The 2024 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE was held Sunday, September 29, 2024 through Thursday, October 3, 2024 at The Gant Conference Center in Aspen, Colorado. We Celebrated 39 Years of Science in Aspen, Colorado. The 2024 Aspen Cancer Conference addressed Cancer Risk & Liquid Biopsy, Cancer Vaccines, Obesity & Cancer, Disparity, Epitope Editing as a Strategy for Cellular Therapy, Protein-Protein Interactions (PPIs) in Cancer, and New Targets for Cancer Risk Reduction or Risk Reduction/Interception. Monday featured Stand Up to Cancer/ACC Collaboration with SU2C Keynote Speaker: Jenny Chang, Houston Methodist and in the evening with The Aspen Cancer Ideas Keynote Address: Lisa Coussons, Knight Cancer Institute, The Ohio State University, and was followed by a reception. The ACC conference continued on Tuesday and Wednesday with Aspen Cancer Ideas Symposium and The Carolyn Kaelin Distinguished Speaker:Monica Bertagnolli, Director, NIH,as well as, the awarding of the Founders Award and the Holly & Jerry Wogan Fellowship. The Fellows Program continued with the Evening Poster Session and a reception. The conference concluded on Wednesday, October 2, 2024.
The 2023 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE was held Sunday, October 1, 2023 through Thursday, October 5, 2023 at The Gant Conference Center in Aspen, Colorado.The 36th Aspen Cancer Conference addressed Epigenetics, RAS/Pediatric Malignancies, Drugging the Undruggable (RAS & Degraders), Cancer & Aging, Epitranscriptomics & Targeting RNA, Spatial Profiling, Splicing Cancer. Monday featured Stand Up to Cancer/ACC Collaboration followed by a reception. The ACC conference continued on Tuesday and Wednesday with Aspen Cancer Ideas Symposium, the Benjamin F. Trump Lecture, the Aspen Cancer Ideas Lecture and a Poster Abstract presentation by the Fellows. The Benjamin F. Trump Lecture featured: Peter Vogt, Scripps The Aspen Cancer Ideas Keynote Address featured: Phil Sharp, MIT. The Carolyn Kaelin Distinguished Speaker featured: Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Stanford (Nobel laureate). The Fellows Program continued as well with the Evening Poster Session, the awarding of the Benjamin F. Trump Award and the Holly & Jerry Wogan and the Carl Alden Fellowships. The conference concluded on Wednesday, October 4, 2023 and was a complete success.
The 2022 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE was held on Sunday July 10, 2022 through Thursday, July 14, 2022 at the Gant Conference Center in Aspen, Colorado. The Aspen Cancer Conference commenced with the SU2C/ Aspen Cancer Conference Collaboration that went all day Monday and followed by a reception that evening. The conference continued on Tuesday and Wednesday which featured : Clonal Hematopoiesis, Glioblastoma/Organoids, Microbiome, Health & Gender Disparity of Cancer Genomics, Pre-Cancer Genome and Cell Based Immunotherapy as topics of discussion and included the Aspen Cancer Ideas Symposium by Charles Sawyers, Benjamin F. Trump Lecture by Otis Brawley and the Poster Abstract presentation by the Fellows that evening and was followed by the Fellowships awards.
The 2019 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE was held Saturday, July 11, 2019 through Tuesday, July 14, 2019 at the Gant Conference Center in Aspen, Colorado. The Aspen Cancer Conference commenced with the SU2C - Aspen Cancer Ideas Symposium that went all day and into the evening with the debut of Jim Allisons movie, Breakthrough, at the Metropolitan Isis Theatre. This was followed by the Aspen Cancer Conference which featured: Al Machine Learning, Cancer Metabolism, Novel Therapies, Dormancy, Cancer Modeling and Single Cell Analysis. The conference continued on Monday and Tuesday with Aspen Cancer Ideas Symposium, the Trump Lecture, the Aspen Cancer Ideas Lecture and a Poster Abstract presentation by the Fellows the awarding of the Puck and the Trump Awards and the Holly & Jerry Wogan and the Carl Alden Fellowships. The 2018ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE was held Saturday, July 14, 2018 through Tuesday, July 17, 2018 at the Gant Conference Center in Aspen, Colorado. The Aspen Cancer Conference commenced with the SU2C - Aspen Cancer Ideas Symposium. This was followed by the Aspen Cancer Conference which featured: The Future in Imaging, Stratification to Address Over -Treatment and Over – Diagnosis, Exosomes, Immunotherapy, RNA Splicing, Cancer and Aneuploidy – Causes and Consequences, Non-coding RNAs, Cancer and Aging and the Aspen Cancer Ideas Lecture. The Trump Lecture featured Dr. Cheryl Walker, Director of the Center for Precision Environmental Health at Baylor College of Medicine. The Aspen Cancer Ideas Lecture featured Dr. Alan Ashworth, President, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Fellows Program continued with the Evening Poster Session, the awarding of the Puck and the Trump Awards and the Holly & Jerry Wogan and the Carl Alden Fellowships.
