About ISCGT

Dear colleagues and friends,

 

I am delighted to report the success of our ISCGT 2008 China conference, held this past 19th -22nd September in Shijiazhuang, China.  This year’s conference was held in conjunction with the 5th Chinese Conference on Oncology and the 2nd China-Japan Conference on Tumor Interventional Therapy, which greatly increased its size and scope, and provided a highly exciting and broadly multi-disciplinary venue for presentations on the latest developments in molecular and cellular therapies and diagnostics for cancer in general, in the setting of the rapidly emerging biotech community of China.

 

It was particularly impressive and inspirational to see our ISCGT Past President, Professor Nagy Habib, give an overview of current trends and future directions in cell & gene therapy against cancer and an introduction to our society in the plenary session to the assemblage of 4000 oncologists from all over China, the first country in the world to approve clinical gene therapy products.

 

This was particularly striking in the context of seeing Nagy and our immediate Past President, Professor Farzin Farzaneh, share the stage with Dr. David Hill, the new President of the International Union Against Cancer (UICC), who spoke in the opening ceremony about the current challenges in the cancer field, as this showed how far we have come, both as a field and as a society, and how much there is still yet to do.

 

Another aspect that occurred to me during this meeting was that 4000 oncologists is actually not a large number for such a large country as China!!   As in many countries, I think that the emergence of Oncology as a distinct medical / surgical specialty must be a relatively new development.  Therefore it was especially gratifying to me to see that the audience coming to our cell therapy and gene therapy sessions had a high percentage of young doctors and students – who represent the future of cancer research in China.

 

Through the many outstanding talks presented at this conference, this audience was introduced to the many extremely exciting new developments in molecular diagnostics and target identification, oncolytic virotherapy, nanoparticle delivery, RNA interference and oligonucleotide therapeutics, and particularly in cancer immunotherapy, concomitant with increasing knowledge regarding the role of Tregs and immunotolerizing mechanisms activated by tumors.

 

Our society is notable for having, among its members, highly prominent researchers from each of these fields.  Another characteristic that is a wonderful attribute of our society is the commitment of its Executive Council members to supporting these conferences, which bring these leading researchers from countries all over the world to inform and inspire the local cancer research community.  This is particularly important for emerging research communities in host countries such as China, as it is often difficult for young investigators and students to go abroad to international conferences and hear cutting-edge research.

 

So I would also like to express my gratitude particularly to our Executive Council members who attended this conference, and I am especially grateful to have had the participation of so many of our Past Presidents (Professors Manfred Dietel, Nagy Habib, Kevin Scanlon, Andrew Miller, Jim Norris, Al Deisseroth, and Farzin Farzaneh), as well as past and current Presidents of ASGT (Professor Savio Woo), BSGT (Professor Len Seymour), and ESGT (Professor David Klatzmann), as well as the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (Professor Depei Liu).  In addition, we were particularly honored with the kind participation of Professor Mary Collins (a.k.a. Lady Hunt) and Professor Ron Crystal, who gave the final keynote talk of the conference, and Dr. Mark Tangney, who gave a wonderful introduction and invitation to next year’s ISCGT conference in Cork, Ireland.

 

I would also like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to the local organizers in Shijiazhuang, particularly Professor Shi-Jie Wang, Professor Bao-En Shan, Dr. Cao Pengyu, and Dr. He Yutong.  Needless to say, without their tireless and tremendous effort, this conference could not have been possible.  Furthermore, I would like to express my utmost gratitude to our immediate Past President, Professor Farzin Farzaneh, as well as Executive Council members Professor Depei Liu, Professor Yajun Guo, and Professor Masa Tagawa, for their invaluable contributions in organizing this conference, and also to Dr. Leonie Kaptein for organizing the special session on East-West Interactions.  Congratulations on the great success of all your efforts!!

 

Finally, I am delighted to welcome Professor Shi-Jie Wang and Professor Bao-En Shan as honorary members of ISCGT, and Professor Chae-Ok Yun from Korea as the newest member of our Executive Council.  I am also delighted to congratulate and welcome Professor Yajun Guo as our new Secretary-General, Professor David Klatzmann as our new Vice-President, and Professor Masa Tagawa as our new Vice-President-Elect.

 

I hope to see you all again for our next ISCGT 2009 conference to be held 3rd – 4th September 2009, in Cork, Ireland!!

 

All the best,

Nori