EACR 2022 Congress: A Participant’s View

In June 2022 we met face-to-face in sunny Seville as the EACR Congress returned to the in-person format. We enjoyed four days of fantastic science with a range of Plenary sessions, Symposia, Meet the Expert panels and Educational Sessions. Read more about what happened at the Congress here.

We were delighted to provide EACR Meeting Bursaries to student and early career EACR members and other cancer researchers based in countries with a low- or middle-income economy to help them attend the Congress. They are targeted at researchers who, without additional funding, would not be able to attend the Congress. We asked recipients to tell us about their experiences, and you can read a small selection of their reports below.


1Anurag Kumar Singh

PhD student, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, India

Job title: PhD student
Home institution: National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, India
Research: Cervical cancer is among the major cancer types affecting women across the world. Infection with the Human Papilloma virus (HPV) is considered to be the main driving event for cervical cancers. After infection the viral genome may get integrated in to the human genome. With my work, I am trying to understand how does this viral integration disrupt the normal functioning of cells and contributes to the progression of normal cells to cervical cancer.

What was a personal highlight of the conference for you?

I immensely liked the keynote lecture by Mark Krasnow on how stem cells lead to small cell lung cancer. It was a brilliant piece of work. I was impressed not only with the data presented but also with his presentation style that involves the use of simple schematics which I find helps when the audience is not that familiar with the exact field of research.

Were there any social/networking highlights you want to tell us about?

During my poster presentation, I had an amazing discussion with Dr. Giovanni Ciriello from the University of Lausanne and a postdoctoral fellow from his lab, Daniele. I got to present my work in detail to them and also received valuable feedback. We also discussed some follow up collaboration opportunities which would be an important addition to my work.

How was this conference different from others you have attended?

It was the biggest conference I have ever attended. It was the first time I saw so many posters being presented at the same time which encompassed almost all the areas of cancer biology. Moreover, the concept of having parallel sessions covering different topics was new to me. I think this is useful because cancer research is really expanding at a large pace. Parallel sessions allow covering as many areas of research as possible and also allow attendees to follow their interests and prioritise accordingly, providing them with the opportunity to select talks of more significance to their work or catering to their interest.

How has the conference inspired you in your research?

My work can be described as basic research. At this congress, there were many translational and even clinical works being presented. It was inspiring to see how people are using insights from basic research and show how these could be further used for translational purposes such as personalized medicine. This brought to my attention the necessity of thinking in that dimension and fueld me with a lot of motivation.

When you got home, was there anything from the conference that you immediately wanted to tell your colleagues about?

This was the first in-person conference that I attended since the start of the pandemic. I was generally excited to share with my lab mates and colleagues the experience from the conference. Back at the lab, I presented all the interesting projects that I learnt about from the talks and posters. I also told my peers about the conversations I had with people just about how the pandemic has been affecting their work in different parts of the world and how they navigated through it. 

2Katarina Zeljic 

Associate Professor, Faculty of Biology – University of Belgrade, Serbia 

Job title: associate professor 
Home institution: Faculty of Biology – University of Belgrade, Serbia
 
Research: Oral cancer arises in every region of oral cavity and it is usually diagnosed in late stages of the disease. The first therapy option is surgical resection of the tumour, and despite successful surgical treatment, more than 30% of patients develop recurrences. That is an indicator that classical examination of surgical resections is not sensitive enough and that we need more sensitive, novel molecular biomarkers which can help us better discriminate edges of a tumour and oral cancer tissue from surrounding non-cancerous tissue. My current research is focused on the identification of novel biomarkers among RNA molecules.  

What was a personal highlight of the conference for you? 

It is very hard to choose one thing as a personal highlight of the conference. After six years of not attending EACR conferences and a corona break in the organization of in-person meetings, being again part of the EACR congress was maybe the strongest impression. Coming from a middle-income European country, attending the EACR congress made me feel like a part of the world, the scientific top of Europe in the field of cancer research. 

Were there any social/networking highlights you want to tell us about? 

I met one of my ex-students who is currently in Canada for his PhD studies. It was a nice surprise to meet him at a congress after not having seen each other for a while. It is an incredible feeling to meet a person you used to teach basics in genetics a few years ago, that is now a young successful researcher in the field of cancer.   

