February 2026 

SCION Post Program Meeting

January (Day/Time TBD)

Two Virtual Pre-Meetings with Assigned Small Group

September 2025

Applicants Notified

Aug. 7, 2025

Application Submissions Close

Additional Details

SCION Workshop in Boston from Feb. 16–18, 2026

Learn more about the SITC Forward Fund >

Lee Hong, MD, PhD
Scripps Clinic

Lee Hong, MD, PhDLee grew up in the Midwest and started with an interest in studying medicine based on her love of science. She subsequently developed an interest in research while studying at Duke University for her bachelor’s degree in biology and pursued her MD/PhD dual degree at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. As a medical student, she became interested in immunology and ultimately pursued a PhD with Drs. Gianpietro Dotti and Barbara Savoldo, studying chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy for testicular cancer targeting CD30. Lee completed her residency at Scripps Clinic/Scripps Green Hospital, fellowship in medical oncology through Scripps Clinic, and K12 Scholar at Scripps Research Translational Institute working with Dr. Travis Young on CAR-T cell therapy and bi-specific antibodies for solid tumors. She developed a prospective study on the gut microbiome during neoadjuvant therapy for triple-negative breast cancer under the guidance of Drs. Laura Nicholson and Thomas Buchholz for which she attended SCION 2025. This trial is now enrolling patients (NCT06610097) through June 2026. She is currently a thoracic oncologist at City of Hope Lennar Foundation Cancer Center in Irvine, CA.

Oluwadunni Emiloju, MD
Emory University

Oluwadunni Emiloju, MDDr Emiloju is a medical oncologist, who specializes in the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers. She joined the clinical staff at Winship Cancer Institute as an attending physician in 2024. Dr. Emiloju is an assistant professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine.

She completed her Hematology and medical oncology fellowship at Mayo Clinic Rochester MN and her Internal Medicine Residency at Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia. She is interested in immune-therapeutics of GI cancers, especially immunologically cold GI cancers.

 

2025 Martin "Mac" Cheever Excellence in Clinical Trial Design Travel Award Winners for Simple and Elegant Clinical Trial Design

Martin “Mac” Cheever Excellence In Clinical Trial Design Travel Awards

Established in 2022 in loving memory of Dr. Martin “Mac” Cheever, this fund recognizes his many contributions to the field of cancer immunotherapy by providing travel awards to deserving early career investigators pursuing excellence in clinical trial design. One award will be given to the participant deemed to have the most elegant protocol. The second award will be focused on primary immunoprevention and immune interception.

The awardees will receive flight, hotel, and meal reimbursement to fully support their travel to the SITC Annual Meeting in the same year that they are selected as the recipients of the award. 

Learn More >

Award Opportunities

Housing & Venue Information

The Westin Copley Place, Boston 
10 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02116 
(617) 262-9600

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Registration Rates

Registration Category Registration Rate
General Member  $            1,500.00
Student Member  $            1,000.00
Industry Member  $            2,500.00
General Non-Member  $            1,800.00
Student Non-Member  $            1,100.00
Industry Non-Member  $            3,000.00

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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 paths 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. 

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.

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.

Cindy Chmielewski, BA
HealthTree Foundation for Myeloma 

Leslie Cope, PhD
John Hopkins University 

Brian Gastman, MD
Iovance 

Paola Grandi, PhD
Adze Biotechnology Inc 

Susan Halabi,PhD
Duke University 

Elizabeth Hill, PhD
Medical University of South Carolina 

Michael Hu
Patient Advocate 

Megan Mooradian, MD
Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center

Ryan Sullivan, MD
Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital 

Nabihah Tayob, PhD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School 

Svitlana Tyekucheva, PhD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health 

Jon Wigginton, MD
Bright Peak Therapeutics 

Faculty

Chris Takimoto, MD, PhD

Advisor & Faculty

Chris Takimoto, MD, PhD
The START Center for Cancer Research

Isabella C. Glitza Oliva, MD, PhD

Advisor & Faculty

Isabella C. Glitza Oliva, MD, PhD 
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Yana Najjar, MD

Organizer & Faculty

Yana Najjar, MD
UPMC Hillman Cancer Center

Tricia C

Organizer & Faculty

Tricia Cottrell, MD, PhD
Queen's University

Deborah Collyar, B.sci

Organizer & Faculty

Deborah Collyar, B.sci
Patient Advocates in Research

Codruta Chiuzan, PhD

Organizer & Faculty

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

Tullia Bruno, PhD

Organizer & Faculty

Tullia Bruno, PhD
University of Pittsburgh

SCION Organizers & Faculty

Established in 2022 in loving memory of Dr. Martin “Mac” Cheever, this fund recognizes his many contributions to the field of cancer immunotherapy by providing travel awards to deserving early career investigators pursuing excellence in clinical trial design.

