Crick Cancer Symposium 2026

Event Status: Book now : Event date: 5 October 2026 - 6 October 2026
Start time: 09:00 End time: - 17:00
Event Location: The Francis Crick Institute
Event Type: Conference or symposium

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Join us this Autumn for the 2026 Crick Cancer Symposium - a two-day meeting bringing together researchers at the forefront of cancer biology, from genomics and immunology to metabolism and the tumour microenvironment.

Programme

09:00

Registration
09:30

Welcome remarks
Session 1

Impact of systemic factors on cancer origins and progression
Whole body physiology → aberrant cell trajectories → oncogenic transformation
Chair: Lizzie Appleton | The Francis Crick Institute
09:40

Cathrin Brisken | École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
"Hunting the dormant cells in hormone sensitive breast cancer"
10:10

Short talk 1 | Haoqi Chen | EMBL-EBI
"Mapping regulatory networks underlying colorectal cancer plasticity using signalome-wide arrayed CRISPR screening and single-cell characterisation"
10:25

Alex Cagan | University of Cambridge
"Characterising mutation and selection in healthy tissues and how this relates to cancer and ageing"
10:55

Refreshments break
11:20

Ramanuj DasGupta | CRUK Scotland Institute
"Mapping trajectories of therapy-induced tumour evolution 'in time and space'"
11:50

Short talk 2 | Krystyna Sadzikowska | University of Cambridge
"CRISPR screening identifies NXF1 as a regulator of FOXA1 in breast cancer"
12:05

Flash talks
Dr Ioannis Angelos Tsigkos | University of Glasgow, Paul O' Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre
Dr Dwaipayan Chakraborty | Molecular Medicine Division of Bose Institute
Rushda Patel | The German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
12:20

Lunch, exhibitors and poster session
Session 2

Tissue dynamics, tumour heterogeneity, and tumour evolution
Somatic evolution → clonal selection → heterogeneity → plasticity and adaptation
Chair: Adam Karoutas | The Francis Crick Institute
13:45

Sandra Gómez López | UCL
"Aberrant basal cell trajectories: clonal dynamics, transitional states and early lung carcinogenesis"
14:15

Short talk 3 | Anna-Katerina Leledaki | University of Cambridge
“Dynamics of G-Quadruplex DNA Structures During Glioblastoma Cell-State Transitions”
14:30

Beatriz Salvador-Barbero | Barts Cancer Institute
"Identifying the cancer stem cells within the different stages of pancreatic cancer premalignant lesions"
15:00

Refreshments break
15:30

Nicholas McGranahan | UCL
"Cancer Evolution Beyond the Genome"
16:00

Short talk 4 | Rute Ferreira | The Francis Crick Institute
"Pancreatic cancer risk at the interface of peripheral innervation and tissue regeneration"
16:15

Short talk 5 | Anthea Ma | University of Sheffield
"Neural-stromal crosstalk in the tumour microenvironment"
16:30

Networking drinks, poster viewing and exhibitors
18:30

End of day 1

Session 3

The tumour ecosystem, metabolism, and therapeutic consequences
Microenvironment → spatial drug distribution and metabolism → therapeutic opportunities
Chair: Martha Zarou | The Francis Crick Institute
09:30

Giulia Biffi | CRUK Cambridge Centre
"Changes in fibroblast composition promote pancreatic cancer-associated cachexia"
10:00

Short talk 6 | Ramin Nashebi | University of Birmingham
"SLC25A10 Loss Reveals a Candidate Compensatory Pathway for Mitochondrial Succinate Transport under Oncometabolic Stress"
10:15

Louise Fets | MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences
"Transporters and Heterogeneous Drug Distribution in Cancer: Why concentration matters"
10:45

Refreshments break
11:15

Joanna Poźniak | VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer
"Single-Cell and Spatial Profiling of Immunotherapy Resistance in Melanoma"
11:45

Short talk 7 | Hou Wang Lam | University College London
"Spatiotemporal Mapping of Proton Beam Radioresistance in Colorectal Cancer Liver Metastasis"
12:00

Short talk 8 | Giovanni Giangreco | The Francis Crick Institute
"Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Use Neural Mimicry and Multicellular Calcium Waves to Self-Align Leading to Immune Exclusion"
12:15

Flash talks
Pietro Andrei | Francis Crick Institute & Barts Cancer Institute
Zhe Bao | University of Sheffield
Mennatallah Ghouraba | Barts Cancer institute, QMUL
12:30

Lunch, exhibitors and poster session
Discussion panel

Innovative clinical trial design
Michelle Lockley & Rebecca Lee
14:00

Scene setting presentation
14:20

Discussion
Session 4

Cancer immunity and immunotherapy
Chair: Lucia Gandullo Sanchez | The Francis Crick Institute
14:45

Ilaria Malanchi | The Francis Crick Institute
15:15

Short talk 9 | Rosa Andres Ejarque | King's College London
"A single-cell CITE-seq atlas of bone marrow regulatory T cells across the MDS-to-AML continuum"
15:30

Sergio Quezada | The Francis Crick Institute & UCL
"Identification and Characterisation of a Novel Immunogenicity Checkpoint in Cancer Cells"
16:00

Closing remarks
16:10

End of symposium