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Report

This 2nd major conference on Target DNA repair for Cancer Therapy took place in Cancun, Mexico from 27 February to 02 March 2017. The conference attracted many leaders in the field of DNA damage repair. It also drew attendance of scientists working in pharmaceutical and biotech companies that are developing and testing new compounds that target DNA repair and DNA damage checkpoint pathways for cancer treatment. Moreover, this conference was also attended by several physicians who are conducting clinical trials using various DNA repair and checkpoint inhibitors. The convergence of interests from academic, industry, and clinic makes this a unique conference that enjoyed by all the attendees.

The conference was chaired by Dr. Helen Piwnica-Worms (Vice Provost, Science, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center) and Dr. Junjie Chen (Professor and Chain, Department of Experimental Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center).

Faculty attended included Dr. Karlene Cimprich (Stanford University), Dr. Jean Gautier (Columbia University), Dr. Dipanjan Chowdhury (Dana Farber Cancer Institute), Dr. Jingsong Yuan (Columbia University), Dr. Lorraine Symington (Columbia University), Dr. Zhenkun Lou (Mayo Clinic), Dr. Nima Mosammaparast (Washington University at St. Louis), Dr. Robert A. Hromas (University of Florida), Dr. Eli Rothenberg (New York University), Dr. Yinsheng Wang (University of California Riverside), Dr. Mark J. O’Connor (AstraZeneca), Dr. Akihiro Ohashi (Takeda), Dr. Giulio Draetta (MD Anderson Cancer Center), Dr. Lauren Byers (MD Anderson Cancer Center), Dr. Laura Butler (Atrin Pharmaceuticals), Dr. Philip Hinds (Tufts University), Dr. Elizabeth Swisher (University of Washington), Dr. Yi Fan (University of Pennsylvania), Dr. Shridar Ganesan (Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey), Dr. Guang Peng (MD Anderson Cancer Center), Dr. Mien-Chie Hung (MD Anderson Cancer Center), Dr. Michelle Barton (MD Anderson Cancer Center), Sudhakar Jha (Cancer Science Institute of Singapore), Dr. Brendan Price (Dana Farber Cancer Institute), Dr. David Yu (Emory University), Dr. Jac A. Nickoloff (Colorado State University), Dr. Jos Jonkers (Netherlands Cancer Institute), Dr. Kyungjae Myung (Institute of Basic Sciences, Korea), Dr. Richard Pomerantz (Temple University), Dr. Chuan-Yuan Li (Duke University), Dr. Reuben Harris (University of Minnesota), Dr. Matthew Weitzman (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia), Dr. Katharina Schlacher (MD Anderson Cancer Center), Dr. Ranjit Bindra (Yale School of Medicine), Dr. Daniel Durocher (Lunenfeld-Tanenbarum Research Institute), Dr. Chris Bakkenist (University of Pittsburgh), Dr. Yves Pommier (NIH/NCI), Dr. Fen Xia (University of Arkansas for Medical Science), and Dr. Eric Hendrickson (University of Minnesota).     

The conference emphasized on several ongoing and new areas in the field of DNA damage response, which include: 1) mechanisms underlying DNA repair choice, 2) new signaling molecules and pathways involved in DNA damage response, 3) novel technologies and approaches for studying DNA repair processes, 4) translesion DNA synthesis, 5) APOBEC family proteins in mutagenesis and cancer evolution, 5) conflict of transcription and DNA replication, 6) synthetic lethality approaches for the identification of new agents that target DNA repair defects and pathways. Several additional areas covered by this conference are: a) stem cell biology, b) epigenetic and chromatin regulations, c) oncogenic signaling pathways, d) oncometabolites, e) immune checkpoints. These new topics reflect the expansion of the field, which goes way beyond DNA repair and cell cycle checkpoint control. The industry presentations focused on the newly developed ATR, WEE1, and CDC7 inhibitors in clinical trials and the potential combinatory therapies using these checkpoint and cell cycle inhibitors. Several physician scientists discussed the results, promises, and challenges of using these checkpoint and other DNA repair inhibitors for the clinical management of cancer patients.

The conference was highly interactive, with extensive discussions at the Q&A and poster sessions.  New ideas and collaborations were established. More importantly, besides large pharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca and Takeda, small companies like Atrin were also present at the meeting. In addition, there were discussions about new companies formed that focus on developing checkpoint and DNA repair inhibitors. Thus, with the expansion of the field and novel compounds that target various DNA repair and other pathways that may come on board in the near future, we anticipate that the next conference will bring together leaders from several disciplines and accelerate the development of new agents for cancer treatment.  _____________________________________

The meeting was expertly organized and supported by Fusion Conferences, Ltd.  The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center generously and enthusiastically supported the meeting in many ways and the generous support of Pfizer and Genomic Vision is also gratefully appreciated.

Programme

Speakers

Invited Speakers

• Prof. Lorraine Symington
  Professor, Columbia University
• Professor Karlene Cimprich
  Professor, Stanford University
• Prof. Reuben Harris
  Professor, University of Minnesota
• Prof. Dr. Robert Hromas
  Professor and Chair, University of Florida
• Prof. Jac Nickoloff
  Professor and Head, Colorado State University
• Dr. Lauren Byers
  Assistant Professor, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Dr. Yves Pommier
  Branch Chief, National Cancer Institute, NIH
• Dr. Giulio Draetta
  Professor, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Prof. Dipanjan Chowdhury
  Associate Professor, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Harvard Medical School)
• Dr. Daniel Durocher
  Senior Scientist, Lunenfeld-Tanenbarum Research Institute, Sinai Health System
• Prof. Dr. Elizabeth Swisher
  Professor, University of Washington
• Dr. Mark O'Connor
  Chief Scientist, AstraZeneca
• Prof. Zhenkun Lou
  Professor, Mayo Clinic
• Dr. Brendan Price
  Professor, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
• Prof. Richard Wood
  Professor, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Dr. Shridar Ganesan
  Associate Professor, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
• Dr. Yi Fan
  Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania
• Dr. Michelle Barton
  Dean, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Dr. Jean Gautier
  Professor, Columbia University Medical Center
• Dr. Akihiro Ohashi
  Group Head, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited
• Dr. Guang Peng
  Assistant Professor, MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Dr. Matthew Weitzman
  Associate Professor, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
• Prof. Chuan-Yuan Li
  Professor, Duke University Medical Center
• Prof. Mien-Chie Hung
  Vice President for Basic Research, MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Dr. Yinsheng Wang
  Professor, University of California Riverside
• Dr. Fen Xia
  Professor and Chair, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
• Prof. Jos Jonkers
  Division Head, Netherlands Cancer Institute
• Prof. Philip Hinds
  Professor and Chair, Tufts University School of Medicine
• Prof. Kyungjae Myung
  Director, Institute of Basic Science
• Dr. Ranjit Bindra
  Associate Professor, Yale Medical School
• Prof. Christopher Bakkenist
  Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
• Prof. Eric Hendrickson
  Professor, University of Minnesota

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