Presentations & Meetings

AACR Annual Meeting 2026 (April 17 - 22, 2026) San Diego, CA accepted abstracts:

• Dr. Hamadi Madhi, Ph.D  Preclinical evidence for synergistic activity of alectinib and everolimus in ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer
• Dr. Ananya Banerjee, PhD Quaratusugene ozeplasmid mediated TUSC2 upregulation in EML4-ALK bearing non-small cell lung carcinoma induces apoptosis and is highly effective in preclinical studies

January 13 - 15, 2026: Dr. Marisa Aikins, Ph.D attended AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: Fusion-Positive Cancers and presented STING Agonist-loaded Nanoparticles in EML4-ALK Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Inhibit Tumor Growth Through Local and Systemic Immune Microenvironment Remodeling. Marisa E. Aikins, Abdullah Saeed, Xingwu Zhou, Andrew Yu, Tejas Thiyagarajan, Sydney Malawer, Maddie Bough, James J. Moon, Sofia E. Merajver, Kiran Lagisetty.

October 22-25, 2025: Dr. Ananya Banerjee, Ph.D attended AACR-NCI-EORTC Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics conference (Late Breaking Category)and presented Quaratusugene Ozeplasmid Mediated TUSC2 Upregulation in EML4-ALK Bearing Non-small Cell Lung Carcinoma Indices Apoptosis and Is Highly Effective in Preclinical Studies. Ananya Banerjee, Ph.D, Neeke Busette, Xu Cheng, MBBS, Kerslee Kohagen, Mark S. Berger, MD., Matthew B. Soellner, Ph.D., Angel Qin, MD., Sofia E. Merajver, M.D., Ph.D., Nathan M. Merrill, Ph.D. Poster.

See the latest on Dr. Banerjee's presentation and preclinical data: read more on Genprex’s website.

September 19, 2025:  Dr. Sofia Merajver attended the MGI Annual Symposium and presented Judith Tam ALK Lung Cancer Research Initiative, ATLAS, and MGI: the path to precision oncology.

September 6 - 9, 2025:  Dr. Hamadi Madhi, Ph.D presented Enhancing Alectinib Efficacy in ALK-Positive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer by Targeting mTOR at the IASLC 2025 World Lung Conference in Barcelona, Spain. Hamadi Madhi1, Habib Serhan1, Rachel Mercer1, Liwei Bao1, Xu Cheng1, Nathan M Merrill1, Sharon R Pine3, D Ross Camidge3, Sofia D Merajver1*, Angel Qin1, Matthew B Soellner2*

1. Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

2. Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

3. Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA

*indicates equal contributions

April 25 - 30, 2025: AACR 2025

• Yuru Chen, Ph.D. Candidate (standing to the left in the image with Sunitha Nagrath, Ph.D. and Sofia Merajver, M.D., Ph.D.) gave an oral presentation on Longitudinal Monitoring of Circulating Tumor Cell Burden and Single-Cell RNA Profiling in ALK-Positive NSCLC Patients during the Liquid Biopsy Session of the 2025 AACR meeting. Learn more about Yuru Chen and the 2025 AACR meeting in AACR 2025 Rogel Recap.

• Yusoo Lee, Ph.D. presented Investigating the role of Nfe2/2 in early A/k-dependent lung adenocarcinoma tumorigenesis as part of the poster presentations at the 2025 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting.

April 2025: Department of Internal Medicine Annual Research Symposium 2025

• Marisa E. Aikins Ph.D. presented Temporal Immune Evolution in a Murine EML4-ALK NSCLC Model: Genomic, Proteomic, and Drug Co-Culture Characterization. Marisa E. Aikins Ph.D., Abdullah Saeed Ph.D., Derek Nancarrow Ph.D., Sydney Malawer, Tejas Thiyagarajan, Andrew Yu, Sofia E. Merajver M.D., Ph.D., Kiran Lagisetty M.D. Poster.

• Tejas Thiyagarajan, undergraduate researcher presented Light Sheet Image Analysis for Immune Cell Spatial Localization in Lung Cancer Spheroids Using Classical Machine Learning Models. Tejas Thiyagarajan, Marisa Aikins Ph.D., Sofia Merajver M.D., Ph.D. Poster.

• Andrew Yu, undergraduate researcher presented Advancing Light Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy Techniques for Visualizing Small, Dense Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Spheroids. Andrew Yu, Tejas Thiyagarajan, Marisa Aikins Ph.D., Sofia Merajver M.D., Ph.D. Poster.

• Hamadi Madhi, Ph.D. presented:
  1. Combretastatin A-4 Enhances EGFR Inhibitor Efficacy in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
     AUTHORS: Hamadi Madhi, Nathalie Vandecan, Athena Apfel, Habib Serhan, Peter Ulintz, Liwei Bao, Xu Cheng, Aki Morikawa, Matt Soellner, Sofia Merajver*, Nathan Merrill*. 

