Paediatric Cancer Symposium

The symposium will be organised as a single-track scientific meeting and count with keynote & invited speakers, talks selected from abstracts and a poster session together with other networking and social activities. It will be held on the 11^th and 12^th of March, 2024 at the Main Auditorium of the Champalimaud Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal. Champalimaud Foundation encompasses Champalimaud Research (CR), a major research institute that gathers international researchers in the fields of Cancer, Physiology and Neuroscience since 2017.

Led by Adriana Sánchez-Danés, this symposium represents the closing event of the ERA Chair QuantOCancer project, which will be reaching its end early next year. 
 

Call for Abstracts

Researchers and students are invited to submit their abstracts for the symposium via Google Forms here until February 23^rd. 
The submitted abstracts will undergo scientific evaluation to ensure alignment with the symposium's theme. A limited number of abstracts will be selected for short talks, while the remaining abstracts will be invited for poster presentations. Authors will be informed of the results by February 29^th.
 

Registration

Participation is free of charge. 
To attend, participants are required to sign up via eventbrite here by March 1^st.
 

Invited Speakers

Ana Banito, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Germany
Frank Westermann, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Germany
Jaume Mora, Paediatric Cancer Center Barcelona at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Spain
Luca Tiberi, University of Trento, Italy
Sabine Taschner-Mandl, St. Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute, Austria
Ruth Palmer, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Zoë Walters, University of Southampton, UK
Jorge Lima, Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular da Universidade do Porto, Portugal
Claudia Faria, Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes (iMM), Portugal
João T. Barata, Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes (iMM), Portugal
Rita Fior, Champalimaud Foundation, Portugal
António Parreira, Champalimaud Clinical Centre, Lisbon, Portugal

Programme

Monday 11^th March

11.30 - Registration

13.30 - Opening remarks: Henrique Veiga-Fernandes, Champalimaud Foundation, and Adriana Sánchez-Danés, Champalimaud Foundation

Session 1: Neuroblastoma
Chair: Jaume Mora
14.00 - 14.45: Keynote: "Developmental Programs in Childhood Neuroblastoma", Frank Westermann, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Germany
14.45 - 15.15: "ALK Signalling Primes the DNA Damage Response Sensitizing ALK-driven Neuroblastoma to Therapeutic ATR Inhibition", Ruth Palmer, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
15.15 - 15.45: "The Role of Tumor - Microenvironment Cell Communities in Neuroblatoma Metastasis and Therapy Resistance", Sabine Taschner-Mandl, St. Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute, Austria

15.45 - 16.15: Coffee break

Chair: Ruth Palmer
16.15 - 16.45: "Evaluating the Efficacy of Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 (EZH2) Inhibitors in Combination with Isotretinoin for the Treatment of High-Risk Neuroblastomas", Zoë Walters, University of Southampton, United Kingdom
16.45 - 17.15: "Modeling Brain Tumors with Human Organoids", Luca Tiberi, University of Trento, Italy
17.15 - 17.30: "Assessing Functional Brain Plasticity in the Context of Medulloblastoma Development and Treatment", Patrícia Borges, Champalimaud Foundation

17.30: Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown Tour

18.00: Welcome reception
 

Tuesday 12^th March

Session 2: Paediatric Sarcoma and Melanoma
Chair: Frank Westermann
9.00 - 9.45: Keynote: "Ewing Sarcoma: a Paradigmatic Example of Developmental Cancer", Jaume Mora, Paediatric Cancer Center Barcelona at Hospital Sant Joan de
Déu, Spain
9.45 - 10.15: "Somatic Gene Delivery for Flexible in vivo Modeling of Pediatric Sarcomas", Ana Banito, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Germany
10.15 -10.45: "Uncovering the Differences between Paediatric and Adult Melanoma", Adriana Sánchez-Danés, Champalimaud Foundation, Portugal

10.45 - 11.15: Coffee break

Session 3: Leukemia and Medulloblastoma
Chair: Sabine Taschner-Mandl
11.15 - 11.35: "Leukemias – A Clinical Perspective", António Parreira, Champalimaud Clinical Centre, Lisbon, Portugal
11.35 - 12.05: "IL-7R Signaling in the Genesis and Potential Treatment of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia", João T. Barata, Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes (iMM), Portugal
12.05 - 12.35: Claudia Faria, Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes (iMM), Portugal
12.35 - 12.50: "Deciphering the Immune Signature of Medulloblastoma Subgroups: Implications for Immunotherapy", Rui Ferreira Marques, Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho

12.50 - 14.00: Lunch

Session 4: Models of Paediatric Cancer 
Chair: Joao T. Barata
14.00 - 14.30: Jorge Lima, Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular da Universidade do Porto, Portugal
14.30 - 15.00: "Zebrafish Avatars Achieve over 90% Accuracy in Predicting Patient Response to Therapy across CRC, Breast, and Ovarian Cancer", Rita Fior, Champalimaud Foundation, Portugal
15.00 - 15.15: "GATA3 Cooperativity at Tandem DNA Sequences Determines Enhancer-mediated Activation of Oncogenic TAL1 in T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (T-ALL)", Joana R. Costa, University College London
15.15 - 16.00: Round table “Paediatric Cancer Research: Challenges & Perspectives”
                       Participants: Claudia Faria, Frank Westerman, Jaume Mora and Sabine Tascher-Mandl
                       Moderator: Adriana Sánchez-Danés

16.00: Concluding remarks: Adriana Sánchez-Danés, Champalimaud Foundation

16.30: Farewell coffee
 

Contact for General Enquiries

Sara Monteiro Ferreira, Champalimaud Foundation, sara.monteiroferreira@research.fchampalimaud.org
 

This symposium is supported by QuantOCancer, an European project that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 810653.