We are proud to have successfully concluded the CutCancer Final Conference held on 22–23 October at the National Institute of Biology in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Under the theme “Shaping Tomorrow: Innovative Approaches in Genetic Toxicology and Cancer Research”, the event brought together leading scientists, collaborators, and stakeholders for two days of inspiring exchange.
🔬 The scientific programme covered a broad spectrum of cancer research topics, including next-generation tools in genetic toxicology, the complexity of the tumour microenvironment, and strategies for combinational treatments to fight aggressive cancers.
Special thanks to our keynote speakers: Prof. Gareth Jenkins (Swansea University) talked about the importance of multi-endpoint approaches in the development of methodologies for carcinogenicity & Prof. Mats Nilsson (Stockholm University) shed light on in situ transcriptomics to map cells, molecules, and genetic variance across tumor samples.
And to our invited speakers for their inspiring talks covering advanced genotoxicity testing and models, combinational treatments for resistant cancers, novel biomarkers and targeting the tumor microenvironment: Marc Audebert (INRAE TOXALIM), Gillian C. (Swansea University), Marta Sendra Vega (National Institute of Biology, Spanish National Research Council), Febe van Maldegem (Amsterdam UMC), Skoblar Marija (Institute of Oncology Ljubljana), Ernesto Marcos López (Standard BioTools), Andrej Porčnik (UMC Ljubljana) & Tadeja Režen (University of Ljubljana).
🧠 A key moment of the conference was the round table titled “Collaborative Microenvironments in Cancer Research”, which brought together diverse perspectives from science, clinical practice, and patient advocacy. We thank our insightful panelists: Tanja Španic (Europa Donna Slovenija), Maja Čemazar (Institute of Oncology Ljubljana), Febe van Maldegem (Amsterdam UMC), and Barbara Breznik (National Institute of Biology) for sharing their experiences and ideas on how to strengthen interdisciplinary and collaboration in cancer research.
📌 The NIB reception and poster session provided a vibrant space for young researchers to showcase their work and connect with peers.
👏 We also celebrated the achievements of the CutCancer project through short talks and reflections by Matjaž Novak, Tim Ravnjak, Tina Kolenc Milavec, Simona Katrin Galun, Bojana Žegura, Barbara Breznik, Alja Štern, Metka Novak and Jure Vindišar.
🙏 A heartfelt thank you to our Scientific and Local Organizing Committees, and to everyone who contributed to making this event a success.
🤝 We extend our sincere thanks to all our sponsors and supporters who helped make this event possible: Mediline Slovenia, Omega d.o.o., Labormed, Miltenyi Biotec, Kefo d.o.o., Sanolabor, d. d., Avantor, Kemomed, d.o.o. (Slovenia), SciNote – Electronic Lab Notebook, Ljubljana Tourism.
A special thank you to Standard BioTools for their engaging presentation and contribution to the scientific programme.
