New directions for targeting the immune-tumour interface

Full programme available

14th and 15th of November – The Crick Institute

We welcome you to attend this year’s CRUK City of London Symposium. Below are the themes of the different sessions:

1. Identification, development, and production of novel biological therapies

2. Develop effective therapy combinations

3. Cancer evolution and the challenges of treating an adaptable disease

4. Advances in early detection and prevention of cancer

5. Emerging new strategies for treating paediatric cancers

6. Radnet: Approaches to improving outcomes from radiation therapy

Confirmed Speakers: Professor Fran Balkwill, Professor Toby Lawrence, Professor Victoria Sanz Moreno, Dr Sheeba Irshad, Dr Sophie Acton, Dr Stuart McDonald, Professor John Anderson, Professor John Marshall, Professor Kamil Kranc, Dr Sam Janes, Dr Sarah McClelland, Dr Kevin Litchfield, Dr Jacqui Shields, Dr Graeme Hewitt, Dr Jamie Dean, Dr Ilaria Malanchi, Dr Jessica Okosun, Professor Jody Rosenblatt and Dr Leanne Li

Keynote speaker: Professor Gerard Evan

18th January 2022 at 4:10 – 5:10pm GMT

Radiosensitizing glioma through disruption of PTEN nuclear function

Hosted by Dr. Lucy Brooks, senior research fellow from University College London, we will have a seminar talk on ‘Radiosensitizing glioma through disruption of PTEN nuclear function’ with guest speaker, Frank Furnari, Ph.D, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, UCSD-Department of Medicine.

About our speaker:

Dr. Furnari earned his PhD in microbiology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill where he studied cis-elements and trans-acting factors regulating expression of Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) lytic replication genes. He subsequently joined the Ludwig Institute in San Diego as a postdoctoral fellow where he focused on the genetic alterations that drive the genesis of glioblastomas, notably the commonly amplified and truncated epidermal growth factor receptor gene (known as EGFRvIII) and mutation of the PTEN gene. During his postdoctoral studies, Dr. Furnari was credited with seminal work demonstrating the ability of PTEN to suppress glioma cell growth mediated through the enzyme’s lipid phosphatase activity.

Currently, Dr. Furnari is Member and Head of the Laboratory of Tumor Biology at the Ludwig Institute as well as Professor of Medicine at UCSD. His lab has made significant contributions to our fundamental understanding of mechanisms underlying therapeutic resistance in glioma, functionality of tumor heterogeneity, and the evolution of adult and pediatric brain tumors through genetic engineering of human pluripotent stem cell-derived avatar models.

His recognition in the field of glioma biology is highlighted by scholar awards from the V, Kimmel and Goldhirsh Foundations, Awards for Basic and Translational Research from the Society for Neuro-Oncology, and by his service as associate editor for Neuro-Oncology, advisory board positions for the National Brain Tumor Society, the Society for Neuro-Oncology and the Sontag Foundation. He is also co-founder and a scientific advisor for Trotana Therapeutics.

18th January 2022 at 4:10 – 5:10pm GMT

Radiosensitizing glioma through disruption of PTEN nuclear function

Hosted by Dr. Lucy Brooks, senior research fellow from University College London, we will have a seminar talk on ‘Radiosensitizing glioma through disruption of PTEN nuclear function’ with guest speaker, Frank Furnari, Ph.D, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, UCSD-Department of Medicine.

About our speaker:

Dr. Furnari earned his PhD in microbiology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill where he studied cis-elements and trans-acting factors regulating expression of Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) lytic replication genes. He subsequently joined the Ludwig Institute in San Diego as a postdoctoral fellow where he focused on the genetic alterations that drive the genesis of glioblastomas, notably the commonly amplified and truncated epidermal growth factor receptor gene (known as EGFRvIII) and mutation of the PTEN gene. During his postdoctoral studies, Dr. Furnari was credited with seminal work demonstrating the ability of PTEN to suppress glioma cell growth mediated through the enzyme’s lipid phosphatase activity.

Currently, Dr. Furnari is Member and Head of the Laboratory of Tumor Biology at the Ludwig Institute as well as Professor of Medicine at UCSD. His lab has made significant contributions to our fundamental understanding of mechanisms underlying therapeutic resistance in glioma, functionality of tumor heterogeneity, and the evolution of adult and pediatric brain tumors through genetic engineering of human pluripotent stem cell-derived avatar models.

