Synopsis

Although conferences can boost productivity and enable research sucesses, we understand that registering for a conference may be challenging right now. Many researchers will be unable to register for a future conference of interest if their organisation is temporarily closed or preventing travel. Therefore, you can simply register your interest here without committing to attending, and our team will keep you updated regarding deadline reminders and grant opportunities. We hope this service is helpful and supports you research goals during this difficult time.

Future master keys to cancer biology and advanced therapies are being forged from mechanistic understanding of the intertwined roles of DNA repair with DNA replication stress, transcription and immune responses. The remarkable stability of the human genome is lost in cancer cells due to the failure of efficient and accurate DNA repair in the context of oncogene-induced replication stress and elevated transcription. In fact, DNA repair complexes are frequently found at the convergence of multiple processes critical for cancer development, making their elucidation of fundamental biological and medical importance. Moreover, the synthetic lethality and essentiality resulting from repair-replication stresses suggest strategies and tactics for advanced therapeutics that target Achilles heels for cancer. Furthermore, epigenetics, non-coding RNA, phase condensates and microbiome are emerging as increasingly important players/processes in cancer biology and cancer progression, and as potential therapeutic targets.

The 5th DNA Repair/Replication Structures & Cancer conference in May 2022 will focus on structural and mechanistic insights into dynamic complexes acting in DNA repair and its interface with replication, transcription and other cancer-relevant transactions. This fundamental information will be pivotal for the accurate interpretation of cancer clinical data, design of clinical trials, prognosis, etiology and improving the currently 1/20 low success rate for oncology drug clinical trials. Informative talks and poster sessions along with vibrant discussions will foster productive interactions, collaborations, and insights.

To advance understanding, all presenters are asked to focus on unpublished work, cutting-edge approaches and mechanistic insights that aid prediction of biological outcomes and plans to best apply basic research advances for cancer research and treatment. To include late-breaking advances and innovating new investigators, multiple talks will be selected from submitted abstracts. As meeting attendance is limited to ensure effective discussions and interactions, delegates are strongly encouraged to submit applications and abstracts early to avoid disappointment.

What makes this meeting unique? Professor Ben Van Houten from the University of Pittsburgh says:

‘I can honestly say your meeting, by combining hard core structure-function studies with beautiful biology, hits an important area that many meetings miss; being part of that science is just terrific.’

Key Sessions

Sessions will include emerging results and breakthrough methodologies on core topics including:

• Repair and replication complexes, structures and mechanisms
• Epigenetics and non-coding RNA 
• Mutational signatures, DNA repair, and cancer
• Intertwined repair interactions with transcription and replication stress
• Posttranslational modifications, phase condensates, and repair  
• Links to microbiome, inflammation and immune responses 
• Targeting synthetic lethality and essentiality for damage responses

Student Offer

Take advantage of this fantastic opportunity for students and postdocs! Fully paying academics can bring one student or postdoc for only $900. Both registration packages include accommodation for the 27th, 28th, 29th and 30th April 2022 (on a shared basis for students/postdocs) and a food and beverage package for the conference period. Once registered, please contact Laura Trundle to obtain a special registration link for your student or postdoc.

Confirmed Plenary Speakers

Lorena Beese (Duke University)
Steve Kowalczykowski (University of California, Davis)
CONTROL AND MECHANISM OF DNA RESECTION
Amanda Chaplin & Tom Blundell (University of Cambridge)
Cryo-EM OF NHEJ MULTICOMPONENT SUPERCOMPLEXES

Confirmed Invited Speakers

Ivan Ahel (University of Oxford)
ADP-RIBOSYLATION SIGNALLING IN REGULATION OF DNA DAMAGE RESPONSE
Aura Carreira (Institut Curie)
INSIGHTS ON BRCA2 FUNCTIONAL DOMAINS FROM BREAST CANCER VARIANTS
Walter Chazin (Vanderbilt University)
WHICH WILL IT BE: REPLICATION, REMODELING OR REPAIR AT THE REPLICATION FORK?
Patrick Cramer (Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry)
STRUCTURAL STUDIES OF EUKARYOTIC TRANSCRIPTION-COUPLED DNA REPAIR
Sylvie Doublie (University of Vermont)
Angela Eggleston (Nature)
THE IMPACT OF cryoEM ON OUR UNDERSTANDING OF DNA REPAIR
Dorothy Erie (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
SINGLE-MOLECULE STUDIES OF DNA REPAIR ENZYMES
Yuan He (Northwestern University)
STRUCTURAL BASIS OF DNA DOUBLE-STRAND BREAK REPAIR BY NHEJ
Karl-Peter Hopfner (Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich)
Caroline Kisker (University of Würzburg)
Carolyn Larabell (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
Susan Lees-Miller (University of Calgary)
STRUCTURAL INSIGHTS INTO NON-HOMOLOGOUS END-JOINING
Gaëlle Legube (University of Toulouse)
CHROMATIN AND CHROMOSOME DYNAMICS IN DSB REPAIR
Jo Morris (University of Birmingham)
John Pascal (University of Montreal)
POLY(ADP-ribose) POLYMERASE ENZYMES AS SENSORS OF DNA DAMAGE AND TARGETS FOR CANCER THERAPY
Eli Rothenberg (NYU Langone Health)
MECHANISMS OF REPLICATION FORK REMODELING AND REPAIR VIA SINGLE-MOLECULE IMAGING
Titia Sixma (Netherlands Cancer Institute)
Joann Sweasy (University of Arizona)
Nicolas Thoma (Friedrich Miescher Institute)
HOW TO BIND DNA IN THE CONTEXT OF CHROMATIN
Steve West (Francis Crick Institute)
SENSITISATION OF BRCA-DEFECTIVE CANCERS BY FACTORS THAT DISRUPT REPLICATION FORK STABILITY
Dale Wigley (Imperial College London)
MECHANISM AND REGULATION OF INO80-FAMILY REMODELLERS
Scott Williams (NIH)
Wei Yang (NIH)
Shan Zha (Columbia University Medical Center)
Xiaolan Zhao (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)
INTEGRATIVE ANALYSIS REVEALS UNIQUE STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL FEATURES OF THE Smc5/6 COMPLEX

Target Audience

Academic and industrial researchers (including established and junior principal investigators, postdoctoral fellows and PhD students) interested in DNA damage responses and cancer including their intersection with replication, transcription, epigenetics, non-coding RNA, posttranslational modifications, cancer biology, and cancer drug discovery. The focus will be the molecular mechanisms of and interfaces controlling damage responses and cancer biology.

Educational Need

This conference will bring together scientists working at the forefront of DNA repair, replication, transcription, epigenetics, non-coding RNA, post-translational modification including PARylation, and cancer biology. Presentations will consider diverse cutting-edge methodologies and integrated approaches to investigate the structures and mechanisms of dynamic protein, chromatin, DNA and RNA complexes. The conference will showcase breakthrough advances and new developments in these areas. It will furthermore provide opportunities for industry and academia to consider and exchange their latest results in this exciting, rapidly advancing arena. The inter-disciplinary nature of the presented work will create strong synergies among participants and outstanding opportunities for exchanging information and developing new collaborations. The cross-disciplinary interactions will be invaluable training for young scientists to work in these and other emerging areas of science.

4th DRRSC Photos

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