Spotlight on the Cancer Cell: Intrinsic Properties and Vulnerabilities for Therapeutics (A3)
January 26-29, 2026
| Embassy Suites by Hilton Raleigh Durham Research Triangle, Cary, NC, United States
Anwesha Dey, Laura D. Attardi and Mariam Jamal-Hanjani
Scholarship Deadline: Nov. 3, 2025 | Abstract Deadline: Jan. 7, 2026 | Early Registration Deadline: Nov. 26, 2025
| 4:00–8:00 PM |
Registration |
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| 6:00–8:00 PM |
Welcome Mixer |
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Tuesday, January 27, 2026
| 8:00–8:30 AM |
Poster Setup |
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| 8:15–5:00 PM |
Poster Viewing |
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| 8:30–8:40 AM |
Welcome Remarks |
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| 8:40–9:30 AM |
Keynote Address |
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Kevan M. Shokat, University of California, San Francisco
Overcoming the Undruggable Nature of the Most Common Human Oncogene K-Ras |
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| 9:30–11:30 AM |
Cancer Evolution, Tumor Heterogeneity and Metastasis |
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Mariam Jamal-Hanjani, University College London
Tumor Evolution and Metastasis Revealed through Research Autopsies in PEACE |
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Manuel Valiente, Spanish National Cancer Research Centre
Metastatic Colonization and the Development of Brain Metastasis |
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Rohit Bose †, UCSF - University of California, San Francisco
Short Talk: Engineering Tumor Evolution In Vivo to Reveal Cell-Intrinsic Vulnerabilities for Therapeutic Interception |
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Christina Ferrer †, University of Maryland Baltimore
Short Talk: Slow-Cycling, Glutathione-Sensing GSTT1⁺ Cells Mediate Therapy Resistance and Metastasis in Pancreatic Cancer |
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| 10:00–10:20 AM |
Coffee Break |
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| 12:30–2:30 PM |
Poster Session 1 |
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| 2:30–4:30 PM |
Symposia Spotlight 1 |
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Makka Adam Ali †, Armeuar Hansen Research institute
Prognostic Impact of FoxP3 and PD1 Expression in the Tumor Microenvironment (TME) of Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma (cHL) |
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Deepan Chatterjee †, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Tumor initiation and Therapy Resistance in SCLC |
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Bence Daniel †, Genentech Inc.
Promoter-Centric Gene Regulation in Drug Resistant Cancer Cells |
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Thijs J Hagenbeek †, Genentech, Inc.
Covalent Pan-TEAD Inhibitors Block YAP Activity and Demonstrate Brain Penetrance in Hippo-dependent Cancer Models |
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Wendy W. Hwang-Verslues †, Academia Sinica
BMAL2 as a Druggable Target for ARID1A-wildtype Ovarian Clear Cell Carcinoma |
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Joseph Manu †, University of Georgia
In-vitro Investigations into Troxacitabine and Deazaneplanocin Combination for Pancreatic Cancer Therapy |
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Elisabeth D. Martinez †, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Targeting Canonical and Non-canonical Oncogenic Actions of Jumonji Demethylases in Lung Cancer |
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Rachel O'Rourke †, University of Michigan
Unraveling the Effects of eIF4E Cap Analogue Inhibitors on Cap-Dependent Translation to Assess their Therapeutic Potential in Cancer |
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Shadika Panta †, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine
DNA-protein Interactions at a DNA Secondary Structure Forming Sequence |
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| 4:30–5:00 PM |
Coffee Available |
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| 5:00–7:00 PM |
Drugging Cancer Pathways and New Targets on the Horizon |
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Kevin Marks, Delphia Therapeutics
Exploiting Pathway Activation as a New Form of Synthetic Lethality |
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Gregory L. Verdine, Harvard University and FogPharma
Drugging Oncogenic Transcriptional Drivers |
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Anwesha Dey, Genentech, Inc.
Targeting the PI3K Pathway in Cancers |
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Peter C. Scacheri, Amgen Research
Targeting Signaling Pathway in Cancers |
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| 7:00–8:00 PM |
On Own for Dinner |
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Wednesday, January 28, 2026
| 8:00–8:30 AM |
Poster Setup |
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| 8:15–5:00 PM |
Poster Viewing |
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| 8:30–11:30 AM |
Cancer Cell Vulnerabilities and Therapeutic Opportunities |
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Ashok R. Venkitaraman, Cancer Science Institute
p53 and Therapeutic Vulnerabilities |
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Karen M. Cichowski, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Chemical Synthetic Lethal Interactions for the Development of Combinatorial Therapies |
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LaQuita Jones, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Unexpected Resistance Mechanisms Underlying AML Targeted Therapy |
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Josh Plotnik, AbbVie, Inc.