To continue Dr. Cheever’s passion for improving immunotherapy protocols, each year, SITC will identify two individuals to receive a Martin “Mac” Cheever Excellence in Clinical Trial Design - Travel Award. One awardee will be selected from the participants in the SITC’s Clinical Immuno-Oncology Network (SCION) Workshop as having the most simple and elegant protocol at the close of the intensive and selective workshop. 

The second awardee will be selected from the participants in the SITC’s Clinical Immuno-Oncology Network (SCION) Workshop as having the best protocol focused on primary immunoprevention and immune interception. For this award, SITC will consider a trial with protocols which address immunotherapies to prevent primary cancer, including (but not limited to) methods to identify and stimulate immune recognition of precursor or preneoplastic lesions, strategies to provide prophylactic immunity against cancer, immunotherapies for precancerous conditions or immunoprevention of their recurrence in patients with high-risk familial cancers. Protocols for smaller pilot studies will also be considered.  

Both awardees will receive flight, hotel, and meal reimbursement to fully support their travel to the SITC Annual Meeting in the same year that they are selected as the recipients of the award. 

"Mac" Cheever SITC Travel Award

Award Opportunities

Applicants must review and acknowledge a confidentiality statement. 

6) Confidentiality Acknowledgement

A one-page summary of your proposed interventional or observational study. Please include a one-page summary of the unmet clinical need you will be addressing, your immunologic goals, the biomarkers proposed, your hypotheses, and the proposed requisite number of patients and timeline.

5) Abstract Protocol

Must provide a statement of support stating that the applicant will have time and relevant resources provided to conduct or oversee their trial (e.g. research nurse, appropriate equipment, etc). 

  • A description of the proposed clinical trial
  • Program support now available or intended for the term of the trial
  • The candidate’s role and academic or other appointment(s)
  • Plans and potential for the applicant to seek funding internally or externally

4) Letter from Department Chair, Supervisor, or Mentor

Please tell us why you are interested in this workshop in 500 words or less. Please include:

  • A description of your proposed clinical trial protocol in cancer immunotherapy research and development
  • Trial reagent availability support currently available
  • A description of your career path up to this point and your aspirations for its future

3) Statement of Interest

NIH Biosketch or equivalent (maximum 5 pages)

2) Curriculum Vitae

Name, professional designation (MD/PhD/other), institution/organization, professional role, email, work setting, field of research/specialty, disease state, gender, and ethnicity.

1) Applicant Information

Summary of Application Packet

The application should be organized as outlined below:

Application Details

Selection: Selection is made by the SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Network (SCION) Workshop Organizers. Applicants will be notified via email of their application’s status within 10 weeks of the application deadline.

Terms: SCION participants will pay a registration fee for the SCION workshop. SCION participants will cover all costs for travel and lodging. This registration fee includes participation in the SITC Cancer immunotherapy Winter School.

Application Process: Applicants will submit a completed application form, sponsor statement (from a mentor/supervisor), an applicant statement of interest, curriculum vitae, and abstract of the proposed protocol. 

90-day Reporting: Workshop attendees are required to complete and submit a 90-day report following the conclusion of the 2026 SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Network (SCION) Workshop and provide an updated protocol that reflects progress since workshop completion. This report will include:

  • Project title
  • Brief overview of the project progress to date
  • Description of highlights related to your participation in the SCION Workshop
  • Outcomes determined at this date

Application Process

The 2026 SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Network (SCION) Workshop is supported, in part, by grants from these sponsors (as of Oct. 23, 2025): 

Award OpportunitiesApplication ProcessOrganizersSCION FAQsApplication PacketContact Us

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

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

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SCION Workshop

Feb. 16–18, 2026 in Boston - Applications Have Closed

The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Clinical Immuno-Oncology Network (SCION) Workshop is an intimate immunotherapy clinical trial development program, led by experts in the field who are equipped to help their assigned students navigate through the unique considerations that accompany immunotherapy treatments.