INTERNATIONAL SPEAKERS

Associate Professor Bryan Choi, MD, PhD is a board-certified neurosurgeon in the Department of Neurosurgery and the Stephen E. and Catherine Pappas Center for Neuro-Oncology. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Associate Professor Choi graduated from Harvard College and attended Duke University School of Medicine, where he underwent dual MD and PhD training in the field of tumor immunology under the guidance of Drs. John Sampson and Darell Bigner. During his neurosurgery residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Marcela Maus, focused on developing CAR T-cell therapies for cancer. He has published broadly, holds several patents and has lectured internationally on immune-based treatments for brain tumours. Associate Professor Choi is faculty of the MGH Brain Tumor Center and Harvard Medical School where he is currently in active neurosurgical practice. He serves as Director of Cell Therapy for Brain Tumors and leads a research laboratory focused on next-generation cell therapies and clinical trials in neuro-oncology.

Professor John de Groot is the Alvera L. Kan Endowed Chair, Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery, and Chief of the Division of Neuro-Oncology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). A nationally and internationally recognized leader in primary brain tumor research and treatment, he brings more than two decades of integrated clinical trial and laboratory experience to the challenge of translating novel therapies into meaningful outcomes for patients with glioblastoma and other malignant gliomas. Professor de Groot’s research expertise spans glioma angiogenesis, molecularly targeted therapy, and immunotherapy. His clinical trials program has been instrumental in introducing antiangiogenic and immune-based treatments into the glioblastoma landscape. He has served as Principal Investigator on more than 45 clinical trials and as co-investigator or collaborator on more than 80 additional studies. A hallmark of his work is the rigorous integration of correlative science — including prospective tissue and blood collection, pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) analyses, and biomarker-anchored endpoints — that directly inform the design of next-generation trials. During his tenure as Director of Clinical Research in the Department of Neuro-Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Professor de Groot established a prospective clinical data and tumor molecular profiling platform that has enrolled and characterized more than six thousand brain tumor patients. This resource serves as the translational engine for investigator-initiated and industry-sponsored trials and contributes data to major national consortia, including the Glioma Longitudinal Analysis (GLASS) consortium. Preclinical collaborations with academic investigators and pharmaceutical partners have generated investigator-initiated trials and shaped the design of larger company-sponsored studies — work that has been recognized through funding from the NIH, Department of Defense, National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS), and the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). Professor de Groot’s current research focuses on three converging priorities: identifying mechanisms of resistance to targeted and immune therapies; developing biomarkers of response and progression using longitudinal circulating and myeloid cell profiling; and advancing interventional strategies — including blood-brain barrier disruption facilitated by laser ablation and focused ultrasound — to enhance liquid biopsy sensitivity and improve drug delivery to the CNS. These biomarker programs aim to enable individualized therapy selection and to identify patients most likely to benefit from treatment. A highly sought scientific advisor, Professor de Groot serves on multiple pharmaceutical and biotechnology scientific advisory boards and regularly advises companies on agent development strategy and trial design. He has published more than 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts, reviewed for 23 scientific journals, and serves on four editorial boards. He is an ad hoc reviewer for NIH study sections, including the Academic Industry Partnership (AIP) program, and reviews grants for numerous national and international foundations and government agencies. Since joining UCSF as Division Chief in October 2021, Professor de Groot has continued to build a nationally prominent program at the intersection of precision neuro-oncology, immune therapy, and translational science. His efforts remain aligned with UCSF and NCI’s shared mission of developing more effective, mechanism-informed treatments for patients with primary brain tumors.

Professor Takashi Komori, MD, PhD, is a senior neuropathologist based in Japan and a Consultant at TMG Asaka Medical Center, with a distinguished career in brain tumour pathology. He has held key leadership roles including Director of Neuropathology at Tokyo Metropolitan Neurological Hospital and Editor-in-Chief of Brain Tumor Pathology, and is widely recognised for his contributions to diagnostic pathology and neuro-oncology research. ​Professor Komori is an international leader in the field, serving as a Standing Member of the WHO Classification of Tumours and President-Elect of the Asian Oceanian Society of Neuropathology. He has played a major role in shaping global tumour classification and reporting standards, with extensive contributions to WHO, ICCR, and cIMPACT-NOW initiatives.

Associate Professor Florien Boele is an academic Neuro-psychologist with research interests in family caregiving, quality of life and symptom management in neuro-oncology. She has been a faculty member at the University of Leeds since 2016 and is supported by a Yorkshire Cancer Research University Academic Fellowship. She obtained her PhD from the VU University in Amsterdam (2015) before being awarded a Niels Stensen Fellowship and has worked with academic collaborations at the University of Pittsburgh and the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh as a visiting research scholar (2015-2016).