Debu Tripathy, MD

Dr. Tripathy’s clinical research career has focused on evaluating and developing new treatments for breast cancer, specifically those targeting sensitivity and resistance mechanisms to growth factors, endocrine modulators, and cell cycle control pathways. He also investigates biomarkers predicting sensitivity and resistance. Dr. Tripathy has led clinical trials supporting the approval of new biological therapies for breast cancer targeting the HER2 oncogene and cyclin-dependent kinases, both improving patient survival. 

Dr. Tripathy has published numerous original translational and landmark clinical research articles in the field of breast cancer. He serves on several editorial boards, study sections, and societies, and he is the editor-in-chief of CURE Magazine. He has previously served as president of the American Society of Breast Disease and the Society of Integrative Oncology.

Prior to recently transitioning his effort as an independent consultant and continuing mentorship and educational activities,  Dr. Tripathy served as Professor and Chair of the Department of Breast Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. While at MD Anderson, he oversaw a department which aims to develop innovative models of personalized care for breast cancer and to develop and assess cutting edge novel therapies that will improve the curability and other outcomes, and which collaborates with investigators and centers nationally and globally.

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.

Namita Chittoria, MBBS, MD

Dr. Chittoria is a medical oncologist and Assistant Professor at the Huntsman Cancer Institute and the University of Utah, specializing in breast cancer. Her clinical and research work focus on triple-negative breast cancer and the development of targeted theranostic strategies. She serves as Principal Investigator for multiple national and industry-sponsored trials, including ASCENT-04/05 and OPTIMICE-pCR, advancing novel antibody-drug conjugates, immunotherapies, and targeted agents.

At the national level, Dr. Chittoria has served as Chair and Faculty Speaker for Best of ASCO programs and has presented at leading educational forums, including OncLive’s State of the Science Summit™ and the American Journal of Managed Care’s Regional Institute for Value-Based Medicine.

Dr. Chittoria completed fellowships in Medical Oncology at the University of Texas Health Science Center–San Antonio and in Experimental Therapeutics at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, with additional training in Palliative Medicine at the University at Buffalo. Before joining the University of Utah in 2019, she served on the faculty at SUNY Upstate Medical University and as a staff oncologist at the Syracuse VA Medical Center.

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.

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.