Long COVID and post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis and treatment: A Keystone Symposia report

In 2023, the Keystone Symposia held the first international scientific conference convening research leaders investigating the pathology of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) or Long COVID, a growing and urgent public health priority. In this report, we present insights from the talks and workshops presented during this meeting and highlight key themes regarding what researchers have discovered regarding the underlying biology of PASC and directions toward future treatment. Several themes have emerged in the biology, with inflammation and other immune alterations being the most common focus, potentially related to viral persistence, latent virus reactivation, and/or tissue damage and dysfunction, especially of the endothelium, nervous system, and mitochondria. In order to develop safe and effective treatments for people with PASC, critical next steps should focus on the replication of major findings regarding potential mechanisms, disentangling pathogenic mechanisms from downstream effects, development of cellular and animal models, mechanism-focused randomized, placebo-controlled trials, and closer collaboration between people with lived experience, scientists, and other stakeholders. Ultimately, by learning from other post-infectious syndromes, the knowledge gained may help not only those with PASC/Long COVID, but also those with other post-infectious syndromes.

State of the Art and New Trends from the Second International StemNet Meeting

The Second International StemNet (Federation of Stem Cell Research Associations) meeting took place on 18-20 October 2023 in Brescia (Italy), with the support of the University of Brescia and the Zooprophylactic Institute of Lombardy and Emilia Romagna. The program of the meeting was articulated in nine sections: (1) Biomedical Communication in Italy: Critical Aspects; (2) StemNet Next Generation Session; (3) Cell-Free Therapies; (4) Tips and Tricks of Research Valorisation; (5) Stem Cells and Cancer; (6) Stem Cells in Veterinary Applications; (7) Stem Cells in Clinical Applications; (8) Organoids and 3D Systems; (9) induced pluripotent stem cells (iPCS) and Gene Therapy. National and International speakers presented their scientific works, inspiring debates and discussions among the attendees. The participation in the meeting was high, especially because of the young researchers who animated all the sessions and the rich poster session.

The XVIII International Parvovirus Workshop Rimini, Italy, 14-17 June 2022

The XVIII International Parvovirus Workshop took place in Rimini, Italy, from 14 to 17 June 2022 as an on-site event, continuing the series of meetings started in 1985 and continuously held every two years. The communications dealt with all aspects of research in the field, from evolution and structure to receptors, from replication to trafficking, from virus-host interactions to clinical and veterinarian virology, including translational issues related to viral vectors, gene therapy and oncolytic parvoviruses. The oral communications were complemented by a poster exhibition available for view and discussion during the whole meeting. The XVIII International Parvovirus Workshop was dedicated to the memory of our dearest colleague Mavis Agbandje-McKenna (1963-2021).

State of the Art and New Trends from the 2022 Gism Annual Meeting

The 2022 Italian Mesenchymal Stem Cell Group (Gruppo Italiano Staminali Mesenchimali, GISM) Annual Meeting took place on 20-21 October 2022 in Turin (Italy), with the support of the University of Turin and the City of Health and Science of Turin. The novelty of this year's meeting was its articulation, reflecting the new structure of GISM based on six sections: (1) Bringing advanced therapies to the clinic: trends and strategies, (2) GISM Next Generation, (3) New technologies for 3D culture systems, (4) Therapeutic applications of MSC-EVs in veterinary and human medicine, (5) Advancing MSC therapies in veterinary medicine: present challenges and future perspectives, (6) MSCs: a double-edged sword: friend or foe in oncology. National and international speakers presented their scientific works with the aim of promoting an interactive discussion and training for all attendees. The atmosphere was interactive, where ideas and questions between younger researchers and senior mentors were shared in all moments of the congress.

