20th International
p53 Workshop
Toronto, Canada
April 27 - May 1, 2026
(updated: 2026-01-28)
20th INTERNATIONAL p53 WORKSHOP
WORKSHOP PROGRAM
SickKids Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning, Toronto, ON
April 27- May 1, 2026
Rooms: Gallery, Event Rooms 2a/2b (second floor) and Event Rooms 3a/3b (third Floor)
Registration: 7:00 am to 5:00 pm- April 28-30
| Monday, April 27, 2026 | ||
| 3:00 – 6:00pm | Registration | |
| 6:00 - 9:00 pm | Welcome Reception | 22nd Floor Patient Support Centre, Hospital for Sick Children |
| Tuesday, April 28, 2026 | ||
| 7:00 – 8:30am | Sign in and Breakfast | PGRL Gallery |
| 8:30 – 9:15 | Introductory remarks and welcome | Org Committee Chairs + Chiefs of Research (SK, UHN, MSH) |
| Session 1: A tribute to Pierre Hainaut- 9:15-11:30- Moderator: TBD | ||
| Emilie Montellier | Determinants of Phenotypic Variability in the Li-Fraumeni Syndrome. | University of Grenoble Alpes |
| Arnold Levine | The role of the Diversity box and the P2 promoter in Dense Associative Memory of gene expression. | Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton |
| Christian Kratz | Research Update from the Li-Fraumeni Syndrome Registry in Germany. | University of Hannover |
| David Malkin | Exploring the complex relationship of p53 and Li-Fraumeni Syndrome: Translating Discovery Science into the Clinic. | The Hospital for Sick Children |
| 11:30-1:00 | Lunch | PGRL Gallery |
| Session 2: p53 and the Dark Genome-1:00-3:15- Moderator: TBD | ||
| Kathleen Burns | Transposable elements and tumor suppressor genes. | Dana-Farber Cancer Institute |
| John Abrams | p53 Biology Meets Jumping Genes. | UT Southwester Medical Center |
| Andrei Gudkov | TBD | Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center |
| Martin Fischer | Genome regulation by p53. | Fritz Lipmann Institute |
| Raul Rabadan | Illuminating the Dark Cancer Genome using Foundation Models. | Columbia University |
| 3:15-4:15 | Break | PGRL Gallery |
| Session 3: p53 and Cancer Evolution- 4:15-5:45- Moderator: TBD | ||
| Gigi Lozano | Mutant p53 proteins in tumor evolution and dissemination. | MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| Scott Lowe | Mimicking p53 for cancer therapy. | Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center |
| Giannino Del Sal | Mutant p53 and the Mechanics of Tumor Adaptation: Metabolic, Nuclear, and Immune Interfaces. | University of Trieste, ICGEB, and IFOM |
| Fritz Vollrath | Elephants in our Room. | Oxford University |
| END OF DAY 1 | ||
| Wednesday, April 29, 2026 | ||
| 7:00 – 8:00 am | Breakfast | PGRL Gallery |
| Session 4: Targeting p53- 8:00-10:15- Moderator: TBD | ||
| Kanaga Sabapathy | p53 as a target for cancer prevention and therapy. | Nanyang Technological University |
| Galina Selivanova | p53, inflammation and microbiome. | Karolinska Institute |
| Klas Wiman | Novel strategies for targeting missense and nonsense mutant TP53 in cancer. | Karolinska Institute |
| Andreas Strasser | Which attributes of mutant p53 proteins should be targeted for cancer therapy? | Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research |
| Shelley Berger | Epigenetic pathways as targets in human cancer. | Unniversity of Pennsylvania |
| 10:15-11:15 | Break | PGRL Gallery |
| Session 5: p53 Interception and prevention- 11:15-1:00- Moderator: TBD | ||
| Bowen Li | Development of programmable mRNA nanomedicines for precision cancer immunotherapy. | University of Toronto |
| Jason Berman | Zebrafish Models: Illuminating Cancer Prevention Pathways in p53-Mediated Tumors. | University of Ottawa |
| Vinod Balachandran | RNA vaccines for Pancreatic cancer. | Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center |
| Sarah Blagden | Learning from LungVax, is now the time for LFS-Vax? | Oxford University |
| Session 6: Presentations from Proffered Abstracts- 1:00-1:45- Moderator: TBD | ||
| 1:45-2:30 | Lunch | PGRL Gallery |
| POSTER SESSION #1- 2:30-4:00pm | ||
| Session 7: p53, Immunity and Autoimmunity- 4:00-6:00pm- Moderator: TBD | ||
| Xin Liu | P53, EBV and p53 autoantibodies. | Oxford University |
| Trevor Pugh | Cell-free DNA for early detection of cancer and immune responses in Li-Fraumeni Syndrome. | Ontario Institute for Cancer Research |
