Third CHOP Experimental Pathology Faculty Retreat "COLLABORATIVE SCIENCE" | CHOP Commons @Cira Centre | December 18, 2025

We will be on the 12th Floor of the Cira Centre. Upon exiting the elevators, you will check in at the Welcome Center. All talks will be in the Multipurpose Room. Meals and social activities will take place in several adjacent areas.

Agenda

8:30 AM - 9:15 AM

Continental Breakfast

9:15 AM - 9:30 AM

Opening Remarks: George Netto, Chair of Penn P&LM

9:30 AM - 10:10 AM

Eosinophilic Esophagitis: Mechanisms and Management (Moderator: Jan Burkhardt)

Melanie Ruffner CHOP Pediatrics/Allergy & Immunology
Paula Oliver CHOP P&LM/Protective Immunity
10:10 AM -10:50 PM

Liver fibrosis and dysbiosis in Fontan patients (Moderator: Will Bailis)

Jack Rychik CHOP Pediatrics/Cardiology
Liming Pei/Joe Zackular CHOP P&LM/CMEM/Protective Immunity
10:50 AM - 11:00 AM

Coffee Break

11:00 AM - 11:10 AM

Meet-and-greet with CHOP Innovation Ventures Leadership

Tom Wilton, Senior Vice President

11:10 AM - 11:50 PM

Engineered antibodies and their use in cancer immunotherapy (Moderator: Ike Eisenlohr)

Andrei Thomas-Tikhonenko CHOP P&LM/Cancer Pathobiology
Andrew Tsourkas Penn SEAS
11:50 AM - 12:30 PM

Mechanisms of resistance to immunotherapy (Moderator: Andrei Thomas-Tikhonenko)

Evan Weber CHOP Pediatrics/Oncology
Bo Li CHOP P&LM/CCGM
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

Lunch

1:30 PM - 2:10 PM

Macrophage replacement therapies for metabolic diseases (Moderator: Jorge Henao-Mejia)

Chris Bennett     CHOP Psychiatry
Will Bailis   CHOP P&LM/Protective Immunity
2:10 PM - 2:50 PM

MHC class I- and class II-restricted antigens (Moderator: Andrew Wells)

Jesper‌ Pallesen Wistar Institute
Ike Eisenlohr        CHOP P&LM/Protective Immunity
2:50 PM - 3:10 PM

Snack Break

3:10 PM - 3:50 PM

CRISPR screens to investigate RNA-binding proteins (Moderator: Peter Choi)

Ophir Shalem     CHOP CCMT
Matt Weitzman CHOP P&LM/Cancer Pathobiology
3:50 PM - 4:30 PM

Collaboration and Community

Joe Zackular (Discussion Leader) CHOP P&LM/Protective Immunity
Jan Burkhardt (Discussion Leader) CHOP P&LM/Cell Pathology
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM

Cocktails and Conversations