Conference Report from the European Bioanalysis Forum Workshop: toward harmonized implementation of the ICH M10 guideline

In this report, the European Bioanalysis Forum shares the proposals for harmonized implementation of the ICH M10 guideline on bioanalytical method validation and study sample analysis from the ICH M10 workshop. The focus of the discussions was to understand new, changed or still ambiguous regulatory expectations in the guideline, as identified in feedback from the pre-workshop surveys or during the workshop. The proposals from the workshop aim at stimulating and helping a harmonized implementation of the guideline, and using our community as a sounding board during and after implementation to highlight areas of misalignment and to create a platform for continued sharing with the regulatory authorities in an effort to contribute to industry and regulators developing similar interpretations on guideline expectations.

Investigating evolutionary relationships through cluster analysis: A teaching science with big data workshop session

Biochemistry is a data-heavy discipline, yet teaching students to work with large datasets is absent from many undergraduate Biochemistry programs. Ensuring that future generations of students arevbv confident in tackling problems using big data first requires that educators become comfortable teaching big data skills. The activity described herein introduces educators to working with big data and a framework for generating sequence similarity networks using JupyterLab and Python. This article reports a session from the virtual international 2021 IUBMB/ASBMB workshop, "Teaching Science with Big Data."

Report of the 24th Meeting on Signal Transduction 2021

The annual meeting “Signal Transduction—Receptors, Mediators and Genes” of the Signal Transduction Society (STS) is an interdisciplinary conference which is open to all scientists sharing a common interest in the elucidation of the signaling pathways mediating physiological or pathological processes in the health and disease of humans, animals, plants, fungi, prokaryotes, and protists. The 24th meeting on signal transduction was held from 15 to 17 November 2021 in Weimar, Germany. As usual, keynote presentations by invited scientists introduced the respective workshops, and were followed by speakers chosen from the submitted abstracts. A special workshop focused on “Target Identification and Interaction”. Ample time was reserved for the discussion of the presented data during the workshops. Unfortunately, due to restrictions owing to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the poster sessions—and thus intensive scientific discussions at the posters—were not possible. In this report, we provide a concise summary of the various workshops and further aspects of the scientific program.

The 2nd Conference and Workshop of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) in India: Towards Team Science for Multi-omics Cancer Research in South Asia

The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) is a landmark cancer genomics program that molecularly characterized over 20,000 primary cancer and matched normal samples spanning 33 cancer types. On similar lines, the establishment of an ‘Indian Cancer Genomics Atlas (ICGA)’ has been initiated in 2019–2020 by a consortium of key stakeholders in India led by Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India and several reputed governmental agencies, cancer hospitals, academic institutions, and private sector partners. In parallel, Bangladesh Medical Research Council (BMRC) has announced the launch of ‘Bangladesh Cancer Genome Atlas (BCGA) project with support from the ICGA teams. Teams from United States - National Cancer Institute (NCI) office of TCGA and Centre for Global Oncology, Institute of Cancer Research, London, United Kingdom are interested in extending their collaborations to these large-scale initiatives by acting as knowledge partners.

With this background, an online version of the 2^nd TCGA conference and workshop in India was organised with the theme of ‘Towards Team Science for Multi-omics Studies in South Asia’ on December 3–5, 2020. Over 1,500 delegates comprising of onco-clinicians, basic researchers, bioinformaticians, geneticists, translational researchers, big-data and machine-learning scientists, bioethicists and regulatory experts from across the globe attended the event. The conference agenda focused on the vision, design and plans of the ICGA project with regards to common standard operating protocols (SOPs), operations, logistics, bioethics, policy and governance models. More importantly, conference sessions were planned around the central theme of building a culture of team science for undertaking mega-cancer research projects in India and neighbouring countries. Experts from the globe deliberated on the latest technical aspects of data/biospecimen/multi-omics studies and applications of Precision Oncology in clinical cancer management.

