2019 Meeting Menu
Schedule at A Glance
Exhibitor and Sponsor Prospectus
Keynote Speakers
Dr. May Abdel-Wahab, MD, PhD is the Director of the Division of Human Health at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a United Nations (UN) agency with over 170 member states world-wide. The IAEA’s Division of Human Health conducts clinical trials, training and educational initiatives and provides expertise to technical cooperation projects in countries requesting support in radiotherapy, medical physics and diagnostic imaging, including particle therapy as well as missions and audit services to support radiotherapy quality assurance globally. Dr Abdel-Wahab has more than 30 years of experience in patient care, teaching and research in the field of radiation medicine. Prior to joining the IAEA Dr Abdel-Wahab was a Professor at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner School of Medicine, Case Western University and was Section Head of Gastro-Intestinal Radiation Oncology at the Cleveland Clinic, USA. A former residency program director, Dr Abdel-Wahab continues to hold a special interest in education and curriculum development, and has chaired numerous symposia and scientific meetings as scientific secretary. In addition to serving on FRS Board of directors, and several advisory and editorial boards, Dr Abdel-Wahab also served on various national and international committees, both as a member and/or chair, including the United Nations Interagency Task Force steering committee (UNIATF), the ASTRO Diversity and Disparity committee, Integrated Healthcare Enterprises in Radiation Oncology (IHERO) planning committee, and the Steering committee of the UN Joint Project on Cancer Cervix Prevention and Control, among others. Dr May Abdel-Wahab is a fellow of the American Board of Radiology, Fellow of the American Society of Radiation Oncology and was on the Best Doctors in America listing, among other honors. She is an avid lecturer and participant on scientific panels, served on expert panels for treatment guidelines and is published widely (over 150 publications). She has an interest in healthcare access and training, as well as novel solutions to address disparity and diversity issues in healthcare with an emphasis on radiation oncology.
Dr. Brian Gastman, MD is the Surgical and co-director for Cleveland Clinic’s Melanoma and High-risk Skin Cancer Program, Dr. Gastman is also Professor of surgery at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. He is double boarded in otolaryngology and plastic surgery, his research interests include melanoma, non-melanoma skin and soft tissue cancers specifically in tumor immune evasion and chemotherapy resistance; interaction between lymph node, tumor, and immune system; and less invasive sentinel lymph node surgery.
He is a member of the Society of Immunotherapy of Cancer’s Melanoma Task Force, as well as on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Melanoma and skin cancers Treatment Guideline Committee. Active with the NCI-based Cancer Immunotherapy Trial Network and ECOG-ACRIN, he is the national principal investigator for the largest Merkel Cell carcinoma trial. He is institutional PI on multiple trials as well. Dr. Gastman serves on the editorial board of Annals of Surgical Oncology. As a surgeon he is active in improving outcomes in reconstructive surgery and was the primary surgeon for two patients who underwent facial allotransplantation.
PD Dr. Ruediger Wessalowski, MD was born and raised in the Lower Rhine region of Germany, where he received his education. After he received his license to practice medicine in 1987, he obtained his MD degree from Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf in 1993 and specialized in pediatric oncology and hematology. From 1991-2019 Dr. Wessalowski has been a Scientist within the Hyperthermia Study Group at Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, and since 2000 an Associate Professor in the Clinic for Pediatric Oncology, Hematology and Clinical Immunology in the Medical Faculty Duesseldorf, Germany, where he leads a clinical research program for regional deep hyperthermia for children, adolescents and young adults.
Dr. Wessalowski has devoted his research career to the development of hyperthermia strategies for children and translation of the hyperthermia technology to clinical practice in childhood cancer. His efforts led to the world’s first prospective human trial of regional deep hyperthermia in infants and small children with refractory and/or recurrent cancer (Hyper-PEI protocol).
The hyperthermia strategy in childhood cancer according to the Hyper-PEI protocol - registered at the German Cancer Society (number 50-2732) - now has investigational approval in Germany, and is being evaluated clinically by the German Society of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology (GPOH) since 2004.
He has been honored for his work by the European Society of Hyperthermic Oncology with the ESHO-BSD-award in 2013. He is editorial board member of the International Journal of Hyperthermia (IJH) and deputy spokesman of the Interdisciplinary Hyperthermia Working Group (IAH) of the German Cancer Society.
In addition to the development of clinical hyperthermia therapy strategies in children, adolescents and adults, Dr. Wessalowski has explored the potential for non-invasive temperature measurement in the body of children and adults using BSD 2000-3D-Hydrid System. His interests include also the preclinical and clinical analysis of heat shock proteins as immune modulators, preclinical and clinical drug testing for thermosensitisation, and translation of experimental hyperthermia treatment strategies into clinical evaluation.
36th Annual Society for Thermal Medicine Meeting
Dear Friends and Supporters of STM,
On behalf of the STM Governing Council and meeting Planning Committee, it is my pleasure to invite you to join us for our 36th Annual Meeting in St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA, at the beautiful Tradewinds Island Resort, April 28 - May 2, 2019.
The 36th Annual Meeting of the Society for Thermal Medicine will provide an arena for presentations of latest data, concepts, and breakthroughs in our ever-expanding understanding of thermal medicine in the context of medicine, engineering, physics, materials science, biology and immunology. Keynote and Plenary speakers will highlight the extensive connections among clinical applications of thermal medicine, onco-immunology, physics, biology, imaging, and the thermal state. International thought leaders will lead breakout sessions on:
• Clinical trials in cancer and other diseases
• Traditional hyperthermia
• HIPEC
• Ablative thermal therapy
• Cryotherapy
• Treatment Planning
• Nanotechnology
• Tissue engineering and immune engineering
• Functional imaging
• Cellular response to stress to thermal therapy
• Immunology/immunotherapy in thermal medicine
• Combination therapies with hyperthermia and cryotherapy
• Thermal medicine in infectious diseases
...and many more!
We look forward to seeing you in sunny St. Pete Beach!
Sincerely,
Jennifer Yu, MD, PhD
2019 STM Program Chair
President-Elect, Society for Thermal Medicine
Thank you to our Sponsors!
Diamond Level
Gold Level
Silver Level
Friends Level
Supporting Level Sponsors
2019 Program Chair
Jennifer Yu, MD, PhD
2019 STM Program Chair,
STM President-Elect
Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland, OH 44195
yuj2@ccf.org
Planning Committee
Program Chair: Jennifer Yu, MD, PhD, Cleveland Clinic
Corporate Relations & Fundraising Chair: Zeljko Vujaskovic, MD, PhD, University of Maryland
Randy Burd, PhD, Long Island University
Rajiv Chopra, PhD, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Erik Cressman, MD, PhD, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Chris Diederich, PhD, University of California San Francisco
Mark Dewhirst, PhD, DVM, Duke University Medical Center
Rohan Fernandes, PhD, The George Washington Cancer Center
Steven Fiering, PhD, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College
Michael Graner, PhD, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery
Robert Griffin, PhD, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Dieter Haemmerich, PhD, Medical University of South Carolina
Mark Hurwitz, MD, Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals
Robert Ivkov, PhD, Johns Hopkins University
Samir Jenkins, PhD, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Nicole Levi-Polyachenko, PhD, Wake Forest School of Medicine
Alireza Mohammad Mohammadi, MD, Cleveland Clinic
Arlene Oei, PhD, Academic Medical Center Amsterdam
Elizabeth Repasky, PhD, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
Dario Rodrigues, PhD, University of Maryland
Jason Stafford, MD, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Paul Stauffer, PhD, Thomas Jefferson University
Christopher Lapine, STM Business Manager, Allen Press, Inc.