Paz Vellanki received her MD/PhD at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine. Her doctoral work was in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and involved studying the molecular underpinnings of a hereditary colorectal cancer syndrome. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at the Wake Forest, School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and her fellowship in Oncology at the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center in Baltimore, Maryland. She is currently a team leader on the thoracic and head and neck cancer team at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). At the FDA, she is also involved with efforts related to ctDNA and drug development. She continues to care for patients with head and neck cancer as a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Jillian Phallen, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Oncology in the Division of Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is an investigator in the Cancer Genomics Laboratory with a research focus on liquid biopsy approaches and applications for noninvasive early detection of cancer. Dr. Phallen developed the targeted error correction sequencing (TEC-Seq) method for direct detection of circulating tumor DNA as well as an orthogonal approach for noninvasive detection of cancer called DELFI (DNA evaluation of fragments for early interception). She applied these approaches in the setting of early detection of cancer to assess the value of liquid biopsy tests for cancer screening. She also applied liquid biopsy approaches for disease monitoring to identify recurrence, track response to treatment, and detect minimal residual disease. The results of these studies have brought new advances to the field of cancer genomics and highlight the potential of liquid biopsy approaches to change patient care for the better in the future. Current research focuses on further understanding the mechanisms of cell-free DNA fragmentation and improving fragmentomics-based approaches for early detection of cancer.

After his undergraduate studies, Bardelli moved to the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in London where he obtained a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular biology from the University College London (UCL). He moved to the United States in 1999 for a post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory directed by Bert Vogelstein at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore). Here Bardelli began studying the genomics of cancer. One of his most significant publications from that period identified for the first-time mutations in kinase genes (the kinome) that are associated with colorectal cancer. As an independent investigator, he pioneered the combined use of genomics, patients’ avatars to accurately predict tumor's response and resistance to targeted agents. Alberto Bardelli identified novel biological mechanisms of resistance and sensitivity to cancer therapies, defined how deficiencies in DNA repair pathways lead to tumor immune surveillance and pioneered the use of liquid biopsies to track cancer evolution. The results of his work led to changes in clinical practice for colorectal cancer patients. In 2022 Bardelli was appointed as Scientific Director of IFOM– The AIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Milan. Overall, he has authored more than 250 scientific articles of which over 100 as an independent investigator.

Prof. Nicola Fusco is the Director of the Biobank for Translational and Digital Medicine Unit, senior pathologist of the Breast Unit at the Division of Pathology, European Institute of Oncology (IEO), Milan, Italy, and Associate Professor of Pathology at the Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, University of Milan. He is a PI leading a multidisciplinary and international group of scientists focused on predictive pathology, molecular pathology, immunopathology, and digital pathology, particularly in breast cancer. He is the recipient of national and international awards and co-founder and Scientific Board member at 4oncommunity.com

Summary-Dr. Edgardo S. Santos’ Bio sketch Dr. Santos obtained his medical degree in 1994 at the National University of Panama School of Medicine. In 1998, he moved to USA where he did internship, internal medicine residency and hematology/oncology fellowship at Jackson Memorial Hospital/University of Miami School of Medicine. Awarded “Best Fellow” in both Hematology-Oncology Division and the Department of Medicine in 2003. Dr. Santos joined Tulane University as an Assistant Professor of Medicine in 2004. Former recipient of the American Cancer Society Spirit Award. In 2008, Dr. Santos moved to University of Miami where he reached the rank of Associate Professor of Medicine in 2012. From 2012-2019, Dr. Santos was the Medical Director of Cancer Research at Lynn Cancer Institute in Boca Raton, Florida. He is the Medical Director of Research Services at Genesis Care Hematology-Oncology. Dr. Santos is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Florida Atlantic University (FAU). Member of the IASLC Membership Committee and member of the Editorial Group of IASLC Lung Cancer News. He is the President of the FLASCO Foundation and Treasurer of FLASCO. Active member of ACP, ASCO, ASH, AACR, ESMO, IASLC, FLASCO and OLA.

Ignacio I. Wistuba, MD, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Translational Molecular Pathology with Joint appointment in the Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, and co-director of the Khalifa Institute of Personalized Cancer Institute at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He is also the director of the Thoracic Molecular Pathology Laboratory, director of the UT Lung Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) Tissue Bank, director of the ECOG-ACRIN (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group-American College of Radiology Imaging Network) Central Biorepository and Pathology Facility, pathologist for the SWOG Lung Cancer Committee and the Lung Cancer Mutation Consortium, co-director of the pre-CLIA Genomic Testing Developmental Laboratory. He is associate editor of Annals of Oncology and Cancer Prevention Research.

Prof. Klaus Pantel is chairman of the Institute of Tumour Biology at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. He graduated in 1986, and after his postdoctoral period in the USA he performed research at the Institute of Immunology, University of Munich for 10 years. The pioneer work of Prof. Pantel in the field of cancer micrometastasis, circulating tumor cells and circulating nucleic acids is reflected by more than 550 publications in excellent high ranking biomedical and scientific journals and has been awarded the AACR Outstanding Investigator Award 2010, German Cancer Award 2010, and two ERC Advanced Investigator Grants 2011 and 2019. Moreover, Prof. Pantel is the founder and chairman of the European Liquid Biopsy Society (ELBS).

Chair of The Predictive Molecular Pathology Laboratory, Department of Public Health; Assistant Professor in Anatomic Pathology, School of Medicine; University Frederico II of Naples, Naples, Italy.Chair Predictive Molecular Pathology Laboratory, Department of Public Health; Assistant Professor in Anatomic Pathology, School of Medicine; University Frederico II of Naples, Naples, Italy.Specialising in predictive molecular pathology and next generation technologies for tissue and liquid biopsies, Prof. Malapelle’s work includes genomic biomarker validation and testing for prediction and prognosis in lung cancer, and next-generation assays for the detection of clinically actionable mutations (including MET, EGFR, and PD-L1). He has authorship on over 100 publications in such areas as genomics and targeted therapies, with writings in NSCLC on EGFR heterogeneity, BRAF- and KRAS-targeted therapies, liquid biopsy, and treatment-emergent resistance.Prof. Malapelle also serves as Deputy Editor for Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology, and is Scientific Secretary of the International Society of Liquid Biopsy.