Conference Summary
American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2008
April 12-16, 2008, San Diego, California

Jan Egan
PhD Candidate
Cancer Biology GIDP

The conference I attended was the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting held in San Diego, California from April 12 – 16. This is a very large meeting of cancer researchers from all over the world who are studying many different facets of cancer from basic science to epidemiology. Due to the large nature of this event poster sessions were held concurrently with plenary, symposia and mini-symposia sessions.

I presented my poster titled, “Vitamin D and APC Modulate Molecular Crosstalk between β-catenin/Wnt Signaling and the Vitamin D Receptor in Colon Cancer Cells” on the afternoon of April 13. There was a fairly steady stream of interested individuals ranging from “just curious” to those who have worked extensively in the area of VDR and Vitamin D. I really enjoyed sharing the results of my project with others and fielding their thoughtful comments and questions. Many of the questions asked were questions that our lab has also raised as we have analyzed our data. There were also questions raised that we had not considered and that would be good to keep in mind as we prepare to submit for additional funding and determine what direction to take this project next.

In addition to presenting my own poster I found visiting others’ posters and interacting with them about their work and methods to be time well spent. I was able to meet others doing similar work to myself as well as expand my network of contacts. The presenters of the other posters were very happy to share their experiences and expertise as well as provide their contact information should I have questions later. Meeting people from many different universities who utilize different methods to answer a question allowed me to broaden my thought process about how to address some of the challenges our lab has faced with my project.

Due to the large nature of this conference there was an abundance of lectures to attend. I was able to attend everything from plenary lectures giving updates on large clinical trials to basic science lectures. The diversity of topics at this conference was amazing and I enjoyed being able to attend such varied topics which would not be available at a smaller meeting. The mini-symposia I enjoyed the most was about dietary patterns and cancer. Since part of my project is looking not only at genetic variation, but the potential contribution of environmental factors, such as diet, this symposia provided me with a lot to think about and consider for our upcoming analysis.

In conclusion, attending the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting benefited me in several ways. First, it allowed me to share my work with others and receive feedback from them. Second, I was able to interact with other poster presenters to not only learn new approaches to answering a question, but also to expand my network of contacts working in the same area as myself. Finally, the lectures were helpful in providing me with a variety of topics to expand my knowledge and understanding in cancer research.