Skip to main content

AACR Annual Meeting, April 17-22, 2026 in San Diego.The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will host its annual meeting in San Diego, April 17-22.

More than a dozen UNC Lineberger and UNC faculty and trainees will present findings, chair sessions, lead session discussions and share their perspectives in topical forums and education sessions during the meeting, which typically attracts more than 20,000 attendees globally.

The meeting’s theme, “Precision, Partnership, Purpose: Advancing Cancer Science to Save Lives Globally,” reflects AACR’s focus on advancing cancer research from the bench to the clinic and back to the bench. More than 7,000 abstracts will be presented in person and digitally.

You can follow the schedule for UNC faculty and trainee presentations on UNC Lineberger social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.

Information about speakers for each day of the conference is on the AACR Annual Meeting App, and the full AACR Annual Meeting Schedule is available online.

UNC at the AACR Annual Meeting

UNC representatives are scheduled to present on the following days:

Sunday, April 19

Presenter: Humeyra Kaanoglu, PhD candidate

  • Topic: Novel Antitumor Agents 1

Presenter: Alexander Lobanov, BS

  • Topic: Application of Bioinformatics to Cancer 1

Panelist: Patricia Spears, BS, FASCO

  • Topic: Researcher Town Hall – Navigating Policy Challenges and Securing Funding

Monday, April 20

Presenter: Channing J. Der, PhD

  • Topic: Combination Therapies to Enhance RAS Inhibitor Efficacy: Thinking Outside the Box

Presenter: Brent Hanks, MD, PhD

  • Topic: Microenvironmental Determinants of Therapy Response and Resistance

Presenter: Rachel Hirschey, PhD, RN, FAAN

  • Topic: Late Breaking Research – Prevention, Early Detection, and Interception

Presenter: Amanda Linke

  • Topic: Metabolic Regulation in Breast and Gynecologic Cancers

Presenter: Ryan Mouery, PhD

  • Topic: Late Breaking Research – Experimental and Molecular Therapeutics 2

Presenter: Sarah Peterson

  • Topic: Application of Bioinformatics to Cancer Biology 3

Presenter: Attila Szenasi, MD, PhD

  • Topic: M6A Mediated Control of Kinase Reprogramming in Endocrine Therapy-Resistant Breast Cancer

Tuesday, April 21

Presenter: Wen-Hsuan Chang, PhD

  • Topic: KRAS-Targeted Therapies – Overcoming Resistance and Novel Combinations

Presenter: Dirk Dittmer, PhD

  • Topic: In Vivo Models 2 – Genetically Engineered Mouse Models, PDXs, Syngeneic Models

 Presenter: Brent Hanks, MD, PhD

  • Topic: Tumor – Immune Crosstalk

Presenter: Patricia Spears, BS, FASCO

  • Topic: Science and Health Policy 2
  • Topic: Advancing Cancer Research Through Patient and Community Partnerships

Wednesday, April 22

Presenter: Kate Gessner, MD, PhD

  • Topic: Microenvironmental Determinants of Therapy Response and Resistance 2

Presenter: Kanisha Kar, PhD

  • Topic: Preclinical Modeling of Plasmacytoid Urothelial Carcinoma to Study Cancer Mechanisms and Therapeutic Response

Presenter: Dina O’Connell, BS

  • Topic: Genomic Analysis of Microenvironment Composition by Breast Cancer Molecular Subtype Using an Integrated Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Cohort

Presenter: Maria C. White, PhD, MS

  • Topic: Overcoming Microenvironmental and Deliver Barriers in Cancer Therapy