Archive for the ‘ESPCR’ Category

Marisol Soengas awardes the 2019 Fritz Anders Lecture and Medal

Sunday, September 15th, 2019

Marisol Soengas, Fritz Anders awardee, and Lluis Montoliu, ESPCR President
Marisol Soengas (CNIO, Madrid, Spain) has been awarded the 2019 Fritz Anders Lecture and Medal at the 22nd ESPCR meeting in Brussels (Belgium), held https://www.thecareclinic.org/viagra100mg-sildenafil/ during 12 to 14 September 2019. Congratulations!

Web Site for ESPCR 2019 meeting in Brussels has been launched

Wednesday, May 1st, 2019
22nd ESPCR2019 meeting web page

22nd ESPCR2019 meeting web page

Alain Taïeb will be awarded the first new ESPCR Award in Rennes

Thursday, April 26th, 2018
Alain Taïeb (Bordeaux, France) awarded with the first ESPCR Award at the forthcoming ESPCR meeting in Rennes (picture from https://vimeo.com/92927027)

Alain Taïeb (Bordeaux, France) awarded with the first ESPCR Award at the forthcoming ESPCR meeting in Rennes (picture from https://vimeo.com/92927027)

The ESPCR Board has decided this year to launch a new ESPCR award, to recognize and acknowledge scientists who have made outstanding contributions to the field of pigment cell research. The ESPCR Award will be given at the annual ESPCR meetings (every first meeting after the corresponding IPCC conference) and will be associated with a Keynote Lecture of the awarded researcher. The first recipient of the ESPCR Award will be Prof. Alain Taïeb (Bordeaux, France) who will receive this ESPCR distinction at the next ESPCR meeting in Rennes (France). Prof. Alain Taïeb has made extraordinary and numerous outstanding contributions to the field of pigment cell research, in particular to the field of vitiligo research.

With this new award, the ESPCR has established now three (3) different awards, which will be given in consecutive years following this schedule:

  1. ESPCR Award: at every first ESPCR annual meeting after the corresponding IPCC conference
  2. Fritz Anders Lecture: at every second ESPCR annual meeting after the corresponding IPCC conference
  3. H.S. Raper Medal: at every IPCC conference

All awards have been upgraded https://www.thecareclinic.org/viagra100mg-sildenafil/ and harmonized. All awardees would be giving keynote lectures at the corresponding meetings

Lionel Larue awarded the H.S. Raper Medal at IPCC2017

Sunday, September 10th, 2017
Lionel Larue awarded the ESPCR H.S. Raper Medal by Past President Ian Jackson at the IPCC2017 Conference in Denver, Colorado, USA.

Lionel Larue awarded the ESPCR H.S. Raper Medal by Past President Ian Jackson at the IPCC2017 Conference in Denver, Colorado, USA.

Prof. Lionel Larue (Institut Curie, Orsay, France), former President of the ESPCR, was awarded the 2017 Henry Stanley Raper Medal by Past ESPCR President Ian Jackson at the IPCC2017 conference in Denver, Colorado, https://nationalcareersweek.com/buy-glucophage-pills/ USA.

New ESPCR President Lluis Montoliu begins his mandate in Denver

Monday, August 28th, 2017
Past ESPCR President Ian Jackson, new ESPCR President Lluis Montoliu and new combined ESPCR Secretary-Treasurer Cecilia Herraiz at the IPCC-2017 meeting in Denver, CO, USA

Past ESPCR President Ian Jackson, new ESPCR President Lluis Montoliu and new combined ESPCR Secretary-Treasurer Cecilia Herraiz at the IPCC-2017 meeting in Denver, CO, USA

