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Conference Agenda

Thursday, April 16, 2026

Nicholson Tower Auditorium, OU Health Sciences

7:00 am – 8:00 am - Conference Registration & Breakfast

SESSION I: Welcome Addresses from University of Oklahoma Health Sciences’ Administration (8:00 am – 8:35 am)

8:00 am – 8:05 am - Resham Bhattacharya, PhD, Co-Chair

8:05 am – 8:15 am - Gary Raskob, PhD, Vice President and Provost

8:15 am – 8:35 am - Joseph Harroz, Jr., JD, President of the University of Oklahoma

BREAK (8:35 am – 8:40 am)

SESSION II : Connecting the Dots (8:40 am – 10:50 am)

Chairs: Jed Friedman, Ph.D, Michael Bronze, MD

8:40 am – 8:45 am - Session Introduction

8:45 am – 9:20 am - Key Note 1 (30+5) James P. Allison

9:20 am – 9:50 am  - Speaker 2 (25+5) Sabrina Diano

9:50 am – 10:20 am - Speaker 3 (25+5) Ali Shilatifard

10:20 am – 10: 50 am - Speaker 4 (25+5) Celeste Simon

Coffee Break – 10:50 – 11:00 am

SESSION III: Connecting the Dots - Short talk, Hot topics (11:00 am – 12:05 pm)

Chairs: Ann West, Ph.D. and Souvik Maiti, Ph.D (IGIB, India)

Committee will be created to select the talks from the submitted abstracts

11:00 am – 11:05 am - Session Introduction

11:05 am – 11:15 am - Speaker 1 (7+3)

11:15 am – 11:25 am - Speaker 2 (7+3)

11:25 am – 11:35 am - Speaker 3 (7+3)

11:35 am – 11:45 am - Speaker 4 (7+3)

11:45 am – 11:55 am - Speaker 5 (7+3)

11:55 am – 12:05 pm - Speaker 6 (7+3)

Lunch and networking (12:05 – 12: 50):Round Table

SESSION IV: Connecting the dots (12:50 pm – 3:00 pm)

Chairs: Julia Busik, Ph.D and Greg Blakey, MD

12:50 pm – 12:55 pm - Session Introduction

12:55 pm – 1:30 pm - Key Note 5 (30+5) Kristi Anseth

1:30 pm – 2:00 pm - Speaker 6 (25+5) Ron DePinho

2:00 pm – 2:30 pm - Speaker 7 (25+5) Natalie Artzi

2:30 pm – 3:00 pm - Speaker 8 (25+5) Arul Chinnaiyan

Coffee Break (3:00 PM – 3:10 PM)

SESSION V : Connecting the dots (3:10 pm – 5:05 pm)

Chairs: Judith James, MD.PhD and Karl Hansen, MD.PhD

3:10 pm – 3:15 pm - Session Introduction

3:15 pm – 3:50 pm - Key Note 9 (30+5) Randy Schekman

3:50 pm – 4:20 pm - Speaker 10 (25+5) Shana Kelly

4:20 pm – 4:50 pm - Speaker 11 (25+5) Philip Scherer

4:50 pm – 5:05 pm - Acknowledgement (vote of thanks, Mannel)

5:20pm – 5:45pm - Transportation to the Reception

5:45 pm – 6:45 pm - Reception

6:45 pm – 7:30 pm - Oklahoma Fancy Dancer

7:30pm – 8:30pm - Dinner

Friday, April 17, 2026

Nicholson Tower Auditorium, OU Health Sciences

7:00 am – 8:00 am - Conference Registration & Breakfast

SESSION VI: Connecting the dots (8:00 am – 10:20 am)

Chairs: Leo Tsiokas, Ph.D and Kathleen Moore, MD

8:00 am – 8:05 am - Session Introduction                                           

8:05 am – 8:40 am - Keynote 12 (30+5) Aaron Ciechenover

8:40 am – 9:10 am - Speaker 13 (25+5) Milan Mrksich

9:10 am – 9:40 am - Speaker 14 (25+5) Clay Semenkovich

9:40 am – 10:20 am - Speaker 15 (25+5) Jeremy Reiter

Coffee Break (10:20 – 10:30 am)

Session VII: Connecting the dots (10:20 am – 12:30 pm)

Chairs: Ian Dunn, MD and Jun Li, Ph.D

10:30 am – 10:35 am - Session Introduction                                           

10:35 am – 11:10 am - Keynote (30+5) 16 William G. Kaelin

11:10 am – 11:40 am - Speaker 17 Chad Mirkin

11:40 am – 12:10 pm - Speaker 18 Ana Maria Cuervo

LUNCH (12: 10pm – 1:10 pm)+ poster talk (4+1)

Committee will be created to select flash talks from the submitted abstracts for posters

Chairs: Geeta Rao, Ph.D and Kyle Wright, MD. PhD

Session VIII: Connecting the dots (1:30 pm – 3:40 pm)

Chairs: Matt Hulver, Ph.D and Courtney Griffin, Ph.D

1:10 am – 1:15 am - Session Introduction                           

1:15 am – 1:50 pm - Keynote 19 (30+5)  Dafna Bar-Sagi

1:50 pm – 2:20 pm - Speaker 20 Chi Van Dang (25+5)

2:20 am – 2:50 - Speaker 21 Carl June (25+5)

2:50 – 3:20 pm - Speaker 22 Padmanee Sharma

COFEE BREAK – 3:20 pm – 3:30 PM

Session IX: Connecting the dots

Chairs: Jimmy Ballard, Ph.D and Mary Beth Humphrey, MD. Ph.D

3:30 pm – 3:35 pm - Session Introduction                                           

3:35 mm – 4:10 pm - Keynote 23 (30+5) Drew Weissman

4:10 pm – 4:40 pm - Speaker 24 (25+5) James Chen

4:40 pm – 5.10 pm - Speaker 25 (25+5) Jonathan Long

5:20 – 5:45  Transportation to the Reception

5:45 – 6:30  - Reception

6:30 – 7:30 - North Indian Classical Music (Flute and Tabla)

7:30 – 8:30 - Dinner