Amity Institute of Molecular Medicine & Stem Cell Research (AIMMSCR), Amity University Uttar Pradesh, has organized a four-day highly prestigious International India-EMBO(European Molecular Biology Organization) Lecture Course titled: “Tumour metabolism: Current understanding and opportunities for novel drug discovery” from 28-31 March 2023, in hybrid mode. 

Cancer is the second leading cause of deaths worldwide. Despite significant advances in medicine, there are still many issues that must be addressed to improve cancer therapy. Cancerous cells present a unique metabolic behaviour that is universal to all cancer cell types. Because of this, cancer cells demand more nutrients than the healthy cells and quickly adapt and reprogram their glucose metabolism to meet their bioenergetic and biosynthetic requirements for their cancerous growth and survival. A key to developing novel and effective cancer therapies is to tackle this complex metabolic ecosystem within the tumour microenvironment.

Addressing the gathering during the Inaugural Session, Chief Guest, Prof. Jacques Pouyssegur, CNRS Research Director, Nice, France, Member, EMBO, averred, “This particular course will propel the advancement of cancer research and provide a huge opportunity to the PhD scholars to attain immense knowledge and learning which will improve their research work.” He also delivered a Keynote Lecture on the topic “Glycolysis controls tumour growth, bacterial, viral infections, and immunity – Genetic deconstruction and therapeutic perspectives.” The key finding of his lecture was that future glycolysis inhibitors will have great impact to control tumour growth as well as pathogens infections.

Sharing the way ahead and road map of future, Dr. Ashok K. Chauhan, Founder President, Amity Education Group, stated, “This is a highly prestigious lecture course for Amity since it focuses on quality research and its outcome which will result in Novel Drug Discovery for Cancer. Innovation and research is the key focus area at Amity and the participation by so many expert speakers in this Conference shows their commitment to work tirelessly in the area of cancer research. The conference will be a great value addition to the knowledge of the researchers and with the synergy of brains, India will achieve remarkable growth in the area of scientific research.” 

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. (Dr.) Balvinder Shukla, Vice Chancellor, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, said, “Cancer is the second leading cause of deaths in the country despite the technological advancement in this field. European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is one of the most prestigious organizations in Europe comprising more than 1900 leading researchers promoting research excellence in life sciences in Europe and beyond.  With eminent scientists and researchers from Netherlands, France, Germany, Japan and many other countries, the conference will provide ample opportunities to the researchers to publish their research papers for future advancement of cancer research in the country.”

Highlighting the significance of the Conference, Prof. B.C. Das, Chairman, Amity Institute of Molecular Medicine and Stem Cell Research, said, “Cancer has overtaken cardio-vascular diseases in causing the maximum number of deaths. It has become a serious problem of the world and India is becoming the cancer capital of the world. Cancer is a genetic disease, and the Conference aims to find solutions to the problem by deliberating upon novel drug discovery for cancer and facilitate greater research collaborations and networking, knowledge sharing, and deliberations allowing for newer advances in the field of tumour metabolism to develop effective cancer therapies.”

Prof. Marina Kreutz, Co-Organizer, opined, “Tumor Metabolism is an extremely important area of research since there is no drug currently available to cure the same. It is still a major challenge to find novel drugs and the Conference will promote an exchange of ideas between the participants, which will enable them to discover novel drugs for cancer.”

Welcoming the guests, Dr. Vinit Kumar, Organizer of the conference, said, “This India EMBO Lecture Course will bring together eminent researchers and experts across diverse disciplines of cancer and molecular biology, structural biology, bioinformatics, medicinal chemistry and drug discovery, to share and discuss the recent advances, challenges, and opportunities in the field of tumour metabolism and discovery of metabolism to medicine. It also highlights the role of AI and ML in the area of Cancer Research, which are playing an important role in many other fields too.”

As many as 138 participants, 28 expert speakers, researchers and clinicians from different countries including the USA, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium, Russia, China, Japan, and India will participate in the India- EMBO lecture course. Some of the eminent experts in the field include Prof. Heather Christof, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, US, Prof. Michael Lisanti, University of Salford, UK, Prof. Jacques Pouyssegur, CNRS France, Prof. Sarah-Maria Fendt, Belgium and Prof. Marina Kreutz, University Hospital Regensburg, Germany, who will share their recent discoveries and advances in the field of cancer therapy. In addition, various insightful sessions on topics such as “Monocarboxylate Transporter (MCT) and their clinical significance”, “Metabolic regulation of the spatial architecture of signalling cascades”, “Transfer of mitochondria from astrocytes drives glioblastoma tumorigenicity”, “Lactate Metabolism in triple negative breast cancer” and “Preclinical development of new molecules”, will also be conducted amongst others during the four-day Conference.