Koch Institute Symposium 2025

Event poster with an illustration large yellow antibody, surrounded by multicolor organic shapes that evoke cells and antibodies

Antibody Drug Conjugates:
Targeted Cancer Therapies at the Intersection of Chemistry, Biology, and Engineering

Friday, June 27, 2025

Huntington Hall, 10-250

The 23rd Annual Koch Institute Symposium on Antibody Drug Conjugates: Targeted Cancer Therapies at the Intersection of Chemistry, Biology, and Engineering will take place on Friday, June 27, 2025. Kicking off with 2022 Nobel Prize winner Carolyn Bertozzi, our speaker lineup features an array of industry and academic leaders who will discuss current advancements and challenges in deploying antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) as anti-cancer agents. We cordially invite scientists, oncologists, and any other member of the biomedical community to join us in a day of engaging talks, stimulating conversations with colleagues, and of course camaraderie in our collective fight against cancer. 

Agenda

9:00 a.m. - 9:10 a.m. Opening remarks

Matthew Vander Heiden 
Director, MIT Koch Institute 

9:10 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Keynote 

Introduction: Jessica Stark, MIT Koch Institute 

Carolyn Bertozzi 
Stanford University 
Topic: Antibody drug conjugate biological chemistry  

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 pmSession One  

Peter Senter
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Topic: Antibody drug conjugate history 

Gerold Meinhardt
Daiichi Sankyo
Topic: Enhertu

Alison Betts
Takeda Pharmaceuticals
Topic: Antibody drug conjugate quantitative systems pharmacology 

Timothy Lowinger
Mersana Therapeutics
Topic: Immunostimulatory antibody drug conjugates  

12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.Lunch Break

1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.Session Two: Short Presentations

Laurie Boyer
MIT Koch Institute
Topic: Lysosome morphology as predictor of drug efficacy

Dane Wittrup
MIT Koch Institute
Topic: Noncovalent capture antibody drug conjugates  

Jeremiah Johnson
MIT Koch Institute
Topic: Antibody-polymer conjugates 

Daša Lipovšek
Aktis Oncology
Topic: Radioligand therapy 

2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.Session Three  

Greg Thurber
University of Michigan
Topic: Strategies for uniform antibody drug conjugate penetration 

Puja Sapra
AstraZeneca
Topic: Antibody drug conjugate payloads and linker chemistry  

Michael Seganish
Merck
Topic: Navigating premature payload release