Oregon Research & Policy Breakfast: Innovation in Cancer

The ACS CAN Oregon Research and Policy Breakfast: Innovation in Cancer brings together leaders from research, healthcare, business, and public policy to examine how breakthroughs in cancer care move from discovery to real‑world impact. Across the cancer continuum, innovation is accelerating—through advances in precision medicine and targeted therapies, the use of data and artificial intelligence to improve detection and clinical decision‑making, and new models of care delivery designed to improve outcomes.

Yet scientific progress alone is not enough. Whether innovation reaches patients depends on the policies that shape research investment, data sharing, coverage, access, and implementation. This breakfast will explore the critical intersection of research, practice, and policy—highlighting both the promise of emerging cancer innovations and the real‑world barriers that can slow or limit their impact.

Hosted at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, the program will feature perspectives from researchers advancing new discoveries, clinicians implementing innovative tools in practice, industry leaders shaping the future of cancer care, patient voices, and policy experts working to ensure innovation is responsibly scaled and equitably accessed. Through this conversation, ACS CAN will underscore the essential role of advocacy in creating a policy environment where innovation can reach patients faster, more fairly, and at scale.

The breakfast will conclude with a reflection on what is possible when research, innovation, and policy align—and a call to action to support the advocacy work that turns progress into lives saved.