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More than 30 researchers, clinicians and students from VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center travelled to the 2025 American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting this week. Massey members proved to be an active part of the annual conference, which is one of the largest in the United States and brought more than 22,000 people from around the world to Chicago.

“This conference is one of the largest conferences in the United States and one of the oldest focused on cancer research,” said Robert A. Winn, M.D., director and Lipman Chair in Oncology at Massey. “Being among the best at this meeting has been really good to see that growth.

“There isn’t a marker where Massey hasn’t improved over the last several years and one way of giving thanks back to the people who have done it is to show our growth, to make sure that at a place like the AACR, where there are over 22,000 people, that people don't leave without knowing that Massey was here, that Massey science counts, Massey researchers count, the Massey staff, the Massey nurses,” Winn said. “But really, the one team, one fight ethos is something that everyone should pay attention to.”

“We do this because this helps us bring more innovation, more attention to Massey,” said Katherine Y. Tossas, Ph.D., M.S., associate co-director, global oncology at Massey. “This means more recruits, which means better research, which means hopefully better discoveries for the communities that we serve.”

Dr. Katherine Tossas stressed the concept of not only being “high tech” in research, but also “high touch,” during a session for advancing cancer research in understudied populations by engaging with local and global communities.

With thousands of researchers from around the world convening for the AACR annual meeting, Winn says it presents thousands of opportunities for collaboration from the basic science level up to clinical trials.

On Monday night, Winn partnered with William Dalton, Ph.D., from the Moffitt Cancer Center, Deborah Collyar from Patient Advocates in Research (PAIR) and K. Vish Viswanath, Ph.D., from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in a discussion on using communication to foster trust in science. Winn spoke on “Building Trust Through Community-Centered Clinical Trials,” highlighting the importance of building trust with communities. He discussed the importance of amplifying the message that the cancer death rate has dropped by 34% since 1991.

With the push to increase participation in clinical trials in all communities, Winn says the burden is on those behind the science to spread the word in their communities about why people should participate.

“We are at a time that’s critical in the country to not only solve the problem, but communicate it effectively,” Winn told the audience. “I don’t care how good your science is, if you are not communicating it to the people, then we are all in trouble.”

On Tuesday, Tossas presented on “Investigating racial disparities through the vaginal microbiome, physiology and community-engaged research” during a session for advancing cancer research in understudied populations by engaging with local and global communities. Tossas stressed the concept of not only being “high tech” in research, but also “high touch.” Data tells the story, she explained, but the community tells the ultimate truth.

“I always say that while we may hold the data and we may hold the information, the community holds the ultimate truth,” Tossas said. “They allow us to contextualize the data. They are the ultimate guiding light for our findings, our discoveries, our research to really be meaningful to them. So we need them in everything that we do. We need them before, during and after.”

Massey and VCU Health were featured on more than 20 poster presentations this year with a wide-range of topics. Jose Trevino, M.D., surgeon-in-chief at Massey, Geoffrey R. Shudtz Chair in Pancreatic Cancer Research, and chair of the Division of Surgical Oncology at the VCU School of Medicine, has attended the AACR Annual Meeting since 2003 and credits the conference as the beginning of his academic research career. Dr. Jose Trevino was given the opportunity on Tuesday morning to deliver a message of hope to a crowd of hundreds of students from around the world and many from his hometown of Chicago.

“We can walk into the poster sessions and Massey is right there among other top research organizations,” Trevino said. “We're coming in strong, and we're really making that push and that effort throughout the country and ultimately throughout the world, because our initiatives are not just going to stop in Richmond and Virginia and the United States. We're going to be global. And at the end of the day, what we hope to do is really change the whole landscape of how we manage patients with cancer and how we do the research that's going to revolutionize everything.”

The majority of the Massey posters were presented by graduate and postdoctoral students, allowing the next generation to connect and display their work to a national and global audience.

“We are so proud of our students. We are so proud of the work that they do. We are so proud that we are building the next generation of scholars that, again, are community minded, community focused,” Tossas said. “That is what is the secret sauce for Massey, and that is what our students are displaying through their science.”

Team members from Massey also made time for collaboration and mentorship throughout the week. Tossas spent Monday night speaking with graduate students searching for the right postdoctoral position as they advance in their careers. But the mentorship extends down to the high school level as well, as Trevino was given the opportunity on Tuesday morning to deliver a message of hope to a crowd of hundreds of students from around the world and many from his hometown of Chicago.

“No matter where you come from, and you can come from nothing,” Trevino told the crowd of high school students, “you can succeed in anything you want.” Dr. Robert Winn took part in a career development session that delved into the topic of mentorship and knowing the difference between mentors and sponsors when building your network.

On Tuesday night, Winn took part in a career development session hosted by Minorities in Cancer Research (MICR) alongside a panel including John Carpten, Ph.D., chief scientific officer at City of Hope; Brian Rivers, Ph.D., M.P.H., director at the Cancer Health Equity Institute; John Carethers, M.D., Vice Chancellor for Health Services at UC San Diego; Juanita Merchant, M.D., Ph.D.; chief of the Division of Gastroenterology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine; and Amelie Remirez, Dr.P.H., M.P.H., chair of the Department of Population Health Services at UT Health San Antonio. The panel delved into the topic of mentorship, and Winn encouraged the audience to know the difference between mentors and sponsors when building your network.

“Build your network with people who will advocate for you,” Winn told the crowd.

Winn says Massey leads the country when it comes to the “one team, one fight” mantra and now with others following Massey’s lead, the 73 NCI-designated cancer centers represent the “national team” in the fight against cancer. Those relationships and Massey’s visibility were only strengthened by their presence at the 2025 AACR Annual Meeting.

“This is not just a conference,” Winn said. “This is a conference where you create moments that continue to drive momentum, to drive better science, to actually have better outcomes.”

Written by: Preston Willett