Newswise — On Tuesday, April 27, Stony Brook University Cancer Center and the Department of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology at Stony Brook University will hold a one-day symposium titled “Cancer Stem Cells, Differentiation, and Metastasis.” The event brings internationally known cancer biologists together to present their latest research findings. The symposium will take place at the Charles B. Wang Center at Stony Brook University from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
“A better understanding of how and why cancer spreads, and how cancer stem cells play a role in the process is paramount in advancing cancer research and may be used to develop better treatments,” says Michael J. Hayman, Ph.D., Associate Director for Research at Stony Brook University Cancer Center. “Speakers at this symposium will delve into newly explored aspects of research in each of these areas and open the floor for discussion.”
Co-organized by Dr. Hayman and Howard Crawford, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pharmacological Sciences, the symposium features six speakers. Highlighting the agenda are two world-renowned cancer researchers, Michael Clarke, M.D., Associate Director of the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, and Joan Massagué, Ph.D., Chair of the Cancer Biology and Genetics Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Dr. Clarke was the first person to identify cancer stem cells in a solid tumor (breast cancer) and investigates cancer stem cells in relation to disease. He will discuss “Stem Cells and Cancer, Two Faces of Self Renewal.” Dr. Massagué is considered the leading expert on TGF beta signaling in cancer and metastasis. He will deliver a presentation titled “Metastasis Signals.”
Other speakers and their topics include: Heide Ford, Ph.D., Program Director, Hormone Related Malignancies, University of Colorado School of Medicine, on “The Role of Six1 in TGF-beta Signaling, EMT (epithelial mesenchymal transition), and Tumor Initiating Cells”; Frank Gertler, Ph.D., Professor at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, discussing “Cytoskeletal Dynamics Underlying EMT, Chemotaxis and Metastasis.”; Senthil Muthuswamy, Ph.D., Senior Scientist at Princess Margaret hospital in Toronto, Canada, on “Cell Polarity Proteins as Regulators of Differentiation, Morphogenesis and Tumorigenesis”; and Stephen J. Weiss, M.D., Chief, Molecular Medicine & Genetics at the University of Michigan, discussing “Snail 1, EMT and the Induction of the Invasive/Metastatic Phenotype.”
For more information about “Cancer Stem Cells, Differentiation and Metastasis” call 631-632-8800.
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