Novel Synthetic Lethal Targets in Cancer |
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Valentina Posada †, The Ohio State University
Short Talk: Uncovering Melanocyte-Intrinsic Drivers of Melanoma in MC1R Deficiency |
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Benjamin Sunkel †, Nationwide Children's Hospital
Short Talk: NR0B1 Alters the Retinoid Response in Ewing Sarcoma Cells: A Pathway to Therapy? |
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| 9:30–9:50 AM |
Coffee Break |
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| 12:30–2:30 PM |
Poster Session 2 |
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| 3:00–4:30 PM |
Career Roundtable |
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| 4:30–5:00 PM |
Coffee Available |
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| 5:00–7:00 PM |
Metabolic Rewiring in Cancer and Metabolic Approaches to Therapy |
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Ralph J DeBerardinis, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Cell-Intrinsic Metabolic Features Contributing to Cancer Initiation and Progression |
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Poul H Sorensen, University of British Columbia
Metabolic Adaptation Mechanisms that Confer Resistance to Oxidative Stress in Cancer Cells |
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Dohoon Kim, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Cancer Metabolism and Metabolic Toxicity |
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Taras Shyp †, BC Cancer Research Institute
Short Talk: Ewing Sarcoma Metabolic Fitness Depends on the STEAP1–STEAP2 Partnership |
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Noura Srour †, The Ohio State University
Short Talk: Protein Phosphatase 2A Activation Impairs Energy Metabolism in Mantle Cell Lymphoma |
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| 7:00–8:00 PM |
On Own for Dinner |
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Thursday, January 29, 2026
| 8:30–11:30 AM |
Cellular Plasticity and Cell State Changes in Cancer |
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Karuna Ganesh, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Regenerative Plasticity during Colorectal Cancer Metastasis |
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Cédric Blanpain, Universite Libre de Bruxelles
Stem Cell Function in Development, Homeostasis and Cancer |
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Laura D. Attardi, Stanford University School of Medicine
p53 Governs Cell State Changes in Lung and Pancreatic Cancers |
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David Millan, Auron Therapeutics
Targeting Drivers of Tumor Cell Plasticity |
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Margaret W Barbier †, Duke University School of Medicine
Short Talk: PI3K-gamma Signaling as a Lineage-specific Vulnerability of Tuft-like Cancers |
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Derrick Ong †, National University of Singapore
Short Talk: A Non-canonical Role of HDAC7 in Regulating TAZ Phosphorylation and Nuclear Localization via 14-3-3gamma/eta in Glioblastoma |
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| 9:30–9:50 AM |
Coffee Break |
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| 11:00–2:30 PM |
On Own for Lunch |
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| 2:30–4:30 PM |
Symposia Spotlight 2 |
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Charly Ryan Good †, University of Pennsylvania
Mutation-Specific Protein Interaction Networks Define Gain-of-Function p53 Mechanisms in Cancer |
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Fatemeh Dehpanah †, SUNY Stony Brook University Hospital
Deoxysphingolipid Accumulation Induces Mitochondrial-mediated Activation of cGAS-STING1 and Anti-tumor immunity |
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Peter K. Jackson †, Stanford University
Mass Spectrometry and Platform Secretomics Reveal Consistent KRAS Tumor Secretotypes in Human Lung Adenocarcinoma Cell Lines and Primary Tumors |
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Zhixiang Lei †, University of Texas at Dallas
Topoisomerase-dependent eccDNA Abundance Reveals Topological Vulnerabilities in Cancer Cells |
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Shihui Liu †, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
A Potent Tumor-selective MEK Inactivator with High Therapeutic Index |
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Srinivas Malladi †, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Patient Derived Organoids Identify Targetable Metabolic Adaptations in Metastatic ccRCCs |
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Rachael Pulica †, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
Phosphatidylserine Scramblases and Immune Escape in Cancer |
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Truc T Vuong †, Indiana University School of Medicine - Bloomington
DNA Methyltransferase Inhibition Prevents Platinum-Induced Ovarian Cancer Stem Cell Enrichment |
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| 4:30–5:00 PM |
Coffee Available |
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| 5:00–6:45 PM |
Looking to the Future: Provocative New Themes in Cancer |
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Laura Wood, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
New Insights into Tumor Development from CODA 3D Reconstruction |
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Anne E. Carpenter †, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT
Talk Title to be Announced |
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Hoifung Poon, Microsoft Research
Multimodal Generative AI for Precision Health |
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Mats Ljungman †, University of Michigan Medical School
Short Talk: Precision Targeting of the Cancer Genome |
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| 6:45–7:00 PM |
Meeting Wrap-Up: Outcomes and Future Directions |
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| 7:00–8:00 PM |
Social Hour with Dinner |
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| 8:00–11:00 PM |
Entertainment |
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