Empower GI Conference 2026

The conference was held in Washington, DC.

The conference was designed for people living with and beyond gastrointestinal cancer, their caregivers, and oncology professionals.

Sessions were billed as reviewing recent advances in GI cancer treatment, discussing emerging therapies including targeted treatments and immunotherapy, and addressing managing treatment-related side effects and supportive care strategies.

Speakers were scheduled to include Mike Pishvaian (Johns Hopkins University), Timothy Cannon (Inova Cancer Center), Keith Unger (MedStar Health), Tracy Webb (Inova Cancer Center), Sara Field (MedStar Georgetown University Hospital), Nilo Azad (Johns Hopkins University), and Vanessa Ghigliotty (INOA University).

It was most useful for patients with gastrointestinal cancer and their caregivers who wanted plain-language updates from oncologists, since it was a single morning-to-early-afternoon program with sessions scheduled on ctDNA, molecular testing, toxicities, palliative care and survivorship from Johns Hopkins, Inova and MedStar faculty. Oncology clinicians wanting in-depth, credit-focused scientific exchange would have gotten less from a one-day event pitched at patients and families as well as professionals.

Attendees at patient and caregiver education days usually wear comfortable casual clothing, with clinicians in business casual, and a layer is sensible for an air-conditioned Washington, DC hall in early October.