Jonah B. Sacha, PhD

Dr. Sacha graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2003 with a B.A. in German and B.S. in Biology.  After receiving his Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology & Immunology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2007, he joined the faculty at UW-Madison, where he researched the characteristics of effective retrovirus-specific CD8+ and CD4+ T cells.  In 2011, he joined the Oregon Health & Science University and has appointments in both the Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute and Oregon National Primate Research Center.

Naoto T. Ueno, MD, PhD, FACP

Dr. Ueno is currently the Director at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, having previously served as the Executive Director of the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Program and the Clinic Chief of the Translational Breast Cancer Research at the Department of Breast Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Dr. Ueno has a strong background in translational breast cancer research in cancer biology, immuno-oncology, and molecular therapeutics. He is one of the leaders in conducting clinical research and early-phase clinical trials related to aggressive breast cancer and has led more than 50 clinical trials. Dr. Ueno has extensive experience in conducting both targeted therapy-related and immunotherapy-related clinical trials in phase I and II settings. He expanded his research to include several protein enzymes, including Mitogen-activated protein, Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK), and C-JUN N-terminal kinase, among other protein enzymes to determine their role in breast cancer progression and their applications in the development of targeted therapy and immunotherapy. Over the past 10 years, Dr. Ueno has successfully managed projects in breast cancer biology related to triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), and the tumor microenvironment.

Dr. Ueno is passionate about developing innovative therapies for advanced breast cancer. He started his career developing gene therapy for breast cancer and prepared for an Investigational New Drug application to conduct a study of gene therapies for metastatic breast cancer. His focus has been on novel combination therapy, IBC, and TNBC.

Clinton Yam, MD, MS

Dr. Clinton Yam is an Associate Professor with dual appointments in the Departments of Breast Medical Oncology and Translational Molecular Pathology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Yam is leader of the triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) working group and Director of Team Science and Innovation in the Department of Breast Medical Oncology at MD Anderson. He is the principal investigator for several industry sponsored and investigator initiated clinical trials. Dr. Yam is very much involved in multidisciplinary efforts aimed at understanding the biology of TNBC to inform the design of innovative clinical trials to improve outcomes for patients with TNBC.

Hope Rugo, MD

Dr. Hope Rugo is the Director of the Breast Oncology Clinical Trials Program at UCSF. She is the principal investigator for multiple clinical trials studying novel targeted therapeutics combined with standard treatments to improve clinical results in early and late-stage breast cancer. She is also researching cognitive function in patients receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer as well as ways to reduce toxicity from therapy.

Dr. Rugo has established collaborations with several large academic medical centers to expand the novel therapies that are available to patients. She is an active member of the national cooperative group, CALGB, a founding member of the Breast Cancer Research Consortium, and an investigator in the UCSF Breast SPORE (the Bay Area Specialized Program of Research Excellence in Breast Cancer).

Dr. Rugo teaches medical students and physicians, and regularly lectures locally, nationally, and internationally. At UCSF, Dr. Rugo runs the Breast Forum, an open bimonthly evening educational session for breast cancer patients, families, and friends from throughout the Bay Area. She is widely published and highly regarded in the field of oncology.

Otto O. Yang, MD

Dr. Otto Yang is a Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics at UCLA and has a background in clinical infectious diseases. His laboratory specializes in T cell immunology in HIV infection, relevant to developing immune therapies and vaccines for HIV and potentially other diseases including cancer and other viral infections. He received his MD degree from Brown University, with subsequent residency training at NYU-Bellevue Hospital and subspecialty/postdoctoral training at Harvard-Massachusetts General Hospital. He then pursued fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he developed a research program studying the role of CD8+ T lymphocytes (CTL, which are killer T cells that can destroy cells infected with viruses or which are malignant) in HIV-1 pathogenesis. A more recent research interest has been the role of CTL in the development of rejection in organ transplant patients. Dr. Yang has begun working with the new composite tissue transplantation program at UCLA, which will perform hand and face transplants, studying the role of this arm of immunity in causing tissue rejection. Dr. Yang is a frequent lecturer, received numerous research grants and funding for his work, published over 180 peer-reviewed articles, and holds numerous patents in HIV and Immunology.

Jordan E. Lake, MD, MSc

Dr. Lake is Associate Professor of Medicine with Tenure at UTHealth McGovern Medical School. She completed both medical school and Internal Medicine residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, followed by an Infectious Diseases fellowship and Master of Science in Clinical Research degree program at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Lake’s outpatient practice focuses on adults living with HIV, and gender care for transgender women with HIV. Her translational research portfolio focuses on the treatment of metabolic complications of HIV and antiretroviral therapy, with particular expertise in translational clinical trials. Dr. Lake also serves leadership positions in the NIH-funded MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study and AIDS Clinical Trials Group.