At the sixth annual Feinstein Institute for Medical Research Brain Tumor Biotech Summit held June 7 at Northwell Health’s Lenox Hill Hospital, leaders in neurosurgery, neuroscience, oncology and industry professionals from across the country gathered to exchange ideas of promising new therapies in the treatment of brain tumors and other central nervous system (CNS) diseases.

“As we continue to look for new treatments for brain tumors and CNS diseases, it is vitally important for the nation’s top cancer specialists and the investment community to come together and collaborate with one another on basic and clinical research efforts and discuss promising new therapies,” said John Boockvar, MD, vice chair of neurosurgery at Lenox Hill Hospital and co-director of the Feinstein Institute’s Brain Tumor Biotech Center. “Our summit provides a platform for researchers, oncologists, neurosurgeons, hedge fund managers, venture capitalists and leaders in biotech and pharmaceutical industries to network with one another with the common goal of identifying innovative therapies that will extend and enhance quality of life for our patients.”

At the 2019 Brain Tumor Biotech Summit, some of the topics presented by leading experts included immunotherapy and precision medicine in the treatment of glioblastoma (GBM); autologous tissue transfers to bypass the blood brain barrier (BBB) for human GBM; artificial intelligence in the neuroimaging of glioma; intra-operative radiotherapy (IORT) in the treatment of surgically resected brain metastases; and, the use of 5 ALA imaging dye during brain tumor removal surgery to better distinguish cancer cells from healthy tissue.

“The Brain Tumor Biotech Summit provides a unique opportunity for creativity between people who are not usually in the same room,” said Marc Symons, PhD, Feinstein Institute’s co- director of the Brain Tumor Biotech Center. “We hope that the summit provides fertile ground for spontaneous meetings, discussions and action plans between great minds that all share a common goal of improving cancer therapies for our patients with these terrible diseases.”

“When scientists and investors collaborate, they create the potential to ignite treatment discovery and development,” said Kevin J. Tracey, MD, president and CEO of the Feinstein Institute. “At this year’s summit, Drs. Boockvar and Symons provided an outstanding platform to accomplish this important goal.”