Unique challenges for glioblastoma immunotherapy-discussions across neuro-oncology and non-neuro-oncology experts in cancer immunology. Meeting Report from the 2019 SNO Immuno-Oncology Think Tank

Cancer immunotherapy has made remarkable advances with over 50 separate Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals as first- or second-line indications since 2015. These include immune checkpoint blocking antibodies, chimeric antigen receptor-transduced T cells, and bispecific T-cell-engaging antibodies. While multiple cancer types now benefit from these immunotherapies, notable exceptions thus far include brain tumors, such as glioblastoma. As such, it seems critical to gain a better understanding of unique mechanistic challenges underlying the resistance of malignant gliomas to immunotherapy, as well as to acquire insights into the development of future strategies. An Immuno-Oncology Think Tank Meeting was held during the 2019 Annual Society for Neuro-Oncology Scientific Conference. Discussants in the fields of neuro-oncology, neurosurgery, neuro-imaging, medical oncology, and cancer immunology participated in the meeting. Sessions focused on topics such as the tumor microenvironment, myeloid cells, T-cell dysfunction, cellular engineering, and translational aspects that are critical and unique challenges inherent with primary brain tumors. In this review, we summarize the discussions and the key messages from the meeting, which may potentially serve as a basis for advancing the field of immune neuro-oncology in a collaborative manner.

Biochemistry and molecular biology in health science education: A parallel session at the IUBMB/PSBMB 2019 "Harnessing Interdisciplinary Education in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology" conference

In many health-related programs biochemistry and molecular biology are core subjects, but these subjects are often not the students main focus. This challenges educators to develop curriculum that demonstrates the relevance of biochemistry and molecular biology and engages these students. This conference session discussed the value of biochemistry and molecular biology education in the health sciences and the methodologies which can be implemented.

Tools for teaching biochemistry and molecular biology: A parallel session at the IUBMB/PSBMB 2019 "Harnessing Interdisciplinary Education in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology" conference

Approaches to learning and teaching have been undergoing massive changes. Technology has enabled many innovations while other methods have embedded authentic research approaches or looked to other disciplines. The tools in education session of the conference looked at tools being used to teach biochemistry and molecular biology ranging from online platforms, authentic research experiences to the use of music.

Undergraduate education in biochemistry and molecular biology: A parallel session at the IUBMB/PSBMB 2019 "Harnessing Interdisciplinary Education in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology" conference

Although science education, including biochemistry and molecular biology education, starts before students commence university, for many students, undergraduate programs are their first real introduction to biochemistry and molecular biology. Students often report that biochemistry and molecular biology are relatively difficult topics hence the use of varied and well-thought-out approaches are critical to fully engage students. This session provided insights into undergraduate curriculum design.

Postgraduate programs in biochemistry and molecular biology: A parallel session at the IUBMB/PSBMB 2019 "Harnessing Interdisciplinary Education in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology" conference

The conference session on Postgraduate Education in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology consisted of wide-ranging presentations and discussions. Approaches, issues, and solutions for postgraduate education and training in countries ranging from the Philippines to Mongolia and the United States were covered.

Harnessing interdisciplinary education in biochemistry and molecular biology: A report on the IUBMB/PSBMB 2019 "harnessing interdisciplinary education in biochemistry and molecular biology" conference

The "Harnessing Interdisciplinary Education in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology" education conference was held on November 13-15, 2019 in Manila, Philippines. The conference was sponsored by the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular (IUBMB). With over 400 attendees from 22 countries themes discussed by the speakers and enthusiastic participants ranged from teaching biochemistry and molecular biology at all levels and to students in a range of disciplines.

Laboratory classes in biochemistry and molecular biology: A parallel session at the IUBMB/PSBMB 2019 "Harnessing Interdisciplinary Education in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology" conference

Laboratory classes are a central element of all biochemistry and molecular biology programs. These play a role in developing students' hands-on and technical skills and also offer much more. The design of laboratory classes depends on many factors including the programs the students are enrolled in, the level they are at, employment destinations, and learning outcomes. This conference session considered the design and outcomes of laboratory experiences for undergraduate students.