The 2017 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE was held Sunday, July 16, 2017 through Tuesday, July 18, 2017 at the Gant Conference Center in Aspen, Colorado. The Conference addressed the following subjects: Novel Approaches to Diagnostics, Tumor Evolution, Population Science, Comparative Oncology, Tumor Heterogeneity, Early Detection, Early Intervention and ROS. The Trump Lecture featured Dr. Scott Lowe, Chair of Cancer Biology & Genetics Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the Aspen Cancer Ideas Lecture featured Dr. Elaine White, Chief Scientific Officer, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. The Fellows Program continued with the Evening Poster Session, the awarding of the Puck and the Trump Awards and the Holly & Jerry Wogan and the Carl Alden Fellowships.
The 2016ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE was held Sunday, July 17, 2016 through Tuesday, July 19, 2016 at the Gant Conference Center in Aspen, Colorado. The Conference addressed the following subjects: Pancreatic Cancer, Cancer Proteomics, Immunotherapy, Epigenetics, Health Disparities, Cancer and Aging, Exosomes and the Microenvironment. The Trump Lecture featured Dr. Vishva Dixit, Vice President and Staff Scientist at Genentech, and the Aspen Cancer Ideas Lecture was Dr. Elaine Fuchs, the Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor and Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The Fellows Program continued as well with the Evening Poster Session, the awarding of the Puck and the Trump Awards and the Holly & Jerry Wogan and the Carl Alden Fellowships.
The 2015 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE was held Sunday, July 12, 2015 through Wednesday, July 15, 2015 at the Gant Conference Center in Aspen, Colorado. The 30th Conference addressed the following subjects: Immunotherapy, Stress Response, Imaging, Microbiome, Tumor Metabolism, Spliceosomes, Chromatin, Therapeutics, New Technologies, Cancer Risk, and Non-Coding RNA. There will be a Keynote Address by Dr. Phil Sharp, Institute Professor at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, a Special Lecture on “Cancer Global Health” by Dr. Harold Varmus, Director of the National Cancer Institute, and a Special Evening Session Panel Discussion featuring Dr. David Haussler, Dr. Steve Chan, Dr. Levi Garraway, and Sir David Lane. The Fellows program continued with the evening Poster Session as well with the awarding of the Puck and the Trump Awards and the Holly & Jerry Wogan and the Carl Alden Fellowships.
The 2014ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE was held Sunday, July 13, 2014 through Tuesday, July 15, 2014 at the Gant Conference Center in Aspen, Colorado. The 29th Conference addressed the following subjects: Pediatric Cancer, Epigenetics/Cancer, Drug Resistance, Distal Signaling, Novel Mutational Patterns in Cancer, Lipid Metabolism and Inflammation in Cancer, and Bioengineering. There was a Keynote address by Dr. Frank McCormick, Director, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Fellows program continued as well as the awarding of the Puck and the Trump Award and the Holly & Jerry Wogan and the Carl Alden Fellowships.
