Chaired by Anthony Oro, MD, PhD, Eugene and Gloria Bauer Professor at Stanford Medicine, the 2025 Montagna Symposium will focus on emerging paradigms in personalized medicine. Population studies have raised questions about why individuals do not respond to established therapies. Patients are individuals with personalized social, behavioral, and genetic determinants, but knowledge gaps exist regarding how these determinants influence diagnosis and treatment of cutaneous diseases. The goal of this Symposium is to highlight emerging avenues of investigation and streamline their incorporation into clinical medicine for our patients. Program Co-Chairs are Masa Amagai, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Dermatology, Keio University School of Medicine and Vice President for Research, Keio University, and Aimee Payne, MD, PhD, Herbert and Florence Irving Professor and Chair of Dermatology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
2025 Program
(subject to change)
Thursday, October 16
| 1:00 p.m. Departure | Shuttle Bus from PDX (Reservation required during registration) |
| 4 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. | Arrival and Check-in |
| 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. | Opening Reception (Heavy Hors d’oeuvres served) |
| 5:30 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. | Welcome and Introductory Comments Program Chair: Anthony Oro, M.D., Ph.D. (Stanford University) Symposium Co-Directors: Tamia Harris-Tryon, M.D., Ph.D. (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center) |
| 5:45 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. | Conference Keynote Howard Chang, M.D., Ph.D. (Senior Vice President of Global Research and Chief Scientific Officer, Amgen) RNA origin of sex biased immunity The objective is to gain an overview of hurdles and learn about the experience of a leading basic and translational dermatologist. This session sets the tone for the five following sessions focusing on individual platform technologies and disease indications. |
| 7p.m. | Dinner On Your Own |
| 8 p.m. – 11p.m. | Optional Gathering: Outdoor Firepit |
Friday, October 17
| 7 a.m. – 8 a.m. | Breakfast |
| 8 a.m. – 8:05 a.m. | Announcements |
| 8:05 a.m. – 8:15 a.m. | Session 1: Novel Targets for CarT Cell Therapies While precision immune therapies have revolutionized blood cancer treatment, new evidence indicates their effectiveness in skin autoimmune and cancers as well. Understanding the mechanistic basis of precision immune therapies and the current patient response remains a gap in knowledge that needs to be addressed. |
| 8:15 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. | Aimee Payne, M.D., Ph.D. (Columbia University) Engineered T cells for autoimmunity: emerging data from human clinical trials |
| 8:45 a.m. – 9 a.m. | Discussion |
| 9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. | Christoph Ellebrecht, M.D. (University of Pennsylvania) Controlling T Cell Fate and Function: Therapeutic Applications from Cancer to Autoimmunity |
| 9:30 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. | Discussion |
| 9:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. | Jaehyuk Choi, M.D., Ph.D. (UT Southwestern) Genetic Variations Regulating Engineered T-cell Efficacy |
| 10:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. | Discussion |
| 10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. | Coffee Break |
| 10:45 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. | Michael Girardi, M.D. (Yale University) Strategies Overcoming Challenges Targeting T Cell Lymphoma |
| 11:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Discussion |
| 11:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. | Short Talk and Discussion #1 |
| 11:45 a.m. – 12 p.m. | Short Talk and Discussion #2 |
| 12 p.m. – 1:15pm | Lunch Industry Leaders Panel: Breakthroughs in Cell and Gene Therapy |
