Conference Description
Stem cells are crucial for organ maintenance throughout life but can also serve as cells of origin for tumor formation. In addition, tumors arising from both stem cell and non-stem cell origins can hijack molecular pathways of stem cell self-renewal, genomic maintenance and metabolic control to enable their deregulated growth. Thus, knowledge of the molecular mechanisms that ensure stem cell function and regulate organ development and regenerative activity under normal conditions directly informs understanding of tumor initiating and propagating signals. Conversely, knowledge of the mutations and environmental signals that can trigger and maintain tumor cell renewal can suggest novel avenues to boost stem cell function and facilitate organogenesis and repair.
The 2019 Gordon Research Conference on Stem Cells and Cancer will bring together a diverse, interdisciplinary group of researchers with interests in organogenesis, tumorigenesis, stem cell function and therapy to catalyze collaboration and cross-fertilize ideas. The meeting will focus particularly on developmental, metabolic, genomic and epigenomic mechanisms regulating the function of cancer cells and stem cells. We will explore exciting new opportunities and insights available from genome-wide genetic and epigenetic studies, now with single cell resolution, from high resolution assessment of mitochondrial bioenergetics and metabolic flux, and from the increased experimental accessibility of stem cell differentiation and tumorigenic processes made possible by induced pluripotency, direct reprogramming and ex vivo "organoid" cultures. Finally, we will discuss new and emerging clinical applications, rooted in concepts derived from the interface of cancer and stem cell biology, providing a window into future cutting-edge therapies for cancer and degenerative disease.
The topics, speakers, and discussion leaders for the conference sessions are displayed below. The conference chair is currently developing their detailed program, which will include the complete meeting schedule, as well as the talk titles for all speakers. The detailed program will be available by November 24, 2018. Please check back for updates.
Keynote Session: Stem Cells, Cancer and Cell Fate Diversity
Discussion Leaders
-
Amy Wagers (Harvard University, USA)
Speakers
-
Irving Weissman (Stanford University School of Medicine, USA)
Developmental Pathways
Discussion Leaders
-
Cedric Blanpain (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium)
Speakers
-
Barbara Treutlein (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany)
-
Kenneth Zaret (Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, USA)
-
Shahragim Tajbakhsh (Institut Pasteur, France)
Organogenesis and Tumorigenesis
Discussion Leaders
-
Leonard Zon (Howard Hughes Medical Institute / Boston Children's Hospital, USA)
Speakers
-
Cedric Blanpain (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium)
-
Meritxell Huch (Gurdon Institute, United Kingdom)
Self-Renewal and Differentiation Mechanisms
Discussion Leaders
-
Jason Buenrostro (Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, USA)
Speakers
-
Magdalena Gotz (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany)
-
Sean Morrison (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA)
-
Leonard Zon (Howard Hughes Medical Institute / Boston Children's Hospital, USA)
Genomics and Epigenomics
Discussion Leaders
-
Meritxell Huch (University of Cambridge , United Kingdom)
Speakers
-
Maarten Van Lohuizen (Netherlands Cancer Institute, The Netherlands)
-
Dana Pe'er (Columbia University, USA)
-
Catriona Jamieson (University of California, San Diego, USA)
Metabolism and Metastasis
Discussion Leaders
-
Peter de Keizer (University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands)
Speakers
-
Marcia Haigis (Harvard Medical School, USA)
-
Leanne Jones (University of California, Los Angeles, USA)
-
Felipe de Sousa e Melo (Genentech, USA)
Cell Fate and Aging Effects
Discussion Leaders
-
Leanne Jones (University of California, Los Angeles, USA)
Speakers
-
Salvador Aznar Benitah (Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), Spain)
-
Peter de Keizer (University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands)
-
Saul Villeda (University of California, San Francisco, USA)
Pluripotency and Lineage Plasticity
Discussion Leaders
-
Catriona Jamieson (University of California, San Diego, USA)
Speakers
-
Kathrin Plath (University of California, Los Angeles, USA)
-
Hans-Reimer Rodewald (German Cancer Research Center, Germany)
-
Jason Buenrostro (Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, USA)
Disease Modeling and Therapeutics
Discussion Leaders
-
Jill Goldstein (Harvard University, USA)
Speakers
-
Alessandra Biffi (Dana Farber Cancer Institute, USA)
-
Elaine Fuchs (The Rockefeller University, USA)
