December 2014 – LAM Biomarker Innovation Summit

On November 13 -15 an exceptional group of biomarker scientists with diverse expertise gathered in Atlanta, GA, at the LAM Biomarker Innovation Summit. This meeting was years in the planning and generous funding by major donors, industry partners and the LAM community who made it a reality. The two day meeting was launched with a powerful presentation by a woman with LAM expressing what it means to live with LAM every day and how new biomarkers could help her make better decisions about her health and care plan.With the needs of patients in mind, the scientists then participated in a series of presentations and small group discussions focused on the four types of biomarkers: diagnostic, predictive, prognostic and surrogate. Through their collaborative effort, new ideas began to emerge in the areas of imaging, validating diagnostic approaches, composite scoring and new ways to analyze historical data and tissue samples. Equally importantly, new relationships were formed across specialties and organizations that may one day lead to new LAM research projects.

The Biomarker Innovation Grant (BIG) will offer funding to scientists with LAM biomarker research ideas and will be awarded in 2015. More information will be available about the Summit and BIG grants in December.

A special thank you to the many generous donors including John Adler, the LAM Community, Pfizer, Insmed and Novartis for supporting this outstanding effort.