Faculty

Javier Pinilla Ibarz

MD, PhD
Senior Member and Head of Lymphoma Section
Moffitt Cancer Center

Javier Pinilla-Ibarz, MD, PhD, is physician scientist Senior Member, Head of Lymphoma Section and Director of Immunotherapy in the Malignant Hematology Department at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. Dr. Pinilla-Ibarz is also a Professor in the Department of Oncologic Sciences, College of Medicine, University of South Florida.

Dr. Pinilla-Ibarz has been leading the chronic leukemia program at Moffitt since 2006, and its principal interests in the clinic are patients with myeloid and lymphoid chronic leukemia. Dr. Pinilla-Ibarz has participated in multiple clinical trials involving several kinase inhibitors, many of them now FDA approved.
He has been involved in developing new immunotherapeutic approaches in malignant hematology with special emphasis of restoring the impaired immune response of patients with chronic leukemias. He has participated in several clinical trials of peptide and cellular vaccines in different hematological disorders. He has been involved in the development of a Wilms tumor 1 vaccine for leukemias and other solid tumor now in phase III trial across the world. His laboratory is interested in epigenetic immunoregulation in lymphoid malignancies such as B and T cell lymphomas through the use of epigenetic modifiers such as histone deacetylase inhibitors and hypomethylating agents. Other research focuses are on the interaction of kinase inhibitors with the immune system and how to use these drugs to improve current immune therapeutics approaches.

2026 Sessions

CAR T or Bispecifics for CLL? Choosing the Right Immune Strategy for the Right Patient

The emergence of cellular and T-cell–engaging therapies is transforming the treatment landscape for relapsed and refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), raising important questions about optimal patient selection and sequencing. This debate-style session will examine the evolving roles of CAR T-cell therapy and bispecific antibodies in the management of high-risk, heavily pretreated CLL. Faculty will review the latest clinical trial and real-world data, comparing efficacy, durability of response, toxicity profiles, logistical considerations, and quality-of-life implications associated with each approach. Key factors influencing treatment decisions—including disease biology, prior therapy exposure, comorbidities, treatment goals, and access considerations—will be discussed. Attendees will gain practical, evidence-based insights into selecting the most appropriate immune strategy for individual patients in an increasingly complex therapeutic landscape.

Speaker

Friday, October 16 7:50–8:20 AM
Room Broadway South
Faculty

Javier Pinilla Ibarz

MD, PhD
Senior Member and Head of Lymphoma Section
Moffitt Cancer Center

Javier Pinilla-Ibarz, MD, PhD, is physician scientist Senior Member, Head of Lymphoma Section and Director of Immunotherapy in the Malignant Hematology Department at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. Dr. Pinilla-Ibarz is also a Professor in the Department of Oncologic Sciences, College of Medicine, University of South Florida.

Dr. Pinilla-Ibarz has been leading the chronic leukemia program at Moffitt since 2006, and its principal interests in the clinic are patients with myeloid and lymphoid chronic leukemia. Dr. Pinilla-Ibarz has participated in multiple clinical trials involving several kinase inhibitors, many of them now FDA approved.
He has been involved in developing new immunotherapeutic approaches in malignant hematology with special emphasis of restoring the impaired immune response of patients with chronic leukemias. He has participated in several clinical trials of peptide and cellular vaccines in different hematological disorders. He has been involved in the development of a Wilms tumor 1 vaccine for leukemias and other solid tumor now in phase III trial across the world. His laboratory is interested in epigenetic immunoregulation in lymphoid malignancies such as B and T cell lymphomas through the use of epigenetic modifiers such as histone deacetylase inhibitors and hypomethylating agents. Other research focuses are on the interaction of kinase inhibitors with the immune system and how to use these drugs to improve current immune therapeutics approaches.

Faculty

Stephen Schuster

MD
Professor of Medicine; Director, Lymphoma Program and Lymphoma Translational Research Program
University of Pennsylvania

Stephen J. Schuster, MD is the Robert and Margarita Louis-Dreyfus Professor of CLL and Lymphoma and a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the Director of the Lymphoma Program and Director of Lymphoma Translational Research at the Abramson Cancer Center.

