Program

Thursday, March 3

Keynote Session: Connecting Stem Cells, Development, and Cancer

7:00 p.m.-8:40 p.m.

Introduction and Welcome
Geoffrey M. Wahl, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, and Connie J. Eaves, BC Cancer Agency, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Skin stem cells in morphogenesis and cancer
Elaine V. Fuchs, Rockefeller University, New York, NY

Role of Polycomb repressors in stem cells, cancer, and development
Maarten van Lohuizen, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Opening Reception

Friday, March 4

Continental Breakfast

7:00 a.m.-8:00 a.m.

Session 1: Stem Cells during Development

Chairperson: Geoffrey M. Wahl, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA
8:00 a.m.-10:05 a.m.

Developmental signaling in stem cells and cancer
Tannishtha Reya, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC

Mechanisms regulating hematopoietic stem cell development
Hanna Mikkola, Eli and Edythe Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California, Los Angeles, CA

Characterization of mammary stem cell activity and expression profiles during fetal development
Geoffrey M. Wahl

*Hedgehog signaling specifies positional identity and fate in adult neural stem cells
Rebecca A. Ihrie, University of California, San Francisco, CA

Break

Session 2: Reprogramming Mechanisms

Chairperson: Andras Nagy, Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
10:35 a.m.-12:40 p.m.

Dissecting the mechanisms of cellular reprogramming
Konrad Hochedlinger, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA

Transposon-mediated reprogramming provides a powerful tool for understanding stem cell induction
Andras Nagy

Human aging and iPS cells
Athanasia D. Panopoulos, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA

*Reprogramming the metastatic phenotype using embryonic neural crest microenvironmental signals
Paul M. Kulesa, Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO

Poster Session A / Lunch

Session 3: Epigenetics

Chairperson: Maarten van Lohuizen, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
3:40 p.m.-5:10 p.m.

Cell fate and chromatin differences between sister chromatids
Peter M. Lansdorp, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

DNA methylation abnormalities in cancer: Origins and translational implications
Stephen B. Baylin, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

*Epigenetic regulation of stemness and malignancy in Ewing tumors
Guenther H.S. Richter, Children’s Cancer Research Center, Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Munich, Germany

Evening off / Dinner on own

Saturday, March 5

Continental Breakfast

7:00 a.m.-8:00 a.m.

Session 4: Tissues from ES and iPS Cells

Chairperson: Inder M. Verma, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA
8:00 a.m.-10:05 a.m.

Evaluating the safeness of human induced pluripotent stem cells
Kazutoshi Takahashi, Kyoto University, Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Kyoto, Japan

Using embryonic development as a platform to direct differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into intestinal tissue in vitro
James M. Wells, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH

Glioblastoma: Cancer stem cells and reprogramming
Inder M. Verma

*Microfluidic culture of isolated human embryonic stem cell colonies from single cell suspensions
Darek J. Sikorski, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Break

Session 5: Tissue Stem Cells

Chairperson: Elaine V. Fuchs, Rockefeller University, New York, NY
10:35 a.m.-1:15 p.m.

Epithelial stem cells and lung repair
Brigid L.M. Hogan, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC

Regulation of proliferation and differentiation in adult stem cell lineages
Margaret T. Fuller, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA

Hematopoietic stem cells: Not all are created equal
Connie J. Eaves, BC Cancer Agency, Vancouver, BC, Canada

The breast epithelial hierarchy and its implications for tumorigenesis
Jane E. Visvader, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, Australia 

*A JAK2-activating mutation subverts hematopoietic stem cells by increasing proliferation, survival, and differentiation while compromising overall long-term self-renewal activity
David G. Kent, Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England

Free time / Lunch on own

Session 6: Hot Topics: New Tools on the Horizon

Chairperson: Connie J. Eaves, BC Cancer Agency, Vancouver, BC, Canada
2:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

Blood stem cell fate control in engineered stem cell-niches
Peter Zandstra, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

*Outgrowth of single cells in a tissue context driven by oncogene-induced cellular translocation
Cheuk T. Leung, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

*GATA6-mediated upregulation of LGR5 is essential for colorectal tumorigenesis
Shinnosuke Tsuji, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

*Immunophenotypic diversity in acute myeloid leukemia as defined by 31-parameter single-cell mass cytometry
Erin F. Simonds, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA

*Development of multiplexed single cell expression and genotyping assays to assess intercellular variability, sample heterogeneity, and clonality in AML and CML patient samples
Amy L. Paguirigan, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA

Microfluidic tools for dissecting cellular heterogeneity
Carl L. Hansen, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Poster Session B / Reception

Sunday, March 6

Continental Breakfast

7:00 a.m.-8:00 a.m.

Session 7: Cancer, Stem Cells, and Clonal Evolution I

Chairperson: Ann F. Chambers, London Health Sciences Centre, London, ON, Canada
8:00 a.m.-10:05 a.m.

Role of clonal evolution in pancreatic cancer progression
Christine A. Iacobuzio-Donahue, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD

Dynamic heterogeneity and clonal evolution of the metastatic phenotype
Ann F. Chambers

Prostate tissue stem cells and cancer progression
Owen N. Witte, University of California, Los Angeles, CA

*Gata3 prevents prostate cancer progression
Maxime Bouchard,  McGill University, Montreal, QB, Canada

Break

Session 8: Cancer, Stem Cells, and Clonal Evolution II

Chairperson: Meenhard Herlyn, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA
10:25 a.m.-12:10 p.m.

Slow-cycling self-renewing JARID1B-positive cells are essential for long-term maintenance of malignant melanoma
Meenhard Herlyn

Reversible tolerance to anticancer drugs
Jeffrey Settleman, Genentech, South San Francisco, CA

Defining similarities and differences between normal neural stem cells and brain tumor stem cells
Peter Dirks, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada

Departure