The 2013 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE was held Sunday, July 14, 2013 through Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at The Gant Conference Center in Aspen, Colorado. The 28th Conference addressed the following subjects: Immunotherapy; Functions of Non-Coding RNA; Regulation of Protein Degradation; Microbiome; and Tumor Heterogeneity. The 2013 Keynote Address was presented by noted scientist William Kaelin, M.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical. In honor of one of the Conference founders, the late Benjamin F. Trump, the 2013 lecture was presented by Robert Radinsky, Ph.D., Amgen. A special evening session featured Don Ganem, M.D., Ph.D., Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research and Brett Giroir, M.D., Texas A&M University. The Fellows program continued and the Puck Award was presented to Kimberly Briggs, Ph.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; the Trump Award was presented to Andrea Kasinski, Ph.D., Yale University. These young scientists provided outstanding presentations.
The 2012ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE was held Sunday, July 15, 2012 through Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at The Gant Conference Center in Aspen, Colorado. The 27th Conference addressed the following subjects: Epigenetics: Mechanisms & Therapeutic Targets; Predictive Biomarkers; Environmental Exposome; Primary Cilia; Cancer Heterogeneity; Immerging Targets: “The Undruggables”; Translation: Mechanism and Target; and Liver: Hepatitis & Metastasis. The 2012 Keynote Address was presented by noted scientist Joan S. Brugge, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School. In honor of one of the Conference founders, we will continued the presentation of a special lecture honoring the late Benjamin F. Trump; the 2012 lecture was presented by Cheryl L. Walker, Ph.D., Texas A&M Health Science Center. A special evening lecture featured Edward E. Harlow, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School. Once again, the Aspen Cancer Conference featured a total of nineteen Fellows.
The 2011 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE was held Sunday, July 10, 2011 through Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at The Gant Conference Center in Aspen, Colorado. The 26th Conference addressed the following subjects: BRaf Pathway; Melanoma; Targeting DNA Repair Pathways; Cancer Metabolism; Targeting Protein Homeostasis; Cancer Genomics; Dormancy and Circulating Tumor Cells; and Early Detection – Technology and Efficacy. The 2011 Keynote Address was presented by Tyler E. Jacks, Ph.D., Director of the Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Benjamin F. Trump Lecture was presented by prominent scientist Carlo M. Croce, M.D., from The Ohio State University. A special evening lecture on “Scientists and Politics” featured former U.S. Congressman, the Honorable John Edward Porter, an event that was well received by all in attendance. Nineteen Fellows, a record number, presented poster abstracts at a special evening session at which time the Fifth Theodore T. Puck Award was presented to Lukas E. Dow, Ph.D., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and the Third Benjamin F. Trump Award was presented to Jason W. Locasale, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School.
The 2010 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE was held Sunday, July 11, 2010 through Tuesday, July 13, 2010. The 25th CONFERENCE was a great celebration commemorating accomplishments of the series that has become highly regarded both nationally and internationally. The 25th ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE explored the following: PI3 Kinase; Cancer Stem Cell Review; Early Tumor Heterogeneity and Micro Environment; Update from the FDA; Developmental Biology and Cancer; Improved Clinical Trials; RNAi: Identification of Cancer Genes and Therapeutics; Autophagy; Health Disparities; and Breast Cancer and Prostate Cancer. A Keynote Address was presented by Dr. J. Michael Bishop who also presented the first Keynote Address at the CONFERENCE in 1993. The Third Benjamin F. Trump Lecture was provided by Dr. Curtis C. Harris, and a special evening session featuring Marilyn Chase addressed Science and the Media. Selected Aspen Cancer Conference Fellows presented poster abstracts at a special evening session that included presentation of the Fourth Theodore T. Puck Award to Rebecca M. Hall from Baylor College of Medicine and the Second Benjamin F. Trump Award was presented to Charles G. Knutson from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The 2009 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE (July 19-22, 2009): Mechanisms of Toxicity, Carcinogenesis, Cancer Prevention and Cancer Therapy addressed the following: Personalized Medicine; Cancer Genetics; Metabolism, Obesity, Aging and Cancer; Free Radicals; Microbiome and Disease Risk; Chronic Inflammation and Cancer; Non-Coding RNA and Cancer; and Epigenetics. Begun in 2008 as a memorial to Aspen Cancer Conference co-founder Benjamin F. Trump (1932-2008), the second Benjamin F. Trump Lecture was presented by Raymond N. DuBois, M.D., Ph.D., Provost and Executive Vice President for Research at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Also of interest, a Keynote Address was presented by Craig B. Thompson, M.D., Director of the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Selected Aspen Cancer Conference Fellows presented poster abstracts at a special evening session at which the Fourth Theodore T. Puck Award was presented to Arlin B. Rogers, DVM, Ph.D, from the University of North Carolina and the Second Benjamin F. Trump Award was presented to Phillippa C. Taberlay, Ph.D., from the University of Southern California. The public lecture series, a joint venture with the Aspen Affiliate of Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, once again addressed Breast Cancer. The program was outstanding and well received by the Aspen community.
