Cell Competition: Fitness, Diversity, and Adaptation Across Scales and Species (L4)
March 7-10, 2027
| Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Laura A. Johnston, Thomas P. Zwaka and Tristan A Rodriguez
Scholarship Deadline: Nov. 11, 2026 | Abstract Deadline: Feb. 13, 2027 | Early Registration Deadline: Jan. 6, 2027
| 4:00–8:00 PM |
Registration |
British/Columbia Foyer |
| 6:00–8:00 PM |
Welcome Mixer |
British/Columbia Foyer |
| 7:00–8:00 AM |
Breakfast |
British/Columbia Ballroom |
| 8:00–8:10 AM |
Welcome Remarks (Joint) |
British/Columbia Ballroom |
| 8:10–9:00 AM |
Keynote Address (Joint) |
British/Columbia Ballroom |
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Benjamin L. Ebert, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Clonal Hematopoiesis as a Paradigm for Somatic Mosaicism |
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| 9:00–11:30 AM |
Joint Session |
British/Columbia Ballroom |
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Laura A. Johnston, Columbia University
Cell Competition as a Framework for Diverse Areas of Biology |
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Nuria Lopez-Bigas, IRB Barcelona
Somatic Mosaicism and its Association to Cancer Risk |
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Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
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| 9:30–9:50 AM |
Coffee Break |
British/Columbia Foyer |
| 11:40–12:40 PM |
Flash Talks |
British/Columbia Ballroom |
| 12:40–1:00 PM |
Poster Setup |
Vancouver Island Room |
| 12:40–2:30 PM |
On Own for Lunch |
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| 1:00–10:00 PM |
Poster Viewing |
Vancouver Island Room |
| 2:30–4:30 PM |
Symposia Spotlight 1 |
Columbia Ballroom |
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Short Talks Chosen from Abstracts
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| 4:30–5:00 PM |
Coffee Available |
British/Columbia Foyer |
| 5:00–7:00 PM |
Cell Competition as Quality Control I: Genome Integrity and Cellular Fitness |
Columbia Ballroom |
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Marco Milán, IRB Barcelona
Cell Competition in Mosaic Aneuploidy |
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Sarah Bowling, Stanford University
Mutation of p53 Increases the Competitive Ability of Pluripotent Stem Cells |
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Miguel Torres, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares
P53 and BCL-2 Family Proteins Define Competitive Fitness in Pluripotent Cell Competition |
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| 7:00–8:00 PM |
Social Hour with Dinner |
British/Columbia Ballroom |
| 7:30–10:00 PM |
Poster Session 1 |
Vancouver Island Room |
| 7:00–8:00 AM |
Breakfast |
British/Columbia Ballroom |
| 8:00–11:00 AM |
Cell Competition as Quality Control II: Metabolism and Stress Surveillance |
Columbia Ballroom |
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Marianthi Kiparaki, Alexander Fleming Biomedical Sciences Research Center
Ribosomal Proteins and RNA-Binding Proteins Define Cellular Fitness through a bZip Transcriptional Response |
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Jean-Paul B. Vincent, Francis Crick Institute
Mechanisms of Stress Response in Developing Epithelia |
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Tristan A Rodriguez, Imperial College London
Sensing of Extracellular L-Proline by the Integrated Stress Response in Cell Competition |
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Tatsushi Igaki, Kyoto University Graduate School of Biostudies
Mechanisms of how Cellular Fitness is Determined, Sensed, and Translated into Cell Death Signaling |
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Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
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| 9:00–9:20 AM |
Coffee Break |
British/Columbia Foyer |
| 11:10–12:10 PM |
Flash Talks |
Columbia Ballroom |
| 12:10–1:00 PM |
Poster Setup |
Vancouver Island Room |
| 12:10–3:00 PM |
On Own for Lunch |
|
| 1:00–10:00 PM |
Poster Viewing |
Vancouver Island Room |
| 3:00–4:30 PM |
Career Roundtable |
Columbia Ballroom |
| 4:30–5:00 PM |
Coffee Available |
British/Columbia Foyer |
| 5:00–5:50 PM |
Keynote Address |
Columbia Ballroom |
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Harmit S. Malik, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Conflicts, Conflicts Everywhere |
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| 5:50–7:50 PM |
Cell Competition in Tissue Formation |
Columbia Ballroom |
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Leonard I. Zon, HHMI/Boston Children's Hospital
Modeling Clonal Dynamics in Disease in Zebrafish |
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Stephanie Ellis, Max Perutz Labs Vienna
Modes of Cell Competition in Skin Formation |
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Qing-Feng Wu, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Stem Cell Competition in the Developing Brain |
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Romain Levayer, Institut Pasteur
Collective Effects in Cell Elimination: From Mechanical Inputs to Spatiotemporal Feedbacks |
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Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
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| 7:50–8:50 PM |
Social Hour with Dinner |
British/Columbia Ballroom |
| 7:50–10:00 PM |
Poster Session 2 |
Vancouver Island Room |
Wednesday, March 10, 2027
| 7:00–8:00 AM |
Breakfast |
British/Columbia Ballroom |
| 8:00–11:00 AM |
Homeostasis, Aging and Disease |
Columbia Ballroom |
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Eugenia Piddini, University of Bristol
Mechanisms pf p53-Mediated Cell Competition in Human Stem Cells |
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Jun Wu, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Interspecies Chimerism and Cell Competition |
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Thomas P. Zwaka, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Bats as Instructive Animal Models for Cell Competition, Longevity and Aging |
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Coraline Mlynarczyk, Yale University
Competitive Fitness in Germinal Center B Cells and Derived Malignancies |
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Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
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| 9:00–9:20 AM |
Coffee Break |
British/Columbia Foyer |
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Sarah Bowling, Stanford University
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Jun Wu, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
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| 11:10–12:10 PM |
Panel Discussion: Technological Innovations in Studying Cell Competition |
Columbia Ballroom |
| 12:10–2:30 PM |
On Own for Lunch |
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| 2:30–4:30 PM |
Symposia Spotlight 2 |
Columbia Ballroom |
| |
Short Talks Chosen from Abstracts
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| 4:30–5:00 PM |
Coffee Available |
British/Columbia Foyer |
| 5:00–6:45 PM |
Integrating Old and New Models and Cellular Contexts |
Columbia Ballroom |
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Ivana Barbaric, University of Sheffield
Genetically Variant Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Eliminate WT cells through Yap-Mediated Cell Competition |
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Rachel Smith-Bolton, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Cell Competition during Tissue Regeneration |
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Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
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| 6:45–7:00 PM |
Meeting Wrap-Up: Outcomes and Future Directions (Organizers) |
Columbia Ballroom |
| 7:00–8:00 PM |
Social Hour with Dinner |
British/Columbia Ballroom |
| 8:00–11:00 PM |
Entertainment |
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