His recognition in the field of glioma biology is highlighted by scholar awards from the V, Kimmel and Goldhirsh Foundations, Awards for Basic and Translational Research from the Society for Neuro-Oncology, and by his service as associate editor for Neuro-Oncology, advisory board positions for the National Brain Tumor Society, the Society for Neuro-Oncology and the Sontag Foundation. He is also co-founder and a scientific advisor for Trotana Therapeutics.

Monday 13^th – Tuesday 14^th September 2021

The CRUK City of London Centre 2021 Cancer Evolution Symposium will highlight stimulating talks from experts across the globe around the theme of Cancer evolution and tumour heterogeneity including the topics:

• Cancer genomes
• Single cell
• Early detection
• Cancer systems
• Microenvironment
• Mathematical modelling
• Immunogenomics
• Model systems

See full programme here and more details here.

10th December 2021 at 3:00 – 4:00pm GMT

Discovery of treatment-induced genomics scars though longitudinal profiling of glioma

Hosted by Dr. Lucy Brooks, senior research fellow from University College London, we will have a seminar talk on ‘Discovery of treatment-induced genomics scars through longitudinal profiling of glioma’ with guest speaker, Roel Verhaak, Professor, Florine Deschenes Roux Chair and Associate Director of Computational Biology, from the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine.

18th November 2021 at 3:00 – 4:00pm GMT

The Stability of texture Analysis in CT Images

Hosted by Dr. Charles-Antoine Collins-Fekete, UKRI Future Leaders fellow at University College London, we will have a seminar talk on ‘The Stability of texture Analysis in CT Images’ with guest speaker, Prof. Phil Evans, NPL/CVSSP Professor of Medical Radiation Imaging at university of Surrey’s Centre for Vision Speech and Signal Processing and National Physical Laboratory’s Metrology for Medical Physics Group.

28th October 2021 at 2:00 – 3:00pm BST

Targeting the biological response to radiobiological hypoxia

Hosted by Dr. Aleksandra Vancevska, postdoctoral research fellow in the DSB Repair Metabolism Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, we will have a seminar talk on ‘Targeting the biological response to radiobiological hypoxia’ with guest speaker, Prof. Ester Hammond, from the Department of Oncology Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford.

17th September 2021 at 1:10-2:10 pm BST

Role of extracellular vesicles &DNA fragments – non-targeted effects of targeted radionuclide therapy

Hosted by Dr. Jane Sosabowski, Reader in Molecular Imaging QMUL and Dr. Samantha Terry, Senior Lecturer in Radiation Biology, we will be exploring the role of extracellular vesicles and DNA fragments in the non-targeted effects of targeted radionuclide therapy with guest speaker, Dr. Jean-Pierre Pouget from the Radiobiology for targeted & personalised adiotherapy lab at the French Institute of Health & Medical Research.

23rd July at 3:00pm-4:00pm

Quantifying the biological effect of radiation with genomics: personalise RT dosing

Hosted by Dr. Crispin Hiley, Consultant Clinical Oncologist at UCLH and Associate Professor at UCL, we will be exploring quantifying the biological effect of radiation with genomics with guest speaker, Dr. Jacob Scott from the Theory Division at the Cleveland Clinic.

21st June 2021 at 3:00-4:00 pm GMT

Personalized radiotherapy, immunotherapy, computational biology and genomics.

Hosted by Dr. Jamie Dean, Junior Group Leader in Computational Radiation Oncology at UCL, we will be exploring personalized radiotherapy, immunotherapy, computational biology and genomics with guest speaker, Dr Nadeem Riaz from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre.

18th May 2021 at 3:00-4:00 pm GMT

Radiotherapy-induced in situ immunization: Mechanisms and barriers.

Hosted by Dr Anthony Kong Reader and Honorary Consultant Clinical Oncologist at King’s College London, we will be exploring the mechanisms and barriers of Radiotherapy-induced situ immunisation with guest speaker, Dr Sandra Demaria from the Weill Cornell Medical College.

Friday 7th May 2021 at 2:30-3:30pm GMT

Mechanisms that Maintain Genome Stability

Hosted by Dr Ivana Bjedov, Group Leader at the Molecular Biology of Cancer Research Group, we will be exploring the mechanisms that maintain genome stability with guest speaker, Andre Nussenzweig Ph.D., National Cancer Institute.

Monday 19th April 2021 at 09:15 – 10:15 GMT

The GOOD, the ELDER & the UGLY: RNA Vaccine & Radiotherapy to fight Cancer

Hosted by Dr Anthony Kong Reader and Honorary Consultant Clinical Oncologist at King’s College London, we will be exploring the relationship between the RNA vaccine and radiotherapy with guest speaker, Dr Fulvia Vascotto, leader of Vaccine and Cellular Immunotherapy at TRON.

