The New York Academy of Sciences is planning a landmark international program, """"""""Towards Personalized Cancer Medicine"""""""", to explore the personalization of cancer predisposition, diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and therapy development. The principal investigator for this grant is Dr. Joan Massagu?, Chair of the Cancer Biology and Genetics Program in the Sloan-Kettering Institute, New York. The program will include a 3-day live symposium (to be held in May 2010 in Barcelona) and the development of high-quality print and electronic enduring materials to disseminate the scientific information exchanged by the conference participants. It is very timely that the plethora of data emerging from the molecular signatures of cancers is shared across disciplines to identify the steps toward to the effective personalization (individualization) of cancer medicine. The main goals of this program are: 1) to foster dialogue among basic and clinical scientists working in areas of cancer research and oncology leading to a personalized treatment of malignant tumors;and 2) to generate comprehensive and cross-disciplinary approaches for the translation of personalized cancer research into individualized clinical treatments for cancer. We anticipate an advancement in cancer research and clinical therapy personalization to result from the discussions, enduring materials, and collaborations generated at this meeting. Cancer patients will benefit from discoveries and approaches resulting from this symposium, which is in perfect line with The National Cancer Institute's commitment to supporting research, training and health information relevant to the cause, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer, and to the care of cancer patients and their families. To achieve these goals, the conference will incorporate a combination of plenary lectures, a keynote address, and several elements to encourage networking and audience participation, and to highlight promising young scientists. The program will include a panel discussion, poster and short presentations selected from submitted abstracts, networking breaks, a conference reception, and the availability of travel awards. The conference will attract wide participation (250 attendees) among senior and young scientists, clinicians, and physicians working in the fields of genomics, bioinformatics, proteomics, genetics, epigenetics, cell biology, mouse models of cancer, imaging, drug development, and clinical trials, among others. In addition, we expect this group to include people from academia, industry, regulatory agencies, health care organizations, and other groups interested in the individualized targeting of cancer medicine.
Our 3-day scientific conference will provide a neutral forum to discuss recent advancements, challenges, and future steps in research leading to an individualized understanding of cancer disease (predisposition, diagnosis and prognosis), and its translation into personalized clinical care. The cross-disciplinary discussions among participants, the dissemination of the scientific knowledge through enduring materials, and the new research opportunities and collaborations generated at the meeting will foster advancement in cancer research and the personalization of clinical therapy. Ultimately, we expect that cancer patients will benefit from this symposium.