How was this conference different from others you have attended? 

The EACR congress is different than other conferences I have previously attended. Vibrant atmosphere, a great number of attendees, and top scientists in cancer research. Somehow I felt that EACR is like a huge family of people working in the same field with the same goal. Maybe some have better equipment and conditions to work in science, but altogether, we are on the same track of shaping nowadays cancer science which will be tomorrow’s medicine.  

Did you take part in any interesting local/cultural activities in your free time outside of the conference?  

Seville offered a lot! Apart from the conference, I used my time to get a closer insight into the cultural heritage of Andalusia. Visiting Plaza de Espana and Real Alcazar took my breath away. During the moments of enjoying beautiful Seville, I felt enormous gratefulness to EACR for giving me the opportunity to be part of all of that. EACR helped me grow not just as a researcher and university professor, but also as a person who admires and respects other cultures and nations. 

How has the conference inspired you in your research? 

To be honest, my inspiration hits the roof these days! I felt huge energy to continue with my work, to move all boundaries. New ideas are scribbled on the paper, waiting for full realization. 

When you got home, is there anything from the conference that you immediately wanted to tell your colleagues about? 

I will implement new information into my lectures for students in the upcoming academic year. Novelties in the microbiota of cancer, tumor microenvironment, spatial transcriptomics and many others, just to name a few.  

Have you brought back any specific knowledge that has benefited your research? 

For sure! I would like to connect with other collaborators and do spatial transcriptomics in oral cancer samples. 

3Manisha du Plessis 

Postdoctoral ResearcherStellenbosch University, South Africa

Job title: Postdoctoral Research Fellow 
Home institution:
Stellenbosch University, South Africa 
Research:
 The isolation and primary culture of circulating tumour cells and cancer cells from tumour biopsies. Furthermore, assessing the unique genetic and molecular profile of these individual cancer patients. Based on the findings obtained from this study, we want to develop a testing protocol and start-up company that makes recommendations to clinicians highlighting which treatment options will be best for each patient. This personalised medicine approach aims to improve cancer patient outcomes in South Africa. 

What was a personal highlight of the conference for you? 

A personal highlight for me was presenting my PhD work to other researchers in the same field. Additionally, it was also a highlight to attend the key-note lectures and to hear about the current trends in cancer research. The lectures also gave some good insights into study design and useful methods to assess different cellular processes. 

Were there any social/networking highlights for you? 

Meeting and spending the evening with researchers from different countries, including Nigeria, Canada and India, at the congress celebration. I was also able to connect with other researchers on LinkedIn at the congress and at the congress celebration. I also got into contact with suppliers, who I was not aware that have distributors in South Africa.  

Did you take part in any interesting local/cultural activities? 

We went to an establishment known for Spanish music and dancing and spent the evening there with some of the other researchers that attended the conference.  

How has the conference inspired you in your research? 

The congress highlighted trends in current research and methods that can be incorporated into our current research. The congress also helped us think a bit differently about study design and which methods we can utilize in our own labs. It also highlighted the need for translational research that can be incorporated into medicine, which is the focus of my postdoctoral research project. 

4Ana Raquel Ferreira Cunha 

PhD student, University of Minho, Portugal

Job title: PhD student 
Home institution: ICVS- Life and Health Research Institute- School of Medicine- University of Minho, Portugal

Research:  My current research is focused on shedding light on resistance processes in lung cancer, particularly to EGFR targeted therapies, which are the standard molecular targeted therapies used to treat this malignancy. Concomitantly, we are interested in discovering and establishing new biomarkers of therapy response for lung cancer treatment, particularly, in understanding the role of a protein called RKIP, a metastasis suppressor protein, that has shown to have a significant role in cancer progression and therapy response. 
 

Were there any networking highlights you want to tell us about? 

The poster session was one of the most important moments in EACR2022 for me because I had the chance to discuss my work and expand my knowledge with other peers. However, I want to highlight that it was also during this session that I had the chance to meet and discuss my work with a senior investigator from Barcelona, and from our conversation, we realized how my PhD results could be complemented and enriched by some of his ongoing work. Thus, from this encounter, a collaboration was established which will be very important for the development of my PhD and future work.  

