Last week, over 300 researchers from around the world joined us in Antwerp (and virtually) for the second edition of Recent Insights into Immuno-Oncology. This two-day conference served as a landmark forum for stimulating discussions and interaction among participants, researchers, healthcare professionals, and experts in the rapidly evolving field of immuno-oncology.
The attendees were treated to inspiring lectures and the opportunity to forge new connections. The packed program included research leaders such as Maria Casanova-Acebes, Ido Amit, George Coukos, Sherly Mardiana, and many more.
We asked OC member Patrizia Agostinis what her impressions were of the event:
The 2nd edition of Recent Insights into Immuno-Oncology was a big success, beyond our expectations! The science was spectacular, all invited speakers shared the most recent molecular and translational results of their labs, which stimulated inspiring discussions during the sessions and at the breaks. Poster sessions were very refreshing and well-attended, and the organization was impeccable. In all, we had a wonderful and inspiring meeting!
Speaker Ilaria Malanchi (Francis Crick Institute, UK) highlighted the interaction:
I found that the engagement was good as there were a lot of people asking questions. There was a lot of out-of-the-box thinking in the questions from all kinds of perspectives.
Speaker George Coukos (CHUV Lausanne University Hospital, CH) added:
The conference is of an outstanding level. The presentations have been really great, and there has been a lot of unpublished data, which is important. I've also met a lot of interesting junior scientists.
Conference Reporters' Insights: highlights and impressions
We had three conference reporters who covered the meeting on social media: Laurien Van Dyck (VIB Grand Challenges portfolio manager), Marie-Pauline Orban (Mazzone Lab, VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology), and Ria Pinioti (Agostinis Lab, VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology). Here are their impressions of the event.
Laurien: "The second edition of #ImmunoOnco24 was definitely a success! The quality of the speakers, the excellent line-up, and the diverse audience made this conference a must-attend. I personally also very much enjoyed this two-day deep-dive into my 'old' field (the field of my PhD).
The conference provided an extensive overview of where the immuno-onco field is going and which new research topics are being explored. My personal highlights were Marleen Kok's talk on T-cell dynamics during immunotherapy treatment, as she not only focussed on the exciting scientific results but also mentioned the impact on the patient. Next, Ido Amit presented a series of highly impressive discoveries ranging from generative AI to DCs and a novel technology for temporal immune cell tracking, which was mind-blowing.
Finally, the last session on translational research was right up my alley, as this is exactly what we're aiming for in our VIB Grand Challenges Program. Next to these scientific highlights, I loved the numerous opportunities to talk to (ex-)colleagues and collaborators. See you next edition!"
Marie-Pauline: This year’s edition of the ImmunoOnco conference reunited great speakers from all over the world. We were welcomed in a beautiful venue in Antwerp where we could really enjoy networking with fellow researchers while taking a coffee and a piece of cake.
The talk of Mathias Wenes was a great kick-off for the conference as he talked us through metabolic alterations in T cells that could improve CAR-T therapies. His work is really promising for the future of this therapeutic strategy. On the other hand, John Werry inspired me to think differently about exhausted T cells, as they are maybe not so useless after all! With the right stimuli those cells can be reinvigorated improving the current immunotherapies. But thanks to Maria Casanova-Acebes’ talk, we learned that not only the stimuli one gives to the cells matter but also when you give it. Her research on circadian rhythm was tremendously fascinating. In line with this, Karin de Visser and Ilaria Malanchi showed very interesting results on the impact of a tumor on the status of progenitors cells in the bone marrow. In the future, this might be an important factor to consider when developing new anti-metastatic therapies. For sure, the showed research will have a great impact in cancer therapy development, and it was really nice to get such a high quality update in the immune-onco field.
But a conference is not complete without a poster session, which were of great quality and presented by a lot of talented young scientists. A nice opportunity to create a network outside the lab! Altogether, those two days were rich of novel science and it will be amazing to see all those stories come out in literature in the coming years!
Ria: [ImmunoOnco24 was] an excellent conference with great speakers in the field gathered to discuss all the updates, shared new and unpublished data and give feedback to new researchers. The venue of the conference was perfect and the coffee break was a great chance to exchange ideas and set up future collaborations.
In particular, I would like to highlight some talks that inspired me a lot. Sherly Mardiana from Carisma Therapeutics gave an excellent talk on the development CAR-macrophages and how they are used to reprogram the tumor microenvironment in solid tumors. CAR-M serial killers seem to be a very useful tool for targeted therapy. Maria Themeli shared with us her deep expertise in CAR T cells and new ways to create better and more efficient CAR-T cell structures, inspiring many questions and discussion on the topic. Another great talk in my opinion was the one of Michael Pittet on the complexity of intra-tumoral myeloid cell states. By analyzing some components of the tumor microenvironment, we can understand what is happening in the other ones. The poster sessions were super interesting, giving the opportunity to the young researchers to share their work with the speakers.
In general, the conference was a great chance to follow all the updates in the field of Immuno-Oncology, important breakthroughs that will hopefully speed up the development of more efficient treatments for the cancer patients. Looking forward to attend the ImmunoOnco Conference of the next year!
You can find their posts by checking out #ImmunoOnco24 on X and LinkedIn.
A poster session brimming with inspiring data and vibrant discussions
During the poster sessions, upcoming scientists had the chance to present their own research. These 93 poster presenters also competed for the coveted Nature Reviews Cancer poster prize. The conference audience voted Yoline Lauwers of VUB, BE, the best poster presenter. She posed that imaging of immune cells inside the tumor microenvironment could predict the patient’s response to immunotherapy.
If you want a snapshot of what was presented, make sure to check out the poster pitches which were recorded during the conference. You can find the pitches on X here:
- Mercedes Machuca-Ostos
- Jennifer Bolsée
- Tirta (Mario) Djajawi
- Marie Thorp
- Stijn De Munter
- Thomas van den Brekel
Final words and looking forward to next year
After 2 intense days of inspiring presentations, thought-provoking discussions, and new friends, the final words were for OC member Gabriele Bergers, who closed the meeting saying:
I hope you agree it's been a fantastic conference. There was so much interaction and discussion. Of course this would not have been possible without these fantastic talks and poster presentations we had, with these marvellous stories we listened to. Thank you to all the attendees and speakers. And stay tuned for the big Immunity conference of next year.
Here's a photo impression of the meeting. To find out more about this conference, visit the conference website below.
