Liquid Biopsy Symposium

Date and Location

• Monday, September 29, 2025
• In-person: 9:00am–1:00pm (NRB Auditorium)
• Webinar: 1:00–2:00pm (NRB Auditorium and Zoom)

Agenda

9:00–9:10am

Opening Remarks
 

9:10–9:30am

"EFIRM Liquid Biopsy"

David Wong, DMD, DMSc
Professor, School of Dentistry, Division of Oral & Systemic Health Sciences

9:30–9:50am

"Harnessing Extracellular Vesicle-Derived Molecular/Functional Signatures for Management of Solid Tumors"

Hsian-Rong Tseng, PhD
Professor, Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology

9:50–10:10am

"Role of ctDNA in Bladder Cancer"

Alexandra Drakaki, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology

10:10–10:30am

Break
 

10:30–10:50am

"Developing Liquid Biopsy Tools for Diagnosing ALS"

Matteo Pellegrini, PhD
Professor, Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology

10:50–11:10am

"Patient-Derived Tumor Organoids for Precision Medicine"

Alice Soragni, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

11:10–11:45am

Lunch
 

11:45–12:05pm

"Cell-Free DNA for Precision Oncology and Health Monitoring"

Xianghong (Jasmine) Zhou, PhD 
Professor, Department of Pathlogy and Laboratory Medicine

12:05–12:25pm

"Circulating Tumor DNA in Lung Cancer in 2025"

Arjan Gower, MD, MS
Clinical Instructor, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology

12:25–12:45pm

"Harnessing AI for Multimodal Fusion in Liquid Biopsy: Advancing Early Cancer Detection"

William Hsu, PhD
Professor, Department of Radiological Sciences, Bioengineering

12:45–1:00pm

Break
 

1:00–2:00pm

Webinar Panel

Paul Boutros, PhD, MBA
Vice Dean for Research (interim)
Professor, Departments of Human Genetics and Urology
Associate Director of Cancer Informatics, Institute for Precision Health
Director of Cancer Data Science, UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center

Dino Di Carlo, PhD
Professor and Chair, Department of Bioengineering

Marla Lipsyc-Sharf, MD
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology

Liying Zhang, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Director, Advanced Molecular Diagnostics Service 
Director, Cancer Molecular Diagnostics, UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center

2:00pm

Symposium Ends