Summit Speaker Series: Colin Correnti, PhD

The 2016 Nevada Cancer Control Summit brings together expert speakers from throughout the region to discuss the latest topics in cancer control. In the months leading up to this year’s Summit, scheduled for September 15 at Springs Preserve in Las Vegas, join us to learn more about our roster of speakers. In a matter of ten years surgeons will look back and say, “I can’t believe we used to remove tumor by using our eyes and our fingers and our thumbs.”  - Dr. Jim Olson, Director, Project Violet Researchers at Fred Hutch’s Project Violet, led by Dr. Jim Olson, are revolutionizing cancer treatment by relying on community-driven funding and nature-inspired solutions. The team’s track record of innovation includes the invention of Tumor Paint, a scorpion toxin based drug that makes cancer cells light up so that surgeons can distinguish cancer from normal tissue while operating. They also invented a way to test multiple different chemotherapy drugs in a patient's tumor to prioritize the best drugs or combinations and eliminate ineffective drugs. Dr. Colin Correnti, a founding member of Project Violet, will discuss the team’s work during the Nevada Cancer Control Summit’s mid-day general session “Tumor Paint and Optides: Building on 3.5 Billion Years of Drug Discovery.” In addition to Project Violet, Dr. Correnti is also a founding member of the Peptide Drug Discovery Initiative. Both of these initiatives explore the therapeutic potential of disulfide-knotted proteins in both pediatric and adult cancers. Dr. Correnti received his doctorate in 2011 from the Biological Physics, Structure and Design Program at the University of Washington. As a doctoral student, he studied protein structure determination and developed the Daedalus protein expression system currently employed to make optides. An avid researcher with more than a decade of experience at Fred Hutch and UW, Dr. Correnti’s research has been at the interface of biophysics and immunology. Scroll down to learn more about Project Violet’s work. And join us at the Nevada Cancer Control Summit September 15 in Las Vegas. Registration is just $95 at the early bird rate through Aug. 12 and includes CE, lunch, and refreshments. Review the entire agenda and register here.