Wednesday 24th March 2021, 15:00-16:00

Communication Between DNA Damage and Immune Responses

Hosted by Dr Simon Boulton, Group Leader at the Crick and Radiation Resistance Theme Lead, we will be exploring communication between DNA damage and immune responses with guest speaker, Professor Roger Greenberg, University of Pennsylvania.

Thursday 18th February 2021, 15:00 – 16:00

Decoding the radio-genome to guide clinical prediction

Hosted by Dr Crispin Hiley, Radiation Oncology Consultant at UCLH and Associate Professor at the UCL Cancer Institute, we will be giving a talk from Dr Mohamed Abazeed, Associate Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University and the Scientific Director of the Lung Cancer Program in the Lurie Cancer Center.

Tuesday 26th January 2021, 16:00-17:00

Imaging applications for head and neck radiotherapy toxicity monitoring & reduction

Hosted by Dr Crispin Hiley, Radiation Oncology Consultant at UCLH and Associate Professor at the UCL Cancer Institute, we will be giving a talk from Dr Clifton David Fuller, MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Monday 7 December 2020, 10:30 – 12:00

Chaired by Dr Simon Boulton, Group Leader at the Crick and Radiation Resistance Theme Lead, there will be talks from two of City of London’s newest post docs.

• Jamie Dean – Introducing the Computational Radiation Biology and Oncology Lab
• Lucy Brooks – The white matter is a pro-differentiative microenvironment for glioblastoma

All things being equal: understanding inequality in cancer outcomes – Dr Katriina Whitaker

Date: Tuesday 5th October 2021

Time: 15:00 – 16:00PM

Location: Webinar via Zoom

Katriina Whitaker is a Reader in Cancer Care at the University of Surrey. Their talk will be on:

All things being equal: understanding inequality in cancer outcomes using a behavioural science perspective

Developing interventions to encourage early presentation of cancer symptoms – Dr Suzanne Scott

Date: Tuesday 7th September 2021

Time: 15:00 – 16:00PM

Location: Webinar via Zoom

Please join us for the first cancer behavioural science webinar jointly hosted by the Cancer Research UK City of London Centre and the UK Society for Behavioural Medicine cancer special interest group.

Suzanne Scott is a Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology at King’s College London.

Date: Monday 6^th – Tuesday 8^th September 2021
Location: Hybrid event at the Francis Crick Institute, London, and virtually (subject to Government restrictions)

The CRUK City of London Centre is organising a second immune-oncology conference in London in early September: New Directions in Immuno-Oncology: Therapies and Stratification

We have a terrific line up of international speakers for what promises to be an exciting event. The conference will be held at the Francis Crick Institute as a hybrid virtual event, with some speakers in person and some via video conference. Please do register early if you want a place in the auditorium.

The programme and further details can be accessed here.

Join NCITA for a webinar which will provide an overview of the translation of Hyperpolarised 13C-MRI from preclinical to clinical cancer imaging.

Date: Wednesday 8th September 2021

Time: 14:00-17:30PM

Location: Webinar via Zoom

Who should attend:

Suitable for any researchers who are interested and would like to find out more about the translation of Hyperpolarised 13C-MRI from preclinical to clinical cancer imaging.

Why should I attend:

To hear an overview of the latest research in Hyperpolarised 13C-MRI, as well as the latest updates on clinical studies and technical advances across NCITA partner institutions.

Tuesday 2nd March 2021, 08:45-17:00

The CRUK City of London Centre 2021 Virtual Symposium will highlight stimulating talks cross-cutting the City of London Centre (CoL Centre) themes including:

• Theme 1: Developing Biological Therapies
• Theme 2: Cross-disciplinary Approaches Enhancing Biotherapeutics
• Theme 3: Cancer Evolution and Tumour Heterogeneity
• RadNet City of London
• Childhood Cancer Cross-cutting Theme
• Training Cross-cutting Theme

See full programme.

Registration is now open for the Crick Cancer Research Symposium, taking place over two days on the 5^th and 6^th of October 2020. The symposium will include a keynote from Fiona Watt, FRS FMedSci, alongside a full programme of invited speaker talks and selected short talks. For more information and to register please click here.

Please note that due to ongoing social distancing measures, the symposium will run as a “hybrid” event, with a limited number of in-person places in the auditorium alongside virtual attendees. You will need to register via eventbrite for this symposium and will then receive your zoom invitation.

