This website is associated with the Center for Evolution and Cancer (CEC) within the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, at the University of California, San Francisco.

Evolutionary Medicine Conference: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Human Health and Disease

July 30 – August 1, 2015
Institute of Evolutionary Medicine (IEM)
University of Zurich, Switzerland
This international conference will bring together distinguished keynote speakers as well as experts from different research areas (including medicine, anthropology, molecular/evolutionary biology, paleopathology, archaeology, epidemiology, and other fields) to debate the evolutionary origins of diseases and on how the knowledge of the past informs the present and the future. Furthermore, the specific implications of interdisciplinary research in the understanding and management of human health issues will be addressed. All abstracts for mini-symposia, oral and poster presentations will be reviewed by a scientific committee and - when accepted - published. The best student abstract will be awarded a prize by the scientific committee. Students can also apply for a competitive travel grant.
Confirmed Keynote Speakers
    Harald zur Hausen, 2008 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, German Cancer                 Research Center, Heidelberg, GER
    Gillian Bentley, Durham University, UK
    Paul W. Ewald, University of Louisville, USA
    Maciej Henneberg, University of Adelaide, AUS
    Ruth Mace, University College London, UK
    Randolph Nesse, Arizona State University, USA
    Stephen Stearns, Yale University, USA
    Wenda Trevathan, New Mexico State University, USA

The International Society for Evolution, Medicine & Public Health Inaugural Meeting 

Thursday, March 19, 2015 - Saturday, March 21, 2015
Center for Evolution & Medicine
Arizona State University
Tempe, Arizona, United States
This meeting will bring together scientists, scholars, teachers, clinicians, and students in the evolution and medicine community to share ideas and create new connections that will advance the field. Students and interested clinicians are especially welcome.
Plenary Speakers
Harvey Fineberg, Institute of Medicine
Stephen Stearns, Yale University
Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, UCLA
Sir Peter Gluckman, University of Auckland
Ann Demogines, (Omenn Award Winner) BioFire Diagnostics
Ruslan Medzhitov, Yale



Jacques Monod Conference – “Ecological and Evolutionary Perspectives in Cancer” - Roscoff (Brittany), France, November 2-6, 2013

Registration is now open
Cancer is a disease of opportunity, associated with clonal evolution, expansion and competition within the body. Specifically, somatic cellular selection and evolution are the fundamental processes leading to malignancy, metastasis and resistance to therapies. The Jacques Monod Conference “Ecological and Evolutionary Perspectives in Cancer” aims to promote this emerging discipline by addressing some of the most important questions about cancerogenesis. The conference will cover 3 themes:
    Interspecific patterns and processes
    Progression
    Therapies
The first theme will address the observation that infectious agents can cause cancers. Persistent infections may promote cancer because long-term host defensive responses induce inflammation that subsequently increases mutation rates. Why human defensive mechanisms have not evolved to more efficiently control or eliminate invasive cell lineages, and why do some species with more somatic tissue show less than expected incidences of cancer? The second theme will evaluate the role of the tumor environment and natural selection in explaining cancer progression. To what extent are different cancers predictable and what are the key contributing variables? The third theme will tackle the daunting challenge of employing evolutionary theories to improve cancer therapies. It will seek how preventative, curative and management therapies can be improved and even optimized to slow or stop the emergence of resistance to chemotherapies.

