28/04/2023

4th Rhein-Main Cancer Retreat (RMCR)

Exchange and networking between the disciplines of basic and translational cancer research was again the focus of the 4th Rhein-Main Cancer Retreat (RMCR) on March 16 and 17, 2023.

This year, the research networks German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), partner site Frankfurt/Mainz, LOEWE-Zentrum Frankfurt Cancer Institute (FCI) as well as Mildred-Scheel-Nachwuchszentrum (MSNZ) Frankfurt am Main invited to the joint retreat at the Center for Communication in Glashütten.

The agenda included eight sessions with exciting lectures covering the focus topics of the major research areas, which were accompanied by two poster sessions. In addition to lecture sessions on the Priority Areas of the DKTK partner site Frankfurt/Mainz with the topics Data-driven Health Science & Bioinformatics, Molecular Diagnostics and Proteogenomics, Experimental Therapy and Drug Development and Mechanistic Cancer Research and Cancer Immunology, the FCI's cross-sectional programs on Brain Tumors, Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Gastrointestinal Oncology and Metastasis in Cancer were represented. In addition to researchers from the Rhein-Main area, Nils Blüthgen (Berlin), Florian Scherer (Freiburg), and Almut Schulze (Heidelberg) and Jens Siveke (Essen/Düsseldorf) as guest lecturers from other DKTK sites were also part of the program.

After the organizers successfully hosted a hybrid format in 2021 due to the pandemic, this year's event was again held purely as a face-to-face event. More than 180 participants took the opportunity to learn and exchange information about the current state of translational cancer research in the Rhein-Main region. Already on the day before the retreat, a Young Scientist Meeting for the young researchers of the MSNZ and the DKTK School of Oncology took place. Here, Michael Kühn, Emmy Noether Junior Research Group Leader at the University Medical Center Mainz, presented his experiences with a postdoc abroad and encouraged all participants to take advantage of opportunities to expand their own horizons. The meeting was complemented by a career workshop and a joint networking dinner, which resulted in many new contacts that were further intensified in the following days at the retreat.