The 2008ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE (July 20-22, 2008): Mechanisms of Toxicity, Carcinogenesis, Cancer Prevention and Cancer Therapy, a three day meeting, addressed the following: Metabolism and Obesity in Cancer; Personalized Oncology; and the first Benjamin F. Trump Lecture, a special lecture featuring a former student, postdoctoral fellow or colleague of Dr. Trump. The 2008 Trump Lecture was provided by James E. Klaunig, Ph.D., Director of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Indiana University School of Medicine. Additional sessions addressed were: Cancer Genomics; Hypoxia; Senescence and Cancer; Immunology; Companion Animals in Oncology, and Centrosomes, Chromosomes and Nuclear Architecture. As in recent years, the 2008 Twenty-Third Aspen Cancer Conference featured a special public session on Monday, July 21, from 3:00 to 6:00. Lectures on Breast Cancer Prevention, Diagnosis and Therapy were presented by prominent laboratory scientists/clinicians, and a well known breast cancer surgeon, survivor and author, Dr. Carolyn Kaelin, shared her personal experiences with breast cancer. A silent auction and reception followed. Seventeen selected Aspen Cancer Conference Fellows presented poster abstracts at a special evening session that included presentation of the Third Theodore T. Puck Award to Kenneth L. Scott, Ph.D., from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the First Benjamin F. Trump Award to Benjamin D. Cosgrove, a Ph.D. student from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The 2007 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE (July 15-18, 2007): Mechanisms of Toxicity, Carcinogenesis, Cancer Prevention and Cancer Therapy included sessions on the following: Stromal-Tumor Interactions, Tumor Stem Cells, Increasing Success Rates of Oncology Drug Development, Micro RNA, Background and Induced Mutations, Epigenetics, Novel Targets for Chemotherapy, Imaging In Vivo and Clinical Biomarkers. As has become the norm, beneficial and sometimes lively discussions followed the presentations. A special public session was held at The Given Institute on Monday, July 16, from 3:00 to 6:00. The session included a silent auction, a reception and lectures on Colon Cancer Prevention, Diagnosis and Therapy. Lectures were provided by well known scientists and clinicians Raymond N. DuBois, M.D., Ph.D., Bob Pinedo, M.D., and David R. Parkinson, M.D.; a panel discussion followed. A satellite meeting, “Frontiers in Clinical Oncology” (July 19-20, 2007) addressed the following: Cancer Therapy and Cancer Biomarkers. Selected Aspen Cancer Conference Fellows presented poster abstracts at a special evening session that included presentation of the Second Theodore T. Puck Award to Mona L. Gauthier, Ph.D., who was nominated by Thea D. Tlsty, Ph.D. of the University of California, San Francisco.
The 2006 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE (July 16-19, 2006): Mechanisms of Toxicity, Carcinogenesis, Cancer Prevention and Cancer Therapy featured an excellent program that explored the following: Micro RNAs and Cancer, Predictive Oncology/Toxicology, Oncogenic Targets of Mitosis, Revisiting Formaldehyde, Micro Environment in Cancer, Hormonal and Environmental Carcinogenesis, Tumor Stem Cells, Prostate Cancer, Drug Resistance, Drug Side Effects, Angiogenesis and Hypoxia, and New Molecular Targets. Building on the success of a public event at the 2005 Twentieth Aspen Cancer Conference, a public event was again held at the Paepcke Auditorium. This special event included a silent auction, a reception, a performance by Lutenist Daniel Swenberg, and lectures by two internationally recognized scientists, J. Michael Bishop, M.D. and Raymond N. DuBois, M.D., Ph.D. A panel discussion followed that included the featured speakers plus Cecil B. Pickett, Ph.D., President of Schering-Plough Research Institute, Ira S. Jaffrey, M.D., a local oncologist and Sandy Jaffrey, a breast cancer survivor. As in past years, Aspen Cancer Conference Fellows presented poster abstracts at an evening session. Another special evening session featured Thomas A. Waldmann, M.D., of the National Cancer Institute who presented a keynote address, “Tumor Immunology: Past, Present and Future”. Also noteworthy, a satellite meeting of the Aspen Cancer Conference followed the regular conference. Titled “Cancer Prevention: Life Style or Nutrition?” the meeting began with a special lecture on the evening of July 19 and continued July 20 and 21, 2006. Subjects addressed included: Calorie Restriction, Natural Products and Cancer Prevention, and Natural Products: Mechanistic Approaches for Cancer Prevention.