Harnessing interdisciplinary education in biochemistry and molecular biology: Key note presentation-IUBMB/PSBMB 2019 Education Conference

Remarks from the keynote presentation 2019 IUBMB Education Conference, held in conjunction with the 46th Annual Convention of the Philippine Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. William G. Padolina, 13 November 2019.

Publishing in education: A parallel session at the IUBMB/PSBMB 2019 "Harnessing Interdisciplinary Education in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology" conference

Ensuring currency with trends, knowledge, and understanding of teaching and learning is essential for all educators. Researching learning and teaching is an enormous field which can range from examining the practical impact of new classes to research into the processes of learning. The "Publishing in Education" conference session discussed some of the approaches and outcomes of researching and publishing in education.

K-12 education in biochemistry and molecular biology: A parallel session at the IUBMB/PSBMB 2019 "Harnessing Interdisciplinary Education in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology" conference

Biochemistry and molecular biology education starts before our students get to university. From a very early age, they start learning informally about science beginning with the basics of science and as they progress through their school years they should be exposed to more advanced topics such as biochemistry and molecular biology. This session at the conference focused on three very different examples of engaging school students with biochemistry and molecular biology.

Continuing education in biochemistry and molecular biology in industry: A parallel session at the IUBMB/PSBMB 2019 "Harnessing Interdisciplinary Education in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology" conference

Science requires that we are always current with research, techniques, and tools but what are the best approaches for continuing education? The presenters in this session described a range of approaches used in universities, government bodies, and industry.

Report of the 23rd Meeting on Signal Transduction 2019-Trends in Cancer and Infection

The annual meeting "Signal Transduction-Receptors, Mediators and Genes" of the Signal Transduction Society (STS) is an interdisciplinary conference open to all scientists sharing the common interest in elucidating the signalling pathways underlying the physiological or pathological processes in health and disease of humans, animals, plants, fungi, prokaryotes and protists. The 23rd meeting on signal transduction was held from 4-6 November 2019 in Weimar, Germany, and focused on "Trends in Cancer and Infection". As usual, keynote presentations by invited scientists introduced the respective workshops and were followed by speakers chosen from the submitted abstracts. Ample time had been reserved for discussion of the presented data during the workshops. In this report, we provide a concise summary of the various workshops and further aspects of the scientific program.

Report for the Sixth Meeting of the International Society for Zinc Biology (ISZB-2019)

The sixth meeting of the International Society for Zinc Biology (ISZB-2019) was held on September 9–13, 2019 in Kyoto, Japan. The meeting attracted 215 participants, had four plenary speakers, ten scientific symposia, two oral sessions, and one poster discussion session. In this chapter, we describe the outcomes and events of this very successful meeting.

Navigating joint HTA, procurement, and fair pricing: evidence-based insights and practical recommendations - A meeting report from ISPOR regional conference in Warsaw, 2019

Introduction: The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) organized its first Central Eastern European regional meeting in 2019 in Warsaw, Poland. Area covered: The scientific program of the two-day conference covered a broad range of topics presented from the perspective of the region. Specifically, the focus was on cross-country collaboration within different steps of health technology assessment (HTA) and the need for local HTA adaptations in decision-making. Expert commentary: Attended by approximately 200 delegates from many countries and by several high level ISPOR leaders, the conference provided a valuable opportunity to exchange knowledge and strengthen the scientific network among experts from different stakeholder groups on issues specific to the region.

The New First-in-Human EMA Guideline: Disruptive or Constructive? Outcomes From the First EUFEMED Discussion Forum

