Dr. Creelan earned his MD from Jefferson Medical College. He completed an Internal Medicine Residency at Thomas Jefferson University in the Department of Internal Medicine. Dr. Creelan then completed a Hematology Oncology Fellowship at the University of South Florida at Moffitt Cancer Center and a Master's Degree in Clinical and Translational Research through the National Institute of Health K30-sponsored SPOR program. Dr. Creelan focuses on translational and clinical research, specifically the development of new immune therapies, for the treatment of lung cancers. His research efforts aim to more effectively treat these cancers based on new insights into the biology of the disease.

I am a medical oncologist at Yale Cancer Center with a background in translational research in metastasis, as well as extensive experience in clinical practice in both academic and community settings. My specialty is in thoracic oncology and I am involved in clinical research protocols specific to our patients with lung cancer. I have a special interest in developing novel therapeutics for patients with non-small cell and small cell lung cancer, especially with an immune therapy and translational focus. In addition, I am the Associate Chief Medical Officer of Smilow Cancer Hospital and oversee operations, quality efforts, and clinical research in our Care Centers community locations. Other interests include quality improvement for cancer services.

Michael L. Cheng, MD is an attending physician at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and a faculty member at Harvard Medical School. He is a practicing medical oncologist that specializes in the care of adult patients with thoracic malignancies, especially Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), and leads clinical and translational research focused on cancer genomics and the development of novel cancer therapies. Dr. Cheng received his M.D. from the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, where he graduated with Alpha Omega Alpha honors. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and his fellowship in Medical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Dr. Parneet Cheema, HBSc, MD, MBiotech, FRCPC is an Assistant Professor, at the University of Toronto, and Corporate Division Head of Medical Oncology/Hematology at the William Osler Health System (Osler) in Brampton/Toronto, Canada. Dr. Cheema completed a Master degree in Biotechnology from the University of Toronto in which she also trained in internal medicine, and medical oncology. Dr. Cheema is also Head of Cancer Research at Osler, in which she leads a large clinical trials program based in a multiculturally diverse community catchment. She has conducted numerous clinical trials in the field of lung cancer and participated as a member of steering committees for global trials. Dr. Cheema has published and collaborated to generate multiple Canadian consensus guidelines on the management of non small cell lung cancer. She founded the Osler Immunotherapy for Cancer Program and has worked closely with her pathology colleagues to develop the first in Canada “point of care cancer genomics” at Osler.

Dr. Chaft is a thoracic oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center with a research focus in early stage non-small cell lung cancer. Her work focuses on moving advances that show promise in advanced lung cancer into the curative setting and personalizing care.

Dr. Tina Cascone MD, PhD is an assistant professor in the Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. She received her degree in medicine from the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli (former Second University of Naples), Naples, Italy. Dr. Cascone later completed her doctorate degree (PhD) in Medical and Surgical Oncology and Clinical Immunology at the same University while performing the experimental studies of her thesis at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Cascone completed her residency in Internal Medicine at the Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, and her medical oncology fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center. In 2017, Dr. Cascone became an instructor in the Advanced Scholar Program of the Cancer Medicine Division at MD Anderson. The next year, she joined the faculty as a physician-scientist assistant professor in the Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology. The overarching goal of Dr. Cascone’s research program is to identify mechanisms of response and resistance to immune-based therapies and targeted agents and develop novel therapeutic strategies to improve the cure rates of patients with operable non-small cell lung cancer.

Board certified in internal medicine, hematology, and medical oncology, Jennifer W. Carlisle, MD is an Assistant Professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Carlisle received her medical degree from the University of Florida College of Medicine and completed her internal medicine residency at Washington University in Saint Louis and Barnes Jewish Hospital.  She then completed fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University, where she was elected chief fellow. Dr. Carlisle is a member of the Discovery and Developmental Therapeutics Program and an active investigator in Emory’s Lung Cancer Spore grant from the National Cancer Institute. Her research interests include advancing understanding of immunotherapies and developing new therapies for lung cancer.

Director of Thoracic Oncology, University of Colorado

Lauren Averett Byers, MD, MS is an Associate Professor and physician-scientist in the Department of Thoracic and Head and Neck Medical Oncology and an Andrew Sabin Family Fellow at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.  She completed her B.A. degree in Molecular Biology at Princeton University, her M.D. at Baylor College of Medicine, and M.S. in Patient-Based Research at the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.  She is a member of the National Cancer Institute’s Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) Consortium and serves on the NCI’s Thoracic Malignancy Steering Committee and SCLC Working Group.

Dr. Byers’ laboratory is focused on the molecular profiling of small cell lung cancer and the development of new treatments and predictive biomarkers, particularly as they pertain to drugs targeting DNA damage repair (DDR) and immunotherapy. As a direct extension of work completed in her lab, she has led multiple clinical trials for patients with lung cancer. In addition to an outstanding publication record of over 100 peer reviewed manuscripts, Dr. Byers has earned multiple honors including two AACR The Best of AACR Journals Awards and the MD Anderson President’s Recognition for Faculty Excellence - Research Excellence Award.