Epigenetics in Development and Disease (X7)
March 30-April 2, 2025 | Fairmont Banff Springs, Banff, AB, Canada
Karen Adelman and Kristian Helin
Scholarship Deadline: Jan. 24, 2025 | Abstract Deadline: Mar. 7, 2025 | Early Registration Deadline: Feb. 20, 2025
* Session Chair † Invited but not yet accepted | Program current as of August 23, 2025 4 AM | For the most up-to-date details, visit https://www.keystonesymposia.org
Sunday, March 30, 2025
4:00–8:00 PM Registration Riverview Lounge
6:00–8:00 PM Welcome Mixer Riverview Lounge
Monday, March 31, 2025
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast Alberta/New Brunswick
8:00–9:00 AM Welcome and Keynote Address (Joint) Cascade Ballroom
  * Karen Adelman, Harvard Medical School
Session Chair
 
  Patrick Cramer, Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences
Chromatin and Transcription
 
9:00–11:30 AM Mechanisms of Gene Control and Epigenetic Regulation (Joint) Cascade Ballroom
  * Seychelle Vos, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Session Chair
 
  Dirk Schübeler, Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research
Controlling CpG islands
 
  François Fuks, University of Brussels
RNA Modifications in Health and Disease
 
  Lacramioara Bintu, Stanford University
High-Throughput Measurements of Activation and Repression Domains from Human Proteins
 
  Havva Ortabozkoyun, University of Miami / HHMI
Short Talk: Members of an Array of Zinc Finger Proteins Specify Distinct Hox Chromatin Boundaries
 
9:30–9:50 AM Coffee Break Riverview Lounge
9:50–9:55 AM Award Recipient Acknowledgement Cascade Ballroom
11:30–1:00 PM Poster Setup Alberta/New Brunswick
11:30–2:30 PM On Own for Lunch
1:00–10:00 PM Poster Viewing Alberta/New Brunswick
2:30–4:30 PM Symposia Spotlight 1: Epigenetics and Cancer Cascade Ballroom
  * Kristian Helin, The Institute of Cancer Research
Session Chair
 
  Pablo R Freire, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Large AT-rich Promoter Flanks Control Menin/KMT2A Complex Localization at Key Developmental Genes
 
  Jun Ho Lee, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Joint TGF-β and RAS Transcriptional Program Supports Metastasis
 
  Tom A Milne, University of Oxford
Aberrant Enhancer Activation in KMT2A: AFF1 Leukemia
 
  Mara Steiger, Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Engineering
Rapid Brain Tumor Classification from Sparse Epigenomic Data
 
  Wazim Mohammed Ismail, Mayo Clinic
Single Cell Multiomics Reveal Divergent Effects of DNMT3A and TET2 Mutant Clonal Hematopoiesis in Inflammatory Response
 
  Hsiao P. J. Voon, Monash University
The Paediatric Glioma H3.3 K27M Mutation Disrupts Cell Differentiation by Interfering with Heterochromatin Formation at Pericentric Regions
 
  David Spencer, Washington University in St. Louis
Blocks of Sequence-Independent Allele-Specific DNA Methylation in Acute Myeloid Leukemia are Clonal Events that can Originate in Normal Hematopoietic Cells
 
  Aaron D. Viny, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
FLI1 Accessible Stem Cell Programs Drive Leukemic Transformation
 
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Break with Hot Chocolate, Firepits & Mountain Views Conservatory Terrace
5:00–7:00 PM Histone Modifications: Cause or Cog in Gene Regulation? Cascade Ballroom
  * Yang Shi, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Oxford Branch
Session Chair
 
  Kristian Helin, The Institute of Cancer Research
Dissecting the Role of Histone Modifications Using Histone Mutants
 
  Nicola Iovino, Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics
Catalytic-Independent Functions of CPB/P300
 
  Shelley L Berger, University of Pennsylvania
Functional Consequences of Histone Acetylation
 
  Mark Pownall, UCSF
Short Talk: Heterochromatin Form and Function during Vertebrate Development
 
  Michael S Werner, University of Utah
Short Talk: Histone 4 Acetylation Regulates Developmental Plasticity of Predatory Nematodes
 
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Lite Bites Alberta/New Brunswick
7:30–10:00 PM Poster Session 1 Alberta/New Brunswick
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast Alberta/New Brunswick
8:00–11:00 AM Epigenetics in Cellular Plasticity and Development Cascade Ballroom
  * Giacomo Cavalli, Institute of Human Genetics
Session Chair
 
  Luciano Di Croce, CRG - Center for Genomic Regulation
Polycomb Complexes in Development
 
  Karen Adelman, Harvard Medical School
Dynamic Changes in Chromatin and Transcription During Cell Differentiation
 
  Asifa Akhtar, Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics
The Influence of Histone Modifications and Chromatin Domains on Biallelic Gene Expression
 
  Mark A. Dawson, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Functional Genomics to Study Transcription Factors and Chromatin Remodelers in Cancer
 
  Evgeny Kvon, University of California, Irvine
Short Talk: Bystander Chromatin Poising by Pioneer Factors Confers Aberrant Enhancer Activation in Congenital Disease
 
  Selin Jessa, Stanford University
Short Talk: Dissecting the Cooperative, Context-dependent Rules of Transcription Factor Binding in Human Development
 
9:00–9:20 AM Coffee Break Riverview Lounge
11:00–1:00 PM Poster Setup Alberta/New Brunswick
11:00–3:00 PM On Own for Lunch
1:00–2:30 PM Career Roundtable (Joint) Alhambra
  Paola Scaffidi, European Institute of Oncology
Group Leader
 
