The 3rd Beijing Conference on Cell Science of 2021 Zhongguancun Forum Series Activities was successfully held!

The world's top scientists talked about the latest advances in precision oncology

On March 25, 2021, the 2021 Zhongguancun Forum and Beijing International Academic Exchange Season Series Activities-2021 "Beijing Conference on Cell Science" co-sponsored by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Science and Technology, the Management Committee of Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park and the internationally renowned academic publishing institution Cell Press was officially opened. Xu Qiang, Secretary of the Municipal Commission of Science and Technology, Party Committee of the Zhongguancun Management Committee, and Director of the Municipal Commission of Science and Technology, and Li Tongyin, Senior Vice President of Elsevier Global and Editor-in-Chief of Cell Press Journal Immunization, delivered an opening speech; Carl June, tenured professor of Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Jennifer Wargo, professor of MD Anderson Cancer Center, delivered a keynote speech.

In recent years, cancer and oncology research has developed. For more and more cancer patients, life extension and cure have become achievable. The accumulation of multidisciplinary knowledge such as immunology, molecular evolution, computational biology and artificial intelligence has been integrated into cancer research and applied to the clinical diagnosis and treatment of tumors. The personalized treatment that maximizes the clinical effect has become the essence of precision oncology.

The conference was organized by Dr. Mao Yuntao, the editor-in-chief of the journal Cancel Cell under Cell Press, and Dr. Tan Jiaying, the senior editor of Cell and the director of strategy and cooperation in Greater China of Cell Press, as the academic organizers, with the theme of "Precision Oncology: Progress, Challenges and Commitments". 18 top scholars in the field of precision oncology research from 7 countries were invited to discuss important topics such as diagnosis and prognosis, tumor immunology, cancer evolution, and clinical trial design and plan a blueprint for the better response to the health problem of cancer. The conference was held online and was simultaneously broadcast live on the official platform of Cell Press, Sina.com, Sina Weibo, Bilibili and Zhongguancun Forum official website for two consecutive days. The total number of views for live event exceeded one million.

At the opening ceremony, Xu Qiang pointed out in his speech: "The brand activity of the Beijing Conference on Cell Science has been successfully held for two sessions so far. Through the international top-level resource network of the Cell magazine, it is linked with the world’s best and most active academic resources for the best scientists to gather together to exchange and learn from each other and enlighten each other, providing a new platform for strengthening international scientific and technological cooperation and jointly coping with scientific challenges in the future. Beijing is making every effort to promote the construction of an international science and technology innovation center. We will create the more international, market-oriented, and rule-of-law innovation environment with more open mind and the concept of win-win cooperation, and actively promote academic exchanges and international cooperation in various fields and jointly draw up a new blueprint for the world's scientific and technological innovation with like-minded scientists and friends. "

Li Tongyin said: "Cell Press is much honored to continue to cooperate with the Beijing Municipal Commission of Science and Technology. As the two sides have cooperated for three years, we jointly hold another annual major academic conference this time. Although the shadow of COVID-19 still looms over the world, we must not forget that cancer is the second most deadly disease in the world today. This academic conference focused on ‘progress, challenges and promises in precision oncology’ and invited 18 top cancer scientists from all over the world to discuss how to overcome chronic diseases of cancer and share the most advanced scientific research results in this field. Our vision is that the concept of "international cooperation to vigorously promote scientific development" can be further implemented through this conference."

In the keynote speech session, Carl June shared with the audience "the latest developments in CAR and TCR T cell therapy".

Jennifer Wargo shared "the role of tumors and the gut microbiome in cancer".

The subsequent academic report focused on three themes of diagnosis and prognosis, tumor immunology and transformation, and cancer evolution and clinical trial design.

Scholars from Harvard University, Stanford University, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, QIMR Berghofer Institute of Medicine in Australia, Peter McCallum Cancer Center, and the University of Lausanne in Switzerland introduced artificial intelligence in tumor imaging, application of circulating tumor DNA analysis in personalized cancer detection and monitoring, refinement of disease status under PD-1 blocking therapy, immunooncology and transformation of neoadjuvant immunotherapy for high risk resectable cancer and breast cancer.

Professor Zhang Zemin from Peking University Biomedical Frontier Innovation Center introduced "Comparative Analysis of Various Cancer Tumor Immune Microenvironments", Professor Wu Chen from Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences introduced "Molecular and Cellular Dynamic Changes in Multi-step Cancer Development", Professor Shao Zhimin, director of Institute of Cancer and Breast Cancer, Fudan University, shared the "precision treatment of triple-negative breast cancer", and Professor Xu Ruihua, director of the Cancer Center of Sun Yat-sen University, shared "the current status and future of clinical trials on cancer in China".

In the round-table discussion session, Chinese scholars discussed "the unique challenges and prospects of cancer research and treatment in China". The "Beijing Conference on Cell Science" was held for the first time in 2019. It is an important activity of the "Frontier Science Innovation Cooperation Program", a strategic cooperation project between Cell Press and the Beijing Municipal Commission of Science and Technology. The plan was launched in November 2018. The two parties cooperated to organize multi-level academic activities, jointly create a high-end academic exchange mechanism, strengthen international cooperation and exchanges around the development trend of cutting-edge technology, and provide strong support for the development of Beijing into a world-class science and innovation center. Cell Press will make use of the high-quality content resources of its journals, high influence in the international academic community and rich experience in in organizing academic activities to vigorously promote this cooperation plan to achieve fruitful results. From this year, "Beijing Conference on Cell Science" will also be officially included in the "Zhongguancun Forum" activity framework. Zhongguancun Forum activities are in various forms with rich contents throughout the year. The home event will be arranged in the fall with the themes of development trend of science and technology, and national strategy. World-renowned experts, scholars, entrepreneurs, investors, international organizations and representatives of top academic institutions will be invited to meet online and offline to exchange ideas and discuss cooperation and innovation.