How was this conference different from others you have attended?

I have wanted to attend this conference since I began my PhD because my colleagues always told me that it stood out from other conferences, and I confirmed just that! At EACR 2022 I had the opportunity not only to be in the presence of the most brilliant minds in the field but also to be on top of almost all the high throughput technology and where its development is headed. Besides, I had the chance to meet other colleagues and discuss amazing ideas about my work and theirs, allowing me to expand my knowledge and connections.  

Did you take part in any interesting local or cultural activities in your free time outside of the conference?

This bursary to attend EACR2022 enabled my professional growth but also it enriched me at a personal level. During my free time after the conference, I was able to visit the beautiful city of Seville, I got to see its beautiful architecture, inspiring colours and delicious food. Besides that, I had an incredible chance to practice my Spanish with the nice people from Seville.   

How has the conference inspired you in your research?

Having the opportunity to attend the talks of experts in the various fields of cancer enabled me to extend my knowledge beyond my own research and understand how science is evolving. This gave me so much motivation to keep battling to stay in research and so contribute to a brighter future. Also, in a specific way, discussing my work helped me see my results through a different lens and, combined with all I learned there, it gave me many ideas to evolve my work after my PhD. Hopefully, I can continue to attend this conference in the upcoming years and I aspire to, one day, present my own work there.  

5Conrado Guerrero Quiles  

PhD student, University of Manchester, UK

Job title: PhD student 
Home institute:
University of Manchester / Oglesby Manchester Cancer Research Centre, United Kingdome 
Research focus:
During my PhD, my research focused on the study of proteins secreted and produced by cancer cells in tumours under low oxygen concentration. We aimed to characterise the composition of those proteins secreted proteins by cancer cells under hypoxia. Furthermore, we studied how the structure of the secreted proteins can change and affect the movement capacity of cancer cells. Finally, as those secreted proteins can appear in blood, we studied their use as biomarkers.  

What was a personal highlight of the conference for you? 

The biggest highlight for me was to learn about organoids models in the context of cancer research. In the study of the extracellular space, multicellular 3D models are an extremely interesting approach that highly reproduce the microenvironment, without the complexity associated with in vivo analysis. Initially, I thought the methodology to be complex and difficult to apply in a laboratory. Seeing distinct functional approaches to generating organdie models did not only highlight their feasibility but a change from using 2D cell cultures models to organoids, which importantly encourage me to move towards using organoids models instead of 2D in vitro cultures. 

Were there any networking highlights you want to tell us about?

For me, it was exciting to meet Dr. Ines Godet, a postdoctoral researcher from Dr. Gilkes laboratory at the John Hopkins university. The Gilkes laboratory works on the effect of hypoxia in the extracellular matrix, and how hypoxia induces changes in the extracellular matrix that can affect cell migration. Our work is based on the results obtained by the Gilkes lab, so meeting a member from their laboratory was amazing to exchange ideas about the subject. We also had a strong common interest and have been in touch since the meeting, being a new potential collaborator for our lab. 

How was this conference different from others you have attended? 

The main difference I found with other conferences is that EACR was extremely multidisciplinary. While the focus was primarily on cancer research, the huge variety of approaches give a very wide vision of available methodologies. I could see, talk, and learn from researchers that focus on different subjects like bioinformatics, chemistry, or molecular biology. This mix allowed me to learn about many different approaches, helping me establish a connection between distinct methodologies.  

Did you take part in any interesting local or cultural activities in your free time outside of the conference?  

 After the congress I enjoyed visiting several landmarks and historical buildings in the city. It was especially interesting to learn more about the history of the Alcazar palace, and the Muslim past of the city of Seville. The Cathedral of Seville also impressively collected a lot of historical pieces from when the city was an important merchant city and a connection between Spain and the American continent. In that sense, it was great for me to experience new pieces of history and culture. 

How has the conference inspired you in your research? 

