12th Annual Conference
International Consensus on Research Priorities
April 9-11, 2025
Salt Palace Convention Center
100 SW Temple Street
Salt Lake City, Utah
This event is a unique opportunity for patients and caregivers to sit side-by-side with experts in the field and provide their voices in helping focus research priorities.
Together, patients, caregivers, advocates, doctors, researchers, and other experts worldwide will share knowledge, review the latest research, and agree on the most important areas to focus on. Patients and caregivers can participate in the sessions, learn about the latest research, and share their feedback and thoughts.
Your voice matters, and we want your participation. In addition to the same excellent community interaction offered at the Conference, patients and caregivers will have even more opportunities to interact with experts in the field.
Outside of the Consensus on Research presentations, the Conference will include:
- A once-daily patient and caregiver program
- Ample networking opportunities
- Dedicated patient and caregiver lounge
- Welcome dinner and social, awards ceremony, entertainment, and more
General sessions will occur from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. MDT. Please note that some ad-hoc meetings may occur outside of this timeframe.
This year’s Conference is an effort between CCF’s International Cholangiocarcinoma Research Network (ICRN) and the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST)-Action: Precision-BTC-Network, part of the European Network for the Study of Cholangiocarcinoma (ENS-CCA).
Poster Abstract Submissions &
Important Dates
January 31: Abstract submission deadline
Week of February 17: Notifications for accepted abstracts to be sent
March 7: PDF posters for accepted abstracts deadline
Download a Poster Template
Our 2025 Chairs
Chiara Braconi
University of Glasgow
Glasgow, Scotland
Chiara Braconi
University of Glasgow
Glasgow, Scotland
Chiara Braconi is a Full Professor and Chair in Hepatobiliary Oncology at the University of Glasgow, with a focus on biliary tract cancers (BTC). She holds an MD from the University of Ancona, Italy, and a PhD in Oncology. Her research integrates clinical practice with translational research to improve patient outcomes, specifically targeting drug resistance in BTC. Dr Braconi established a centralized biliary cancer clinic in Glasgow, facilitating a multidisciplinary approach and creating a research platform for personalized treatments. Her work spans biomarker discovery, cancer immunology, and patient-derived organoids (PDO), contributing to drug development and personalized medicine for BTC patients. Dr Braconi has led major initiatives like the REGBil study and secured significant funding from national and international bodies. She also plays a leadership role in several research networks, including the European Network for the Study of Cholangiocarcinoma (ENSCCA). Her impact extends to policy, with contributions to new staging systems for BTC and educational initiatives. Chiara’s research has resulted in over 50 publications, fostering international collaborations and advancing BTC treatment strategies.
Ben Stanger, MD, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Ben Stanger, MD, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nilo Azad, MD
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland
Nilo Azad, MD
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland
Dr. Azad is an Associate Professor of Oncology and a member of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Program within the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center (SKCCC). She completed her fellowship in Medical Oncology at the National Cancer Institute and became a member of our faculty in July 2008. Since joining the faculty of the SKCCC at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Azad is the PI of numerous early phase clinical trials in solid tumors and gastrointestinal cancers. Dr. Azad is a clinically active medical oncologist and is the co-leader of the NCI funded UM1 Developmental Therapeutics clinical research program at the SKCCC, as well as the Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics Program . She is a member of both the Epigenetics and Colon Cancer Stand Up 2 Cancer Dream Teams, serving as a Principal on the latter. She has been a member of the NCI Colon Cancer Task Force, the Advisory Board of the Biden Cancer Initiative, and the Executive Board of The Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation, now serving as Vice-Chair, among others.
(Precision Therapeutics Initiative Group)
“We have been given such a gift to have found this particular calling, working with cancer patients.”
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I am a very fortunate physician that went into medicine thinking I was going to take care of patients, and by happenstance over the course of my training, was exposed to wonderful mentors and research leaders who whet my appetite to make a difference through clinical research. I am a faculty member at Johns Hopkins, where I work with the best group of doctors and other medical professions to take care of patients while working to increase the options available to them. I have a wonderful family and group of friends who provide my life’s foundation. I consider myself very lucky to get to do what I do.
Can you share one or two of your specific research interests?
I have an interest in combining novel agents to advance the therapeutic options for advanced cholangiocarcinoma patients. I am particularly interested in epigenetic and immunotherapies, both together, and how epigenetic alterations may impact the immune response.
Why did you decide to specialize in hepatobiliary cancers?
Good luck. I was running an early phase clinical trial in advanced solid tumors early in my career and saw some possible benefit for cholangiocarcinoma patients. I decided to open a dedicated trial arm to cholangiocarcinoma, and then it was off to the races. I began looking at all my drug development though the lens of how it might help cholangiocarcinoma patients, and how we might modify strategies to make them more appropriate to cholangiocarcinoma biology.
Can you describe one of the unforgettable moments in your patients care or research that has impacted your career?
The beauty of our job is that there is no one moment that encapsulates the meaning of what we do. Rather, our careers are an amalgamation of hundreds of people we have taken care of and worked with — all of whom have taught of the essence of what life is about. Family. Friendship. Health. Love. Generosity. Suffering. Perseverance. Intellectual Joy. We have been given such a gift to have found this particular calling, working with cancer patients.
Can you tell us one thing collaboration with colleagues could accomplish that you could not accomplish on your own?
The underpinnings of cancer biology are so complex that no one investigator has the needed expertise to understand all of the nuances of any given approach. Team science allows for us to assemble groups of people with varied skill sets and knowledge bases which dramatically improve the chance we will find a new treatment and eventual cure for this cancer.
If you had access to one resource that would move your research forward, what would that resource be?
More funding. There are so many exciting ideas that are delayed by the lack of funding to move them forward. For example, we have a personalized vaccine study that it extraordinarily expensive to generate for each patient. This kind of personalized immunotherapy approach is presently limited due to lack of funding.
How did you learn about the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation?
Honestly, I don’t remember not knowing about CCF – it is so ubiquitous in cholangiocarcinoma patient and researcher circles.
Can you tell us why you became a member of the ICRN?
It is an exciting group of people that pushes me to refine my ideas and make them into reality and work with others to do the same with theirs. It is an incredibly giving group of caring doctors and researchers. What a great community.
Rocio Macias
University of Salamanca
Salamanca, Spain
Rocio Macias
University of Salamanca
Salamanca, Spain
Rocio IR Macias is Full Professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at the University of Salamanca, Spain and principal investigator of the Biomedical Research Institute of Salamanca (IBSAL) and the Liver and Digestive Diseases Networking Biomedical Research Centre (CIBEREHD). After obtaining her PhD in Pharmacy, she did postdoctoral stays at the University Hospital of Zurich (Switzerland), at INSERM-Université Paris-Sud (France), at the National Center of Microbiology in Madrid (Spain) and at the University Hospital of Düsseldorf (Germany). She has been for 10 years the director of the Master and PhD Program in Physiopathology and Pharmacology at the University of Salamanca. She has been member of the Steering Committee of the European Network for the Study of CCA (ENSCCA) since its creation until 2024, Working Group leader of the COST action EUROCHOLANGIONET and is currently the Chair of the COST Action Precision-BTC-network, an interdisciplinary research network with more than 400 members from 48 countries. She is interested in the identification of non-invasive biomarkers for the early diagnosis of liver cancers, especially cholangiocarcinoma, as well as in identifying biomarkers to predict response to drug treatment and in designing strategies to circumvent drug resistance. Her research is supported by the Spanish National Institute of Health, Spanish private foundations and the European Union.