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ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ-Jiler Professors & Fellows Conference

This conference boosts today¡¯s ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ-funded early-career?cancer researchers to be tomorrow¡¯s?leaders?in cancer research.?

Watch the video to feel the energy, witness the impact of the Jiler Conference.

About the Conference?

The unique and exclusive ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ-Jiler Professors and Fellows Conference brings together ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ-funded?postdoctoral fellows,?Clinician-Scientist Development Grant?recipients, and?ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Professors.?

Our goals are to leverage the ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ ecosystem to showcase innovative cancer research, foster collaborations, and advance careers, all with the intent to end cancer as we know it, for everyone."

Bill Dahut, MD

Chief Scientific Officer, Discovery Science

ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ

Bill Dahut

ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ (ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ) Research Professors?are an essential part of our ecosystem and specifically at the Jiler Conference. These seasoned mentors, who have already influenced many of today¡¯s leaders in cancer research, attend the ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ-Jiler Conference to help train the next generation of ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ-supported cancer leaders. Through formal presentations and informal gatherings, they share their expertise, experiences, and wisdom in science, mentoring, and leadership in the advancement of cancer research.

Who Are ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Professors?

ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Professors?are cancer leaders from across the country who have made seminal contributions that have changed the direction of cancer research, cancer care, or both. They are leaders at cancer centers and in academia, founders of companies, and recipients of prestigious awards, including the?Nobel Prize.

ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Professors are the ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ's most prestigious research grants.?The title can be used throughout the scientist's career, or as we say: ¡°Once an ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Professor, always an ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Professor.¡±

The 2022?ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ-Jiler Conference in Dallas

About 80 ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ-funded postdoc and clinician scientist grantees and 23 ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ research professors?attended the??with the theme ¡°Trends in Cancer Discovery and Translational Research.¡± Scientific sessions were selected to showcase the ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Extramural Discovery Science's diverse and innovative research portfolio and were considered highly engaging.

  • Precision oncology
  • Personalized interventions in cancer care
  • Cancer evolution
  • Cancer epigenome and RNA regulation
  • Cancer immunology

There were career development sessions, special programs, a poster reception, and many opportunities for networking.

How the Jiler Conference Started

One of our ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ (ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ) Clinical Research Professors, Alan Solomon, MD, helped set the first Jiler Conference in motion.?Around the mid-1990s,?Dr. Solomon's father, Joseph Solomon, an eminent estate attorney,?contacted his son and told him that one of his clients, Elsa Jiler, wished to make a significant financial contribution to a medically related organization whose efforts focused on cancer. He asked his son if the ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ would be a worthy recipient. Alan assured him that, indeed, the ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ would be an appropriate choice.??

As a result, the ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ received a $5 million donation from Mr. Solomon¡¯s client (her husband, Henry, had previously passed). Under the terms of the donation, Dr. Solomon was to advise the ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ on how the monies would be allocated.?

In the early 1990s, he had attended a joint ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Professors and ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ-supported postdoctoral fellows scientific conference and had witnessed the intellectually stimulating environment and the beneficial effects of the interchanges between the participants. Unfortunately, given monetary constraints, the?ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ
hadn't planned?further meetings of this type. Based on this earlier experience, Dr. Solomon felt it essential that financial support be provided to continue to hold such conferences.?

Accordingly, Dr. Solomon advised that $2 million of the donation be used to endow funds that would support what would be termed the Henry & Elsa Jiler Professors & Fellows Conference, to be held biennially beginning in 1999. In addition, he recommended that the remainder of the donation serve to endow another ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Clinical Research Professorship that would bear the Jiler names.

The Jilers valued creating intellectually stimulating environments to facilitate the exchange of information and promote collaboration,?so that¡¯s been our guiding principle since the inaugural gathering of professors in 1999.