I noticed a focus on new models to study cancer development, especially in vivo mouse models and organoids. While in our laboratory we have not developed those techniques, the results presented in the congress highlighted the usefulness of these new models, especially in the context of the extracellular matrix. Consequently, we are now trying to implement some of these new models in our laboratory to derive new data for our research in the extracellular matrix.  

When you got home, is there anything from the conference that you immediately wanted to tell your colleagues about? 

Other colleagues in the laboratory work on fibroblast models and immunology. At the congress, quite a few research projects presented were based on the use of fibroblasts and how they affect the development and construction of the extracellular matrix, cell migration and tumour infiltration by immune cells. Some of the data presented at this conference can help us strengthen our grant applications.

Have you brought back any specific knowledge that has benefited your research? 

A specific methodology that attracted my interest was a new mouse model developed by the Gilkes laboratory to study the effect of hypoxic and normoxic cells in the development of the extracellular matrix in vivo. Study and characterisation of the hypoxic microenvironment is challenging due to the mix of different cells and the oxygen gradient. In their model, they used cancer cells expressing fluorescent markers (tdTomato, GFP) associated to the expression of hypoxic genes, being able to differentiate hypoxic vs normoxic cells in vivo. That provided a key element for the development of in vivo models in our laboratory that could be used to study the hypoxic extracellular matrix.  

6Matea Kurtović 

PhD student, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia

Job title: PhD student 
Home institution:
Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia 
Research: Melanoma is known as the most aggressive and deadliest of all skin cancers. Understanding the interplay of different molecular pathways leading to the development and progression of melanoma is important for developing new therapeutic strategies. I am studying the Hh-GLI signalling pathway and its main effectors, GLI proteins. I am trying to help
elucidate the role of GLI proteins in melanoma and to find the link between HH-GLI and some other pathways that are also hyperactivated in melanoma. 

What was a personal highlight of the conference for you? 

It was really refreshing to be able to choose from such a wide range of topics regarding cancer research, like DNA integrity, cancer heterogeneity, microbiome, senescence, and others. The best lectures for me were the Keynote Lectures, especially from the topics I am not usually familiar with. I really enjoyed the whole Tumour Microbiome Session. 

Were there any social highlights you want to tell us about? 

Because I am a 3rd Year PhD Student, and soon I will be seeking a postdoc position, I wanted to meet as many scientists as possible from other cancer research groups in Europe. I have managed to meet a few peers from UK, Italy and Turkey and exchange our working experiences. I have a good picture of where I would like to go next.  

Did you take part in any interesting local or cultural activities in your free time outside of the conference?  

My PhD thesis mentor was also at the conference with me, and we managed together to visit Real Alcázar, Plaza de España, Metropol Parasol and we tried out some local cuisine. Sevilla is one of the most beautiful cities I have seen, not only because of the architecture and landmarks but because of the city’s energy. 

7Astrid Van den Eynde

PhD student, University of Antwerp, Belgium 

Job title: PhD student 
Home institution:
Center for Oncological Research (CORE) at the University of Antwerp, Belgium 
Research:
 The goal of my research is to investigate a novel combination strategy to treat patients with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC). I am focusing on these patients particularly since we have discovered an interesting group of cells, identified by the molecule CD70, that is mostly present within the microenvironment of late-stage CRC tumours. These CD70+ cells hamper the efficacy of systemic therapies and are involved in mechanisms that help the tumour. Therefore, I have developed a cell-based immunotherapy that targets the CD70+ cells, which I will combine in future experiments with chemotherapy given as first-line to CRC patients in the clinic. 

Were there any social highlights you want to tell us about? 

I had the chance to join a Career Discovery Session and would definitely recommend everyone to sign-up for one or two sessions on their next EACR conference. The format of the smaller groups makes it accessible for anyone to ask questions and to have several discussions in the given time. The session with Chiara Ambrogi on ‘how to develop a translational research program’ where she talked about her personal career and how she ended up leading a translational research lab, was my personal highlight of the conference.  

How was this conference different from others you have attended? 

The previous conferences I attended were smaller and focussed on one specific research field. This was the first time I was present at a conference where so many different research areas were represented although all still working towards the same goal: treating cancer. The broad spectrum of topics allowed me to see how new fields are unfolding and to attend talks on research areas out of the scope of my research project. What I liked the most is that I got to see and learn different ways of thinking to approach the same problem. 

