More than 200 scientists from 30 countries will converge on Trieste between 16-21 July to attend the Arturo Falaschi “DNA Tumour Virus Conference”, organised by the ICGEB.
“This is the eighth edition of the conference in Trieste”, affirms meeting Organiser Dr. Lawrence Banks, Head of the Tumour Virology lab and Director-General of the ICGEB since 2019. The event will be held at the historic Maritime Station Congress Centre located on the waterfront in the heart of the city of Trieste.
International researchers will meet to discuss the latest findings in DNA damage, virus-host interaction and tumour pathogenesis – the manner of development of the disease – and novel approaches for cancer therapeutics. Professor Matthew Weitzman from the University of Pennsylvania, USA, keynote speaker at the Conference, will present on the regulation of viral RNA and provide insights into novel cancer mechanisms.
The DNA Tumour Virus meeting takes place annually and is hosted, on rotation, in the USA, Canada, the UK, and Italy. Historically, some of the major breakthroughs in molecular and viral biology have been presented at the conference, including the discovery of RNA splicing. Oncosuppressors were first described at the 1st edition of the meeting, in 1979, including the discovery of p53. Additional discoveries have been presented in subsequent editions, such as the mechanisms regulating DNA transcription, the process that leads to RNA production, the first genome sequence of the SV40 virus (an oncogenic DNA virus) and cancer therapeutics, such as the very first description of a vaccine against the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).
The main sponsors of the Conference are Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd, a biotechnology company with headquarters in Pune, India, and the AIRC Foundation for Cancer Research.