| Moshe Oren | p53 regulates histone modifications to promote mature luminal identity . | Weizmann Institute of Science |
| Benjamin Greenbaum | Evolutionary and immune trade-offs yield vulnerabilities for p53. | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center |
| Uri Tabori | The role of TP53 mutations in tumor initiation, progression and immune response of replication repair deficient cancers. | The Hospital for Sick Children |
| END OF DAY 2 | ||
| SOCIAL EVENT- WORKSHOP-WIDE DINNER | ||
| Thursday, April 30, 2026 | ||
| 7:00 – 8:30 am | Breakfast | PGRL Gallery |
| Session 8: p53 Structure and Function (Wildtype and Mutant)- 8:30-10:15am- Moderator: TBD | ||
| Carol Prives (Keynote talk) | Structural and functional studies of wild-type and mutant p53 proteins. | Columbia University |
| Ran Kafri | Preventing the onset of cancers in Li Fraumeni Syndrome. | The Hospital for Sick Children |
| Jim Manfredi | Transcriptional regulation by wild-type and mutant p53. | Mount Sinai School of Medicine |
| Wei Gu | Understanding the complexity of p53-mediated activities in tumor suppression. | Columbia University |
| 10:15-10:45 | Break | PGRL Gallery |
| Session 9: p53 and Cell Cycle Disruption- 10:45-12:15- Moderator: TBD | ||
| Andrei Budanov | Sestrins in the regulation of different types of cell death. | Trinity College Dublin |
| Francis Barr | Integrating mitotic checkpoint activation with p53-dependent cell cycle arrest. | Oxford University |
| Galit Lahav | p53 Dynamics and Decision Making in Single Cells. | Harvard University |
| Karen Oegma | The mitotic stopwatch intersects with basal p53 activation to control cell proliferation. | University of California- San Diego |
| 12:15-1:30 | Lunch | PGRL Gallery |
| POSTER SESSION #2- 1:30-3:00pm | ||
| Session 10: Presentations from Proffered Abstracts- 3:00-3:45 Moderator: TBD | ||
| Session 11: p53 and Genomic Instability I- 3:45-5:00- Moderator: TBD | ||
| Batsheva Kerem | Hypertranscription caused by P53 deficiency triggers nucleotide insufficiency that induces replication stress and genomic instability. | Hebrew University |
| Daniel Schramek | Systematic identification of novel intrinsic and extrinsic regulators of wild-type and mutant p53 stability. | Lunenfeld Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital |
| David Kirsch | p53 regulates metabolism to maintain chromosomal stability. | Princess Margaret Cancer Centre |
| Session 12: p53 and Genomic Instability II- 5:00-6:00- Moderator: TBD | ||
| Laura Attardi | Deciphering how p53 governs cell state transitions in cancer and injury repair. | Stanford University |
| Gerry Melino | TBD | University of Tor Vergata |
| END OF DAY 3 | ||
| SOCIAL EVENT- SPEAKER DINNER | ||
| Friday, May 1, 2026 | ||
| 7:00 – 8:30 am | Breakfast | PGRL Gallery |
| Session 13: p53 Partners and Interactors- 8:30-10:45- Moderator: TBD | ||
| Maureen Murphy | Making a dumb protein smart: PADI4 citrullinates p53 to enhance tumor suppression. | The Wistar Institute |
| Tomer Cooks | Out of the cell: extracellular p53-based interactions. | Ben-Gurion University |
| David Lane | Regulation of the p53 pathway by CDK inhibition, splicing and transcription. | Karolinska Institute |
| Jean-Christophe Bourdon | What is p53? A Discussion Comparing the Single-Protein Model and the Multi-Isoform Model. | The University of Dundee |
| Giovanni Blandino | TP53 mutations and cancer resistance. | Regina Elena National Cancer Institute |
| 10:45-11:15 | Break | PGRL Gallery |
| Session 14: p53 and MDM2- 11:15-12:05- Moderator: TBD | ||
| Christine Eischen | Bi-functional MDM2 degrader increases efficacy against mutant p53 cancer. | Thomas Jefferson University |
| Matthias Dobbelstein | Regulator and effector of p53 – the expanding role of MDM2. | University Medical Center Göttingen |
| Session 15: p53 in the clinic- 12:05-1:00- Moderator: TBD | ||
| Kara Maxwell | P53 hypomorphs - from biology to clinical practice in adults. | University of Pennsylvania |
| Judy Garber | Clinical Updates from the LiFT UP Project. | Dana-Farber Cancer Institute |
| POSTER AWARDS CEREMONY AND CLOSING REMARKS (1:00-1:30) | ||