The 2005 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE (July 24-28, 2005) celebrated twenty years of conference excellence by once again featuring an assembly of outstanding scientific leaders from throughout the world. The Conference had as its premier event a special session that featured Harold Varmus, M.D., President of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Another notable speaker was Terry Dornbush, two time cancer survivor and former Ambassador to The Netherlands who shared with the audience what he called the “best and the worst of times for Terry Dornbush”; this was a truly inspirational talk. Karen Allred, an accomplished pianist from North Carolina charmed the audience with “Variations on a Theme of Corelli” by Sergei Rachmaninoff. The five day Conference featured a return of previous keynote speakers. Another special feature was an entire day devoted to Progress in Drug Development with talks on the regulatory perspective, animal models, patient stratification, new drugs in various stages of development as well as other related subjects. An evening event provided an update on cancer therapy and research advances; featured speakers were Cecil Pickett, Ph.D., President of Schering-Plough Research Institute, as Chair and J. Carl Barrett, Ph.D., of Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, and James H. Doroshow, M.D., of the National Cancer Institute. Additional subjects addressed at this five day Conference included the following: metastasis; inflammation and cancer; risk assessment; technology innovations; stress and cancer; and apoptosis. Fifteen Aspen Cancer Conference Fellows presented poster abstracts at an evening session. The 2005ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE truly celebrated twenty years of excellence from the laboratory to the clinic.
The 2004ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE (July 25-27, 2004) addressed the following: metastasis; gene-environment interactions; inflammation; personalized medicine; signaling networks in tumorigenesis; risk assessment; ubiquitin and proteasomes; stem cells; cancer therapy; and DNA repair. Discussions were as enthusiastic as ever as representatives from academia, industry, and government exchanged research findings and goals as they continue their quest for a cancer free world. In addition, Sir David P. Lane, Ph.D., the University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, presented a special lecture, “2004 – p53 – 25 Years”, which was well received by all. As in past years, selected Aspen Cancer Conference Fellows presented poster abstracts at a special evening session. Participants noted that this program has become exceptional in recent years as outstanding young scientists contend for acceptance and participation.
The 2003 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE (2003): Mechanisms of Toxicity, Cancer Prevention and Cancer Therapy was held July 20-23, 2003. International experts presented and discussed timely topics including chromatin remodeling, molecular diagnostics, cancer prevention, therapy, telomeres, stem cells, functional genomics, imaging/tumor dormancy, and paradoxes in safety assessment. The Keynote Address, “Nuclear Cloning and the Reversibility of Cancer”, was presented by Rudolf Jaenisch, M.D., from the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dr. Jaenisch was introduced to conference participants by J. Michael Bishop, M.D., a regular Aspen Cancer Conference attendee from the University of California, San Francisco. Preceding the Keynote Address, participants were entertained with a special piano recital by award winning pianist, Karen Allred. The poster abstract session featured fifteen scientific fellows and was considered by conference investigators as outstanding.
