• 18:00 - 19:00
• Bristol-Myers Squibb Lecture Theatre

The maintenance of oxygen homeostasis is a key physiological challenge, inadequate oxygen (hypoxia) being a major component of most human diseases. The lecture will trace insights into human oxygen homeostasis from the founding work of William Harvey on the circulation of the blood to the molecular elucidation of a system of oxygen sensing that functions to measure oxygen levels in cells and control adaptive responses to hypoxia. The lecture will outline how the oxygen sensitive signal is generated by a set of ‘oxygen splitting’ enzymes that modify a transcription factor (HIF) to signal for its degradation (and hence inactivation).  It will attempt to illustrate and rationalise the unexpected in biological discovery and discuss the interface of discovery science with the development of medical therapeutics.

Please Note: This lecture will NOT be recorded and is an in-person lecture only. 

• 18:00 - 19:00
• Bristol-Myers Squibb Lecture Theatre

The human brain sets us apart as a species, yet how it develops and functions differently to that of other mammals is still largely unclear. This also makes it difficult to understand how disorders of the brain arise, and therefore how to treat them. To understand such a complex organ, we have developed cerebral organoids, or brain organoids, 3D brain tissues made from stem cells that mimic the fetal brain. Such organoids are allowing us to tackle questions previously impossible with more traditional approaches. Indeed, our recent findings provide insight into various factors that influence the developing brain, and how the human brain becomes so uniquely large enabling our special cognitive abilities. 
 

• 09:00 - 17:15
• Cambridge University Engineering Department

Recent advances in the sciences underpinning medicine, and their translation to clinical impact, are transforming our ability to understand and treat human diseases. This one-day meeting will explore emerging areas in which the convergence of fundamental science and translational opportunities promises to shape the futures of medicine.

Cambridge University Engineering Department. Constance Tipper Lecture Theatre.

Programme

09.00-09.15 Introduction to meeting

09.15-10.15 Serena Nik-Zainal, Professor of Genomic Medicine and Bioinformatics, Department of Medical Genetics, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge - The contribution of genomics to precision medicine

10.15-11.15 Shyni Varghese, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Orthopaedics, Duke University, USA - Tissue engineering

11.15-11.45 Morning Coffee

11.45- 12.45 Jan Hoeijmakers, Department of Molecular Genetics, Erasmus University, Rotterdam and Cologne, Princess Maxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Oncode, Utrecht, both in the Netherlands and the CECAD, Cologne, Germany - DNA damage, cancer and aging, the unexpected impact of nutrition on medicine

12.45-13.45 Lunch

13.45-14.45 Paul Workman, Former CEO and President of the Institute of Cancer (ICR), London, Harrap Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery, ICR – Transforming small molecule cancer drug discovery for precision medicine

14.45-15.45 Iain Buchan, W.H. Duncan Chair in Public Health Systems, Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for Innovation, Public Health, Policy & Systems, University of Liverpool  – How might artificial intelligence augment population health?

15.45-16.15 Afternoon Tea  

16.15- 17.15 Alessio Ciulli, Professor of Chemical and Structural Biology and Director of the Centre for Targeted Protein Degradation, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee - Proximity-inducing modalities in drug discovery: Protein degraders and beyond

17.15     Closing remarks