Beautiful Aspen Mansion Serves as the Perfect Setting to Grow MD Anderson’s Cancer Fighting Mission
Making Cancer History Continues to Embrace the Colorado Mountains and Its Influential Summer Crowd
BY Shelby Hodge // 07.24.24Estela Cockrell, Alejandra Foster, Allison Bone enjoy the mountain air at the MD Anderson Cancer Center events in Aspen.
What: The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center 25th annual “Making Cancer History” events in Aspen
Where: Aspen Meadows Resort
PC Moments: MD Anderson experts offered a double dose of cancer research intelligence over two days. Some 150 settled in the auditorium for a two hour seminar focused on the latest cancer breakthroughs including the role of the gut microbiome in cancer, the institution’s drug discovery efforts and the emergence of new cell therapy treatments.
Sharing in the discussion were MD Anderson president Dr. Peter WT Pisters; Tim Heffernan, Ph.D., vice president and head of Therapeutics Discovery; Dr. Jennifer McQuade, associate professor of Melanoma Medical Oncology; and Dr. Katy Rezvani, Ph.D., vice president of Cell Therapy.
Robert Nichols, member of MD Anderson Board of Visitors, emceed the program.
The following day the institute hosted the third annual Roundtable Discussion, limited to 50 participants, at the Walter Isaacson Center in the Aspen Meadows Resort. Two 25 minute sessions with guests and medical leaders were complemented by the roundtable discussion that included the previous day’s speakers in addition to MD Anderson’s Dr. Giulio Draetta, Ph.D., senior vice president and chief scientific officer, and Andrew Futreal, Ph.D., vice president of Strategic Translational Research Programs.
Easter Tabletop
As is tradition, the gatherings included a cocktail reception this year hosted in the Red Mountain home of Alejandra and Paul Foster of El Paso and co-hosted by Sherry and Robert Brown of Dallas. Close to 100 schmoozed in the cool mountain air while the Derek Brown Band entertained and wait staff from Duemani restaurant in Aspen provided light bites.
PC Seen: Barbara Hines, who along with her late husband Gerald Hines hosted the inaugural soirées in Aspen; Houstonians Judy Allen, Estela and David Cockrell, Denise Monteleone, Anat and Jay Zeidman, Jim Adler, Stephanie Cockrell, Evan Weinberger, Stacey and Tim Heffernan; from Dallas Peggy Sewell and Gayle Stoffel; and from New Orleans Diane and Wayne Decote.
