Tumor Metabolism: New Frontiers in Diet, Microbiome and Beyond (E1)
June 8-11, 2026  | INEC Killarney Convention Centre, Killarney, KY, Ireland
Karen H. Vousden, Cynthia L. Sears and Eileen White
Scholarship Deadline: Feb. 5, 2026 | Abstract Deadline: May. 19, 2026 | Early Registration Deadline: Apr. 10, 2026
* Session Chair † Invited but not yet accepted | Program current as of June 5, 2026 9 PM | For the most up-to-date details, visit https://www.keystonesymposia.org
Monday, June 8, 2026
4:00–8:00 PM Registration INEC Foyer
6:00–8:00 PM Welcome Mixer INEC Foyer
Tuesday, June 9, 2026
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast Individual Hotel
8:00–8:10 AM Welcome Remarks INEC Main Auditorium
  * Karen H. Vousden, Francis Crick Institute
 
  * Cynthia L. Sears, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
 
  * Eileen White, Rutgers Cancer Institute
 
8:10–9:00 AM Keynote Address INEC Main Auditorium
  * Eileen White, Rutgers Cancer Institute
Session Chair
 
  Heather Christofk, University of California, Los Angeles
Metabolic Transitions in Cancer
 
9:00–11:15 AM Systemic Metabolism and Cancer INEC Main Auditorium
  * Lydia Lynch, Princeton University
Session Chair
 
  Craig B Thompson, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
You Are What You Eat: Membrane Lipids Are an Achilles’ Heel for Kidney Cancer
 
  Matthew G Vander Heiden, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Interplay Between Tumor and Systemic Metabolism
 
  Christopher J Halbrook, University of California, Irvine
Exploiting Metabolic Vulnerabilities of Chemoresistant Pancreatic Cancer
 
  H.Furkan Alkan, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Short Talk: Metabolic Regulation of Melanoma Immunogenicity and Metastasis
 
9:30–9:50 AM Coffee Break INEC Foyer
11:15–1:00 PM Poster Setup INEC Foyer
11:15–5:00 PM On Own for Lunch
1:00–10:00 PM Poster Viewing INEC Foyer
2:30–4:30 PM Symposia Spotlight 1: Metabolism and the Immune Response INEC Main Auditorium
  * Mariia Yuneva, Calico Life Sciences and Francis Crick Institute
Session Chair
 
  Julianna Blagih, University of Montreal
Short Talk: Fat Length and Timing Matter - Exploiting Saturated Fatty Acids as Cancer Therapy
 
  Eveline Barbieri, Baylor College of Medicine
Short Talk: Metabolic Competition for Cyst(e)ine Promotes T cell Dysfunction and MYCN-driven Neuroblastoma Tumor Progression
 
  Meggie Danielson, University of California Irvine
Short Talk: Cytosolic Bacterial Pathogens Activate Innate Immune Pathways in Tumors For Cancer Therapy
 
  Alison L. Jaccard, University of Pennsylvania
Short Talk: Nutrient-Sensitive Histone Propionylation Regulates T cell Fate and Function
 
  Evan C Lien, Van Andel Institute
Short Talk: A Low-Fat Diet Improves Cancer Immunotherapy Responses
 
  Laura V. Pinheiro, University of Pennsylvania
Short Talk: Cancer Cell Insulin Receptor Impairs Anti-Tumor Immunity and Promotes Tumor Growth
 
  Viraj Sanghvi, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Short Talk: Lipid Desaturation as a Metabolic Checkpoint for T Cell Immunity in Liver Cancer
 
  Vineeth Vengayil, University of Pennsylvania
Short Talk: Choline Metabolism Controls Tumor Growth and Myeloid Cell Function in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma
 
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available INEC Foyer
5:00–7:00 PM Microbiota, Metabolism and Cancer INEC Main Auditorium
  * Marcus D. Goncalves, NYU Langone
Session Chair
 
  Cynthia L. Sears, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Microbiota and Colon Cancer
 
  Saman Maleki, Western University
Microbiota Engraftment Shapes Toxicity and Clinical Response to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma
 
  Bertrand Routy, Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal
Gut Microbiome and the Efficacy of Cancer Immunotherapy
 
  Asael Roichman, Bar Ilan University
Short Talk: Dietary Phytochemical-Microbiome Interactions as Determinants of Anticancer Therapy Response
 
  Luisa Siegert, Technical University of Munich
Short Talk: Refined Diets Trigger Tumor Formation via H2S-producing Desulfovibrio in ATF6-driven Colorectal Cancer
 
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner INEC Foyer
7:30–10:00 PM Poster Session 1 INEC Foyer
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast Individual Hotel
8:00–11:00 AM Metabolic Disease, Aging and Cancer INEC Main Auditorium
  * Navdeep S Chandel, Northwestern University
Session Chair
 
  Ayelet Erez, Weizmann Institute of Science
Rewiring Hepatic Metabolism Through Tumor–Host Interactions During Cancer Cachexia
 
  Peter James Mullen, University of Southern California
Whole Body Metabolism and Cancer Progression
 
  Ralph J DeBerardinis, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Metabolic Disease and Cancer
 
  Karen H. Vousden, Francis Crick Institute
Metabolic Control of Cancer Progression
 
  David McFadden, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Short Talk: Loss of Heterozygosity Exposes Germline Mutations in Complex I that Drive Warburg Metabolism In Oncocytic Carcinoma of the Thyroid
 
  Seongmi Russell, Washington University in St. Louis
Short Talk: Early-Life Microbial Exposure Reprograms Gut Epithelial Stem Cell Fate to Prime Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer Susceptibility
 
