In This Section

Program

Please note that this special conference will take place as an in-person event in Boston and will not live-stream content for virtual participation. The conference content will be recorded and made available as an on-demand program after the conference.

All presentations are scheduled to be live, in-person presentations at the date and time specified below unless noted otherwise. Program in progress.

*-Short talk from proffered abstract

Thursday, September 25

Friday, September 26

Saturday, September 27

Sunday, September 28

Thursday, September 25

REGISTRATION

3-8 p.m.

WELCOME AND Keynote lectures

5-7 p.m.

  • 5 p.m. | Welcome and Introduction of Keynote Speaker
  • 5:10 p.m. | Keynote Lecture
    Oncohistones and the 3D chromatin code of cancer
    Nada Jabado, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
  • 5:55 p.m. | AACR-St. Baldrick’s Foundation Pediatric Cancer Research Fellowship Awardee Lecture
    Shawn Lee, National University Hospital, Singapore

poster session A /Opening reception

7-9:30 p.m.

Friday, September 26

CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

7-8 a.m.

plenary Session 1: Mechanisms underlying childhood cancer 

8-9 a.m.

Session Chair: Liling Wan, Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  • 8 a.m. | Chromantin in cancer: from mechanisms to emerging therapies
    Charles Roberts, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee
  • 8:30 a.m. | Targeting intra-tumor heterogeneity and developmental targets in pediatric brain tumors
    Mariella G. Filbin, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
  • 9 a.m. | Chromantin-Associated Condensates as Drivers of Pediatric Cancer
    Liling Wan, Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • 9:30 a.m. | CDK8 as a therapeutic target for fusion-positive aRMS*
    Susu Zhang, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
  • 9:45 a.m. | BRAF fusion partners facilitate membrane localization*
    Alexander Zhang, DanaFarber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts

break

10-10:30 a.m.

Plenary Session 2: Development in cancer

10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

  • 10:30 a.m. | The interplay between brain development and pediatric brain tumors
    Pratiti (Mimi) Bandopadhayay, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
  • 11 a.m. | Dissecting cell fate transitions in the malignant brain tumour hierarchy
    Peter B. Dirks, SickKids, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • 11:30 a.m. | Targeting (and using) enhancers to control cell state in the pedatric cancers
    Adam D. Durbin, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee
  • 12 p.m. | EWS::FLI1 Expression in Human Embryonic Mesenchymal Stem Cells*
    Jaume Mora, Pediatric Cancer Center Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
  • 12:15 p.m. | KAT6A/B are therapeutic targets in neuroblastoma*
    Nina Weichert-Leahey, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts

lunch on own/free time

12:30-2:30 p.m.

PLENARY Session 3: From targets to trials: rethinking how we design child-first medicine

Organized by Cancer Research UK

2:30-5 p.m.

Session Chair: David Jenkinson, LifeArc, London, United Kingdom

  • 2:35 p.m. | Patient Advocate Session
    Courtney Addison, Cheasapeake, Virginia
  • 2:50 p.m. | Scientific Presentations: Navigating the landscape of paediatric oncology modalities
    • Epigenetic dependence of pediatric brain tumor – Insight into Epigenetic Therapy
      Rintaro Hashizume, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
    • Benjamin L. Ebert, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
    • Jarrod Longcor, Cellectar Biosciences, Florham Park, New Jersey
  • 3:50 p.m. | Panel Discussion: Rewriting the rules of childhood cancer translation
    Additional Panelists:
    Catherine Bollard, Children’s National, Washington, DC
    Benjamin L. Ebert, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
    Mariella G. Filbin, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
    Rintaro Hashizume, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
    Charles Roberts, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee
    Jarrod Longcor, Cellectar Biosciences, Florhan Park, New Jersey
  • 4:45 p.m. | A year of C-Further
    Tony Hickson, Cancer Research Horizon

Poster session B/reception

5-7 p.m.

Saturday, September 27

CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

7-8 a.m.

Plenary Session 4: Discovery and translation of targets 

8-10 a.m.