  Gromek Smolen, Foghorn Therapeutics
VP, Head of Biology
 
  Evan J. Worden, Van Andel Institute
Assistant Professor
 
  Michael S Werner, University of Utah
Assistant Professor
 
  Ivanka D Kamenova, Nature Protocols
Senior Editor
 
1:00–10:00 PM Poster Viewing Alberta/New Brunswick
3:00–4:15 PM Innate and Environmental Impacts on Epigenetic Regulation Cascade Ballroom
  * Mark A. Dawson, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Session Chair
 
  Jo Iversen, University of Copenhagen
Short Talk: Exposure to Childhood Maltreatment is Associated with Specific Epigenetic Patterns in Sperm
 
  Kian Koh, Baylor College of Medicine
Short Talk: Maternal Vitamin C Deficiency and Genetic Risk Factors Contribute to Congenital Malformations through Dysregulation of DNA Methylation
 
  Lei Hou, Boston University School of Medicine
Short Talk: Genetic, Epigenomic, and Phenotypic Integration Reveals the Roles of Circulating Immune Cells and Patient Subgroups in Bipolar Disorder
 
  Audrey Houle, McGill University
Short Talk: CTCF is Required for Breast Tumour Initiation, but is Dispensable for Normal Mammary Gland Development
 
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available Riverview Lounge
5:00–7:00 PM Epigenetics and Metabolism Cascade Ballroom
  * Shelley L Berger, University of Pennsylvania
Session Chair
 
  Kathryn E. Wellen, University of Pennsylvania
Metabolic Control of Chromatin Modifications
 
  Navdeep S Chandel, Northwestern University
Mitochondrial Signaling to the Transcription Machinery
 
  Lydia Finley, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Metabolic Pathways Govern Cell Fate Decisions
 
  Gabriel Alzial, IRIC, Université de Montréal
Short Talk: Mitochondrial Stress Modulates Chromatin Accessibility and Cell Identity in Breast Cancer
 
  Subhamoy Dasgupta, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
Short Talk: Nuclear Specific Reductive Carboxylation of Alpha-ketoglutarate Fuels Histone Acetylation
 
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Lite Bites Alberta/New Brunswick
7:30–10:00 PM Poster Session 2 Alberta/New Brunswick
Wednesday, April 2, 2025
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast Alberta/New Brunswick
8:00–11:00 AM DNA Methylation and Epigenetic Inheritance Cascade Ballroom
  * François Fuks, University of Brussels
Session Chair
 
  Robert A. Martienssen, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Epigenetic Memory in Plants
 
  Giacomo Cavalli, Institute of Human Genetics
Three Dimensional Genome Organization and Epigenetic Memory
 
  Evan J. Worden, Van Andel Institute
The Structural Basis for de novo DNA Methylation in Chromatin
 
  Samuel C Agius, Monash University
Short Talk: Allosteric Effectors of PRC2 Synergise to Restrict the Spread of Polycomb Domains
 
  Jasbeer S Khanduja, Massachusetts General Hospital
Short Talk: LncRNA-Mediated Heterochromatin Assembly
 
  Ellen Weinzapfel, EpiCypher, Inc.
Short Talk: Advanced Multiomic Sequencing Technologies Reveal Complex Crosstalk between Chromatin Proteins and DNA Methylation in Development
 
9:00–9:20 AM Coffee Break Riverview Lounge
11:00–2:30 PM On Own for Lunch
2:30–4:30 PM Symposia Spotlight 2: Epigenetics in Development Cascade Ballroom
  * Karen Adelman, Harvard Medical School
Session Chair
 
  Jan Zylicz, University of Copenhagen
HDAC3 Functions as a Speed-limit for Developmental Enhancers
 
  Richard Pan, Columbia University
Transgenic Mouse Models for Editing DNA Methylation in vivo
 
  Andrew S Koh, University of Chicago
Chromatin Accessibility Noise is Amplified via p53 Repression to Promote Cell Plasticity for Immune Tolerance
 
  Alyssa Erickson, Washington University School of Medicine
The Role of Histone Ubiquitination in Plasticity and Neurodevelopmental Disease
 
  Kiera Malone, University of Vermont
Chromatin Recognition by the AAA+ ATPase Superfamily Protein ATAD2B
 
  H. Courtney Hodges, Baylor College of Medicine
A Molecular Adapter that Mediates Disordered cBAF Interactions
 
  Eva Neugebauer, University Medical Center Freiburg
Herpesviruses Mimic Zygotic Genome Activation to Promote Viral Replication
 
  Nathan Palpant, University of Queensland
Rare Regions of Facultative Heterochromatin Define Domains of Cellular Constraint Underpinning Genomic Regulation of Cell Identity
 
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available Riverview Lounge
5:00–5:45 PM Keynote Address (Joint) Cascade Ballroom
  * Seychelle Vos, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Session Chair
 
  Yang Shi, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Oxford Branch
Chromatin Regulation and Cancer
 
5:45–7:15 PM Transcription and Epigenetics in Disease (Joint) Cascade Ballroom
  * Kristian Helin, The Institute of Cancer Research
Session Chair
 
  Paola Scaffidi, European Institute of Oncology
Epigenetics and Functional Intratumor Heterogeneity
 
  Gromek Smolen, Foghorn Therapeutics
Targeting Chromatin Modulators with Therapeutic Degraders
 
  Tony Kouzarides, Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge
Targeting RNA Modifying Enzymes in the Treatment of Cancer
 
7:15–7:30 PM Meeting Wrap-Up: Outcomes and Future Directions (Organizers) (Joint) Cascade Ballroom
7:30–8:30 PM Social Hour with Lite Bites Alberta/New Brunswick
Thursday, April 3, 2025
12:00–11:59 PM Departure