David Carbone graduated summa cum laude from Amherst College in 1977 and received an MD and a PhD in Molecular Biology and Genetics at Johns Hopkins University in 1985. He then did an Internal Medicine internship and residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital through 1988 followed by a Medical Oncology fellowship at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD. In 1991 he was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 1995. He was recruited to Vanderbilt University in 1996 where he was promoted to full Professor in 1998. He is currently Professor of Medicine, Cell Biology, and Cancer Biology at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Director of the Experimental Therapeutics Program and the Thoracic Oncology Center at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. He is also Director and Principal Investigator of the Vanderbilt Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Lung Cancer and the Strategic Partnering to Evaluate Cancer Signatures UO1 consortium. His research interests, grant support and publications have been focused on lung cancer, and specifically proteomic and expression array signature development, lung cancer genetics, cancer immunotherapy, tumorassociated immunosuppression mechanisms and gene therapy. Recent research directions include molecular profiling of lung cancers and preneoplasias, especially the use of mass spectrometry-based proteomics. He as over 150 peer-reviewed publications and review articles, has served on several NCI grant review panels, including the clinical program project parent committee, and has continuous NCI funding since early in his career. He has served on organizing committees for both ASCO and AACR and is currently Chair of the Lung Biology subcommittee for the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group and currently serves on the Board of Scientific Counselors for the NCI.

Dr. Steven has extensive experience in academic investigation, administration, mentorship and peer review. He has received federal peer-reviewed funding for translational lung cancer research for the past 20 years. Dr. Dubinett is nationally recognized for translational research in the immunobiology of lung cancer. Building on original discoveries regarding the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of lung cancer he has developed a translational research program, which now utilizes these laboratory-based discoveries in the clinical setting. He has been involved in mentoring trainees at all levels in a peer-review funded, translational research program. Twenty of the 23 post-doctoral fellows from his research program are currently continuing in either academic or industry research careers. He has been active both within the training programs in the UCLA academic community and, nationally, in setting policy as a member of foundation and NIH training committees on training. He recently served on the NCI Translational Research Working Group and has served as a mentor for the American Association for Cancer Research grant writing workshop for the past seven years.

He has served on numerous study sections and special emphasis panels for the NIH including chair of the study section for the Lung SPOREs, reviewer for PO1s, the EDRN, Clinical Oncology and Tumor Microenvironment study sections and site review teams for the NCI intramural programs. Dr. Dubinett serves on numerous committees for professional societies including the ASCO Education Committee, the AACR – Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Awards Selection Committee, the ATS Clinical Problems Program Committee and the organizing committee for the IASLC World Conference on Lung Cancer. He currently serves on the External Advisory Boards (EABs) for the Lung Cancer SPOREs at Colorado and Vanderbilt and the mesothelioma PO1 at the University of Pennsylvania. He served as a member of the NCI TRWG. He has received competitive awards for lung cancer research including the Cecile Lehman Mayer Research Award, the Helen Neufeld Award and the Career Investigator Award from the American Lung Association. In 2008 Dr. Dubinett received the American Thoracic Society Award for Scientific Achievement. He was the Scientific Program Chairperson for the Seventh Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research.

Graduating from Harvard University, Dr. Johnson earned his medical degree from the University of Minnesota in 1979. He continued his education through an internship and residencies in internal medicine at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics. From 1982 to 1985, he was a Clinical Associate at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Dr. Johnson spent 17 years in the NCI-Navy Medical Oncology Branch of the Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, serving as Acting Director in 1991. He came to the Lowe Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 1998, after serving for six years as the head of the Lung Cancer Biology section of the NCI's Medicine Branch.

Dr. Johnson's laboratory-based research is devoted to testing novel therapeutic agents for their efficacy against lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies. His group was among those that discovered that patients with partial and complete responses to the epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors gefitinib and erlotinib have mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor. These discoveries have been licensed to Genzyme which provides testing to identify patients with lung cancers to help select the initial treatment for patients with advanced disease. Dr. Johnson leads a research team that is applying these findings to the clinical treatment of patients with lung cancer. Under his leadership, the Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology has recently launched the "genomics initiative", with the goal to first, expand the percentage of patients undergoing genomic characterization and second, to put more patients on trials with genomic eligibility criteria.

Dr. Johnson is the author of more than 250 articles, chapters, reviews, and editorials. He is currently chair of the biology subcommittee to the External Scientific Committee for the NCI National Human Genome Research Institute Pilot Project Characterizing Cancer Genomes. He is currently one of four project leaders of the World Health Organization's Pathology Panel, who are redefining adenocarcinoma of the lung by integrating the different genetic markers into different types of lung cancer. He serves as Senior Editor for Clinical Cancer Research and is on the Editorial Board for International Journal of Oncology and Journal of Clinical Oncology. From 2001 to 2005, Dr. Johnson served as Chair of the Small Cell Lung Cancer Guidelines Committee for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). He was elected to the ASCO Board of Directors in 2008 and received the ASCO Cancer Foundation's Translational Research Professorship. Dr. Johnson was recently given the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Scientific Award for his life-time scientific contribution in thoracic malignancy research.

Dr. Johnson is a medical oncologist who specializes in lung cancer, breast cancer, and experimental therapeutics, (developing and testing new anti-cancer treatment therapies). His clinical research efforts include not only new treatment regimens but also studying drugs that are currently approved for other diseases such as Celebrex (approved for treating arthritis). Although Celebrex is not considered therapeutic in treating lung cancer, Dr. Johnson hopes to learn important information that will prove useful in developing future treatments.

Dr. Johnson oversees a division that is in the forefront of cancer treatment and research. Our goal is to detect cancer at the earliest stages and suppress its growth before it becomes malignant as well as develop new treatment therapies that target specific defects in cancer cells while sparing healthy cells.

