Tumor Microenvironment: Identifying Drivers of Progression and Resistance (M3)
May 17-20, 2026  | Whistler Conference Centre, Whistler, BC, Canada
Lisa M. Coussens, Sandra S. McAllister and Laura L. Kiessling
Scholarship Deadline: Feb. 19, 2026 | Abstract Deadline: Apr. 24, 2026 | Early Registration Deadline: Mar. 19, 2026
* Session Chair † Invited but not yet accepted | Program current as of April 6, 2026 1 PM | For the most up-to-date details, visit https://www.keystonesymposia.org
Sunday, May 17, 2026
4:00–8:00 PM Registration Grand Foyer
6:00–8:00 PM Welcome Mixer Grand Foyer
Monday, May 18, 2026
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast Sea to Sky A
8:00–8:10 AM Welcome Remarks (Joint) Sea to Sky B/C
8:10–9:00 AM Keynote Address (Joint) Sea to Sky B/C
  Gabriel A. Rabinovich, Instituto de Biologia y Medicina Experimental
The Power of Glycocheckpoints: Translating Glycan-Encoded Information into Novel Therapies in Cancer and Autoimmune Inflammation
 
9:00–11:15 AM Aging in Human Health and Disease (Joint) Sea to Sky B/C
  Clemens A. Schmitt, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine
Targeting the Root of Cancer Reprogression - Eradicating Senescent Persisters
 
  Donna L Farber, Columbia University Medical Center
Immune Aging Across the LifeSpan
 
  Peter D. Adams, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute
The Epigenetic Landscape of Aging
 
  Milos Spasic, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Short Talk: Leveraging HDAC Inhibition to Combat Paclitaxel Resistance in Aging Triple Negative Breast Cancer
 
9:30–9:50 AM Coffee Break Grand Foyer
11:15–1:00 PM Poster Setup Sea to Sky A
11:15–5:00 PM On Own for Lunch
1:00–10:00 PM Poster Viewing Sea to Sky A
2:30–4:30 PM Workshop: Data Jamboree/Workshop leveraging the NCI Human Tumor Atlas Data (HTAN) to study the TME Sea to Sky C
  Erik A. Sahai, Francis Crick Institute
 
  Elana Fertig, University of Maryland School of Medicine
Novel Analytical Approaches for Data Forecasting and Data Integration with HTAN
 
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available Grand Foyer
5:00–7:00 PM Cross-Talk in the TME Driving Cancer Progression and Therapeutic Resistance Sea to Sky C
  Sheila A. Stewart, Washington University School of Medicine
Senescent Fibroblasts that Drive Immune Suppression and Cancer Progression
 
  Teresa Zimmers, Oregon Health and Science University Knight Cancer Institute
Impact of Cachexia on Cancer Progression and Response to Therapy
 
  Daniela F Quail, McGill University
Impact of Obesity on Tumor-Associated Chronic Inflammation
 
  Giuseppina Caligiuri †, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Short Talk: WNT7 Orchestrates Myofibroblast Heterogeneity to Induce Desmoplasia
 
  Brittney Poole, University of Florida
Short Talk: Tumor-Derived CTGF Modulates the Tumor Microenvironment to Promote Cancer-Associated Cachexia through TGF-beta
 
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner Sea to Sky A
7:30–10:00 PM Poster Session 1 Sea to Sky A
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast Sea to Sky A
8:00–11:00 AM Pathways Controlling Inflammation and Tissue Homeostasis (Joint) Sea to Sky B/C
  Melissa Davis, Morehouse School of Medicine
Impact of Genetics, Biology, and Social Determinants on Cancer Risk
 
  Andrea Ablasser, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
cGAS STING Pathway in Inflammation
 
  Jenny P Ting, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Impact of Innate Immune Receptors in Cancer
 
  Emma Saart, Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
Short Talk: Exploring the Role of Genetic Ancestry in Shaping the Endometrial Tumor Microenvironment
 
  Jaroslav Zak, University of Utah
Short Talk: An IL-34–IGF-1 Axis Fuels KRAS-Mutant Lung Cancer Progression
 
9:00–9:20 AM Coffee Break Grand Foyer
9:20–9:25 AM Award Recipient Acknowledgement Sea to Sky B/C
11:00–1:00 PM Poster Setup Sea to Sky A
11:00–5:00 PM On Own for Lunch
1:00–10:00 PM Poster Viewing Sea to Sky A
1:45–2:45 PM Career Roundtable (Joint) Sea to Sky B
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available Grand Foyer
5:00–7:00 PM Inflammatory Responses in the TME Sea to Sky C
  Sandra S. McAllister, Brigham & Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School
Impact of the Aging TME Cellular and Molecular Landscape on Response to Therapy
 
