Brain Tumour Conference 2024: Programme

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Brain Tumour Conference 2024

Tuesday 24 September 2024

09:30 - 11:00 Registration, networking and poster set-up 

11:00 - 11:15

Welcome and keynote speaker introduction

Speakers: Alex Pemberton; Cancer Research UK and Steven Pollard; University of Edinburgh

11:15 - 12:15

Keynote lecture: Arnold Kriegstein, University of California, San Francisco

Neural stem cells in human brain development and glioblastoma

12:15 - 12:30

Lightning talks (x5)

Speaker: Bhavyaa Chandarana, McGill University  

FOXR2 targets LHX6+/DLX+ neural lineages to drive CNS neuroblastoma  

Speaker: Simone Lenci, University of Edinburgh

Characterising preneoplastic glioma functional networks in a zebrafish model

Speaker: Fiona James, University of Leeds

The role of dendritic cells in the immune response to brain metastases  

Speaker: Beatrice Salerno, University of Oxford

Investigating the role of ISGylation in response to ionising radiation in glioblastoma

Speaker: Niek Van Bree, Karolinska Institute

Galectin-3 regulates amino acid uptake and is essential for sonic hedgehog-driven medulloblastoma 

12:30 - 13:45 Lunch, networking and posters
13:45 - 15:30

Session 1: Brain metastasis

Co-chairs: Erica Sloan, Monash University and Adrienne Boire, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre

Speaker: Leanne Li, The Francis Crick Institute

Cancer cell intrinsic electrical activity drives small cell lung cancer progression

Speaker: Manuel Valiente, Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNiO)

Strategies to challenge brain metastasis lethality and to improve QoL in mice and human

Speaker: Erica Sloan, Monash University

Neural-tumour interactions drive breast cancer metastasis and impair treatment response

Speaker: Jenna Snyder, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center 

Mimicking CAFs, pial cells support leptomeningeal metastasis

15:30 - 16:00 Networking break
16:00 - 17:45

Session 2: Spatial sequencing

Co-chairs: Omer Bayraktar, Wellcome Sanger Institute and Steven Pollard, University of Edinburgh

Speaker: Itay Tirosh, Weizmann Institute of Science

Spatial analysis of gliomas and their invasion

Speaker: Omer Bayraktar, Wellcome Sanger Institute

Mapping the rules of glioblastoma with integrated single cell and spatial genomics

Speaker: Dieter Henrik Heiland, Friedrich-Alexander University

Transitioning spatially resolved multi-omics into clinical applications through advanced machine learning

Speaker: Lucy Brooke, University College London

Neurodevelopmental states impact treatment sensitivity    

17:45 - 19:30 Networking drinks and poster session

Wednesday 25 September 2024

08:30 - 09:30 Registration and networking

9:00 - 10:45

Session 3: 3D genomes

Co-chairs: Claudia Kleinman, McGill University and Nada Jabado, McGill University

Speaker: Claudia Kleinman, McGill University

Epigenome disruption, lineage programs, and 3D Genome architecture in pediatric gliomas

Speaker: Bing Ren, University of California, San Diego

Single cell epigenome analysis of brain cell diversity and tumor heterogeneity

Speaker: Wendy Bickmore, University of Edinburgh

Nuclear organisation, gene regulation and ecDNAs

Speaker: Charles Williams, University of Edinburgh

SOX2 phosphorylation during mitosis limits genomic damage

10:45 - 11:15 Networking break
11:15 - 13:00

Session 4: Clinical trials

Chair and speaker: Darren Hargrave, University College London/Great Ormond Street Hospital

Towards more efficient clinical trials in paediatric neuro-oncology

Speaker: Juanita Lopez, The Royal Marsden/The Institute of Cancer Research

Disruptive trial design for genomically complex brain tumours

Speaker: Nader Sanai, Barrow Neurological Institute

Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic-driven clinical trials for brain tumours

