Joint Berlin – Jerusalem Symposium for Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology – 2026

Join us for the first Joint Berlin-Jerusalem Symposium – 24 to 26 June 2026 in Berlin

Dear friends and colleagues,

We are delighted to invite you to the first Berlin-Jerusalem Symposium to be held in Berlin on 24 to 26 June 2026, focusing on clinical oncology and cancer research. This meeting will bring together leading clinicians and researchers from renowned institutions in Berlin and Jerusalem - Charité – Universitätsmedizin, Max Delbrück Center, Hadassah Medical Center and Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 

With confirmed attendance of heads of oncology departments and deans of faculty of medicine from the respective institutions, this three-day symposium will provide an opportunity to present cutting edge research, foster future collaborations, inspire the next generation of clinicians and researchers and reflect on our shared historical responsibility. We invite you to share your research and play an active role in shaping this strategic partnership!”!

We Look forward to seeing you all!

General Information

• Date: 24 to 26 June 2026
• Place: Max Delbrück Center - Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (MDC-BIMSB), Hannoversche Str. 28, 10115 Berlin.
• Audience: Senior researchers and clinicians as well those in early-stage career (graduate students, Ph.D. students, postdocs, junior group leaders, young attending clinicians, and oncology residents in training) from respective institutions - Charité – Universitätsmedizin, Max Delbrück Center, BSIO, Hadassah Medical Center and Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
• Registration – Free! – including participation, formal reception and historical tour of Charité and Berlin! Numbers of participants are limited due to organizational constraints, priority will be given to participants who present their research
• Support for travel and accommodation - will be provided for early-stage researchers and clinicians who will submit abstract and be selected to present their work.

• Prizes - will be awarded for best presentations by early-stage researchers and clinicians.

Registration and Abstract Submission

Registration and Abstract Submission are open. Please submit your abstract until March 25.

Keynote Lectures

Prof Yinon Ben-Neriah

 

Prof Polina Stepensky 

 

Prof Antonia Busse

 

Prof Thomas Blankenstein

© T-knife

 

Prof Eli Pikarsky 

Prof Carlos Caldas

 

Dr Anna von Villiez

Prof Hovav Nechushtan 

Prof Yehudit Bergman

and Prof Nikolaus Rajewsky

© Pablo Castagnola

Important Dates

• Abstract submission deadline – 25 - March 2026
• Registration deadline – 25 - April 2026
• Notification for accepted abstracts and travel support – 01 – May -2026 

Program

Day 1 – Scientific Exchange #1 – 24.6.26

• 8:30 – Registration
• 9:00 – Opening Remarks
• 9:15 – Opening Lecture – Prof. Eli Pikarsky (Hadassah-HUJI)
• 9:45 – Keynote lecture – Prof. Nikolas Rajewsky (MDC)
• 10:30 - Coffee break
• 11:00 – Pearls - Precision and Targeted Cancer Therapy - Prof. Antonia Busse (MDC-Charite)
• 11:30 - Session #1 – Precision and Targeted Cancer Therapy

Chairs – Prof. Aron Popovtzer (Hadassah-HUJI) and Prof. Sebastian Stintzing (Charite)

1. HUJI-Hadassah – Prof. Joel Yisraely - Developing small molecule inhibitors of IGF2BP1 as targeted cancer therapy
2. MDC-Charite – Martin Klatt - Identification of sequence-specific trogocytosis induced by TCR-based bispecific drugs
3. HUJI-Hadassah – Joshua Moss - Cell Free DNA Methylation Profiles for Real-Time Monitoring of Cancer Treatment
4. MDC-Charite – Merve Alp - Proteomic insights into HPV-specific drug sensitivities in HNSCC patient derived xenografts
5. HUJI-Hadassah – Luriano Peters - Targeting transcriptional addiction in acute myeloid leukemia

• 13:15 – Lunch + Poster Display
• 14:00 – Pearls – Immuno-oncology – Prof. Thomas Blankenstein (MDC)
• 14:30 - Pearls – Immuno-oncology – Prof. Polina Stepensky (HUJI-Hadassah)
• 15:00 – Session #2 – Immuno-oncology

Chairs – Prof. Michal Lotem (Hadassah-HUJI) and Prof. Gerald Willimsky (MDC-Charite)