  Lisa M. Coussens, Oregon Health & Science University
Innate-Adaptive Crosstalk Mechanisms as Leverage Points for Therapy
 
  Erik A. Sahai, Francis Crick Institute
Why Liver Metastases are so Hard to Treat with Immunotherapy
 
  David Kung-Chun Chiu, Stanford University
Short Talk: A Liver-Imposed Immunoregulatory Circuit Drives Immune Exclusion in Primary Liver Cancer and Pan-Gastrointestinal Liver Metastasis
 
  Mariko Morimoto, University of Notre Dame
Short Talk: Selective Chemical Remodeling of Tumor-Associated Macrophages to Overcome Immunotherapy Resistance
 
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner Sea to Sky A
7:30–10:00 PM Poster Session 2 Sea to Sky A
Wednesday, May 20, 2026
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast Sea to Sky A
8:00–11:00 AM Therapeutic Targeting in Chronic Disease Sea to Sky C
  Laura L. Kiessling, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Critical Role of Glycosylation in Regulating Tissue Homeostasis and Disease Progression
 
  Michael Klichinsky, Carisma Therapeutics
Engineering Myeloid Cells for Cancer, Autoimmunity, and Fibrosis
 
  Malia E Leifheit, Rush University
Short Talk: Combination of Gilteritinib and mTOR Inhibitors for the Treatment of FLT3+ Acute Myeloid Leukemia Post Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
 
  Stanislav Drapela, Moffitt Cancer Center
Short Talk: Aging Exposes a Targetable Metabolic Achilles’ Heel in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Lung Metastasis
 
9:00–9:20 AM Coffee Break Grand Foyer
11:00–5:00 PM On Own for Lunch
2:30–4:30 PM Symposia Spotlight Sea to Sky C
  David Askew, Case Western Reserve University
The Bone Marrow Niche Promotes Relapse of T Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia after Stem Cell Transplant
 
  Alma Banuelos, Mayo Clinic
Sex-dependent Regulation of CD8⁺ T-Cell Antitumor Immunity by the ATP-exporting Channel Pannexin-1
 
  Stefanie Cassoday, Rush University Medical Center
Intratumoral Influenza Vaccine Combined with IL-15 and PD-1 Blockade Induces Durable Antitumor Immunity in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
 
  Rohin Chakraborty, Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network
Role of Natural Killer-like T Cells in Inducing Pre-tumor Cell Growth to Initiate Medulloblastoma
 
  Felicia Lazure, Moffitt Cancer Center
Aging Drives the Differential Evolution of KRAS-driven Lung Adenocarcinoma Towards a Primitive Stem-Like State
 
  Mojdeh Shakiba, CSHL
Pancreatitis Promotes Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) through Epigenetic Reprogramming of Macrophages
 
  Chong Sun, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
The eATP-P2RY2 Axis is a Primary Driver of Pathological COX–PGE₂ Activation in the Tumor Microenvironment and Adaptive Immunotherapy Resistance
 
  Theresa A Weis, University of Louisville School of Medicine
Temporal Dynamics to Macrophage Depletion in Mediating Tumor Microenvironment and Cancer-Kidney Crosstalk
 
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available Grand Foyer
5:00–6:45 PM Unraveling the TME Sea to Sky C
  Jeremy Goecks, Moffitt Cancer Center
Using Machine Learning to Quantify the Tumor Microenvironment and Predict Response to Therapy
 
  Elana Fertig, University of Maryland School of Medicine
Forecasting Cancer Signatures
 
  Daniella Liao, BC Cancer Research Institute
Short Talk: Longitudinal Peripheral Immune Profiling During Immunotherapy for Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients
 
  Tuulia Vallius, Harvard Medical School
Short Talk: Spatial Determinants of Tumor Cell Dedifferentiation and Plasticity in Primary Cutaneous Melanoma
 
  Willie Wu, BC Cancer Research Institute
Short Talk: Decoding the Spatial Architecture of the Lung Tumor Microenvironment in Early-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
 
6:45–7:00 PM Meeting Wrap-Up: Outcomes and Future Directions (Organizers) Sea to Sky C
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner Sea to Sky A
8:00–9:00 PM Entertainment Sea to Sky A
Thursday, May 21, 2026
12:00–11:59 PM Departure