Please note that participation at this conference is not limited to research on carcinogenesis: we will consider applications from scientists with affinities towards the themes of the conference, and working on related topics from ecology and the evolutionary sciences, including social evolution, evolution of multicellularity, resistance management, evolutionary medicine of diseases, and species invasions.
Jacques Monod Conferences organized by CNRS, are known for the high scientific quality of the talks and discussions, in a relaxed atmosphere.
Invited speakers:
AKTIPIS Athena (San Francisco, USA)
BEERENWINKEL Nico (Basel, Switzerland)
CICCARELLI Francesca (Milano, Italy)
CLAIRAMBAULT Jean (Paris, France)
CRESPI Bernard (Burnaby, Canada)
DELHOMMEAU François (Paris, France)
EWALD Paul (Louisville, USA)
FRIDMAN Hervé (Paris, France)
GATENBY Robert (Tampa, USA)
HAREL-BELLAN Annick (Gif-sur-Yvette, France)
HENG Henry (Detroit, USA)
HIBNER Urszula (Montpellier, France)
HOCHBERG Michael (Montpellier, France)
MAINI Philip (Oxford, United Kingdom)
MALEY Carlo (San Francisco, USA)
MORENO Eduardo (Bern, Switzerland)
OLIVIERI Isabelle (Montpellier, France)
PACHECO Jorge (Braga, Portugal)
PEPPER John (Bethesda, USA)
QUINTANA-MURCI Lluis (Paris, France)
RADMAN Miroslav (Paris,France)
SAVAGE Philip (London, United Kingdom)
SOLÉ Ricard (Barcelona, Spain)
SPROUFFSKE Kathleen (Zurich, Switzerland)
STRATTON Michael (Cambridge, United Kingdom)
THOMAS Frédéric (Montpellier, France)
TLSTY Thea (San Francisco, USA)
TOMLINSON Ian (Oxford, United Kingdom)
WEITZMAN Jonathan (Paris, France)
ZUR HAUSEN Harald, Nobel Prize in Medicine (Heidelberg, Germany)
Deadline for registration : August 1st, 2013
Registration fee (includes lodging, meals and conference banquet)
400 € for PhD students
520 € for other participants
Application for registration
The total number of participants is limited to 115 and all participants are expected to attend for the whole duration of the conference. Scientists and PhD Students interested in the meeting should send:
- their curriculum vitae
- the list of their main publications for the 3 last years
- the abstract of their presentation
to the Chairperson of the conference ( mhochber@univ-montp2.fr) before August 1st.  Except in some particular cases approved by the Chairperson, it is recommended that all selected participants present their work during the conference, either in poster form or by a brief in- session talk. The organizers choose the form in which the presentations are made. No payment will be sent with the application. Information on how and when to pay will be mailed in due time to those selected.


The Second International Biannual Evolution and Cancer Conference (IBECC 2013) - From Unicellularity to Multicellularity and Back Again

The Center for Evolution and Cancer (CEC) and the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California San Francisco will host the Second International Biannual Evolution and Cancer Conference (IBECC), June 12-16, 2013. IBECC brings together cancer researchers, clinicians, evolutionary biologists and social scientists from across the world to address the applications of evolutionary thinking to cancer research and treatment.  The theme of the 2013 conference is “From Unicellularity to Multicellularity and Back Again.”

The two foci are: 1) cancer suppression in the evolution of multicellularity and 2) applying insights from the evolution of unicellular organisms to the study of cancer. 

IBECC 2013 will feature Keynote Speaker Mel Greaves and a special performance by Baba Brinkman of “The Rap Guide to Evolution.”

REGISTRATION (click here; Registration for IBECC 2013 is being hosted through UCSF Continuing Medical Education (CME). All participants should register via that site, regardless of whether or not you will be requesting CME credit):

Before May 10th: Regular - $250; Student/Postdoc - $125

After May 10th: Regular - $500; Student/Postdoc - $300

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION (posters only)

Before May 10th (register first) - to submit, click here:

Notification of acceptance: May 20th

TRAVEL FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES:
The Company of Biologists Travel Grants: deadline: March 31st
Canadian Cancer Society Travel Awards for Senior level PhD Students: deadline Aprli 1st

NESCent support for under-represented minorites; for US-based scientists or US citizens (contact IBECC2013 organizers)

For more more information go to http://cancer.ucsf.edu/evolution/conference-2013






The First International Evolution and Cancer Conference

The First International Biennial Evolution and Cancer Conference (IBECC) was held at the Unversity of California, San Francisco, June 3-5, 2011.
Click here for the program.

Below please find a list of downloadable PDF versions of some of the talks presented at ECC2011:


Contact

for questions and suggestions contact AUrora Nedelcu at anedelcu@unb.ca