| 1:15 p.m. – 1:25 p.m. | Session 2: Tissue Regeneration Therapeutic Approaches Gaps in our medical armamentarium come from the inability to replace many defective tissues due to genetic disease, injury, excessive fibrosis or age. New approaches exist to generate the appropriate genetically corrected tissue or reduce fibrosis, but clinical scale and delivery to the patient remain important hurdles. |
| 1:25 p.m. – 1:55 p.m. | Anthony Oro, M.D., Ph.D. (Stanford University) Manufacturing Multilineage Tissue Replacement Therapies for Genetic Diseases |
| 1:55 p.m. – 2:10 p.m. | Discussion |
| 2:10 p.m. – 2:40 p.m. | Luis Garza, M.D., Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins University) Cellular therapy to modify skin identity |
| 2:40 p.m. – 2:55 p.m. | Discussion |
| 2:55 p.m. – 3:25 p.m. | Trevor Parry, Ph.D. (KrystalBio Therapeutics) |
| 3:25 p.m.– 3:40 p.m. | Discussion |
| 3:40 p.m. – 3:55 p.m. | Coffee Break |
| 3:55 p.m. – 4:25 p.m. | Dayan Li, M.D., Ph.D. (Stanford University) Mechanistic insights into fibrosis versus regeneration |
| 4:25 p.m. – 4:40 p.m. | Discussion |
| 4:40 p.m. – 4:55 p.m. | Short Talk and Discussion #3 |
| 4:55 p.m. – 5:10 p.m. | Short Talk and Discussion #4 |
| 5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. | Dinner |
| 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. | Poster Reception and Wine Tasting |
Saturday, October 18
| 7 a.m. – 8 a.m. | Breakfast |
| 8 a.m. – 8:05 a.m. | Announcements |
| 8:05 a.m. – 8:15 a.m. | Session 3: Novel Immunomodulatory Platforms for Cutaneous Disease Breaking tissue tolerance forms the basis of tissue rejection and pathogenesis of autoimmune disease, but the mechanisms of immune tolerance and therapeutic targets remain poorly validated. This session addresses a gap in knowledge about small molecule and peptide therapies for immunomodulation. |
| 8:15 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. | Masa Amagai, M.D., Ph.D. (Keio University) Converting Pathogenic Autoimmune T Cells into Antigen-Specific Regulatory T Cells as a Novel Therapeutic Strategy for Pemphigus |
| 8:45 a.m. – 9 a.m. | Discussion |
| 9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. | Michael Rosenblum, M.D., Ph.D. (University of California, San Francisco) |
| 9:30 a.m.– 9:45 a.m. | Discussion |
| 9:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. | Megan Levings, Ph.D. (University of British Columbia) Inducing tolerance with regulatory T cell therapy |
| 10:15 a.m. –10:30 a.m. | Discussion |
| 10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. | Coffee Break |
| 10:45 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. | Michel Enamorado, Ph.D. (Mount Sinai Medical Center) Wired and Guarded: The Neuroimmune Landscape of the Skin |
| 11:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Discussion |
| 11:30 am – 11:45 pm | Short Talk and Discussion #1 |
| 11:45 p.m. – Noon | Short Talk and Discussion #2 |
| Noon – 4:30 p.m. | Lunch (On Your Own) FREE TIME / CASCADE HIKE |
| 4:30 p.m. – 6 p.m. | Mentorship Mixer and Reverse Expo Appetizers Served |
| 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. | Dinner Dinner Keynote Jay P. Siegel, M.D. (Former Chief Technology Officer, J&J) Careers involving translation of First-in-human therapies remain challenging, and there is a need to identify career paths and role models for trainees. An often-underappreciated field are the regulatory sciences, and the key role FDA plays in partnering with industry, government, and academicians to accelerate therapies. |
| Poster Competition Awards Travel Award Ceremony: · Society for Investigative Dermatology (SID) Farber Award · Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology (JSID) Award · Korean Society for Investigative Dermatology (KSID) Award · Taiwanese Society for Investigative Dermatology (TSID) Award · European Society for Dermatological Research · Montagna Symposium Director’s Award |
Sunday, October 19
| 7 a.m. – 8 a.m. | Breakfast |
| 8 a.m. – 8:05 a.m. | Announcements |
| 8:05 a.m. – 8:15 a.m. | Session 4: Novel Cancer Therapeutics for Cutaneous Oncology This session highlights emerging novel cancer therapy platforms that address gaps in knowledge regarding these future therapies. Understanding the mechanistic basis of novel cancer therapeutics and patient responses will help generate new and more effective technologies. |