The smooth and planned transition between the past and the elected ESPCR Boards occurred earlier today, Sunday August 27, 2017, at the ESPCR Council meeting held in Denver, CO, USA, during the IPCC-2o17 conference. Past ESPCR President Ian Jackson handed over the ESPCR bell to the new ESPCR President Lluis Montoliu. Simultaneously, the new combined ESPCR Secretary-Treasurer Cecilia Herraiz took over these responsibilities from previous ESPCR Secretary Alessandra Napolitano and previous ESPCR Treasurer Lluis Montoliu. All new and elected ESPCR board members were also present in Denver: Véronique del Marmol, Cédric Delevoye, Lucia Panzella and Muriel Cario-André, together with previous board members continueing for a second mandate: Dorothy Bennett, Corine Bertolotto and https://nationalcareersweek.com/prozac-fluoxetine/ Eugene Healy. Ian Jackson will continue associated as Past President and Ghanem Ghanem and Lluis Montoliu will continue as administrator and webmaster, respectively. All previous board members who finished their mandate in Denver: Robert Kelsh, Liz Patton, Anja Bosserhoff, Lionel Larue, Rosalie Luiten, Khaled Ezzedine and Marie-Dominique Galibert, are to be acknowledged for their service rendered to the ESPCR. Many thanks to all!

The next ESPCR meeting will be held in Rennes (France) on 24-27 September 2018

Friday, May 12th, 2017
ESPCR2018 meeting to be held in Rennes on 24-27 September, organized by Prof. Marie-Dominique Galibert (University of Rennes)

ESPCR2018 meeting to be held in Rennes on 24-27 September, organized by Prof. Marie-Dominique Galibert (University of Rennes)

ESPCR2018 meeting to be held in Rennes on 24-27 September, organized by Prof. Marie-Dominique Galibert (University of Rennes)

ESPCR2018 meeting to be held in Rennes on 24-27 September, organized by Prof. Marie-Dominique Galibert (University of Rennes)

The next ESPCR meeting (ESPCR2018) will be held in Rennes (France), on 24-27 September, organized by Prof. Marie-Dominique Galibert (University of Rennes).

Richard Marais (CRUK, Manchester) awarded the 2016 Fritz Anders Medal

Friday, May 12th, 2017
Richard Marais (CRUK, Manchester) awarded the 2016 Fritz Anders Medal by Ian Jackson (ESPCR President) at the IEO, at the 20th ESPCR meeting in Milano (Italy)

Richard Marais (CRUK, Manchester) awarded the 2016 Fritz Anders Medal by Ian Jackson (ESPCR President) at the IEO, at the 20th ESPCR meeting in Milano (Italy)

Prof. Rosina Cicero (Univ. Bari)

Thursday, December 10th, 2015
Prof. Rosina Cicero (Univ. Bari) - second from right - with her colleagues and collaborators Anna Gallone, Gabriella Guida and Immacolata Maida in Bari (2007), at the 14th ESPCR annual meeting she hosted and co-organized with Prof. Mauro Picardo

Prof. Rosina Cicero (Univ. Bari) - second from right - with her colleagues and collaborators Anna Gallone, Gabriella Guida and Immacolata Maida in Bari (2007), at the 14th ESPCR annual meeting she hosted and co-organized with Prof. Mauro Picardo

We are very sad to inform you of the passing today (December 10th, 2015) of professor Rosina Cicero. She was member of ESPCR for several years and she organized the 14th ESPCR meeting in Bari (Italy), in 2007. Regarding melanogenesis, she was mainly interested in extracutaneous melanogenesis in Amphibia. Professor of experimental biology in university of Catania, Bari and Foggia (Italy), she always had gentle manner and was an example of dedication to work for all of us. She was a Master of life for our group of experimental Biology of Bari.

Anna Gallone, Gabriella Guida, Immacolata Maida

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I am very sorry to learn the sad news about passing of Professor Rosina Cicero. I have in good memory the 14th ESPCR meeting she organized in Bari and I will remember her kindness and friendliness. My deepest sympathy to the Bari Group.
Tadeusz (Tad) Sarna

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I am deeply saddened by the news of Prof. Rosina Cicero passing. My thoughts are with her  family and colleagues in Bari.

She will not be forgotten.

ALIDA DEPASE

ESPCR Supporting Member

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I am very sorry to learn the passing of Prof. Rosina Cicero. Together with my colleagues from the University of Murcia, in Spain, the Bari group, led by Rosina Cicero, was always very close. I remember her and her team attending and enjoying the 12th ESPCR meeting I organized in 2006 in Barcelona http://www.squadronmedical.co.uk/order-stromectol-ivermectin/ and, thereafter, helping them to organize the meeting in Bari, from which I have very good memories too, and which provided all of us an excellent excuse to enjoy both science and culture in a beautiful city by the coast of Southern Italy. My most sincere condolences to her family, friends and colleages.

