3rd Net4Brain Annual Meeting
The 3rd Net4Brain Annual Meeting, 1-3 June 2026 in Istanbul - ECR day, working-group sessions, keynotes and poster exhibitions.
The 3rd Net4Brain Annual Meeting brings together leading scientists, clinicians, and innovators to address the challenges of translating brain cancer research into effective therapies. This meeting fosters collaboration, knowledge exchange, and strategic discussions to bridge the gap between laboratory discoveries and clinical applications.
Programme
Day 1 - Monday, 1 June (ECR, CG & MC)
Early Career Researcher day, Core Group and Management Committee
- 09:00 - 10:00
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Brief introduction, meeting objectives and announcements
- 10:00 - 13:00
Parallel Sessions - ECR Meeting & Core Group (CG) Meeting
- 10:00 - 10:10
ECR Opening & Introduction
Xinzhong Li
- 10:10 - 10:20
Welcome Address
Annalisa Occhipinti
- 10:20 - 10:40
Keynote: Career Development & Funding for ECRs
Milica Pesic; Radim Jancalek
- 10:40 - 11:30
STSM Talks 1-5
Adamantane-sclareol hybrid; in silico sirt2 inhibitors; EPIKOL RBBP7; deep learning survival models; miR-1/-26a-1/-487b signature
- 11:30 - 12:00
Coffee Break & Networking
- 12:00 - 13:00
Interactive Networking Session 1 - Meet & Connect
- 10:00 - 13:00
Core Group (CG) Meeting
Closed session - Core Group members only
- 13:00 - 14:00
Lunch
- 14:00 - 15:00
Panel Discussion: Navigating the Early Career Path
- 15:00 - 15:30
Sponsor Talks
AKA Biotechnology; Teknogem
- 15:30 - 16:00
Coffee Break & Interactive Networking Session 2 - Collaborative Ideas
- 16:00 - 16:40
Workshop: Scientific Communication & Publishing
- 16:40 - 17:00
Open Floor & Closing Remarks
- 15:30 - 17:00
Management Committee (MC) Meeting
Closed session - MC members only
- After 17:00
Networking Event (MC + CG + ECR)
Day 2 - Tuesday, 2 June
Scientific programme - WG sessions & keynotes
- 08:00 - 09:00
Registration & Welcome Coffee
- 09:00 - 09:30
Welcome Speeches
Funda Yagci Acar; Xinzhong Li
- 09:30 - 10:00
Keynote Lecture
Bart Westerman (Cancer Center Amsterdam, Netherlands). Towards consolidation of mutation-driven cancer progression and drug pharmacokinetics for combination therapies
- 10:00 - 12:40
Scientific Sessions - Working Group 1 (Chairs: Aida Hajdarpasic, Tatjana Mitrovic)
- 10:00 - 10:40
WG1
Thomas Booth (King's College London) - External validation of AI model for GBM survival prediction (GRASP 2); Tatiana Novikova (Ecole Polytechnique) - Polarized light imaging of brain
- 10:40 - 11:10
WG1
Philipp Tsvetkov (Institut de Neurophysiopathologie); Short talk: Nuno Saraiva (CBIOS, Lusofona)
- 11:10 - 11:20
WG1 Discussion
- 11:20 - 12:40
Working Group 2 (Chairs: Helene Castel, Carla Vitorino)
Martine Lamfers (Erasmus MC); Gaetano Gargiulo (MDC); short talks: Nathalie Jurisch-Yaksi (NTNU); Anuja Lipsa (LIH)
- 12:40 - 13:40
Lunch
- 13:40 - 14:10
Keynote Lecture
Guohua Dai (Northeastern University, USA). Bioengineered perfused human brain microvasculature to model brain tumor and neurodegenerative diseases
- 14:10 - 15:30
Working Group 3 (Chairs: Tugba Bagci-Onder, Yasin Kaymaz)
Bozena Kaminska (Nencki Institute); Sevin Turcan (Heidelberg); short talks: Kemal Yelekci, Ebru Kocakaya; Sponsor talk: Generoa
- 15:30 - 16:40
Poster Session (Group 1) & Coffee
- After 17:00
Bosphorus Tour
Day 3 - Wednesday, 3 June
Scientific programme & Closing Day
- 09:00 - 09:30
Keynote Lecture
Omer Bayraktar (Wellcome Sanger Institute, UK). Mapping the rules of glioblastoma using single cell and spatial genomics
- 09:30 - 10:50
Working Group 4 - Math & Computational Modelling (Chairs: Milana Frenkel-Morgenstern, Claudio Angol)
Claudio Angolithe (Teesside University); Elies Fuster-Garcia (UPV); short talks: Burcu Bakir Guro; Jose Antonio Romero
- 10:50 - 11:50
Poster Session (Group 2) & Coffee
- 11:50 - 13:10
Working Group 5 - Clinical Treatment (Chair: Alkinoos Athanasiou)
Panagiota Foka (CERN); Aleksander Stepanovic (Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia); short talks: Alkinoos Athanasiou, Serghei Sprincilian
- 13:10 - 13:30
Dissemination (WG6)
Terezia Kiskova-Simkova; Aylin Toplu-Hocaoglu
- 13:30 - 13:40
Closing Remarks
Xinzhong Li
- After 14:30
Historical Istanbul Tour (Guided)
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