Wendy and Emery Reves International Breast Cancer Symposium
May 22, 2024
Leading interdisciplinary experts shared the latest developments in breast cancer research and clinical care at the Wendy & Emery Reves International Breast Cancer Symposium.
Featuring international expertise, thought-provoking discussions, and a highly collaborative environment, the Wendy & Emery Reves International Breast Cancer Symposium provided a comprehensive update on recent progress in research discoveries and clinical care of patients with breast cancer.
“UT Southwestern attracted some of the brightest minds in breast cancer research from around the country to engage at this symposium,” says Heather McArthur, M.D., M.P.H., Clinical Director of the Breast Cancer Program at UT Southwestern Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. “It was a phenomenal opportunity to share findings in this exciting era of discovery.”
Dr. McArthur co-chaired the Reves Symposium along with Deborah Farr, M.D., Associate Professor of Surgery and Section Chief, Breast and Soft Tissue Surgery at UT Southwestern, and Carlos L. Arteaga, M.D., Director of Simmons Cancer Center and Associate Dean of Oncology Programs at UT Southwestern.
On May 3 and 4, 2024, the breast cancer conference, hosted on campus at UT Southwestern in Dallas, featured keynote addresses by Elizabeth Mittendorf, M.D., Ph.D., M.H.C.M., of Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, on promising new immunotherapy clinical protocols in breast cancer treatment, and by Joan Massague, Ph.D., of the Sloan Kettering Institute, on basic research on signaling pathways that regulate normal cell behavior and cancer metastasis. Breakout sessions throughout the symposium covered genomics, local therapy, pathology/imaging, cell cycle and CDK4/6 inhibitors, drug development, endocrine therapy, and immunology.
“This symposium convened a range of professionals in the breast cancer space. As a surgeon, I value opportunities like this to engage with my peers and to meet others who touch so many complementary areas in the field,” says Dr. Farr.
Symposium attendees included breast cancer care providers, nursing professionals, basic and translational scientists, physician-scientists, clinical trialists, laboratory-based postdoctoral and clinical fellows, graduate students, patient advocates, and interested individuals from industry and the community.
Three Decades of History
In 1990, a multi-million-dollar donation was made to endow the Wendy & Emery Reves International Breast Cancer Symposium and to support other breast cancer research and treatment initiatives at UT Southwestern.
Wendy Reves, a native of Marshall, Texas, became a leading New York runway model before meeting distinguished Hungarian author and publisher Emery Reves in 1945 while he was living in New York. Mrs. Reves, who died in 2007, received the Komen Award for Philanthropy, the National Arts Club Award for Philanthropy (New York), and the Silver Cup Award from Transforming Lives through the Arts (TACA) in Dallas. She was an honorary trustee of the International Churchill Society.
“Wendy Reves’ generosity and concern for humanity continues to help us advance and disseminate a growing body of scientific knowledge for the benefit of patients with cancer and those at risk of the disease,” says Dr. Arteaga. “We at the Simmons Cancer Center are proud of hosting this excellent forum and the outstanding presentations and exchange of ideas.”
Carlos L. Arteaga, M.D., is the Director of Simmons Cancer Center and Associate Dean of Oncology Programs at UT Southwestern. He holds the Annette Simmons Distinguished University Chair in Breast Cancer Research. He is an internationally recognized expert in breast cancer with more than 350 publications in the areas of oncogenes and breast tumor initiation and progression, targeted therapies and biomarkers of drug action and resistance, and investigator-initiated clinical trials in breast cancer.
Deborah Farr, M.D.debo, is Associate Professor of Surgery in the Division of Surgical Oncology and Section Chief, Breast and Soft Tissue Surgery, at UT Southwestern. She specializes in the surgical treatment of breast cancer, and her research interests include robotic breast surgery as well as breast cancer disparities among different populations of breast cancer patients. Dr. Farr is a member of the Experimental Therapeutics Research Program at Simmons Cancer Center.
Heather McArthur, M.D., is Associate Professor of Internal Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology and Clinical Director of the Breast Cancer Program at Simmons Cancer Center. Specializing in breast cancer research and treatment, she holds the Komen Distinguished Chair in Clinical Breast Cancer Research, and she is a member of the Experimental Therapeutics Research Program at Simmons Cancer Center.