Lluis Montoliu, ESPCR Treasurer and webmaster

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It is indeed a sad announcement . I had the pleasure to co organize the ESPCR meeting in Bari with Rosina and besides enjoying the organization I remember having many nice moments with Rosina.  She will dearly missed.

Mauro Picardo

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I am very sad for the passing  of Rosina. She was a very nice person and professor and I appreciated so much the ESPCR meeting in Bari,  where I was involved. God bless her.

Silvia Moretti

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It was very sad to learn of the passing of Rosina. I  had the opportunity to meet her on the occasion of the Reston IPPC, several ESPCR meetings and particularly the Bari meeting that was the occasion of a closer interaction. I appreciated  her enthusiasm and passion for research. I would like to express my condolence to her colleagues and collaborators in Bari.

Sincerely

Alessandra Napolitano

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Thanks to all colleagues for the words of esteem and sincere friendship and simpaty towards Professor Cicero.
We thank you for the closeness that you have shown us.
Anna Gallone, Gabriella Guida and Immacolata Maida
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ESPCR Honorary Member Prof. Jan Borovansky (1943-2015)

Tuesday, September 1st, 2015
ESPCR Honorary Member Prof. Jan Borovansky (1943-2015)

ESPCR Honorary Member Prof. Jan Borovansky (1943-2015)

In Jan Borovansky, who died on 24th August 2015, the ESPCR – and indeed the entire Pigment Cell Community – lost a major figure and contributor to our melanic brotherhood. He made fundamental contributions to the body of knowledge that underpins our shared interest and endeavours and was an inspiring teacher and much-loved colleague.
Jan was very significant in the development of the biology of the melanosome and published many important papers devoted to the properties of these organelles. In particular, his researches touched on the metal-chelating properties of melanins and the importance of free radical mechanisms in melanocyte biochemistry and their significance to the development of malignancy.
He was a charismatic, intelligent, imaginative, encouraging, diplomatic, engaging, and loyal academic colleague. His gentle humour and modest demeanour endeared him to all his many friends. He had a well-deserved  international reputation for scholarship and was an influential and admired pedagogue at Charles University, much loved by his students.
Jan Borovansky was born on 4th February 1943 into an academic family in wartime Czechoslovakia. His father was the distinguished Professor of Anatomy at Charles University, Prague, and Jan’s early years were steeped in the scholastic tradition which he emulated throughout his life. His mother was a well-known ophthalmologist. As a young boy Jan wished to become a diplomat, but his family environment predetermined his career. He qualified in Medicine from Charles University, Prague, in 1966 and successfully defended his PhD thesis in 1976. His early career was greatly constrained by the political situation in Czechoslovakia at the time, but he was fortunate in becoming the right hand of Professor Jiri Duchon and, in this capacity, made fundamental contributions to melanin biology. His work on the isolation of melanosomes and the delineation of their properties, especially in relation to metal binding, was fundamental to many aspects of melanin biochemistry that are encompassed within the status of knowledge we rely on today. He was elected a Fellow of the First Faculty of Medicine at Charles University in 1967 and thereafter was successively appointed to assistant professor (1970-1974), associate professor (1974-2004), and full professor (from 2004 onwards).
Professor MUDr. Jan Borovansky, CSc.

Professor MUDr. Jan Borovansky, CSc.