Speaker: Emily Bates, Cardiff University

Targeting glioblastoma with precision adenoviral therapies

13:00 - 14:30

Lunch and networking with 'encouraging translation lunch session'

Chaired: Tony Hickson, Cancer Research Horizons 

Panellists: Petra Hamerlik; AstraZeneca / University of Manchester, Steven Pollard; University of Edinburgh and Juanita Lopez; The Royal Marsden Hospital

14:30 - 14:45

Lightning talks (x5)

Speaker: Garrett Bullivant, University of Toronto

Transcription Factor Mediated Rescue of Differentiation Failure in Glioblastoma

Speaker: Anna-Katerina Leledaki, Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute

G-quadruplex DNA secondary structures in glioblastoma stem cell to tumour transitions 

Speaker: Sara Lucchini, Queen Mary University

A novel Induced-recurrence PDX model recapitulates epi-genomic features of glioblastoma recurrence

Speaker: Stephen Robinson, University of Sussex

Developing an extracellular vesicle based liquid biopsy biomarker signature of glioblastoma and comparison to whole genome sequencing plus tissue proteomics data using samples from the Genomics England Biobank  

Speaker: Celie Dobersalske, German Cancer Research Centre

Functional lymphoid units in the skull bone of patients with glioblastoma 

14:45 - 16:30

Session 5: Artificial intelligence/machine learning

Chair: Bissan Al-Lazikani, MD Anderson Cancer Center

Speaker: Steven Niederer, Imperial College London & The Alan Turing Institute

The Virtual Patient, lessons from cardiac digital Twins

Speaker: Richard Gilbertson, Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute & University of Cambridge

Virtual brain tumours for therapeutic discovery

Speaker: Bissan Al-Lazikani, MD Anderson Cancer Center

Integrative AI for therapeutic opportunities in difficult to treat cancers 

Speaker: Tyler Miller, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Programs, Origins, and Immunomodulatory Functions of Myeloid Cells in Gliomas

16:30 - 18:30 Networking drinks and poster session
19:00 - late

Conference dinner

Imperial War Museum

Thursday 26 September 2024

08:30 - 09:30 Registration and networking
9:00 - 10:45

Session 6: Brain tumour metabolism

Chair: Craig Thompson, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Speaker: Christiane Opitz, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)

Brain tumour metabolism

Speaker: Craig Thompson, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Targeting the vulnerabilities of IDH mutant gliomas

Speaker: Sriram Venneti, University of Michigan

Advancing oncometabolism in brain tumors

Speaker: Roza Maselmeh, University of Edinburgh

Focal adhesion Kinase (FAK) modulates energy metabolism in a transformed mouse model of glioblastoma

10:45 - 11:00

Networking break

11:10 - 10:20

A personal cancer story: the impact of research

Speaker: Catherine Pickworth, Cancer Research UK

11:20 - 12:00

Panel discussion – why aren't we curing brain tumours?

Panellists: Nada Jabado; McGill University, Adrienne Boire; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre and Steven Pollard; University of Edinburgh

12:00 - 13:00 Networking lunch
13:00 - 14:00

Keynote lecture: Karen Vousden, The Francis Crick Institute

Diet, metabolism and cancer progression

14:00 - 14:15 Comfort break
14:15 - 16:00

Session 7: Model organisms and the tumour microenvironment

Chair: Simona Parrinello, University College London

Speaker: Anne Rios, Princess Máxima Center

Organoid human cancer immunity models in motion

Speaker: Manav Pathania, University of Cambridge

A compendium of syngeneic, transplantable paediatric high-grade glioma models reveals subtype-specific therapeutic vulnerabilities

Speaker: Simona Parrinello, University College London

Modelling glioblastoma initiation reveals targetable microenvironmental programmes for disease control

Speaker: Akram Hamed, University of Toronto

Gliomagenesis mimics an injury response orchestrated by neural crest-like cells

16:00 - 16:15

Closing remarks and poster prizes

Richard Gilbertson, University of Cambridge

 

The conference programme is subject to change.