The European Federation for Exploratory Medicines Development (EUFEMED) organized a meeting in Leuven, Belgium entitled ‘The new FIH EMA guideline: Disruptive or constructive?’ to provide a forum for stakeholders to discuss the guideline’s operational impact. The revised EMA Guideline on strategies to identify and mitigate risks for first-in-human (FIH) and early clinical trials with investigational products was published on 20 July 2017. The revision gave guidance on sentinel dosing/staggering of subjects within a multiple-ascending dose (MAD) clinical trial, permissible maximum exposure/investigation of supra-therapeutic doses and dose escalations above the no-observed adverse effect level. As the guidelines came into operation on 1 February, 2018 it was assumed that by the date of the meeting many early phase stakeholders had gathered sufficient first-hand experience of working within the guideline to discuss their thoughts on its impact. The concluding part of the meeting focused on the possible differences between European countries in handling the revised FIH guideline and ways of achieving harmonization. Information on current industry practice was gathered by online polling during the meeting, where perception of the revised guideline as either ‘disruptive’ or ‘constructive’ was explored at the start and at the end of the Forum along with recommendations on reducing future regulatory discordance. It was generally agreed that the necessary changes encompassed by new guidelines included both constructive and disruptive aspects. The final vote on whether the new FIH guideline is disruptive or constructive was taken by 69 delegates: 51% stated that it was both constructive and disruptive, 48% decided on constructive, none on disruptive and 1% were still undecided. It was generally accepted that stakeholders need to continue in a process of stakeholder engagement and discussion, particularly on critical safety issues. Such an approach allows partners to adopt a proactive approach to sharing best practice. For example, attendees agreed that a ‘Question and Answer’ document harmonized between the European agencies is required for the sentinel approach and for the selection of supratherapeutic doses.

The 11th Zebrafish Disease Models Conference in Leiden, 2018

In July 2018, the 11th Zebrafish Disease Models Conference (ZDM11) was held at Leiden University, The Netherlands, providing an excellent international opportunity for scientific presentations and collaborative discussion regarding the modeling of disease using zebrafish. Much like the original ZDM1, which was also hosted in Leiden in 2007, immunology and cancer had a strong presence at ZDM11, with zebrafish still proving an invaluable tool to interrogate their disease genetics and progression in vivo. In addition, ZDM11 built upon the inclusion and development of other key areas making use of zebrafish disease models, with sessions on neuroscience, behavior, muscle, skeletal and cardiac disease, and more. ZDM11 also highlighted the rapid progression and application of new and exciting technologies to assist in the generation and analysis of zebrafish disease models, including Crispr/Cas9 gene targeting tools, electroporation techniques, computational analysis, drug screening pipelines, and advances in vivo imaging such as high-resolution correlative electron microscopy and lightsheet microscopy. Here, we provide a summary of the ZDM11 conference proceedings, giving an overview of the stimulating science presented across 4 days and 13 conference sessions.

Report of the Signal Transduction Society Meeting 2018-Signaling: From Past to Future

The annual meeting “Signal Transduction—Receptors, Mediators, and Genes” of the Signal Transduction Society (STS) is an interdisciplinary conference open to all scientists sharing the common interest in elucidating signaling pathways in physiological or pathological processes in humans, animals, plants, fungi, prokaryotes, and protists. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the STS, the 22nd joint meeting took place in Weimar from 5–7 November 2018. With the focus topic “Signaling: From Past to Future” the evolution of the multifaceted research concerning signal transduction since foundation of the society was highlighted. Invited keynote speakers introduced the respective workshop topics and were followed by numerous speakers selected from the submitted abstracts. All presentations were lively discussed during the workshops. Here, we provide a concise summary of the various workshops and further aspects of the scientific program.

Report of the Signal Transduction Society Meeting 2017-Metabolism in Health and Disease

The annual “Joint Meeting Signal Transduction—Receptors, Mediators and Genes” of the Signal Transduction Society (STS) aims to be an interdisciplinary forum for researchers who share a common interest in deciphering signal transduction pathways in normal or transformed cells, in health and disease, in humans and animal models, or in plants or bacteria. The special focus of the 21st annual Joint Meeting, which took place from 8–10 November 2017 in Weimar, was the topic “Metabolism in Health and Disease” and covered multiple aspects of this highly exciting and fast developing research field. Invited keynote speakers introduced the impact of metabolism on tumor immunology, immune cell signaling, and posttranslational modifications in three specific workshops to the audience. Various other aspects of signal transduction were intensively discussed in five additional workshops. Here, we give an overview of the various workshops and further aspects of the scientific program.