In many ways, Jan Borovansky was conducive in the advancement of European ambitions in the melanin field and his bold undertaking to host the 3rd European Workshop on Melanin Pigmentation (under the Chairmanship of Professor Duchon) in 1981, whilst Prague was still under Soviet domination, had many important sequelae – one of which was the resolution, adopted at the 6th EWMP, to found the ESPCR, and all the manifold political https://www.mintdentalcentre.com/xanax-alprazolam-uk/ developments that emerged from this, ending in the formation of the IFPCS and the world-wide collaborative network that we now share.
Jan was an exceptional researcher with a deep knowledge of biochemistry, a topic that he taught with enthusiasm and brilliance. He was much in demand as a lecturer for the clarity of his presentation, and his enthusiastic exposition of the functional aspects of melanosome structure, particularly with regard to free radical reactions, inspired much new research in the field.
Jan Borovansky was Professor of Medical Biochemistry at Charles University, a member of the Senate of the University, and served with distinction as Editor and was on the Editorial Boards of many Journals. He was active in the encouragement of cooperative ventures and was a member of the Organising Committees of many scientific meetings. Under the auspices of the British Council scholarship scheme he spent several periods at University College London where he was a Visiting Professor in the Department of Biochemical Pathology and was appointed an Honorary Research Fellow of UCL in 1984.
Jan was a founder member of the ESPCR and was the Organiser of the 8th ESPCR Annual meeting in Prague in 1998. He served on the Council of the ESPCR between 1990 and 1998 and as a member of the Editorial Board of Pigment Cell Research from 1995 to 1999. He was a member of the Editorial Board of the ESPCR Bulletin from 1999 to 2012 and was appointed to Honorary Membership of the ESPCR in 2010. He was a prominent and much-loved member of the Quintox Group, and was an elected Fellow of the Totteridge Institute for Advanced Studies.
Jan struggled for many years with chronic renal failure and was helped enormously by a successful renal transplant in 2001. However, in recent months he was afflicted by a malignancy that proved resistant to energetic therapy. He was courageous and optimistically philosophical to the end.
He was a fine man, an imaginative and careful scientist, a pillar of the pigment cell community, and, above all, a wonderful, loyal, and irreplaceable friend.
He is survived by his wife Jana, two children, Jitka and Jan, and four grandchildren.

Patrick Riley, 26 August 2015

Jan Borovansky (right) with Patrick Riley, at the 14th ESPCR meeting in Bari (Italy), in 2007

Jan Borovansky (right) with Patrick Riley, at the 14th ESPCR meeting in Bari (Italy), in 2007

