2027 SCION Workshop

Applications Will Open End of March 2027 

The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Clinical Immuno-Oncology Network (SCION) Workshop is is a longitudinal, hybrid educational and mentorship program designed to guide participants through the development of an immunotherapy clinical trial protocol.

Yumeng “Julia” Zhang, MD

“The mentorship and collaborative environment at SCION, led by top experts, have been instrumental in my career development.”

Yumeng “Julia” Zhang, MD
Moffitt Cancer Center

Koramit Suppipat, MD

“My clinical trial has already been approved. We have completed the enrollment of the first patient and started giving the first dose of CAR T cell last week. I would like to thank the SCION workshop for helping with the protocol development.”

Koramit Suppipat, MD
Chulalongkorn University

Yufei_Wang

“Small group discussions with experienced professionals helped me draft my Phase I clinical trial protocol for a CAR-T product.”

Yufei Wang, PhD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Harvard Medical School

AryaMariamRoy_MD.jpg

“My experience at the SITC SCION workshop was enriching, with faculty expertise evident and invaluable guidance received for refining clinical trial protocols.”

Arya Mariam Roy, MD
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

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SCION Organizers

Tullia Bruno, PhD

Organizer 

Tullia Bruno, PhD
University of Pittsburgh

Codruta Chiuzan, PhD

Organizer 

Codruta Chiuzan, PhD
Institute of Health System Science, Northwell Health

Tricia C

Organizer 

Tricia Cottrell, MD, PhD
Queen's University

Yana Najjar, MD

Organizer

Yana Najjar, MD
UPMC Hillman Cancer Center

Deborah Collyar, B.sci

Program Advisor

Deborah Collyar, B.sci
Patient Advocates in Research

About SCION

Designed to address the unique considerations for designing clinical trial protocols focused on cancer immunotherapy, the SCION Workshop connects participants with experienced faculty in the field and dedicated patient advocates to advise on clinical trial protocol development. In addition to deepening their understanding of integral facets of the field of cancer immunotherapy, attendees will expand their professional network, developing new relationships with faculty and other thought leaders in this intimate setting.

Phase 1: Asynchronous Foundational Learning

Participants complete self-paced educational modules prior to the mentorship phase, including:

  • Cancer immunotherapy fundamentals
  • Clinical trial design principles
  • Biostatistics
  • Biomarker development
  • Patient perspectives and advocacy
  • Additional foundational content developed from existing SITC educational resources

Phase 2: Virtual Mentored Protocol Development

Participants engage in approximately four structured one-hour virtual meetings over six to eight weeks.

Phase 3: In-Person Capstone

Held immediately prior to the SITC Annual Meeting.

Activities may include:

  • Small-group protocol refinement sessions
  • Faculty mentoring
  • Patient advocate discussions
  • Regulatory and informed consent discussions
  • Networking opportunities
  • Recognition of participant accomplishments
  • Martin "Mac" Cheever Award presentation 

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of the SCION Workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Recognize best practices and overcome the unique challenges in clinical trial design specific to cancer immunotherapy
  • Describe cancer immunotherapy clinical trial endpoints, biomarker development and validation and combination strategies
  • Develop their own clinical trial design with appropriate clinical and biomarker endpoints, and draft a protocol and informed consent
  • Estimate cost, process steps, quality issues, and regulatory path for development and approval of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs)
  • Understand the special issues associated with ATMPs, medicines based on genes, tissues or cells in Oncology

Target Audience

Eligible applicants are those working in the field of cancer immunotherapy who want to develop their own immunotherapy clinical trial protocol synopsis (resulting in an approved protocol and consent). This includes but is not limited to clinical fellows and junior faculty/attendings with medical, surgical, radiation, urologic, gynecologic, or pediatric oncology training and advanced degree scientists (e.g., Masters, PhD, PharmD, DNP) with research experience and interest in clinical and translational immuno-oncology. Applicants can be from academic, non-profit, or for-profit organizations, including the pharmaceutical industry/biotechnology. Those with other related professional degrees are also encouraged to apply.