EUFEMED London Conference 2017: Exploratory Medicines Development: Innovation and Risk Management

The first formal conference of the EUropean Federation for Exploratory MEdicines Development (EUFEMED) held in London was the result of a collaborative effort of its founding associations: the Association for Applied Human Pharmacology (AGAH; Germany), the Association for Human Pharmacology in the Pharmaceutical Industry (AHPPI; UK), the Belgian Association of Phase-I Units (BAPU; Belgium), and Club Phase-I (France). The conference focused on innovation and risk management in early clinical drug development. Among other innovations, immunotherapy in oncology and inflammatory diseases were discussed as well as the importance of adaptive trial designs in early clinical drug development. Consideration was given to assessing and mitigating risk in early clinical drug development, and included a preconference workshop. Different measures to minimize risks in healthy volunteers and patients in first-in-human trials were discussed in addition to the importance of non-clinical data, the need for reliable biomarkers, improved communication on adverse events (AEs) and well-trained study sites with ready access to intensive care units and clinical specialists. The need for a European-wide system for prevention of over-volunteering was also discussed. The conference provided opportunity to discuss these developments and concerns and the changing regulatory environment with stakeholders from academia, industry, and regulatory agencies including the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Presentations given by invited speakers are published on http://www.eufemed.eu/london-conference-2017/.

Report of the International Society for Zinc Biology 5th Meeting, in Collaboration with Zinc-Net (COST Action TD1304)-UCLan Campus, Pyla, Cyprus

From 18 to 22 June 2017, the fifth biennial meeting of the International Society for Zinc Biology was held in conjunction with the final dissemination meeting of the Network for the Biology of Zinc (Zinc-Net) at the University of Central Lancashire, Cyprus campus. The meeting attracted over 160 participants, had 17 scientific symposia, 4 plenary speakers and 2 poster discussion sessions. In this report, we give an overview of the key themes of the meeting and some of the highlights from the scientific programme.

Frontiers in Medicinal Chemistry 2017 in Bern, Switzerland

Sharing capital ideas: The 2017 Frontiers in Medicinal Chemistry (FiMC) conference, organized jointly by the German Chemical Society, the German Pharmaceutical Society, and the Swiss Chemical Society, was held at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry of the University of Bern in February 2017. Herein we summarize the many conference highlights, and look forward to the next FiMC meeting, to be held in Jena (Germany) in March 2018.

Perspectives on benefit-risk decision-making in vaccinology: Conference report

Benefit/risk (B/R) assessment methods are increasingly being used by regulators and companies as an important decision-making tool and their outputs as the basis of communication. B/R appraisal of vaccines, as compared with drugs, is different due to their attributes and their use. For example, vaccines are typically given to healthy people, and, for some vaccines, benefits exist both at the population and individual level. For vaccines in particular, factors such as the benefit afforded through herd effects as a function of vaccine coverage and consequently impact the B/R ratio, should also be taken into consideration and parameterized in B/R assessment models. Currently, there is no single agreed methodology for vaccine B/R assessment that can fully capture all these aspects. The conference "Perspectives on Benefit-Risk Decision-making in Vaccinology," held in Annecy (France), addressed these issues and provided recommendations on how to advance the science and practice of B/R assessment of vaccines and vaccination programs.

