2023 Basic Mechanisms to Clinical Trials in Brain Tumors Gordon Research Conference

Gordon Research Conferences, East Greenwich RI

Investigators

Abstract

Project Summary Brain tumors are among the most lethal and devastating human cancers. Despite decades of advances in the field, patient outcomes for brain tumors remain poor. However, there has been a recent surge of multidisciplinary discoveries in this field that are likely to impact patient care in a momentous way. The goal of the inaugural Basic Mechanisms to Clinical Trials in Brain Tumors Gordon Research Conference (GRC) multidisciplinary international meeting is to discuss and debate cutting-edge concepts and breakthroughs in the brain tumor field to help develop innovative, mechanism-based diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic approaches that will significantly advance the care of brain tumor patients. The meeting will cover both pediatric and adult brain tumors and will focus on (1) deciphering the mechanisms that control normal brain development and how aberrations of such mechanisms produce disease, (2) studying how alterations in molecular pathways (including genetic and epigenetic events) result in clinical phenotypes, (3) understanding how the brain and immune microenvironment affect tumor initiation and growth, and (4) investigating how such knowledge can be translated into improved patient care. Emphasis would be placed on new concepts in brain tumor research, new technological and computational biology approaches, and new therapeutic modalities and their challenges. Laboratory and clinical investigators would develop novel strategies to translate new findings into novel clinical trials. Further, an important feature of the meeting will be bringing together eminent leaders and women, minorities, persons with disabilities, early stage and early established investigators in the field, in order to build relationships and provide mentoring and networking opportunities to cement the commitment of the new generation of scientists and clinicians to the field and provide them with the tools to make a difference in the lives of brain tumor patients, and create opportunities to explore potential collaborations. The meeting will be extensively evaluated by participants, and their ideas and opinions will be discussed in an open meeting and will be taken into consideration in planning for subsequent years.