The 2002 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE (2002): Mechanisms of Toxicity, Cancer Prevention and Cancer Therapy was held July 14-16, 2002. Subjects included chromatin remodeling, genetic instability, protein degradation, rational cancer therapy, mitochondrial structure and function in cell death, emerging technology in pharmacological research and development, animal models, cellular stress and signal transduction, stem cells and safety assessment in the development of chemotherapeutics. A Special Lecture on the subject of “p53, Apoptosis and Aging” was given by Scott Lowe, Ph.D., from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and a panel discussion on approaches to regulation was convened with J. Michael Bishop, M.D., Jane Henney, M.D., Tona Gilmer, Ph.D. and Scott Lowe, Ph.D. The poster abstract session featured fifteen young investigators and was considered by conference investigators as outstanding.
Expanded sessions at the 2001ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE (2001) included presentations and discussions on the following topics: chromosomal dynamics, cellular immortality, biomarkers of cancer, emerging technology, nuclear import and export, rational cancer therapy, experimental models of carcinogenesis, and cellular stress. The Keynote Address was presented by Stanley Korsmeyer, M.D., Harvard Medical School, on the subject of “The Mitochondrial Gateway to Apoptosis”. Ten Aspen Cancer Conference Young Investigators presented their research studies at a special poster session and actively participated in the Conference. Another notable event was a special lecture by Dr. Peter Cerutti titled, “From Science to Art: The Way I See It”. Dr. Cerutti, a prominent research scientist for many years, chose to change careers five years ago and is now a successful artist.
The 2000 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE WORKSHOP: Mechanisms of Toxicity, Carcinogenesis, and Cancer Prevention was held July 16-18, 2000. The subjects addressed were: genomic instability, DNA repair and centrosome fidelity, molecular mechanisms of cellular immortality, cause and prevention of hormonal cancer, regulatory implications of biomarkers of exposure and effect, apoptosis, chemoprevention, microarray technology in toxicology and cancer therapy, PPAR’s, nuclear export and import, and rational cancer therapy: signalling pathways. Leading scientists from academia, industry, and government productively interacted in the discussion of central scientific advances and issues that cut across the diverse interests of the scientific, regulatory, and public health communities.
The 1999ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE considered in depth the following topics: signalling pathways as targets for therapy and prevention; chronic tissue injury; predictive toxicology; genetic instability and cell cycle control; microbial oncogenesis; molecular pathways of development; animal models of cancer; and apoptosis. Tony Hunter, Ph.D., (The Salk Institute) presented the Keynote Address, “Cancer Research and Therapy in the New Millenium,” and was presented the Aspen Cancer Conference Award. Young Investigators, sponsored by the Aspen Cancer Conference, presented their research findings at a poster session and actively participated in the Conference.
At the 1998 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE WORKSHOP, worldwide experts discussed the latest advances in the following topics: angiogenesis; basic science to therapy; advances in molecular therapy; stromal-epithelial interactions; epigenetic factors in carcinogenesis; molecular developmental pathways; new advances in molecular diagnosis of cancer; molecular epidemiology; microbial oncogenesis; and apoptosis. The discussion of each topic covered the mechanistic and regulatory implications of the latest advances in toxicology and carcinogenesis. The Program Committee of the Aspen Cancer Conference selected eight of these topics for the expanded Conference in 1999.
Expanded sessions at the 1997 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE (1997) included several presentations and discussions on the following topics: DNA repair, cell death, translational research, status of molecular diagnosis, carcinogen assessment strategy, mechanistic paradigms in risk assessment, cancer therapy, and tumor progression. The Keynote Address was presented by Thea Tlsty, Ph.D., on the subject “Loss of Genomic Integrity in Preneoplastic Cells.” Students participating in the overlapping M.D.-Ph.D. Conference at the Given Institute attended a number of the sessions and Aspen Cancer Conference Young Investigators presented posters on subjects related to the theme.
At the 1996ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE WORKSHOP: Mechanisms of Toxicity and Carcinogenesis (1996), the subjects included cell death, mechanistic paradigms of risk assessment, signal transduction, status of molecular diagnosis, carcinogen assessment strategy, tumor progression, oxidants and antioxidants in carcinogenesis, therapy, significance of stem cells, non-genotoxic carcinogenesis, and endogenous carcinogens.
