Nobel Conference 2018: Epithelial-Mesenchymal Plasticity in Cancer Metastasis

Preliminary program

Thursday December 13, 2018:

08.00 – 09.00 Registration
09.00 – 09.15 Welcome to the Conference

Session I; Transcriptional control of EMT
09.15 – 10.00 Keynote Lecture: Angela Nieto, Instituto de Neurociencias, Spain
10.00 – 10.30 Geert Berx, University of Gent, Belgium ZEB Proteins Dictate Cellular Plasticity during Tissue Homeostasis, Cancer Initiation and Progression
10.30 – 10.45 Coffee
10.45 – 11.15 Amparo Cano, University of Madrid, Spain LOXL2 & E2A: Novel regulators of tumor cell plasticity and metastasis
11.15 – 11.45 Antonio Garcia de Herreros, IMIM, Barcelona, Spain Controlling Snail1 function during EMT and fibroblast activation
11.45 – 12.45 Lunch

Session II; Translational mechanisms of cancer cell plasticity
12.45 – 13.15 Soheil Tavazole, Rockefeller University, USA Molecular mechanisms underlying metastatic colonization
13.15 – 13.45 Robert Schneider, NYU Cancer Institute, USA Translational regulation of breast cancer metastasis and the cancer stem cell
13.45 – 14.15 Theresa Vincent, Uppsala University/Weill Cornell University Ribosome biogenesis during cell cycle arrest fuels EMT in development and disease
14.30 – 15.00 Scott Blanchard, Weill Cornell Medical University, USA Could the ribosome itself contribute to EMT?
15.00 – 15.30 John Blenis, Weill Cornell Medical University, USA
15.30 – 16.00 Coffee

Session IV; Imaging cancer cell plasticity during invasion and metastasis
16.00 – 16.30 Peter Friedl, University of Würzburg Invasion programs and EMT
16.30 – 17.00 Jacco van Rheenen, Hubrecht Institute, Utrecht EMT plasticity during the metastatic cascade: intravital microscopy insights
17.00 – 17.30 Andrew Ewald, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Molecular programs of migration, invasion, and metastasis in epithelial organ

Friday December 14, 2018:

Session II; Cell plasticity in cancer metastasis

09.00 – 09.45 Keynote Lecture: Robert Weinberg, MIT, Boston
09.45 – 10.15 Yibin Kang, Princeton University, USA The dynamics of epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity and its impact on metastasis
10.15 – 10.45 Ben Z. Stanger, University of Pennsylvania, USA Epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity in carcinomas is governed by at least two distinct programs
10.45 – 11.15 Cédric Blanpain, University of Brussels, Belgium EMT tumour transition states
11.15 – 11.30 Coffee

Session III; TGF-beta signaling in EMT and cancer metastasis
11.30 – 12.00 Rik Derynck, University of California San Francisco TGF-beta-induced reversible versus stabilized EMT
12.00 – 12.30 Philip Howe, University of South Carolina, USA Transforming growth factor beta -mediated epithelial-mesenchymal transitions
12.30 – 13.00 Aris Moustakas, Uppsala University TGFβ and EMT transcription factor signaling loops
13.00 – 13.30 Jonas Fuxe, Karolinska Institutet Molecular switches controlling TGF-beta-induced EMT
13.30 – 14.30 Lunch

Session V; Plasticity and systemic spread of cancer
14.30 – 15.00 David Lyden, Weill Cornell Medical College, NY Tumor exosome subpopulations and exomeres promote cancer metastasis and systemic disease
15.00 – 15.30 Shyamala Maheswaran, Massachusetts Gen. Hospital, Cancer Center Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition: A Dynamic Process Contributing to Genomic Diversity
15.30 – 16.00 Sandra McAllister, Harvard Medical School, USA Systemic Inflammation Regulates Plasticity and Determines the Fate of Metastatic Breast Cancer Cells
16.00 – 16.15 Coffee

Session VII; Exploring EMT as a therapeutic target
16.15 – 16.45 Thomas Brabletz, Germany Cell Plasticity in Cancer Metastasis: Driving Force and Therapeutic Target
16.45 – 17.15 Erik Thompson, University of Technology, Queensland, Australia Epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity in therapy resistance and metastatic progression in breast cancer
17.15 – 17.45 Gerhard Christofori, University of Basel, Switzerland
17.45 – 18.15 Maja Oktay, Albert Einstein College, USA Biology of the pro-metastatic breast cancer microenvironment – how to assess it and who may be at risk