1. HUJI-Hadassah - Prof. Lior Nissim - Synthetic biology platforms for cancer therapy
2. MDC-Charite - Benjamin Ostendorf - A pre-effector T cell state elicited by LXR agonism to promote anti-tumor immunity
3. HUJI-Hadassah - Shiri Klein - Next-Generation NY-ESO-1 TCR-T Therapy (HBI-0201 ESO TCR-T) Demonstrates Enhanced Functionality and Early Clinical Activity in Refractory Solid Tumors
4. MDC-Charite - Tzu-Jiun Kuo - The T cell precursor frequency determines the immunogenicity of cancer neoantigens
5. HUJI-Hadassah - Ori Stern - Engineering FAS splicing to enhance T cell persistence and antitumor activity
6. MDC-Charite – Jeyan Jayarajan - CD38 expression on T cells in patients with B cell malignancies is a potential biomarker for CAR-T manufacturing failures

• 17:00 - Flash talk poster session along with drinks and snacks
   Chair - Prof. Johannes Huppa (MDC-Charite) 

Day 2– Scientific Exchange #2 – 25.6.26

• 8:30 - Pearls – Cancer Biology - Prof. Yehudit Bergman (HUJI-Hadassah)
• 9:00 – Session #3 - Tumor Microenvironment, Metastasis and Cancer Biology

Chairs – Prof. Ittai ben-Porath (HUJI) and Prof. Uta Höpken (MDC)

1. HUJI- Hadassah – Yuval Malka - RNA dicing promotes the expression of an oncogenic JAK1 isoform
2. MDC-Charite – Inmaculada Martínez-Reyes - Metabolic vulnerabilities and targetable antigens in senescence-associated cancer therapy resistance
3. HUJI-Hadassah - Kumar Vikash - G6PD deficiency drives a mitochondrial lipid catabolism dependency and confers ferroptosis vulnerability in cancer
4. MDC-Charite – Tancredi Massimo Pentimalli - Tumors in 4D: targeting TME remodeling in space and time
5. HUJI-Hadassah – Dana Tseitline - Characterizing smoking-induced mutagenesis in cell lines and human lung tissues using error-corrected sequencing
6. MDC-Charite – Marta Faro Craveiro Nogueira - Unravelling immune surveillance against mouse neoantigens in a sporadic cancer model

• 11:00 – Coffee Break
• 11:30 – Keynote lecture – Prof. Carlos Caldas (Hadassah-HUJI)
• 12:15 – Pearls – Patients Centered Care – Prof. Hovav Nechushtan (Hadassah-HUJI)
• 12:45 - Session #4 – Patient Centered Care

Chairs – Prof. Yakir Rottenberg (Hadassah-HUJI) and Dr. Johann Ahn (Charite)

1. HUJI-Hadassah - Yael Berner-Wygoda - Clinical Impact and Sociodemographic Disparities of Breast Cancer Screening Program in Older Women
2. MDC-Charite – Johnn Ahn – Insight in palliative care in oncology and hematology
3. HUJI-Hadassah - Talia Alster- The Right Not to Know in Oncology: Ethical and Cultural Challenges in Multicultural Care
4. MDC-Charite – Karl Haller - Feasibility of a Digital Group Intervention during Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation: Findings from the CONNECT Study

• 13:45 – Lunch + Poster display
• 14:30 – Pearls - Genomics, Omics, and Data-Driven Oncology – Prof. Yuval Tabach
• 15:00 - Session #5 – Genomics, Omics, and Data-Driven Oncology

Chairs – Prof. Yuval Dor (HUJI) and Prof. Sebastian Ochsenreither (Charite)

1. HUJI-Hadassah – Prof. Ben Berman - Oxford Nanopore as a new tool in the liquid biopsy toolbox
2. MDC – Charite – Dana Ishay Ronen - Spatially resolved multi-omics reveals tumor niche vulnerabilities computationally predicting patient-specific actionable targets
3. HUJI-Hadassah – Noa Klugman - How Strong Is Your Driver? Machine Learning and Structural Features Predict Driver Mutation Strength and Clinical Outcome
4. MDC-Charite – Cao Zhong Jing Jin - Integrative molecular risk assessment of pre-malignant lesions on clinical resection samples for pancreatic neoplasia
5. HUJI-Hadassah - Matan Lotem - Non-invasive monitoring of adoptive T-cell therapy dynamics using cell-free ChIP-seq