Circulating Tumor Cells (CTC) and Cell-Free DNA (cfDNA) Workshop 2016: Scientific Opportunities and Logistics for Cancer Clinical Trial Incorporation

Despite the identification of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and cell-free DNA (cfDNA) as potential blood-based biomarkers capable of providing prognostic and predictive information in cancer, they have not been incorporated into routine clinical practice. This resistance is due in part to technological limitations hampering CTC and cfDNA analysis, as well as a limited understanding of precisely how to interpret emergent biomarkers across various disease stages and tumor types. In recognition of these challenges, a group of researchers and clinicians focused on blood-based biomarker development met at the Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG) Spring Meeting in Toronto, Canada on 29 April 2016 for a workshop discussing novel CTC/cfDNA technologies, interpretation of data obtained from CTCs versus cfDNA, challenges regarding disease evolution and heterogeneity, and logistical considerations for incorporation of CTCs/cfDNA into clinical trials, and ultimately into routine clinical use. The objectives of this workshop included discussion of the current barriers to clinical implementation and recent progress made in the field, as well as fueling meaningful collaborations and partnerships between researchers and clinicians. We anticipate that the considerations highlighted at this workshop will lead to advances in both basic and translational research and will ultimately impact patient management strategies and patient outcomes.

Boston Society's 11th Annual Applied Pharmaceutical Analysis conference

Boston Society's 11th Annual Applied Pharmaceutical Analysis conference, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Cambridge, MA, USA, 14-16 September 2015 The Boston Society's 11th Annual Applied Pharmaceutical Analysis (APA) conference took place at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Cambridge, MA, on 14-16 September 2015. The 3-day conference affords pharmaceutical professionals, academic researchers and industry regulators the opportunity to collectively participate in meaningful and relevant discussions impacting the areas of pharmaceutical drug development. The APA conference was organized in three workshops encompassing the disciplines of regulated bioanalysis, discovery bioanalysis (encompassing new and emerging technologies) and biotransformation. The conference included a short course titled 'Bioanalytical considerations for the clinical development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs)', an engaging poster session, several panel and round table discussions and over 50 diverse talks from leading industry and academic scientists.

Nursing highlights from the 2015 European Cancer Congress (ECCO18-ESMO40), 25-29 September 2015, Vienna: reinforcing multidisciplinarity

The 2015 European Cancer Congress (ECC2015) was the widest European platform for every professional involved in the struggle against cancer (17,656 participants, 2482 abstracts submitted). In this context, the nursing contribution was very relevant, involving high quality research and experience. The major nursing issues were: online information and support; innovations in cancer nursing roles; patient safety and the nursing workforce; managing older people with cancer and other co-morbidities; living with and beyond cancer; nutrition and body image changes; the changing face of cancer care for oncology nurses. Indeed, an important amount of research was presented during proffered papers and poster presentations by nurses from all over the world, concerning challenging issues, such as advanced nursing roles, end of life care, impact of cancer on patients and families, new developments, supportive and palliative care, survivorship and rehabilitation, symptom management and transitions in care.

Nurses’ presentations were mainly focused on understanding patients’ needs and on sharing the best evidence-based approach to meet those needs. This is particularly significant in a field where innovation develops rapidly in every area of clinical practice, such as cancer care, bridging the weaknesses between different approaches and profiles, within the paradigm of multidisciplinarity.

Conference report on the 28th annual meeting of the European Musculo-Skeletal Oncology Society, 29 April-1 May 2015, Athens

The 28th Annual Meeting of the European Musculo-Skeletal Oncology Society was organised in Athens by the local host Professor Papagelopoulos and his team. The main objective of the meeting was to focus on recent advances in the diagnosis and treatment of bone and soft tissue sarcomas. The interdisciplinary nature of the meeting was of great value—surgeons, oncologists, pathologists, radiologists, and basic researchers discussed new strategies in the war on sarcoma. This report will highlight the major findings of this successful meeting.