Did you take part in any interesting local or cultural activities in your free time outside of the conference?  

My colleagues and I extended our stay after the EACR conference to make sure we could explore the city centre. Apart from trying multiple delicious dishes, we were also able to visit the beautiful Real Alcazar Palace of Seville, plaza de Espana and the large wooden mushrooms or ‘Las Setas’. The old city centre of Seville in general is magnificent, but the Real Alcazar Palace amazed me the most with all its tiles in different colours and patterns, and its gorgeous gardens. 

Have you brought back any specific knowledge that has benefited your research? 

During one of the poster sessions I had the pleasure to discuss my poster with several interesting researchers in my field. One of them was performing a similar mouse experiment and gave me some useful tips to optimize the workflow of the experiment. We are now implementing these tips in our protocol.  

8Rafael Manuel Jiménez Izquierdo

PhD student, Maimonides Biomedical Research Institute of Cordoba (IMIBIC), Spain


Job title: PhD student
Home institution: Maimonides Biomedical Research Institute of Cordoba (IMIBIC), Spain.
Researc: Our group investigates the cellular and molecular bases that underlie cancer, focusing above all on proteins with kinase activity with relevant functions in the control of tumorigenesis. Specifically, our group is currently working on the DYRK family kinases. They are little known, but with an important role, especially DYRK2, in the development of carcinogenesis. We are deciphering how DYRK2 protein affect signaling pathways in DNA damage conditions.

What was a personal highlight of the conference for you?

The EACR 2022 congress was an opportunity to present to the scientific community all the results that our group has carried out in recent months. Knowing first-hand everything that the EACR community is doing, being able to discuss the results, establishing links with other doctoral students or research groups have been very rewarding for the development of my scientific career. Not only from an academic perspective, but also from an industry perspective. For me it was very important to be able to asses the translational potential of our results. Additionally, I am confident that the high profile speakers working on projects closely related to the ones we are developing, will help us better asses the scientific quality of our research.

Were there any social highlights you want to tell us about?

In addition, it was the first time I attended such a meeting. Having access to meet great scientists, even staying in the same hotel, has given me the ability to interact with them. As a result, it has given me the opportunity to establish links with various groups from different parts of the world. During the EACR congress I met an important scientist whose work was very related to my PhD thesis topic. I had the opportunity to see first-hand the advances made to date, which helped me think of new experiments that I could include in my doctoral work.

Have you brought back any specific knowledge that has benefited your research?

Our group brought back many ideas that we will include in our research. In some aspects, the congress changed our vision of dealing with some issues and it has given us the ability to improve. 

9Katia De Marco 

PhD student, National Institute for Gastroenterology IRCSS “S. de Bellis” Research Hospital, Italy

Job title: PhD student 
Home institution: 
National Institute for Gastroenterology IRCSS “S. de Bellis” Research Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Italy. 
Research: The histone methyltransferase SMYD3 has an oncogenic role in various cancer types, especially in gastric cancer, making it a potential target for drug discovery. Recent studies suggest that its oncogenic activity might also be mediated by its interaction with non-histone proteins. Its emerging role in the regulation of DNA damage response by promoting homologous recombination repair, suggests that its inhibition is an attractive therapeutic strategy in combination with common cancer therapies. Devising a therapeutic approach for gastric cancer expressing high levels of SMYD3, based on combined treatment with SMYD3 and PARP inhibitors, could have multiple benefits.
 

What was a personal highlight of the conference for you? 

For me the highlight of the conference was the General Assembly and Awards Ceremony because for me it was very rewarding to win the EACR Bursary Award and to participate at this important international conference. This moment was exciting and it was an encouragement to continue my career as a cancer researcher.  

How was this conference different from others you have attended? 

This conference was different from others where I participated because in this conference there was the possibility to meet many researchers with different nationality and with different research projects. Moreover, it was the first time that I attended a meeting with Journal editors, who gave a lot of precious suggestions on how to write a scientific paper and how to get it published it in prestigious journals. Finally, this conference was different from others, because there was the opportunity to receive the EACR Meeting Bursary. Indeed, this award gives the opportunity for young researchers, like me, to participate at this conference.  