  2. Targeting mTOR to Enhance Alectinib Efficacy in ALK-Positive Non-small Cell Lung Cancer
     AUTHORS: Hamadi Madhi, Habib Serhan, Rachel Mercer, Liwei Bao, Xu Cheng, Nathan Merrill, Sofia Merajver*, Matt Soellner*

      

April 23, 2025: Madeline Bough, presented the following at the Michigan Research and Discovery Scholars Symposium, Ann Arbor, MI:
Evaluating Dose-Response Efficacy of ALK Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor and Immunotherapy Combinations in a 3D Co-culture Model. Madeline Bough, Sydney Malawer, Marisa Aikins, PhD, Sofia Merajver, MD, PhD Poster.

March 11 - 13, 2025: Dr. Nathan Merrill attends and presents the poster Precision medicine platform to guide the treatment of NSCLC at the AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: Functional and Genomic Precision Medicine in Cancer: Different Perspectives, Common Goals.

December 2024: Marisa E. Aikins, PhD, presented the following at the IASLC Hot Topic in Basic and Translational Science, Washington, DC.
Temporal Immune Evolution in a Murine EML4-ALK NSCLC Model: Genomic, Proteomic, and Drug Co-Culture Characterization. Marisa E. Aikins, PhD, Abdullah Saeed, PhD, Derek Nancarrow, PhD, Sydney Malawer, Tejas Thiyagarajan, Andrew Yu, Sofia E. Merajver, MD, PhD, Kiran Lagisetty, MD, Poster.

November 13 - 16, 2024: Dr. Sunitha Nagrath attended AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: Liquid Biopsy: From Discovery to Clinical Implementation in San Diego, CA. She also participated in the Plenary Session 1: Biology Behind Circulating Tumor Cells, presenting Early cancer dissemination: Circulating tumor cells in ductal carcinoma in situ patients.

September 24, 2024: Marisa E. Aikins, PhD presented the following at the International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference, National Harbor, MD.:
Integrating systems immunology and tumor organoid model to screen immune-mediated resistance mechanisms to immune checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapies in EML4-ALK non-small cell lung cancer. Marisa E. Aikins, PhD, Andrew Yu, Sydney Malawer, Tejas Thiyagarajan, Kiran Lagisetty, MD, Sofia E. Merajver, PhD Poster.

September 24, 2024: PIBS 25 Anniversary Symposium, Ann Arbor, MI

• Sydney Malawer, undergraduate researcher presented: Immunotherapy and Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Combinations Exhibit Limited Efficacy in Temporal Ex Vivo EML4-ALK NSCLC Tumor Spheroid Co-cultures. Sydney Malawer, Marisa Aikins, PhD, Kiran Lagisetty, MD, Sofia Merajver, MD, PhD, Poster.
• Andrew Yu, undergraduate researcher, presented: Optimizing Light Sheet Fluorescence Microscope Imaging in Small, Dense Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Spheroids. Andrew Yu, Tejas Thiyagarajan, Marisa Aikins, PhD, Sofia Merajver, MD, Ph.D. Poster.

• Tejas Thiyagarajan, undergraduate researcher, presented: Automating Light Sheet Image Analysis to Investigate Immune Cell Spatial Localization. Tejas Thiyagarajan, Marisa Aikins, PhD, Sofia Merajver, MD, PhD Poster.

   

September 19, 2024: Dr. Sofia Merajver presented at the Mathematics Seminar at Rey Juan Carlos, in Móstoles, Spain.

"For the last 25 years, we have tried to advance cancer care to be guided by the molecular changes that can be detected in tumors. From a beginning understanding focused mainly on mutations, as technologies have progressed, and we can understand how much of each gene is expressed, the molecular characterizations have become increasingly more sophisticated. Recently, we have tried to overlay functional assessment of drug sensitivity to gene expression, hoping to be able to predict who will respond to which drug. I will show data from breast, bladder, brain metastases, and lung cancer to exemplify the problems and challenges to matching the right drug to the right patient. Computational methods are needed to enhance the robustness of the predictions."

April 24, 2024:  Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program Symposium, Ann Arbor, MI

• Tejas Thiyagarajan, undergraduate researcher presented the following award-winning poster
  Development of a Python Program to Analyze Immune Cell Spatial Localization within Lung Cancer Spheroids. Tejas Thiyagarajan, Ryan Oliver, PhD, Marisa Aikins, PhD, Sofia Merajver, MD, PhD.

• Sydney Malawer, undergraduate researcher, presented:
  In Vitro and In Vivo Validation of Immune-Competent Murine ALK+ Lung Cancer Cell Lines. Sydney Malawer, Marisa Aikins, Ph.D., Sofia Merajver, MD, PhD, Podium Presentation. 

   

October 4 - 6, 2023: Drs. Sofia Merajver and Nathan Merrill present at The 2023 Molecular Analysis for Precision Oncology Congress in Paris: Drug resistance and novel treatments for ALK-positive lung cancer.

September 10, 2023: Laura Goo to present on the Judith Tam ALK Lung Cancer Research Initiative’s infrastructure, goals, and methods at the 2023 IASLC World Conference on Lung Cancer in Singapore.

