Deciphering Tumor Ecosystems in Space and Time

The Single-Cell Cancer Biology GRC is a premier, international scientific conference focused on advancing the frontiers of science through the presentation of cutting-edge and unpublished research, prioritizing time for discussion after each talk and fostering informal interactions among scientists of all career stages. The conference program includes a diverse range of speakers and discussion leaders from institutions and organizations worldwide, concentrating on the latest developments in the field. The conference is five days long and held in a remote location to increase the sense of camaraderie and create scientific communities, with lasting collaborations and friendships. In addition to premier talks, the conference has designated time for poster sessions from individuals of all career stages, and afternoon free time and communal meals allow for informal networking opportunities with leaders in the field.

Cancer is a complex and dynamic biological system whereby individual cells comprise elemental units of evolutionary selection. As such, comprehensive analysis and interpretation of cancer properties require precise investigation at single cell resolution. Several fundamental questions in cancer biology remain poorly understood, including transition from pre-malignancy to tumor, clonal evolution & plasticity, intra-tumor heterogeneity, tumor-stroma interaction, mechanisms for metastasis, therapeutic resistance and the immune microenvironment. These questions have been difficult to address through characterization of bulk tissue samples, which are limited to providing an average signal from a complex population of cells. Nevertheless, the field is witnessing a rapid advance in single cell omics and imaging technologies. These technologies provide a powerful approach to address these questions.

This Gordon Research Conference is the only forum dedicated to Single Cell Cancer Biology. It brings together leading researchers with different background that use single cell technologies to address a range of problems in basic cancer biology, translational, and clinical oncology. The meeting features sessions on pre-malignancies and clonal evolution, intra-tumor heterogeneity, cell-cell interactions in tumor microenvironment, technical advances in single cell protocols and computational methods for data analysis and modeling, single cell technologies in clinical practice, liquid biopsy, and single-cell multi-omics. By fostering close interactions and active discussion among practitioners from many disciplines and from both academia and industry, we aim to foster leadership for the coming decade of rapid progress in research and applications relevant to Single Cell Cancer Biology.