Brain Tumour Conference 2024: Programme

11:00 - 11:15

Welcome and keynote speaker introduction

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

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

Neural stem cells in human brain development and glioblastoma

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 

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

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    

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

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

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

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 

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

Conference dinner

Imperial War Museum

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

A personal cancer story: the impact of research

Speaker: Catherine Pickworth, Cancer Research UK

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

Keynote lecture: Karen Vousden, The Francis Crick Institute

Diet, metabolism and cancer progression

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

Closing remarks and poster prizes

Richard Gilbertson, University of Cambridge