In November, the IASLC announced Jennifer C. King, PhD, as the association’s new Chief Science Officer. Dr. King, who previously served as Chief Scientific Officer for the GO2 Foundation, has been tasked with guiding and implementing the scientific strategy of the IASLC, supporting scientific research projects, and managing the Scientific Affairs department.
In a recent interview, Dr. King discussed her experience in both basic science and clinical research, the role of the IASLC in conquering thoracic cancer, and more.
ILCN: Your background includes experience in molecular targets for cancer therapy. What drew you to researching molecular targets? How does that background help you in your role as Chief Science Officer for the IASLC?
Dr. King: I was intrigued by the underlying mechanisms of disease in general—and cancer in particular—and how we could identify vulnerabilities to target with new therapeutics. Uncontrolled cell growth is a hallmark of cancer. So I initially trained as a basic scientist studying the role of the Rb pathway and E2F transcription factors in cell cycle progression. Then for my postdoctoral research, I worked with Dr. Charles Sawyers, who is one of the pioneers in the area of targeted therapies for cancer. While I didn’t focus specifically on lung cancer until later, that training and experience is directly relevant to the portfolio of targeted therapies for lung cancer that we have today. It has been a great background for the ongoing research questions around how we best care for people diagnosed with lung cancer at many different stages. I think the combination of my background in basic and translational science with the more recent experience I have had in clinical research and patient advocacy gives me a great foundation for my new role at IASLC. At the IASLC, we serve a broad membership who are advancing science in all these areas in a global, multidisciplinary fashion, and it helps me understand the questions and challenges from different points of view.
ILCN: The IASLC recently began the work of implementing its new 5-year strategic plan to address the needs of the global lung cancer community. From your perspective, how will the strategic plan help move science forward in thoracic oncology?
Dr. King: The strategic plan has the bold vision of conquering thoracic cancer in the 21st century. This will take participation from many different sectors of the thoracic cancer community. Where we at the IASLC see our role is as a multidisciplinary, global body that can facilitate projects that are bigger than any one institution, specialty, or country. I am excited to lead our Collaborative Science pillar where we are challenging our membership and volunteers to think big about the problems that need to be addressed in lung cancer globally and what research initiatives, education, and resources that the IASLC can bring forward to help tackle these problems. Along with this work, we are expanding the thoracic malignancies education that IASLC has long been known for and beginning to address the difficult problem of equitable, accessible multidisciplinary care.
ILCN: IASLC has added several committees to support the strategic plan. Could you tell us more about the new scientific committees?
Dr. King: As I mentioned, this work can not be done by any single entity. The IASLC needs to harness the expertise and experience of all sectors of the thoracic community. To do this, we have been adding to and expanding our volunteer committees from our membership. There are now 14 committees housed within the three pillars of the strategic plan, although really all of them are working on components that cross science, education, and accessible care. Within Collaborative Science, the five committees are: Basic and Translational Science, Screening and Early Detection, Pathology, Multidisciplinary Clinical Science, and Rare Tumors. It is an exciting time right now because we are hosting the first meetings of the new committees and discussing the most important challenges across the care continuum with all of these global, multidisciplinary experts. These groups are innovating and developing new research ideas and educational initiatives that will underpin our work for the next few years.
ILCN: In addition to the strategic plan, the IASLC has also announced several other initiatives and resources to start 2024, including a new biomarker survey. Tell us why the biomarker survey is important and why thoracic oncologists should participate.
Dr. King: Biomarker testing in lung cancer has changed dramatically over the past 5 to 10 years and it is critical to understand the current global landscape. We want to hear from multiple different sectors of our community—pulmonologists, oncologists, pathologists, and more—to understand different decision points and operational challenges in biomarker testing implementation, as well as regional impediments. A significant portion of the survey is dedicated to a deeper exploration of key barriers that have been previously identified and pinpointing potential solutions. The data collected will be instrumental in crafting strategies to improve biomarker testing for lung cancer patients on a global scale. The results will all be presented and published for our membership. We also intend to use the findings to underpin IASLC initiatives centered on bolstering biomarker testing within international health infrastructures. I encourage everyone to complete the survey!
ILCN: Is there anything else ILCN readers should know about you or about ongoing efforts from IASLC?
Dr. King: Scientific Affairs is growing within IASLC! In my first 90 days, I hired two additional scientific staff and across the organization we are looking at how we support all the work ahead of us to properly carry out the strategic plan. I love building teams, and I am really excited about the addition of more in-house capacity to support impactful, collaborative scientific initiatives in partnership with our members. I encourage our ILCN readers to get to know the whole team. As our team grows, we will be able to continue to expand programs and opportunities for the membership to get involved with IASLC—including early career members and those who have never worked with IASLC before. It’s going to be an exciting five years.
