Partner, Hematology Oncology of Indiana, a Division of American Oncology Network and President and CEO, Indy Hematology Education Inc. Clinical Professor, Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine (Indianapolis, Indiana)

Ruemu E. Birhiray, MD is an attending physician in medical oncology, hematology, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at Hematology-Oncology of Indiana, and at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana. After completing his internal medicine residency at Columbus Hospital in Chicago where he also served as Chief Medical Resident in 1994, he was a postgraduate fellow in bone marrow transplant at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and in medical oncology at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland where his research included gene therapy and adoptive cellular immunotherapy strategies in bone marrow transplantation. Dr. Birhiray’s professional experience has also included serving as an attending physician, and Director of bone marrow transplantation and a member of Marshfield Clinic, Wisconsin and a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin from 1998 to 2001. Additionally Dr. Birhiray was appointed an Associate Professor of bone marrow transplantation at Rush University, Chicago, Illinois in 2001, prior to joining Hematology Oncology of Indiana. Subsequently, Dr. Birhiray, served as and director of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Institutional Principal Investigator for the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project of the National Cancer Institute at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Indianapolis. Currently, he is also, Clinical Professor, Marian University School of Osteopathic Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, and an Editorial Board Member of The Journal of Blood Transfusion and Hematopathology. Projects for which Dr. Birhiray is principal investigator include reduced intensity allogeneic transplantation in hematologic malignancies, and a trial of Interferon A, CHOP, and rituximab therapy in advanced-stage follicular lymphoma, and neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer. Additional collaborations have included major phase III clinical trials. Additionally Dr. Birhiray founded the Clinical research program at Hematology Oncology of Indiana. His awards include, “Intern of the year” from Columbus Hospital, Hope award from the Indiana Wellness community and named “best physician” by the Indianapolis monthly magazine and “top doctor” by Castle Connelly. In 2002, Dr. Birhiray founded and has served as Chair of the annual “Indy Hematology Review”, a nationally respected program providing education for hematologists and oncologists nationally and regionally, and he is also President and CEO of Indy Hematology Education, Inc. A member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Hematology, and the American Medical Association, Dr Birhiray has published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Leukemia, Gene Therapy and Therapeutic Apheresis, Journal of Blood Transfusion and Hematopathology, Human Immunology, Familial Cancer, Annals of Pharmacotherapy, American Journal of Health System Pharmacists, Pharmacotherapy, in addition to multiple abstracts. Dr. Birhiray is married to Donna Marie (nee Baynard) since 1995, and they are blessed with 3 children, a daughter, Maya, born in 1999, and a son, Dirin, born in 2003, and an older daughter Meaghan who was born in 1990.

University of California San Francisco Health

Dr. Arie Perry, director of neuropathology at UCSF, specializes in diagnosing benign and cancerous tumors of the nervous system, including those of the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves. He is also a specialist in classifying the molecular genetics of the tumors, which can be used to help determine the best treatment. He maintains an international consultation service for challenging cases involving brain tumor diagnosis.

Perry's research focuses on developing biomarkers (substances that indicate a condition) to enhance diagnosis, prognosis and management of patients with brain tumors. He played a leading role in setting the agreed-upon diagnostic guidelines for benign and cancerous nervous system tumors published by the World Health Organization.

Perry earned his medical degree and completed a residency in pathology at the University of Texas Southwestern. He completed fellowships in surgical pathology and neuropathology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Perry serves as director of UCSF's fellowship training program in neuropathology. He has won numerous teaching awards and authored various publications, including the textbook Practical Surgical Neuropathology. He is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Association of Neuropathologists, International Society of Neuropathology, Canadian Association of Pathologists and Society for Neuro-Oncology.

Northwestern Medicine: Feinberg School of Medicine

Dr. Roger Stupp is an internationally recognized medical oncologist with a special focus on innovative cancer treatments and drug development, notably for brain tumors and brain metastases. At Northwestern, he is leading the Division of Neuro-Oncology, and serving as the Co-Director of the Malnati Brain Tumor Institute and Associate Director for the Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr. Stupp has been the lead investigator for numerous clinical trials from first-in-human phase 1 to pivotal phase 3 registration studies. In the brain tumor field, he is best known for his contributions of temozolomide (Temodar®) and radiation in the first line treatment of brain tumors (the “stupp protocol”), and establishing MGMT as a predictive marker for benefit from alkylating agent chemotherapy. He was also the lead investigator establishing Tumor Treating Fields (Optune®) as an innovative treatment modality. Two novel treatments that based on his research received FDA approval and are today standard of care for patients suffering from glioblastoma.

Dr. Stupp and Dr. Adam Sonabend are investigating innovative strategies to open the blood-brain barrier selectively, temporarily, and reversibly, thus facilitating novel medicines (including immunotherapy) to reach tumors in higher concentrations. Using a novel implantable ultrasound device, the team is evaluating the effect of ultrasound in association with microbubbles on the blood-brain barrier and its microenvironment. In recent and ongoing clinical trials, they have shown that temporary opening of the blood-brain barrier will lead to a several fold increase of drug concentration in the brain, and feasibility of repeated BBB opening to delivery old and also novel new agents and drugs to treat brain tumors (and brain disease).