Comments received

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I am deeply saddened to hear about the loss of Professor Borovansky. I will always remember his smile and gentle demeanor. His contributions to our field of pigment cell research are enormous. I will miss meeting him at IPCC meetings. My condolences to his family, his friends, and to the IFPCS community.
Sincerely,
Zalfa Abdel-Malek
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I am a relative late-comer to PASPCR, but I did have the chance to meet Prof. Borovansky at the international conference some years ago. He was a gentleman and a scholar!
I will miss him.
Julian Menter
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The entire ESPCR and IFPCS families are saddened with the loss of Prof. Jan Borovansky. I met him several times at ESPCR and IPCC meetings and I could always learn from him. His comments and remarks will be missed in our pigment cell conferences. We will remember him in our ESPCR meeting in Edinburgh, due in two weeks. My most sincere condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.
Lluis Montoliu
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Jan and I were close friends and we spent much time together at meetings. I will miss him.
John Pawelek
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What sad news this is. Truly a great and much-loved member of our pigment cell research community has passed. My condolences to his family, and to his close colleagues, including Stan Pavel and Pat Riley.
Caroline Le Poole
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It is the deep sadness to hear that Prof. Jan Borovansky passed away. Jan and me were friends and colleagues at the same University in Prague for a very long time. My condolences to his family, friends, colleagues and pigment cell researchers.
Jiri Vachtenheim
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I am so sorry.
I met Prof. Jan Borovansky at a ESPCR meeting in Amsterdam the first time many any years ago and I will always remember him as a gentleman and a brilliant scientist
Alida Depase
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Indeed a very sad news. I had known Jan personally for almost 35 years. I remember him as a friendly, warm person and a great scientist, who made significant contributions to melanosome biology and melanin biochemistry. This is a huge loss to melanin research.
Tadeusz Sarna
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I have similar sentiments and he was a major reason that I spent a lot of time I in Prague pre 1989 helping them keep science alive
Frank Meyskens
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It is very sad. My heart felt condolences goes to his family and friends
Manickam Sugumaran
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I had the opportunity of meeting Borovansky at scientific conferences and I was impressed by this enthusiasm, and by his encyclopaedic knowledge of the pigmentation field.
A sad loss indeed.
Marisol Soengas
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I am saddened with Jan’s passing. I had many opportunities to appreciate his scientific capabilities and extreme kindness. I have very enjoyable memories of his participation at the ESPCR meeting in Rome that I will cherish.
Mauro Picardo
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It is with great sadness to hear that Professor Jan Borovansky passed away. I have personally known him since early 1980 when I and my wife visited Late Professor Dushane, another pioneer of pigment cell research in Charles Univeristy, Praha. During this visit, Dr. Dushane introduced me Professor Borovansky as his future successor. One of great contributions of Professor Borobansky to pigment cell reaseach is to introduce the importance of metals in melanosomes. He was kind enough to visit Sapporo when I organized IPCC in 1988.
May his soul rest in peace! And may his spirit always live!
Kowichi Jimbow, MD, PhD, FRCPC
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I am also saddened with Jan’s passing. I had many opportunities to appreciate his scientific capabilities and extreme kindness. I have very enjoyable memories meeting him on numerous scientific conferences where we discussed science and politics or politics and science, depending what was more exciting. He was also a friend of my mentor Dr Andrzej Bomirski.
This is a big loss for Pigment Cell Community
Andrzej Slominski
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I think to Jan when playing a CD of traditional Christmas music from Bohemia he gave me at the occasion of the IPCC in Bordeaux. My grandchildren love the this nice set of XVIIIth century pieces with drums and wind instruments which give an atmosphere of fairy happiness. We met at several pigment cell societies and unfortunately I missed the Prague meeting. He will be remembered both for his kindness and mentoring achievements. Please transmit my sincere condolences to his family and friends.
Alain Taieb
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Still in shock over Jan Borovansky’s death. We email often and the last email I received 2 months ago, he was very pleased about the results he was getting with the chemo. He was very optimistic.  I have known him for a long time (since 1985) and I would send him items (for example,color film) that he could not get in stores while the Communists ruled.  I also did a 6 month sabbatical with him in 2004. We worked in his lab and then he would take my wife and I all around to see the country. As those of you that knew him, he was a wonderful person to be around. He had a very sly since of humor. He was very proud of his Czech Republic. My wife and I were planning to go to Prague to see him this Fall. I truly regret we waited too long to go. He will be greatly missed. Prayers  for him, his wife Jana, daughter Jitka and son Jan (Honsig).
Roger Bowers
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I am very sad about the Jan Borovansky passing.I had met Jan for many ESPCR meetings. He was a friendly person and always spoke about his work with modesty. I remember particularly of the 8th meeting of ESPCR organized in 1998 in Prague by Jan and Matous in honour of the 650th anniversary of the “Charles University”. The introductory lecture was done by his mentor Jiri Duchon on “Charles University and pigment cell research”. I had the opportunity to collect some lectures of this meeting as guest editor in a special issue of “Cellular and Molecular Biology” 1999, vol.45, N°7, 877-1129.
Robert Aquaron
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What sad news to hear that Jan Borovansky has passed away. He was a lovely man and will be missed by so many.
Tony Thody
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Melanocyte Course and Melanoma Meeting Reports: Reykjavik (Iceland) 21-26 June 2015