  • 8 a.m. | Therapeutic vulnerabilities in NUP98-rearranged leukemia
    Charles Mullighan, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee
  • 8:30 a.m. | New Approaches to Target Pediatric Cancers
    Kimberly Stegmaier, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
  • 9 a.m. | Targeting chromatin modulators with therapeutic degraders
    Gromek Smolen, Foghorn Therapeutics, Cambridge, Massachusetts
  • 9:30 a.m. | BCL-xL degradation as a strategy to eliminate neuroblastoma persister cells*
    Matteo Calafatti, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • 9:45 a.m. | CBL mutations in pediatric solid and CNS tumours*
    Paul Ekert, Children’s Cancer Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia

break

10-10:30 a.m.

Plenary Session 5: Immunology and Immuno-oncology in Pediatrics 

10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

  • 10:30 a.m. | Next Generation T cell Therapies for Pediatric Solid Tumors
    Catherine Bollard, Children’s National, Washington, DC 
  • 11 a.m. | A portfolio of cellular immunotherapies for ALK-driven cancers
    Roberto Chiarle, Boston Children’s Hospital, Brookline, Massachusetts
  • 11:30 a.m. | GD2-CAR T cells for pediatric solid tumors
    Francesca Del Bufalo, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, Rome, Italy 
  • 12 p.m. | Myeloid Reprogramming Boosts B7-H3 CAR T Cells in DIPG*
    Khatereh Khorsandi, Children’s National, Washington, DC
  • 12:15 p.m. |  Immune prognostic factors in ALL*
    Maria Sol Ruiz, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • 12:30 p.m. | Alectinib in ALK-fusion tumours*
    Francis Mussai, Roche, Wellwyn Garden City, United Kingdom

Short talks selected from proffered abstracts

lunch on own/free time

12:45-3 p.m.

Plenary Session 6: Cancer biology, early detection and ctDNA

3-4:30 p.m.

  • 3 p.m. | DDR deficiency in neuroblastoma: lessons from zebrafish and patients
    Meredith Irwin, SickKids, Toronto, ON, Canada 
  • 3:30 p.m. | Leveraging liquid biopsy to transform patient care in pediatric neuro-oncology
    Paul Northcott, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee
  • 4 p.m. | Cell-free DNA sequencing for early detection of hereditary cancer.
    Trevor Pugh, UHN Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada 
  • 4:30 p.m. | Ultrasensitive ctDNA detection in pediatric solid tumor*
    Loretta Lau, Children’s Cancer Institute, Sydney, Australia
  • 4:45 p.m. | Neuroblastoma Liquid Biopsy Panel for Molecular Monitoring*
    Lea Surrey, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sunday, September 28

CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

7-8:30 a.m.

Plenary Session 7: Integration of molecular approaches into diagnostics 

8-10 a.m.

Session Chair: Sam Behjati, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom

  • 8 a.m. | Alanna Church, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
  • 8:30 a.m. | Investigating the origins of childhood cancer
    Sam Behjati, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK
  • 9 a.m. | Enabling precision oncology in pediatric soft tissue sarcoma
    Jack Shern, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland                    
  • 9:30 a.m. | Multi-Omics Diagnosis in high-risk Pediatric Cancer*
    Mark Cowley, Children’s Cancer Institute, Sydney, Australia
  • 9:45 a.m. | Extracellular vesicle biomarkers for synovial sarcoma*
    Maryke Grobler, Treehouse Childhood Cancer Initiative, Santa Cruz, California

break

10-10:30 a.m.

Plenary Session 8: Clinical Trials

10:30 a.m.- 12:30 p.m.

Session Chair: Julie Park, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee

  • 10:30 a.m. | Challenges in Accessing Innovation for Children with Cancer
    Steve DuBois, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
  • 11 a.m. | Clinical Trials in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia – what it takes to move the needle
    Mignon Loh, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, Washington
  • 11:30 a.m. | Immunotherapy: Shifting the Paradigm for the Treatment of Solid Tumors In Pediatric and Young Adults Patients
    Julie Park
  • 12 p.m. | B7-H3-CAR T cells expressing 41BB ligand for pediatric solid tumors: Preliminary results of a phase 1 study*
    Rebecca Epperly, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee

Closing Remarks 

12:30-12:30 p.m.