• 16:45 – Organization and bus to formal reception
• 17:30 – Formal reception and dinner (for invitees only):
  • Greetings: Henry Marx, State Secretary for Science and Research MDC- Charite and Hadassah-HUJI management
  • Keynote lecture - Prof Yinon Ben-Neriah (HUJI)

Day 3 – Historical and Ethical Perspectives – 26.6.26

• 9:00 – Keynote Lecture - Dr Anna von Villiez - ”Status: It’s complicated. The relationship of German and Israeli medicine in contemporary history”
• 10:00 - Coffee Break
• 10:30 – Tour of GeDenkOrte Charite – Lydia Stötzer Geschäftsführung GeDenkOrt.Charité

Wissenschaft in Verantwortung Geschäftsstelle des Vorstands Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin

• 12:30 – Lunch and final remark
• 13:30 - Guided tour of the Charite Berlin Museum of Medical History (registration required)

Posters 

Precision and Targeted Cancer Therapy 

1. HUJI-Hadassah – Tehila Gershon - Exploring the anti-tumor effect of the IGF2BP1 inhibitor, AVJ16
2. MDC-Charite – Katharina Klein - Analysis of tumor mutational burden in oncogene-addicted non-small cell lung cancer
3. HUJI-Hadassah – Eliya goldberger - Competitive Targeting of the FLI1 Oligomerization Interface
4. MDC-Charite – Anna Kotarac - Unraveling causes of drug resistance in BRAFV600E Colorectal Cancer using single-cell mRNA sequencing of preclinical models
5. HUJI-Hadassah – Sivan Izraely - Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Guided Identification of Novel Potentially Targetable Genetic Vulnerabilities in Pediatric Brain Tumors

 Immuno-oncology - Poster Area B

1. HUJI-Hadassah – Shay Tzaban - RNA Splicing Dynamics in CD8 T Cells Offer New Avenues for Cancer Immunotherapy
   1. MDC-Charite – Xuemei Wen - Identification and characterization of T-cell receptors specific for neoantigens generated by nonstop extension mutations
   2. HUJI-Hadassah -Hodaya Komemi-Tzadok - A Translational Pipeline for Discovery and Validation of mKRAS-Specific TCRs in Treatment-Naive Cancer Patients
   3. MDC-Charite –Maria Villoro-Agud - Uncovering Metabolism-Mediated Mechanisms of Cancer Immune Evasion
   4. HUJI-Hadassah - Esti Porush - Addition of Entinostat to Dual Immune Checkpoint Blockade Enhances Antigen-Specific CD8⁺ T-Cell Immunity in an Immunogenic Orthotopic Lung Cancer Model

Tumor Microenvironment, Metastasis and Cancer Biology 

1. MDC-Charite – Svea Beier - Decoding early malignant transitions in nevus-associated melanoma in space and time
2. HUJI-Hadassah – Itai Mizrahi - NetCellSig: A Framework for Resolving Rare Cell States in Single-Cell RNA Sequencing
3. MDC-Charite – Martina Bouka - Investigating the effect of Inflammatory Proteins on Mortality Among People with Colorectal-Cancer: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study Using the OLINK Target 96 Pane
4. HUJI-Hadassah – Noa Omer Vilk - Diagnosis and Prediction of Precursor States in Multiple Myeloma using Cell-free Chromatin
5. MDC – Charite - Lushan Peng - ACSL4-mediated lipid metabolism is required for therapy- and oncogene inactivation–induced senescence

Genomics and Omics 

1. HUJI-Hadassah - Ella Frenkel - Modeling the dynamics of gene activation and chromatin modifications in heterogeneous samples
2. MDC – Charite – Kaixin Huang- CellSonar: A statistical framework for analyzing spatial relationships between cell types in tissue
3. HUJI-Hadassah - Myriam Maoz - Rapid, Point-of Care Sarcoma Classification and Tumor Microenvironment characterization Based on molecular Landscape
4. MDC – Charite – Yieng Jiang - Multi-omic profiling of the tumor microenvironment reveals determinants of immunotherapy resistance in bladder cancer
5. MDC- Charite - Estefania Isay Martínez Acosta - (Phospho)proteomics Profiling of RAS Pathway Alterations in Multiple Myeloma
6. HUJI-Hadassah - Mercedes Bentata - Chromatin architecture disruption rewires alternative splicing in IDH-mutant glioma
7. MDC – Charite – Shamim Dashti Gohari - Investigation of signal transduction and proteome alterations in neuroblastoma