The topics of the 1995 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE WORKSHOP were the focus of presentations made at the 1995 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE: Mechanisms of Toxicity and Carcinogenesis, which was the TENTH ANNIVERSARY of the ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE. As part of the TENTH ANNIVERSARY celebration, a joint meeting with the Aspen M.D.-Ph.D. Student Conference was held on July 16, 1995. Donald West King, M.D., Founder of the Given Institute of Pathobiology, was honored and a keynote address entitled “Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics of Multistage Tumor Development” was given by Douglas Hanahan, University of California at San Francisco. Poster sessions were presented by the M.D.-Ph.D. students and the ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE Young Investigators. The CONFERENCE was very interactive, multi-disciplinary, and informative, which is the tradition of this timely CONFERENCE.
The 1994ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE WORKSHOP: Mechanisms of Toxicity and Carcinogenesis, held in July 1994, explored in depth the following: nuclear structure and function, DNA synthesis and repair, control of the cell cycle, mechanisms of cell death, induction and inhibition of terminal differentiation, molecular mechanisms of senescence and immortality, implications of rodent liver carcinogenesis research for comparative and human cancer risks, molecular epidemiology of human cancer risk, new strategies for toxicity and carcinogenesis testing, and innovative approaches to cancer therapy.
The 1993ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE: Molecular Mechanisms of Toxicity in Relation to the Genetics of Animal and Human Neoplasia, held in July, 1993, explored the biology and control of the cell cycle, mitosis, and aging; genomic instability including alterations of tumor suppressor genes and DNA methylation and deamination; cellular and molecular progression of neoplasia of the skin and brain; proto-oncogenes in cell signalling; methods and results for interspecies comparisons in mutagenesis and carcinogenesis; new concepts in molecular epidemiology; new approaches to cancer risk assessment; and molecular mechanisms of accidental and programmed cell death. In addition to the invited speakers and participants, several students and young investigators took part and reviewed their work in these respective areas in the form of poster sessions, as was done at the ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCES in 1987, 1989, and 1991.
The 1992 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE WORKSHOP: Mechanisms of Toxicity and Carcinogenesis, held in July 1992, considered, in depth, the following topics: cellular stress and mitogenesis, cellular development and programmed death, genomic instability, oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, inherited cancer predisposition, molecular epidemiology and cancer risk assessment, and anticarcinogenesis – dietary and growth factor influences.
The 1991ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE: Molecular Mechanisms of Genetic Deregulation in Toxicity and Carcinogenesis, held in July 1991, explored the mechanism of altered DNA replication. A number of models, including oxidant stress, were considered. It is evident that factors resulting from stimuli to cells must be explained in terms of their effects on cell division, cell differentiation, and cell death. Sessions included the following areas: mitosis and genomic instability, oncogenes and tumor suppression, positive and negative growth factors, oxyradicals, anticarcinogenesis, in vitro and in vivo-knockout models in biology and carcinogenesis, molecular epidemiology, and biotechnology.
In 1990 we organized the ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE WORKSHOP: Recent Advances in Genetic Deregulation, Toxicology, and Carcinogenesis to plan the 1991 CONFERENCE. It became apparent that much more information was needed on the basic aspects of cell injury as related to cell replication, terminal differentiation, and chromosome anomalies, including the fundamental aspects of DNA replication, repair, and differentiation. Although the process of cell division is complex and will continue to require study in special models, it also became apparent at this WORKSHOP that we need to look at human cells as well. Because biotechnology plays a pivotal role in biomedical research, we also considered the human genome project and new developments in microscopy, including digital imaging fluorescence microscopy (DIFM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The potential of these new technologies was considered in detail the next year.
The 1989ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE, Carcinogenesis: From Molecular Mechanisms to Molecular Epidemiology (1989) focused on signal transduction and molecular carcinogenesis, provided especially thought-provoking insights into current and future problems in these areas as they relate to human risk and to the future of biochemical and molecular epidemiology.
A Workshop on Toxicity, Tumor Promotion, and Carcinogenesis (THE FIRST ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE) was held in Aspen in July of 1985 under the auspices of Universities Associated for Research and Education in Pathology (UAREP). The success of this CONFERENCE stimulated the planning committee to organize a follow-up CONFERENCE for July of 1987. The 1987 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE: Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis and Emerging Concepts of Technology, received high praise for so effectively filling the gap between previously held conferences. The 1988 ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE Workshop developed the theme of Molecular Mechanisms.