Dr. Pierluigi Porcu is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology at Ohio State University (OSU), Director of the OSU T/NK-cell lymphoma research program and multimodality cutaneous lymphoma clinic, and a member of the Viral Oncology Group of the OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC), with a research focus in T/NK-cell neoplasms, cutaneous lymphomas and EBV lymphomagenesis. Since 2000 he has been a member of the NCCN NHL committee.

Since 2011 Dr. Porcu has been on the BOD of the International Society of Cutaneous Lymphomas. In 2009 he was co-Chair, with Dr. Lessin, of the Cutaneous Lymphoma Summit, in New York City, the 1st integrated multidisciplinary meeting in cutaneous lymphoma. Since 2013 he has been on the International Program Committee of the World Congress of Cutaneous Lymphoma (WCCL). From 2011 to 2013 he was on the BOD of the Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation (CLF), leading the production of the CLF Patient Education Guide.

In 2013, Dr. Porcu designed and launched The CLARIONS Research Award Program, the signature research funding initiative of the CLF and currently serves as Chair of the CLF’s Research Advisory Council. Dr. Porcu is the currently Chair of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Foundation and Development Committee.

Presentation:  Of Mice and Men: new molecular aspects of pathogenesis and therapy of CTCL  
2016 Porcu.pdf

Dr. Alain Rook is Professor of Dermatology and has been the Director of Penn’s Photopheresis program for 30 years, as well as leading the Penn Cutaneous Lymphoma Program for the past 20 years. Upon completion of clinical training in Internal Medicine and Nephrology at McGill, he spent 7 years at the NIH studying interactions of herpes viruses and HIV with the human immune system. He followed this with training in Dermatology at Penn where he has been on the faculty since completion of residency.

A strong interest in the pathogenesis of the endogenous immune deficiency associated with cutaneous T-cell
lymphoma has led to the development of novel approaches to treatment of CTCL which recently has focused upon the importance of utilizing the innate immune response to trigger anti-tumor immunity. In that regard, the use of novel Toll-like receptor agonists in early phase clinical trials has proved to be an effective approach which will be reviewed during Dr. Rook’s presentation. Dr. Rook has been a tenured professor at Penn for the past 25 years and has fostered an NIH funded translational research program for nearly 25 years. He is presently the author of over 250 scientific publications and holds three patents for the treatment of CTCL.

Presentation:  Activation of the Innate Immune Response as Therapy for CTCL
2016 Rook.pdf