August 3 - 5, 2023: Dr. Nathan Merrill and Dr. Sofia Merajver present at the ASCO Breakthrough meeting in Yokohama, Japan: Precision medicine-based platform to guide the treatment of EML4-ALK fusion lung cancers and other non-small cell lung cancers.

April 23, 2023: Sydney Malawer presented the following at the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program Symposium, Ann Arbor, MI:
Optimization of Collagen Type I for ALK+ Lung Spheroid Models. Sydney Malawer, Marisa Aikins Ph.D., Sofia Merajver MD, Ph.D. Poster.

April 18, 2023: Yuru Chen presents on “Expansion and characterization on ALK positive NSCLC circulating tumor cells isolated using a size based inertial microfluidic Labyrinth device” at the 114th Annual American Association for Cancer Research Meeting in Orlando, Florida.

February 23, 2023: Dr. Angel Qin presents at the 2023 IASLC Targeted Therapies of Lung Cancer Meeting in Santa Monica, California about ALK resistance, ongoing research, and clinical trials.

June 9, 2022: Dr. Angel Qin presents the Judith Tam ALK Lung Cancer Research Initiative at the Hawaii Lung Cancer Summit hosted by DAVA Oncology.

October 25th, 2025: Dr. Ananya Banerjee attended the AACR-NCI-EORTC Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics conference in Boston, MA. This photo shows Dr. Banerjee with Dr. Mark Berger (Chief Medical Officer of Genprex, on the left) and Dr. Kenneth Culver (Director of Research and Clinical Affairs of ALK Positive, on the right).

September 19, 2025:  Dr. Sofia Merajver attended the MGI Annual Symposium and presented Judith Tam ALK Lung Cancer Research Initiative, ATLAS, and MGI: the path to precision oncology.

September 6 - 9, 2025:  Drs. Sofia Merajver and Angel Qin attended the World Lung Conference in Barcelona, Spain. This photo shows Dr. Merajver at the conference with Advocate Seamus Cotter and Dr. R. Katayama.

March 12, 2025: Dr. Merajver attended the farewell reception for her great friend and collaborator in computational biology, Dr Jun Li, also fellow physicist. Dr. Lin will be the new Chair for the Department of Computational Genomics and genetics at the University of Oklahoma. Good luck and Godspeed Jun, and onwards to great discoveries for humanity.

February 19-22, 2025: Drs. Merajver and Qin attend the IASLC 2025 Targeted Therapies of Lung Cancer Meeting in Huntington Beach, CA. Dr. Merajver is pictured with a dear friend and indefatigable advocate for patients with ALK lung cancer.

November 13 - 16, 2024: Drs. Sunitha Nagrath and Ananya Banerjee attended AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: Liquid Biopsy: From Discovery to Clinical Implementation in San Diego, CA.

October 16-18 2024: Dr. Sofia Merajver attended The Molecular Analysis for Precision Oncology Congress 2024 in London, UK. At a poster session, she presented Precision medicine drug testing platform to guide the treatment of EML4-ALK fusion lung cancers.  

September 13-17, 2024: Dr. Sofia Merajver attends the ESMO 2024 conference in Barcelona, Spain and met with ALK Positive Advocates. 

August 09, 2024: Dr. Sofia Merajver stands by the ALK Initiative poster 2024 ASCO Breakthrough abstract 215, “Precision medicine-based platform to guide the treatment of EML4-ALK driven lung cancers and other NSCLC in real time” at the ASCO Breakthrough Conference in Yokohama (August 10 - 24, 2024) Abstracts & Posters | ASCO Breakthrough

April 10, 2024:  Hamadi Madhi and Habib Serhan discuss variable ALK NSCLC therapeutic strategies at the AACR Annual Meeting 2024.

April 10, 2024: ALK Initiative researchers present JTARI progress at the AACR Annual Meeting 2024 in San Diego, CA.

March 20, 2024: ALK Initiative Retreat; Team meets at UM North Campus Research Complex to discuss publications, project goals, and future directions.

October 17, 2023: Dr. Sofia Merajver (pictured with Delta Airlines CEO Mr. Ed Bastian) at the Delta-Breast Cancer Research Foundation Town Hall, which took place at Delta World Headquarters in Atlanta. Dr. Merajver spoke about her research and answered questions from Delta employees who are cancer survivors. Mr. Bastian's father suffered and died from non-smokers lung cancer. Sofia explained how her team is putting all the advances they have achieved in breast and other cancers to improve our understanding of lung cancer.

October 16-17, 2023: Dr. Angel Qin (pictured second row from bottom; second from left) meets with colleagues at the 2023 LUNGevity Fall Science Meeting to discuss breakthroughs in lung oncology and the future of the field.

August 7, 2023: Drs. Sofia Merajver and Nathan Merrill meet with researchers at the National Cancer Center East in Tokyo, Japan.

June 2, 2023: Dr. Sofia Merajver and Dr. Vincent Lam (Johns Hopkins) meet at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology Meeting in Chicago, IL.