How has the conference inspired you in your research? 

This conference was very important for my research project because I discussed my data with other researchers, who study gastric cancer like me and who gave me some suggestions about my experimental plan. Indeed, I had some ideas during the poster presentation about new techniques that I could perform in my laboratory and that could allow me to add new data in my project.  

When you got home, is there anything from the conference that you immediately wanted to tell your colleagues about? 

Yes, when I got home after the conference, I told my colleagues about some oral presentations that I attended and that impressed me. An example was the presentation of Prof. Bardelli, who reported a very interesting project on colorectal cancer. Moreover, I talked to my colleagues about the spatial transcriptomics approach, that allows researchers to measure all the gene activity in a tissue sample and map where the activity is occurring.  

Is there anything else you’d like to mention? 

I think that the oral presentations of the winners of the ERC starting grants were very interesting. They talked about their personal experiences drafting a project and making it successful. This discussion was very important for the researchers because the ERC winners gave a lot of precious suggestions on how to best write a project and how to increase your chances to win the starting grant. Finally, they answered some questions and in this way, they helped other researchers prevent errors when drafting their own projects.   

10Ana Isabel Neves de Matos

PostDoctoral Researcher, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal


Job title: Post-Doctoral Researcher
Home institute:
Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
Research:
Since the end of 2015 until now, I have been deeply involved in the development of a nanoplatform for colorectal cancer immunotherapy based on a nanoplatform rationally designed to deliver combinations of neoantigens and immune regulators to modulate host immunity against CRC. This project is focused on the design of two types of polymeric nanoparticles able to carry different active molecules (e.g. tumor associated antigens, adjuvants and immune modulators) and to target and modulate distinct cell populations within the tumor microenvironment, mainly dendritic cells and tumor cells. The immunotherapeutic potential of this multifunctional nanovaccine was highly improved when combined with immune modulatory and/or a tumor-associated macrophages inhibitor, in the immune-competent MC38 CRC mouse model. The added value of combining an immune checkpoint inhibitor was also observed. This highly innovative approach discloses the synergy among the targeted nanovaccine and immune modulatory and checkpoint therapies within tumour microenvironment, which overall outcome may constitute a real hope for patients with metastatic CRC disease.

Were there any social highlights you want to tell us about?

The relaxed and casual environment of EACR 2022 Congress – Innovative Cancer Science: Translating Biology to Medicine was an excellent opportunity for me as a post- doctoral researcher to meet, share and discuss my work with other scientific researchers working in the field of innovative cancer research. In addition to all the interesting talks from the most experienced researchers in this area, I also found very interesting works presented as posters. Of particular interest, by meeting face-to-face scientific leaders from all around the world, this conference was also the precursor of informal networks which led to the possible establishment of new scientific collaborations.

How was this conference different from others you have attended?

The EACR 2022 Congress provides a great chance for graduate students, post-docs, and early-career scientists, with different levels of knowledge and expertise, to get involved in a highly stimulating and gratifying scientific environment. Particularly for post-doctoral researchers, this enormous conference was a great opportunity to increase thirc background knowledge in the cancer field through the recent scientific research shared by worldwide renowned scientists during the scientific talks.

Have you brought back any specific knowledge that has benefited your research?

This bursary allowed me to present my work to worldwide team leaders of the cancer scientific community resulting in the scientific discussion of some great ideas to improve strategies already defined. The hot topics of this conference for me were the sessions entitled Biomarkers for Immuno-oncology, How the Cancer Cell Instructs the Host Cells, Biology of Metastasis, Biology of the Tumour Vasculature, and Tumour Microbiome, which explored different subjects at pre-clinical and clinical levels with the main goal of improving therapeutic strategies against different cancer types. These sessions matched perfectly my interdisciplinary project aiming at the development of novel therapeutic vaccines, and immunomodulatory and checkpoint therapies, where nanotechnology and cancer immunology are used to design an optimal combinatorial approach against colorectal cancer.


Find out more

More travel funding is available for the next EACR Annual Congress: you can find out more about the Congress on our website.