongoing research of current students and celebrate our recent individual and collective successes.
2027 MSTP Retreat
Friday, February 5
8:30 AM-4:15 PM
Location TBA
Social Hour to follow
Schedule
To be determined!Keynote Speaker
Sana Karam, MD, PhD, is the Elizabeth H. and James S. McDonnell III Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She is a physician-scientist and radiation oncologist specializing in the treatment of head and neck, pancreatic, and central nervous system malignancies. Her research focuses on understanding how radiation therapy modulates the tumor immune microenvironment and developing novel therapeutic strategies to overcome treatment resistance. She leads a laboratory research program integrating basic science, translational research, and clinical investigation, with an emphasis on understanding interactions between cancer cells, immune cells, and stromal components of the tumor microenvironment. Her work has challenged established paradigms in radiation oncology and advanced novel combinations of radiation therapy and immunotherapy from preclinical models into clinical trials.
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As a physician-scientist, Dr. Karam is deeply committed to translating laboratory discoveries into improved treatments for patients with cancer. Her research has demonstrated the therapeutic potential of simultaneously targeting PD-1 and IL-2 βγ receptors in combination with radiation therapy for pancreatic adenocarcinoma, with findings published in Cancer Cell in 2023. Her investigations of head and neck cancer have challenged conventional approaches to elective nodal irradiation in the context of immunotherapy, as reported in Nature Communications in 2022, and advanced combined radiation and immunotherapy strategies from animal models into phase I/Ib clinical trials, as published in Nature Cancer in 2022. As a clinical trialist, she leads numerous investigator-initiated studies designed to translate mechanistic insights into new therapeutic approaches. She maintains active clinical and preclinical research collaborations with industry partners, including Roche, Genentech, Amgen, Tvardi, and AstraZeneca. Beyond her laboratory and clinical trial activities, Dr. Karam has led population health research initiatives aimed at improving cancer care delivery and patient outcomes.
Dr. Karam grew up in Lebanon and was the first in her family to attend college. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the American University of Beirut, where she subsequently worked as a charge nurse in the Coronary Care Unit. She completed a Master of Science in Trauma and Critical Care Nursing at the University of Maryland while working in the Multi-Trauma Intensive Care Unit at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. She subsequently earned her PhD in Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Washington, focusing on developmental neurobiology while continuing to practice critical care nursing at Harborview Medical Center. Following a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical oncology at Johns Hopkins University, she pursued her medical degree and completed her residency training in radiation oncology at Georgetown University. Her interdisciplinary training across nursing, basic science, and medicine informs her approach to cancer research, clinical translation, and patient care.
