The Biotech Connector is a quarterly networking and speaker series, hosted by the FNL and Frederick County Chamber of Commerce, to bring together life science professionals for an inside look at local advances and to network.
Please join fellow biotech and bioscience professionals for our August event. The speakers for the event are Kaitlin Victor, MS, Associate Scientist, Labcorp Oncology; Amanda Peach, MS, Research Associate, Molecular Characterization Laboratory (MoCha), Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research; Lorenzo Rinaldi, PhD., Head of Translational Science, Scientific Alliance Manager, Delfi Diagnostics.
Speakers
Liquid Biopsy in the Cancer Diagnostics and Surveillance
Associate Scientist, Labcorp Oncology
Abstract
This presentation will explore the past, present, and future of liquid biopsy in cancer diagnostics and surveillance and will highlight how Labcorp fits into this evolving field.
Bio
Kaitlin grew up in Southern California and went to college at the University of California, Riverside. She attended Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and received her MS degree in Human Genetics and Molecular Biology. Kaitlin’s thesis involved two related mitochondrial disorders: methylmalonic acidemia and propionic acidemia. She has also worked for the DoD doing Dengue vaccine work. In 2021, Kaitlin moved to her current position at PGDx/Labcorp, where she is working on assay development for the minimal residual disease assay.
Liquid Biopsies in Support of NCI Precision Medicine Initiatives
Research Associate, Molecular Characterization Laboratory, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research
Abstract
Liquid biopsy is a minimally invasive approach for cancer detection, monitoring, and treatment guidance. This approach analyzes circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), which are fragments of DNA that are released into the bloodstream by tumor cells. The ctDNA provides a comprehensive molecular landscape comparable to tumor tissue. It captures genomic heterogeneity at different tumor lesions and clonal hematopoiesis variants in patients. The TSO500 ctDNA v2 assay is a 523-gene panel capable of detecting single nucleotide variants (SNVs), insertions/deletions (indels), gene fusions, copy number variations (CNVs), blood-based microsatellite instability (bMSI), and blood-based tumor mutational burden (bTMB). In the Molecular Characterization Laboratory (MoCha), this assay is primarily used to investigate mechanisms of therapeutic response and resistance and to identify potential predictive biomarkers. It has been applied in retrospective analyses supporting the NCI-MATCH, ETCTN, and ComboMATCH trials. Analysis is currently ongoing for plasma ctDNA collected from patients with rare and uncommon histologies enrolled in NCI-MATCH.
Bio
Currently leading the liquid biopsy group at MoCha, Amanda Peach is focused on advancing non-invasive diagnostic tools that leverage circulating biomarkers for early disease detection and monitoring. Their work plays a critical role in bridging cutting-edge molecular technologies with real-world clinical applications.
Amanda Peach holds MS degree in biomedical science from Hood College and a second MS degree in bioinformatics from Johns Hopkins University, reflecting a strong interdisciplinary foundation that combines laboratory science with computational analysis.
DELFI Tumor Fraction: Disruptive liquid biopsy approach in monitoring therapeutics
Head of Translational Science, Scientific Alliance Manager, Delfi Diagnostics
Abstract
While cell-free DNA (cfDNA) offers tremendous potential for cancer diagnostics, traditional approaches are constrained by the need for tumor-specific mutation data. DELFI overcomes this fundamental limitation through its pioneering genome-wide cfDNA fragmentation analysis. DELFI Tumor Fraction (DELFI-TF) scores strongly correlate with circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) levels, as measured by Mutant Allele Frequency (MAF), even in cases where mutations are undetectable. This proprietary technology delivers a tumor and mutation-independent monitoring solution, enabling dynamic treatment response assessment across diverse cancer types and therapeutic interventions. Requiring just 800µL of plasma, DELFI-TF delivers comprehensive treatment response monitoring across all tumor types and therapies. It typically produces results in 10-14 business days and has a 99% success rate.
DELFI-TF accurately predicts tumor burden in patients with different types of solid cancer (colorectal, lung, pancreas, breast, melanoma, and head and neck cancers) and is actively guiding critical decisions in oncology drug development. DELFI-TF breakthrough technology is validated through rigorous peer-reviewed research published in prestigious scientific journals, including Nature and Cancer Discovery, establishing a solid foundation of evidence supporting our approach.
Bio
Dr. Rinaldi has received his B.S. degree in Biology from the University of Florence, Italy, after which he spent a year working in malaria research as an Assistant Scientist at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Rinaldi earned his master’s degree in biomedical research from the University of Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain, followed by a PhD in Epigenetics of Cancer Initiation from the Centre of Genomic Regulation (CRG) and Institute of Research for Biomedicine (IRB) in Barcelona.
After receiving his PhD, Dr. Rinaldi was a Genetics Lecturer at the University of Lesotho, South Africa, for half a year and then moved to a postdoctoral position at NCI in Bethesda. He joined Delfi Diagnostics as a Senior Genomics Scientist, where later he became the Head of Translational Science. His accomplishments include first-author papers published in Cell Stem Cell, eLIFE, Science Advances, Nature Reviews Cancer, and others.
Contact PDO@nih.gov with questions.