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Dr. Lauren Schaff is a neuro-oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Assistant Professor of Neurology at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Schaff completed her neurology residency at Columbia and her neuro-oncology fellowship at MSK. She currently serves as Associate Director of the MSK Neuro-Oncology Fellowship Program.

Dr. Schaff’s clinical and research work focuses on primary brain tumors, with a particular emphasis on low-grade gliomas and central nervous system lymphoma. She is the principal investigator of several therapeutic trials, including studies combining immunotherapy, PARP inhibitors, and temozolomide in IDH-mutant gliomas. She is also a co-author of numerous peer-reviewed articles and recent reviews on evolving treatment paradigms in glioma and CNS lymphoma.

Dr. Schaff is a sought-after educator and mentor and has received multiple awards for her clinical leadership and teaching.

Duke Cancer Institute

Dr. Mustafa Khasraw, MD, FRACP, MRCP is a physician-scientist with a background in medical oncology and neuro-oncology, with affiliations to multiple departments, research, and training programs at Duke. Dr. Khasraw leads a Tumor Immunobiology Laboratory using various wet and dry lab techniques to understand the interactions between tumors and the immune system. The goal of his lab is to identify vulnerabilities that can be targeted for novel therapies.

Dr. Khasraw also serves as the Deputy Director of the Center for Cancer Immunotherapy at the Duke Cancer Institute which facilitates clinical research and translates promising discoveries made by scientists across various departments and cancer types at Duke, especially those in the field of immune and T cell-based therapies.

Johns Hopkins Medicine

Christopher Jackson, M.D., is a neurosurgeon at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Jackson specializes in brain tumors and cerebrovascular disorders, including glioma, meningioma, acoustic neuroma, trigeminal neuralgia, brain metastasis, arteriovenous malformation and aneurysms.

Dr. Jackson is an active researcher who has published over 75 original peer-reviewed original research articles and 26 review articles. He has published in several high-impact journals including Nature Immunology, Cancer Cell, Immunity, and Clinical Cancer Research. His laboratory focuses primarily on how brain tumors evade the immune system and become resistant to immunotherapy.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Dr. Lakshmi Nayak serves as Director of the Center for CNS Lymphoma at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. She is an Associate Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. She received her medical degree at Grant Medical College in Mumbai, India. She completed her residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital/ Cornell, and fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Her research includes development of novel therapies through preclinical and clinical studies for management of primary brain tumors including glioblastoma and primary central nervous system lymphoma, with particular focus on molecular targeted agents and immunotherapeutics, including CAR T-cell therapy. She leads the international neurologic assessment in neuro-oncology (NANO) effort for evaluation of neurologic function in patients with brain tumors.

Mass General Brigham and Harvard Medical School

Tracy Batchelor, M.D., M.P.H., is the Chair of the Department of Neurology at Mass General Brigham and the Martin A. Samuels Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Co- Leader of the Neuro-Oncology Program at the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC). From 2018 to 2025, he served as the Neurologist-In-Chief and Chair of the Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He was previously the Executive Director of the Stephen E. and Catherine Pappas Center for Neuro-Oncology, Associate Clinical Director of the Cancer Center, and Chief of the Division of Neuro-Oncology in the Department of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was the Count Giovanni Armenise Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School from 2012-2019.

Dr. Batchelor’s research focuses on experimental therapeutics for gliomas and primary central nervous system lymphoma, and he has over 300 peer-reviewed publications in these areas. He is the principal investigator on three active National Cancer Institute grants, including the DF/HCC P50/SPORE award, the DF/HCC U19 Glioblastoma Therapeutics Network award, and a T32 training grant in Cancer Neuroscience. He is the immediate past chair of the National Cancer Institute Brain Malignancies Steering Committee and the immediate Past President of the Society for Neuro- Oncology. He has also served in multiple elected leadership positions within the American Academy of Neurology and the Society for Neuro-Oncology.

Dr. Batchelor received his medical degree from Emory University School of Medicine and a master’s in public health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He completed his medicine internship, neurology residency and neuro-oncology fellowship at Yale-New Haven Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, respectively.

He has received multiple accolades for his excellence and leadership in the field, including awards from the American Academy of Neurology and the Society for Neuro-Oncology. He was awarded the Raymond D. Adams Award for excellence in mentoring by the MGH in 2018.

Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine

Charles G. Kulwin, MD, is a board certified neurosurgeon with Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine. His practice has a special focus on complex cranial conditions and neurosurgical diseases, as well as numerous spine disorders. Dr. Kulwin graduated from Harvard University magna cum laude as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and also earned membership into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. He then completed his neurosurgical residency with the Indiana University Department of Neurosurgery, followed by a cerebrovascular and skull base fellowship with Troy Payner, MD.

His clinical research interests include surgical treatment of stroke, neurotrauma, tumors and vascular lesions of the brain and spine, minimally invasive and subcortical cranial surgery, degenerative spine conditions, and neurosurgical education. Dr. Kulwin is a board-certified neurological surgeon.

In his free time, Dr. Kulwin enjoys spending time with his family, playing soccer and squash, and running.