Molecular pathways to therapeutics: Paradigms and challenges in oncology meeting report: Carcinogenesis 2015

The search for the most effective therapy with minimum side effects has always been the goal of oncologists and efforts to develop such therapies through understanding disease mechanisms has been the focus of many basic scientists in cancer research, leading to a common interest of convergence. The 5(th) International Conference organized by the Carcinogenesis Foundation, USA and Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC), Tata Memorial Centre, India, was held between February 11(th) and 13(th) 2015, at ACTREC. During these proceedings, the scientific community engaged in oncology research discussed novel ideas emerging from the laboratory and their translation into improved clinical outcomes. However, the lack of major success in the genesis of novel cancer therapeutics that is safe and provides long-term relief to patients is a challenge that needs to be overcome. The focus of this meeting was to highlight these challenges and to encourage collaborations between scientists and clinicians and clearly a message through exemplary scientific contribution was conveyed to all the dedicated scientists and clinician that even if two decades of tireless work on a single idea does not generate a reliable and safe therapy, the combat to rein cancer must not cease. In this report we have communicated some of the outstanding work done in the areas of cancer therapeutics, biomarkers and prevention and described the salient observations associated with cancer stem cells in disease progression and some of the pathways implicated in tumor progression.

OECI-EACR precision medicine for cancer: Conference report 1-4 March 2015, Luxembourg

The ‘Precision Medicine for Cancer’ was the first meeting of a new series of conferences organised biannually by the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR) and the Organisation for European Cancer Institutes (OECI). The main objective of the meeting was to focus on novel topics in precision medicine by allowing strong interactions between participants and to access the speakers easily. As the first implementations of personalised medicine are appreciated in the clinic, the aim of the meeting was to further educate both researchers and clinicians and learn more from the novel approaches in the field. Similarly, the interaction between two organisations—the research-oriented EACR and the clinic-oriented OECI—was of a great value for the meeting. This OECI-EACR 2015 report will highlight the major findings of this outstanding meeting.

From precision medicine to cancer care through the immunome: highlights from the European Society of Medical Oncology Congress, Madrid, 26-30th September 2014

The recognition that cancer is a ‘spectrum’ of diseases, and that medical oncologists should achieve ‘convergence’ from ‘divergence’ to treat cancer patients was the main theme of the 2014 European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress. The meeting assembled 19,859 participants from nearly 134 countries worldwide. The educational content was centered on precision medicine in cancer care, from mutational burden to the immunome, through the epigenome and the proteome. Precision medicine has been defined as the tailoring of medical treatment to the characteristics of an individual patient. Knowing an individual’s genomics has created a remarkable and unprecedented opportunity to improve medical treatment and develop preventative strategies to preserve health. Clinical oncologists across the range of diseases recognise that for precision medicine to take hold, it will require intensive, rigorous validation that these new approaches do indeed improve patient outcomes. Not all molecular alterations are predictive of response to a specific targeted treatment nor are they all druggable, raising issues of cost–benefit, validation of specific biomarkers, and of managing patient expectations. Addressing all these issues will be essential for the medical community to embrace any given opportunities. Along with it, it will also require educational programmes that squarely address the knowledge chasm that currently exists for practicing physicians. The promise of genomic and precision medicine has created greater demands for both those providing the scientific expertise—bioinformatics, statisticians, molecular biologists—and those delivering clinical care—physicians, nurses, psychologists—to the patients. This ESMO 2014 report will highlight the major findings of this outstanding meeting.

Vaccines for women age 50 and older

For older populations, most of whom are women, preventing illnesses and deaths through the use of vaccines is a leading public health challenge. Our understanding about how age and sex affect the immune system is limited, and basic and translational research aimed at improving vaccines and immune responses of older persons is needed. In the meantime, fully implementing current vaccine recommendations, particularly those for influenza and pneumococcal vaccines, can save thousands of lives and prevent illnesses in persons > 50 years of age.

Conference report: functional magnetic resonance imaging for beginners--a review of the fMRI experience IV, 13-14 May 2002, Natcher Conference Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

The fourth fMRI Experience meeting was held at the Bethesda, Maryland campus of the National Institutes of Health on May 13th and 14th, 2002. The purpose of the meeting was to provide a platform for students working with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to pres ent their research to an international audience of peers. This year"s meeting featured special lectures from Dr. Leslie Ungerleider ("Imaging Mechanisms of Visual Attention") and Dr. Daniel Weinberger ("Genetic Variation and fMRI Response").