Yale Cancer Center faculty and trainees joined 22,000 cancer researchers from around the world to share the latest advances in cancer science and medicine for the 116th annual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting. The meeting took place April 27-30, 2025 in Chicago.

Patricia LoRusso, DO, FAACR, Amy and Joseph Perella Professor of Medicine at Yale Cancer Center and AACR President for 2024-25, shared her global view on cancer. In her presidential address, Dr. LoRusso discussed how to bring the puzzle pieces together to transform oncology drug development to truly personalize medicine for our patients using perseverance, persistence, and patience. “Cancer is a global disease—it spares no continent, no country. And each patient that gets the disease deserves treatment."

On Monday, April 28, 2025, Dr. LoRusso's term as President ended as she passed the gavel to Lillian Siu, MD, FAACR from the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Dr. LoRusso will now serve as Immediate Past President of the organization and will continue her work to create a national Clinical Trials Advancement Council, improve global oncology education and training, and strengthen clinical trials in Africa by training teams of providers in African countries.

Yale presented during 37 sessions at the meeting, highlighting advances in cancer immunology, spatial profiling, epigenetics, DNA damage repair, cancer evolution, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), and biomarkers, among many others. Kurt Schalper, MD, PhD, associate professor of pathology, presented a plenary talk highlighting developments in spatial analysis, noting that spatial immune heterogeneity is not a passive phenomenon, sharing that higher levels are associated with worse outcomes. 16 posters were displayed sharing research from several Yale Cancer Center research programs spanning departments throughout Yale School of Medicine, Yale School of Public Health, and Yale School of Nursing. The full list of participation is noted below.