Dr. Druker is director of the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, JELD-WEN Chair of Leukemia Research at Oregon Health & Science University, and investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Upon graduating from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine in 1981, Dr. Druker completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Barnes Hospital, Washington School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. He then trained in oncology at Harvard's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Dr. Druker then returned to the lab to begin his research career studying the regulation of the growth of cancer cells and the practical application to cancer therapies. He developed 4G10, an anti-phosphotyrosine antibody that was an essential reagent to scientists at Novartis in their kinase inhibitor drug discovery program. In collaboration with Novartis, his laboratory performed pre-clinical studies that were instrumental to the development of Gleevec (imatinib), a drug that targets the molecular defect in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). After completing a series of preclinical studies, Dr. Druker spearheaded the highly successful clinical trials of imatinib for CML. Imatinib is currently FDA approved for CML, gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) and five other cancers.

His role in the development of imatinib and its application in the clinic have resulted in numerous awards for Dr. Druker, including the AACR-Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Award, the Warren Alpert Prize from Harvard Medical School, the American Society of Hematology's Dameshek Prize, the Lance Armstrong Foundation's Pioneer of Survivorship Carpe Diem Award, the American Cancer Society's Medal of Honor, the Kettering Prize from General Motors Cancer Research Foundation, the David A. Karnofsky Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Robert-Koch Award, and the 2009 Lasker-DeBakey Award for Clinical Medical Research. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies in 2003, the American Association of Physicians in 2006, and the National Academy of Sciences in 2007.

Pat Garcia-Gonzalez

Executive Director, The Max Foundation

Pat Garcia-Gonzalez, Executive Director of The Max Foundation, has been dedicated to improving the lives of blood cancer survivors around the world for over twelve years.  A native of Argentina, Pat has a Master degree from the University of Washington and technical degree in nursing. 

Pat is co-founder of The Max Foundation, an international NGO based in Edmonds, Washington, started in 1997 to connect families facing leukemia with resources for treatment access. 

Under Pat's direction since 2005, The Max Foundation provides services to over 15,000 CML patients in more than 90 countries annually and has successfully started and supported local patient organizations in 12 countries.

In 2008, Pat was awarded the distinguished honor of the Golden Tennis Shoe Award from United States Senator, Patty Murray for her service and dedication to her community.   She is a member of the Global Health Council and of the CML Advocates Network.

Professor Tessa Holyoake

• 1980-85 Medicine Glasgow University
• 1985-86 House jobs Stobhill and Victoria, Glasgow
• 1986-89 General medical training Inverclyde Hospital, Greenock
• 1989-92 Haematology, Western Infirmary, Glasgow
• 1992-96 PhD, Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, Glasgow
• Specialist Haematology Training, Glasgow Royal Infirmary
• 1996-98 LRF Senior Lecturer, Terry Fox Labs, Vancouver
• 1999-2001 Senior Lecturer, Academic Transfusion Medicine Unit, Glasgow Royal Infirmary
• 2001-2004 Reader, Section of Experimental Haematology, Glasgow Royal
• 2004-present Professor, Section of Experimental Haematology, Glasgow Royal
• 2008 Relocation of Section of Experimental Haematology to the Paul O'Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre and West of Scotland Cancer Centre, Gartnavel Hospital

Research Interests

My research focuses on the cancer stem cell. Cancer stem cells sustain cancers and leukaemias, are inherently resistant to many cancer therapies, including novel targeted agents and ultimately cause relapse in patients following therapy. We are most interested in the blood cancers, in particular chronic myeloid leukaemia. We have developed laboratory methods to purify the cells of interest from leukaemia patients and from normal donors, allowing side by side comparisons of leukaemic versus normal stem cells. These comparisons include global analyses of gene expression and protein expression. Any differences can then be fully investigated and exploited through drug discovery. Recently we have begun to explore high throughput drug screening against the purified cancer stem cells hoping to find drugs that rapidly kill the cancer stem cells but leave normal stem cells intact.
On the clinical side I run clinical trials of novel agents for patients with CML Scotland wide.

Francisco Cervantes, MD, PhD                                    

Hematology Department

Hospital Clínic

University of Barcelona

Barcelona, Spain

Dr Francisco Cervantes is senior consultant at the Hematology Department of the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona and Professor at the University of Barcelona. His scientific interest has been focused on the study of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and the Ph-negative chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), mainly their natural history, prognosis, biology and treatment. As a result of the activity in this field, he has published over 300 articles in peer-review journals. He was co-author of the publications of the IRIS study that allowed the approval of imatinib as frontline treatment of CML, participated in the introduction of the second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and is a member of the expert panels of the European LeukemiaNet for CML and MPN treatment. In the MPN field, he was the leading author of the prognostic classification of primary myelofibrosis or IPSS. Dr Cervantes is a member of the American Society of Hematology, the European Hematology Association, the International Working Group for MPN Research and Treatment, the European LeukemiaNet, and the PETHEMA Spanish Collaborative Group.