| 8:15 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. | Niro Anandasabapathy, M.D., Ph.D. (Weill Cornell Medicine) PD-1 and memory T cells, a smoking gun in ICB cancer efficacy and toxicity |
| 8:45 a.m. – 9 a.m. | Discussion |
| 9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. | Y. Erin Chen, M.D., Ph.D. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) How are commensal skin bacteria sensed by the immune system? |
| 9:30 a.m.– 9:45 a.m. | Discussion |
| 9:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. | Derin Keskin, Ph.D. (Dana Farber Cancer Institute) Immunogenic Personal Neoepitopes for Improving Cancer Therapies |
| 10:15– 10:30 a.m. | Discussion |
| 10:30 – 10:45 a.m. | Coffee Break |
| 10:45 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. | Anne Lynn Chang, M.D. (Stanford University) Clinical trials for non-melanoma skin cancers |
| 11:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Discussion |
| 11:30 a.m. – 11:45a.m. | Short Talk and Discussion #1 |
| 11:45 a.m. – Noon | Short Talk and Discussion #2 |
| Noon – 1:15 p.m. | Lunch and Industry Leaders Panel #2: Facilitator: William Ju, M.D. (President, Advancing Innovations in Dermatology (AID)) From Research Idea to Improving Lives: Successes in Overcoming the “Valley of Death” |
| 1:15 p.m. – 1:25 p.m. | Session 5: RNA Medicines for Cutaneous Disorders This exciting final session focuses on the dramatic shift in research, clinical development, and commercial activity to exploit the many physiological roles of RNA for use in medicine. These include RNA vaccines, siRNAs, circular RNAs, and splice site modifiers for cancer, immunomodulation and genodermatoses. Identifying targets and manufacturing clinical scale RNA therapies remains a gap in knowledge. |
| 1:25 p.m. – 1:55 p.m. | Alain Hovnanian, M.D., Ph.D. (University of Paris) |
| 1:55 p.m. – 2:10 p.m. | Discussion |
| 2:10 p.m. – 2:40 p.m. | John Harris, M.D., Ph.D. (UMass Chan Medical) From Nobel discoveries to clinical breakthrough: How RNA interference is transforming treatments for inflammatory skin diseases |
| 2:40 p.m. – 3:05 p.m. | Discussion |
| 3:05 p.m. – 3:35 p.m. | William Greenleaf, Ph.D. (Stanford University) |
| 3:35 p.m. – 3:50 p.m. | Discussion |
| 3:50p.m. – 4:05 p.m. | Short Talk and Discussion #3 |
| 4:05p.m. – 4:20 p.m. | Short Talk and Discussion #4 |
| 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. | Salmon Bake Dinner Offsite (weather permitting) |
Monday, October 20
| 6 a.m. – 8 a.m. | Breakfast and Depart |
| 8:30 a.m. | Bus Departs for PDX Airport |
2025 Support
Funding for this conference was made possible (in part) by a grant (5R13AR009431-58) from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention by trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
The Montagna Symposium on the Biology of Skin gratefully acknowledges:
- NIH Grant Number 2 R13 AR009431-58 from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
- Society for Investigative Dermatology (SID) for the SID Eugene M. Farber Travel Awards for Young Investigators
- Journal of Investigative Dermatology
- Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology (JSID) for the JSID Travel Awards for Young Investigators
- Taiwanese Society for Investigative Dermatology (TSID) for the TSID Travel Awards for Young Investigators
The 2025 Symposium is supported by the LEO Foundation (Grant #LF-RN-25-601068)
The 2025 Symposium is supported by a charitable gift from the David M.C. Ju Foundation
The 2025 Symposium is supported by the Epidermolysis Bullosa Medical Research Foundation (EBMRF)
The 2025 Symposium is supported through an educational grant from Abbvie
2025 Sponsor Acknowledgement
We thank our generous sponsors for making the 2025 Montagna Symposium on the Biology of Skin possible.
Sustainer Level Sponsors:
| Janssen J&J |  |
Benefactor Level Sponsors:
| Amgen |  |
Patron Level Sponsors:
| Incyte |  |
| Sanofi |  |
Associate Level Sponsors:
| Oregon Dermatology Society |  |