The 6th Biennial Miami Epigenetics and Cancer Symposium to be held in Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

Leading experts will share findings from new frontier of cancer research and treatment

The 6^th Biennial Miami Epigenetics and Cancer Symposium, sponsored by Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Epigenetics is the science of how changes in cells affect genes produced by DNA. Increasingly, epigenetics is found to contribute to cancer in ways scientists don’t fully understand. By learning the mechanisms of how genes help make new cells — some beneficial and sometimes cancerous — the goal is to develop treatments for more cancers without damaging DNA or killing cells with radiation or chemotherapy.

When: Nov. 16-17, 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (Saturday) and 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Sunday).

Where: The Ritz-Carlton, 3300 SW 27^th Ave., Coconut Grove, Miami, Fla.

Who: Sylvester is at the forefront of cancer epigenetics research and hosts the two-day event to explore vital topics, including RNA biology, chromatin structure transcriptional regulation, and the interface between cancer and alterations in gene expression. The symposium is one of the few in the country that convenes renowned epigenetics experts from around the world to share knowledge to advance cancer therapies.

Stephen Nimer, M.D., is the Director of Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, professor of medicine, biochemistry and molecular biology, the Oscar de La Renta Endowed Chair in Cancer Research, and executive dean for research at the Miller School of Medicine.

His laboratory focuses on identifying novel ways to target hematologic cancers to make them more susceptible to existing therapies. His laboratory studies the transcriptional regulation of hematopoiesis to understand how the normal processes of stem cell self-renewal and differentiation are regulated and how these processes become aberrant in acute leukemia.

He has conducted clinical and laboratory research on bone marrow failure and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and participated in pivotal clinical trials that led to the FDA approvals of therapeutics for patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).

Maria Figueroa, M.D., is associate director of translational research at Sylvester and associate professor of human genetics at the Miller School of Medicine. Using computational approaches, her research focuses on how epigenetics drives blood cancers as people age.

She’s discovered how certain genes become deregulated with aging to change cell behavior, which contributes to health issues, including cancer and immune system declines. She will chair two sessions, “Epigenetics and Metabolism in Cancer” and “Chromatin/Transcription Deregulation in Cancer,” on Nov. 17.

David Lombard, M.D., is co-leader of the Cancer Epigenetics Research Program  at Sylvester and vice chair of clinical and translational research at the Miller School of Medicine. His research focuses on how aging often leads to cancer and how cancers hijack certain proteins to promote malignant properties.

He is also focused on developing new treatments and therapies for Ewing sarcoma, which develops in the bone and soft tissue of children and young adults. He will chair the panel session “Epigenetics and Metabolism in Cancer” on Nov. 17.

Interviews with Sylvester experts are available upon request.

More information about the event can be found here.

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