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If you're after cutting-edge science in an historic and easy to access location, look no further than Abcam's upcoming Immunochemotherapy: Correcting Immune Escape in Cancer conference, March 10-11, 2011 in Philadelphia, USA. Recently, we had a chance to chat with Dr George Prendergast (Lankenau Institute for Medical Research), the conference chair who was kind enough to share some of his insight as to why this is an Abcam event that is not to be missed.

What sparked your passion for science?

I always had a major interest in science. I was one of those kids who played with a chemistry set, a microscope, a telescope, all those kinds of 'toys'. In college, my long term interest in biology was sparked by the discovery of Watson's text The Molecular Biology of the Gene, which I happened to come across in a girlfriend's dorm room. That book was a lightning bolt, it put me on the path to a career in research as a cancer biologist.

What were your motivations to organize a conference on Immunochemotherapy: Correcting Immune Escape in Cancer?

To bring together cancer immunologists with cancer genetics-oriented biologists and pharmacologists who are interested in driving their ideas beyond mere academic knowledge into therapeutic impact. Until quite recently, immunologists were almost completely separated – often excluded, really – from the mainstream of the field dominated by cancer genetics. While still largely foreign to each other, a remarriage is occurring, mainly due to an explosion of interest in the role of the inflammatory microenvironment in cancer. The motivation for the meeting is the desire to translate this interest therapeutically, bringing together groups formerly separated into what is one of the exciting interfaces in the field today, offering radically new ideas with the potential to achieve cancer cures.

What makes this meeting stand apart from other related meetings?

Few other meetings seek to bring together the two groups I mention above, and virtually none intermix investigators who are actively involved in therapeutics development.

How did you first connect with Abcam and come to chair this conference?

I was a postdoc in Ed Ziff's laboratory at NYU in the late 80s along with one of the founders of Abcam, Cambridge professor Tony Kouzarides, so I have known of the company from its earliest days. Like all scientists, I am always interested in innovators and innovative organizations like Tony and Abcam, so I've stayed in touch and kept track.

What new and exciting developments may we hear more of at the meeting?

There are many because this is a fast moving field. Some notable developments are in the concept that to be effective chemotherapy must successfully engage the immune system to attack tumor cells; the molecular identity of the immune barriers naturally erected by tumors, and how they can be defeated by drug, biologic, and vaccine treatment combinations; and the mechanistic basis for combining cancer drugs with vaccines, which older theories of cancer actively had actually discouraged rather than rationalized.

We have a great line up of international speakers for the conference, including key figures from the pharmaceutical industry. Is there any particular topic or speaker you are looking forward to hear from?

I expect all these speakers to present exciting new findings. From my own interests, I will be very interested in findings that relate to the question how local immune suppression in cancer may be propagated systemically to permit metastatic spread. Since this is the stage where cancer turns most deadly, it is also where incisive new therapeutic insights could be most important.

Who do you think would be most interested in this meeting?

I would think there would be broad appeal to learn about or keep abreast of one of the most exciting areas of cancer research. These include basic researchers interested in not only discovery knowledge but also therapeutic impact; clinical researchers, who seek to improve practical approaches to cancer treatment; students and postdocs who want to engage a little-explored interface between fields, where big new ideas, discoveries, inventions, and applications often emerge.

If you would like to meet Dr Prendergast, along with many other top cancer and immunology researchers, registration is still open or better yet, if you're interested in presenting a poster, poster abstracts are being accepted until January 16, 2011.

Check out the full speaker list and talk titles.

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