Dr. Johnson is a widely recognized investigator, the author of over 250 publications, editor or co-editor of numerous oncology textbooks and is actively involved in numerous professional associations including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Dr. Johnson is the Immediate Past President of ASCO which is the world's largest professional organization representing physicians who treat people with cancer. In 2004, Dr. Johnson was once again listed as one of the "top doctors" in the nation in America's Top Doctors rankings.

Dr. Khuri received his B.S. degree in Biology from the Yale University and his M.D. from Columbia University. He did his internship/ residency at Boston City Hospital and a fellowship in hematology and medical oncology at Tufts University/ New England Medical Center. Upon completing his fellowship, he began his career in the Department of Thoracic/ Head and Neck Medical Oncology at University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston Texas.

Currently, Dr. Khuri is the Deputy Director for Clinical and Translational Research, Roberto C. Goizueta Chair in Cancer Research, Professor and Chair of Hematology and Oncology at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. His focus in cancer research is to develop molecular, prognostic, therapeutic, and chemopreventive approaches to improve the standard of care for cancer patients. In addition, he is interested in the development of viral, oncolytic, and gene therapy strategies in lung cancer and head and neck cancer. He is an active member of the American Association for Cancer Research, American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. Dr. Khuri authored more than 120 articles for peer-reviewed journals. He serves on the editorial board for Archives of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Cancer, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Clinical Cancer Research, and American Journal of Clinical Oncology, and reviews manuscripts for these and several other journals. He has been the recipient of an American Cancer Society Career Development Award, numerous DoD and NIH/ NCI grants, as well as funding from the State of Georgia. He has been honored by induction into the American Society of Clinical Investigation, inclusion in the Best Doctors in America and by receiving the Naji Sahyoun Memorial Award from the Middle East Medical Assembly. He has been named a Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Scholar every year since 2003. He is a regular speaker and moderator at international symposia on the treatment and prevention of lung and head and neck cancers.

In the Spring of 2006, Emory University received funding for a five-year NCI program project in lung cancer entitled "Targeting cell signaling in lung cancer to enhance therapeutic efficacy" of which Dr. Khuri is the principal investigator. In 2008, investigators at Emory received funding for a head and neck SPORE application. Dr. Khuri is the co-principal investigator of this grant and leads one scientific project and the career development program of the SPORE.

Dr. Shepherd received her M.D. from the University of Toronto in 1970 and currently is a senior staff physician at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada where she holds the Scott Taylor Chair in Lung Cancer Research and is also the site Group Leader for the Lung Cancer site. She is a Full Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto and served as the University Division Director for Medical Oncology for 6 years from 1997 to 2003.

Dr. Shepherd has been recognized for her many contributions in the field of lung cancer research, most notably her longstanding international leadership in the development of innovative therapies for lung cancer. In 2001 she was named the Scott Taylor Chair in Lung Cancer Research, becoming the first holder of this esteemed research position with a primary goal of investigating new options for lung cancer therapy. As Chair, Dr. Shepherd plays a vital role in attracting graduate students, scientists, other doctors and further research funding which will enable her team to intensify their study of lung cancer. Dr. Shepherd also serves as Chair of the Lung Cancer Site Committee of the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group and is the immediate past President of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, having served as president from 2003-2005. She was the recipient of the Jacqueline Seroussi Memorial Award for Cancer Research in 2004, The O Harold Warwick Award for Research Excellence of the National Cancer Institute of Canada in 2006 and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Research Award in 2007. She received the Order of Ontario in 2007.

Dr. Shepherd has been the co-investigator or principal investigator in over eighty trials since 1982. In 2002, she was a part of a team at Princess Margaret Hospital credited with the first identification of gene clusters that are involved in lung cancer using microarray technology that are involved in lung cancer. This work was funded by the National Cancer Institute of Canada. She was the senior investigator for the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group BR.10 trial of adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery for non-small cell lung cancer, a study that showed that this form of therapy could improve survival at 5 years by 15%. She was also the Principal Investigator for the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group BR.21 trial that led to the recent approval of erlotinib for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who had received at least one regimen of chemotherapy. This international trial demonstrated that erlotinib, a new molecularly targeted therapy increased survival in advanced NSCLC patients who typically have no other treatment options. These two trials have changed treatment for early stage and advanced stage patients with lung cancer around the globe.

Dr. Shepherd has been instrumental in establishing Lung Cancer Tumour Banks in order to perform correlative science studies pertaining to lung cancer. Through her leadership, she has brought together a team of basic and clinical reaseachers committed to the evaluation of molecular pathways in lung cancer. This team is recognized world-wide as one of the foremost groups of bench to bedside research pertaining to lung cancer.

Dr. Shepherd has served as the chair of the American Society of Clinical Oncology Membership and Publications Committees. She sits on numerous national and international Lung Cancer Advisory Boards, and chairs and/or sits on several Data and Safety Monitoring Boards for international lung cancer trials in Europe and North America. She has authored 291 peer reviewed publications and 35 book chapters.

Michael Weitz graduated from USC in 1980 and received his M.D. from The Chicago Medical School in 1984. He did 2 post graduate years at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, one each in Internal Medicine and General Surgery before completing the UCLA Emergency Medicine Residency Program in 1990. He became Assistant Professor of Medicine at UCLA and a part time faculty member in the Department of Emergency Medicine at UCLA/ Olive View Medical Center. He won the prestigious Golden Olive Award for excellence in teaching for three consecutive years. He has been the Associate Director of the Emergency Department at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California since 1994. Michael is a lung cancer advocate and is himself a lung cancer survivor since 2006.