Poster sessions will take place on a virtual poster gallery and attendeese are encouraged to submit their abstracts for short and flash talks and posters.

Join us to discover the latest research in Cancer Biotherapeutics taking place at the CRUK City of London Centre on February 25, 2020. The event begins at 9am until 5pm, followed by networking from 5-7pm.

Register Here

The UCL Cancer Domain and CRUK City of London (CoL) Centre are pleased to invite you to our Cancer Research UK’s (CRUK) Grand Challenge consultation workshop, to help us identify and share new challenge ideas to revolutionise cancer research and transform patient impact.

The workshop is open to researchers across UCL, Barts/QMUL, King’s Health Partners and the Francis Crick Institute. An informal drinks reception will follow the workshop.

We hope that you will be able to join us for a fascinating and proactive discussion.

Workshop themes

Researchers from UCL, Barts/QMUL, King’s Health Partners and the Francis Crick Institute are invited to come along and share your thoughts on what you believe are the toughest challenges in cancer research and your vision for the future of the field. Ideas generated from the workshop will be shared with CRUK to help inform the next set of challenges.

Group discussions will cover the following themes:

• Understanding cancer biology
• Diagnosing and treating cancer
• Technology and data
• Causes and prevention of cancer

Please note, this workshop is not to develop specific projects for funding.

Register here.

The Developing biological therapies theme of the CoL Centre is organising a workshop in London on Wednesday 22nd January 2020 from 10am-4pm to showcase the theme’s capabilities and facilitate development of collaborative projects.

Confirmed speakers for the workshop include:

Tumour microenvironment deconstruction: how to dissect the different cellular components in the niche – Luigi Ombrato (Francis Crick Institute)

Healthy and malignant haematopoiesis in the bone marrow: plastic cells in a dynamic environment – Cristina Lo Celso (Imperial College London)

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy elicits a pro-metastatic cascade through extracellular vesicles – Ioanna Keklikoglou (Barts Cancer Institute)
Differential response and mechanisms of resistance to cediranib in high grade serous mouse models – Ganga Gopinathan (Barts Cancer Institute)

Mouse gene targeting studies to inform drug development and clinical trials in cancer – Bart Vanhaesebroeck (UCL Cancer Institute)

Following the success of our Computation and Modelling Core launch event last month, the High Performance Computer Cluster (HPCC) is now up and running for City of London Centre users.

The HPCC support team are holding regular drop ins at each CoL Centre site to assist researchers with setting up access to the HPCC, troubleshooting and any other queries.

Regular on-site drop in sessions for users at each site

• King’s: 1^st Tuesday afternoon of each month – small room next to the entrance of the Innovation Hub
• Barts/QMUL: 3^rd Wednesday afternoon of each month – The Shield café, Charterhouse Square, London, EC1M 6BQ
• Crick:
  • 9th October 15.00 -17.00 first floor meeting room 1
  • 23rd October 15.00 -17.00 first floor meeting room 1
  • 13th November 15.00 -17.00 first floor meeting room 3
  • 27th November 15.00 -17.00 first floor meeting room 8
  • 11th December 15.00 -17.00 first floor meeting room 1
• UCL: Any other time at Room 4.20, Malet Place Engineering Building, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT

Please feel free to attend the drop in at your site if you have any queries.

On the 3^rd September 2019  the CRUK City of London Centre is launching its computational and data resource.  This resource will be a key element in the cancer evolution theme and will enable cancer’s dynamics to be mapped longitudinally during exposure to biological therapies, integrated within the partners’ NHS service. The launch will kick off with a  short presentation explaining what the resource offers and how to access it. Following the presentation, attendees can participate in a Data Challenge; we are encouragingearly-career researchers (e.g. PhD students and post-docs) across the partners to form groups and embark on a collaborative effort within the cancer evolution theme to make use of the exciting computer resources available. The launch will be open to CoL Centre Faculty and their lab members only. If you would like more information on the event or to register please contact: cruk.cityoflondoncentre@ucl.ac.uk

On the 29th April 2019 Barts Cancer Centre held and informal workshop at Charterhouse Square, QMUL, on in vitro models that could be used to study novel biological therapies. Presentations included 3D multi-cellular models of tumour microenvironments, tumour organoids, the potential of microfluidics and tumour-on-a-chip and immune cell interactions with tumour spheroids. Collaborations, the need for common platforms in the CRUK CoL Centre and key questions that such models could answer were also discussed.

Read the programme here.

Read the programme here.