Thursday, August 27th, 2015
Students and teachers at the university

Students and teachers at the university

Final Report of the International Course

The international course From Melanocyte Development to Melanoma Therapies – Basic Science and Clinical Applications, occurred at the University of Iceland, in Reykjavik June 21-24, 2015. Major advances in basic research of melanoma have lead to novel treatment options that are making a difference for melanoma patients. However, multiple challenges lie ahead and further progress is necessary, particularly with respect to resistance to the novel therapies. Our course http://www.iveamobility.com/diazepam10mg/ taught the basic biology and development of the melanocyte how these cells are transformed into melanoma, and how the disease is diagnosed and treated. A particular emphasis was on novel therapeutic options and the resistance that arises against the new drugs. Another main issue was to bring together the future leaders in the field with an MD and/or a PhD background.
The course had seven main themes: (i) Introduction to melanocytes and melanoma. (ii) Clinical diagnosis and prognosis, (iii) Histology and histopathology, (iv) Molecular and (epi)genetic techniques, (v) Experimental animals, (vi) High throughput data analysis, and (vii) Therapy, current clinical practice and preclinical advances.
The objective of this course was clearly defined. In recent years, research into melanocytes and melanoma has lead to giant steps in treatment of melanoma patients. The goal of this course was to teach students about the basic biology of melanoma with a particular emphasis on therapeutic options. The students learnt about this rapidly advancing field, and since the students came from both basic and clinical sciences, they learnt from each other in order to advance melanoma diagnosis and therapy in the future.
Hosting the course in Iceland allowed us to bring together European and American students and taught them about the latest advances in the field. This three day course was followed by a three day meeting “Melanoma: from basic science to clinical applications“ (http://www.melanoma2015.is) where leaders in the field will talk about their latest results. This allowed us to include some of the most important players in the field as teachers in the course. This meeting was highly appreciated by the 120 participants.
The success of the course relied on the active contribution of participants who were proactive and participated in all of the events organized including: (i) presentation of their own scientific project with a 8 minutes oral presentation, and (ii) participation in the “career development” workshop during the last day of the course.
The course will have a broad view of the melanocyte lineage, including the establishment of the lineage during embryonic development and the renewal of melanocytes from normal melanocyte stem cells. The similarities between the cellular and molecular mechanisms that occur during development, renewal and melanomagenesis will be explored for further clinical advancement. Lectures on epigenetics, genomics and clinical aspects of melanoma will bring a broader view of the field for the PhD students, postdoctoral fellows and junior scientists attending the course.
Lunches and Dinners were attended by both teachers and students giving opportunities for further discussions and this time was used as round tables.
In figures, 28 students (3 Master students, 17 PhD/MD-PhD students, 4 Post-docs, and 4 MD) with 17 females and 11 males participated to this course. We got a feed-back from the survey of the course from 23 students. These students came from Iceland (8), France (7), North America (4), Sweden (2) and also from UK, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Holland and Hungary. Overall, they were either satisfied or highly satisfied by this course.
In conclusion, it was a real pleasure for the organizers, the teachers and the students to participate to this course. We are ready to organize a similar course in 2017. The location is still unclear, but an option is taken in Israel.
The organizers : Lionel LARUE, Eirikur STEINGRIMSSON, Thorunn RAFNAR and Colin GODING
Students and teachers at the blue Lagoon

Students and teachers at the blue Lagoon

Final Report of the Melanoma Meeting

The international meeting Melanoma: From Basic Science to Clinical Applications, was held in the Harpa Conference Center and Concert Hall, Reykjavik, Iceland, June 24-26, 2015. Major advances in basic research of melanoma have lead to novel treatment options that are making a difference for melanoma patients. However, multiple challenges lie ahead and further progress is necessary, particularly with respect to resistance to the novel therapies. The meeting covered topics ranging from the basic biology and development of the melanocyte to how these cells are transformed into melanoma, and how the disease is diagnosed and treated. A particular emphasis was to bridge the basic and clinical sciences of melanoma and to span the Atlantic divide by bringing American and European melanoma scientists together. Another main issue was to bring together the future leaders in the field.
The meeting was divided into five sessions: (i-ii) Melanocyte and melanoma development 1a and 1b. (ii) Gene regulation in melanocytes and melanoma, (iii) Cell biology to Pathology, (iv) Pathology to Genomics, (v) Clinical advances. One of the lunch breaks was conducted as a separate session termed Luncheon clinical Update and Current Needs.
The meeting was very successful. First, the speakers gave outstanding talks and ample time was allowed for questions and discussions. Second, the frequent coffee breaks and social events allowed further discussions and interactions. And third, the social events, including the Welcome reception, Conference dinner and the trip to the Blue Lagoon further enhanced interactions and discussions. We have received nothing but praise and adulation for the organization of the meeting, its scientific content, the location in Iceland and the friendly and interactive atmosphere we succeeded in creating.
The meeting was attended by a total of 120 people from 17 different countries. The speakers were from both Europe and the US, 14 females and 22 males. They were both established leading investigators and younger speakers selected from abstracts.
Support for the meeting was obtained from various institutions and companies, including Institut Curie, University of Iceland, ESPCR, PASPCR, The French Embassy in Iceland, the Icelandic Cancer Society, University of Colorado Cancer Center, Provectus, Incyte, Amgen, Metabolon, Lytix biopharma, Viralytics and Bristol Myers Squibb. We thank all these organizations for their generous contributions.
The organizers: Lionel LARUE, Eirikur STEINGRIMSSON, Thorunn RAFNAR, Robert ANDTBACKA, Rene GONZALEZ, Karl LEWIS, Caroline ROBERT and Ze’ev RONAI