After graduating AOA from Jefferson Medical College and completing his residency at Pennsylvania Hospital, Dr. Schuster completed clinical and research fellowships at the Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research. In 1989, he became a member of the Cardeza Foundation at Jefferson Medical College.
Dr. Schuster joined the University of Pennsylvania in 1998. Since then, his research has focused on the development and application of novel immunotherapies for B-cell lymphomas and CLL, including autologous tumor-derived vaccines, autologous co-stimulated T-cells, radioimmunotherapy, monoclonal antibody therapy, bi-specific antibody therapy, and adoptive immunotherapy using chimeric antigen receptor modified T cells (CAR-T cells).

Q&A

Moderator

Panelist

Friday, October 16 9:35–9:50 AM
Room Broadway South
Faculty

Richard Furman

MD
Distinguished Professor of Medicine
NewYork Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medicine

Richard R. Furman, MD is the Morton Coleman, M.D. Distinguished Professor of Medicine and director of CLL Research Center at Weill Cornell. He attended medical school at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine followed by Internal Medicine Residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He subsequently completed fellowship in Hematology and Oncology at Weill Cornell Medical College. After fellowship, Dr. Furman performed laboratory based research on cognate and non-cognate immune interactions in CLL, focusing on NF-kappaB and B cell differentiation. Dr. Furman subsequently left the laboratory to pursue clinical research and patient care with an interest on the development of non-chemotherapeutic approaches for the treatment of CLL and lymphomas. He initially focused on thalidomide and lenalidomide, before working on novel monoclonal antibodies, BCR antagonists, and other small molecule inhibitors. Dr. Furman has played a key role in the development of idelalisib, ibrutinib, acalabrutinib, and venetoclax, as well as understanding and treating mechansims of resistance.

Faculty

John Allan

MD
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine
Weill Cornell Medicine

Dr. Allan is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Allan completed his undergraduate education at the University of Missouri-Columbia and graduated with a BS in both Biochemistry and Finance. He subsequently obtained his medical degree from Saint Louis University.
Dr. Allan moved to New York in 2009 to train at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical Campus, where he also completed his residency and hematology and medical oncology fellowship.
Upon completion of training Dr. Allan joined the lymphoma faculty in the Division of Hematology and Oncology. Dr. Allan treats all lymphoid malignancies and has a particular interest in improving therapies for patients with CLL and Richter’s Syndrome, which is the focus of his research.

Faculty

Erin Mulvey

MD
Assistant Professor
Weill Cornell Medicine

Dr. Erin Mulvey is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine. She competed her undergraduate education at Boston University where she earned a degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. She received her medical degree from New York Medical College. Dr. Mulvey completed both her Residency in Internal Medicine and her Fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Mulvey has also completed a Master's Degree in Clinical Investigation and Translational Research at the Weill Cornell School of Graduate Sciences.

Dr. Mulvey is a member of the Weill Cornell Lymphoma Program where she specializes in treating patients with lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and is an active investigator in several clinical trials. Her research is centered on B cell lymphomas and CLL. Dr. Mulvey is focused on the study and manipulation of the interaction between the body’s own immune system and cancerous cells. She also has a special interest in health realted quality of life and the use of patient reported outcomes in clinical trials, and has received honors from the Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF) and the NIH.

Faculty

Javier Pinilla Ibarz

MD, PhD
Senior Member and Head of Lymphoma Section
Moffitt Cancer Center

Javier Pinilla-Ibarz, MD, PhD, is physician scientist Senior Member, Head of Lymphoma Section and Director of Immunotherapy in the Malignant Hematology Department at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. Dr. Pinilla-Ibarz is also a Professor in the Department of Oncologic Sciences, College of Medicine, University of South Florida.