9:00–9:20 AM Coffee Break INEC Foyer
9:20–9:25 AM Award Recipient Acknowledgement INEC Main Auditorium
11:00–1:00 PM Poster Setup INEC Foyer
11:00–5:00 PM On Own for Lunch
1:00–10:00 PM Poster Viewing INEC Foyer
3:30–4:30 PM Career Roundtable INEC Main Auditorium
  Janhavi Kolhe, Cell
Scientific Editor
 
  Michaela R Reagan, MaineHealth Institute for Research
Faculty Scientist II
 
  Petros Tyrakis, Faeth Therapeutics
Associate Principal Scientist
 
  Triona Ni Chonghaile, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Associate Professor
 
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available INEC Foyer
5:00–7:00 PM Antioxidants and Cancer INEC Main Auditorium
  * Thales Papagiannakopoulos, NYU School of Medicine
Session Chair
 
  Scott J Dixon, Stanford University
Lipid oxidation and non-apoptotic tumor cell death
 
  Richard L. Possemato, New York University School of Medicine
Iron Metabolism and Cancer
 
  Navdeep S Chandel, Northwestern University
Mitochondrial Metabolism, ROS and Cancer
 
  Christine Chio, Columbia University
Short Talk: Iron-regulated MSRA Methionine Redox Signaling Controls Systemic Metabolism in Cancer and Nutrient Stress
 
  Roshni A de Souza, Columbia Unviersity
Short Talk: Hypoxia-driven Nucleotide Imbalance Promotes Differentiation in the Colon and Colorectal Cancer
 
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner INEC Foyer
7:30–10:00 PM Poster Session 2 INEC Foyer
Thursday, June 11, 2026
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast Individual Hotel
8:00–11:00 AM Cachexia, Obesity and Cancer INEC Main Auditorium
  * Peter James Mullen, University of Southern California
Session Chair
 
  Eileen White, Rutgers Cancer Institute
Autophagy, Cachexia and Cancer
 
  Lydia Lynch, Princeton University
Metabolism, Fat and Cancer
 
  Marcus D. Goncalves, NYU Langone
Tumor-Body Interactions and Weight Loss
 
  Rachel J. Perry, Yale University
Obesity, Exercise and Cancer
 
  Ana Luiza Labbate Bonaldo, Sao Paulo State University - UNESP
Short Talk: Integrated Liver and Muscle Transcriptomics Identify Obesity-Dependent Modulators of Ovarian Cancer Cachexia
 
  Alexandra S Ware, University of Chicago
Short Talk: BNIP3-Dependent Muscle Atrophy in Cancer Cachexia Promotes PDAC Progression
 
9:00–9:20 AM Coffee Break INEC Foyer
11:00–5:00 PM On Own for Lunch
2:30–4:30 PM Symposia Spotlight 2: Understanding Mechanism and Translation for Therapy INEC Main Auditorium
  * Richard L. Possemato, New York University School of Medicine
Session Chair
 
  Michalis Agathocleous, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Short Talk: Vitamin C is a Tumor Suppressor Metabolite in Blood Cancers
 
  Cian D'Arcy, RCSI
Short Talk: Global Proteomic Assessment of a Novel HDAC6 inhibitor and PROTAC in Multiple Myeloma Identify Metabolic Adaptations
 
  Keeley G Hewton, University of British Columbia
Short Talk: Depletion of Specific Essential Amino Acids Increases Sensitivity to LAT1 Abrogation in Pancreatic Cance
 
  Kevin G Hicks, University of Utah
Short Talk: Folate Cycle Metabolites Allosterically Regulate Pyruvate Kinase M2 To Modulate Carbohydrate Metabolism
 
  Ladan Mashouri, University of Texas at Austin
Short Talk: Engineering a Novel Serine-Degrading Enzyme for Targeted Cancer Therapy
 
  Michael Noji, University of Pennsylvania
Short Talk: Pancreas-specific BCKDK Deficiency Accelerates Pancreatic Neoplasia
 
  Cuauhtemoc B Ramirez, University of California, Irvine
Short Talk: Understanding and Targeting Essential Amino Acid Metabolism for Treating TSC Kidney Tumors
 
  Leah Ziolkowski, The University of Chicago
Short Talk: ATF4 Is Required for KRas-Driven Pancreatic Tumorigenesis to Suppress Early-Stage p53 Induction via Effects on 1C Metabolism That Are Rescued by a High Serine Diet
 
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available INEC Foyer
5:00–6:45 PM Cancer, Diet and Therapy INEC Main Auditorium
  * Matthew G Vander Heiden, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Session Chair
 
  Thales Papagiannakopoulos, NYU School of Medicine
Control of Nutrients for Cancer Therapy
 
  Mariia Yuneva, Calico Life Sciences and Francis Crick Institute
Metabolic Regulation of Aging and Metastasis
 
  Oliver Maddocks, University of Glasgow, Faeth Therapeutics
Multi-Node Targeting of the PI3K/mTOR Axis in Endometrial and Breast Cancer
 
  Yanxiang (Jessie) Guo, Rutgers Cancer Institute
Short Talk: Ketogenic Diet Uncovers Genotype-Specific Metabolic and Immune Vulnerabilities in KRAS-Driven Lung Cancer
 
6:45–7:00 PM Meeting Wrap-Up: Outcomes and Future Directions (Organizers) INEC Main Auditorium
  * Cynthia L. Sears, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
 
  * Eileen White, Rutgers Cancer Institute
 
  * Karen H. Vousden, Francis Crick Institute
 
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner INEC Foyer
8:00–9:00 PM Cash Bar INEC Foyer
Friday, June 12, 2026
12:00–11:59 PM Departure