Dr. Pinilla-Ibarz has been leading the chronic leukemia program at Moffitt since 2006, and its principal interests in the clinic are patients with myeloid and lymphoid chronic leukemia. Dr. Pinilla-Ibarz has participated in multiple clinical trials involving several kinase inhibitors, many of them now FDA approved.
He has been involved in developing new immunotherapeutic approaches in malignant hematology with special emphasis of restoring the impaired immune response of patients with chronic leukemias. He has participated in several clinical trials of peptide and cellular vaccines in different hematological disorders. He has been involved in the development of a Wilms tumor 1 vaccine for leukemias and other solid tumor now in phase III trial across the world. His laboratory is interested in epigenetic immunoregulation in lymphoid malignancies such as B and T cell lymphomas through the use of epigenetic modifiers such as histone deacetylase inhibitors and hypomethylating agents. Other research focuses are on the interaction of kinase inhibitors with the immune system and how to use these drugs to improve current immune therapeutics approaches.

Faculty

Stephen Schuster

MD
Professor of Medicine; Director, Lymphoma Program and Lymphoma Translational Research Program
University of Pennsylvania

Stephen J. Schuster, MD is the Robert and Margarita Louis-Dreyfus Professor of CLL and Lymphoma and a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the Director of the Lymphoma Program and Director of Lymphoma Translational Research at the Abramson Cancer Center.

After graduating AOA from Jefferson Medical College and completing his residency at Pennsylvania Hospital, Dr. Schuster completed clinical and research fellowships at the Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research. In 1989, he became a member of the Cardeza Foundation at Jefferson Medical College.
Dr. Schuster joined the University of Pennsylvania in 1998. Since then, his research has focused on the development and application of novel immunotherapies for B-cell lymphomas and CLL, including autologous tumor-derived vaccines, autologous co-stimulated T-cells, radioimmunotherapy, monoclonal antibody therapy, bi-specific antibody therapy, and adoptive immunotherapy using chimeric antigen receptor modified T cells (CAR-T cells).

Decoding BTK Mutations: Translating Genomics into Treatment Strategy

Resistance to Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors has emerged as a major clinical challenge in the management of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), driving the need for genomically informed treatment strategies. This session will explore the evolving molecular mechanisms underlying BTK inhibitor resistance, including BTK and PLCG2 mutations, clonal evolution, and emerging resistance pathways associated with both covalent and noncovalent BTK inhibitors. Faculty will review recent clinical trial data evaluating next-generation approaches, including noncovalent BTK inhibitors, BTK degraders, and rational combination regimens designed to overcome resistance and improve durability of response. The discussion will also address the role of genomic monitoring, measurable residual disease assessment, and personalized treatment sequencing. Attendees will gain practical insights into translating genomic discoveries into evidence-based therapeutic decision-making for patients with relapsed and refractory CLL.

Speaker

Friday, October 16 10:45–11:05 AM
Room Broadway South
Faculty

Javier Pinilla Ibarz

MD, PhD
Senior Member and Head of Lymphoma Section
Moffitt Cancer Center

Javier Pinilla-Ibarz, MD, PhD, is physician scientist Senior Member, Head of Lymphoma Section and Director of Immunotherapy in the Malignant Hematology Department at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. Dr. Pinilla-Ibarz is also a Professor in the Department of Oncologic Sciences, College of Medicine, University of South Florida.

Dr. Pinilla-Ibarz has been leading the chronic leukemia program at Moffitt since 2006, and its principal interests in the clinic are patients with myeloid and lymphoid chronic leukemia. Dr. Pinilla-Ibarz has participated in multiple clinical trials involving several kinase inhibitors, many of them now FDA approved.
He has been involved in developing new immunotherapeutic approaches in malignant hematology with special emphasis of restoring the impaired immune response of patients with chronic leukemias. He has participated in several clinical trials of peptide and cellular vaccines in different hematological disorders. He has been involved in the development of a Wilms tumor 1 vaccine for leukemias and other solid tumor now in phase III trial across the world. His laboratory is interested in epigenetic immunoregulation in lymphoid malignancies such as B and T cell lymphomas through the use of epigenetic modifiers such as histone deacetylase inhibitors and hypomethylating agents. Other research focuses are on the interaction of kinase inhibitors with the immune system and how to use these drugs to improve current immune therapeutics approaches.

Back to top