The 2026 Aging & Cancer Symposium - hosted by the Samuel Waxman Institute for Aging & Cancer, The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, and The Jackson Laboratory - will convene more than 50 leading scientists and clinicians from around the world to advance one of the most urgent frontiers in medicine.
By bringing together experts in oncology, aging biology, immunology, metabolism, artificial intelligence, geriatric medicine, and translational research, the two-day conference will accelerate discoveries designed to measure an individual's aging and cancer risk, redefining cancer prevention, enabling earlier interventions, and transforming treatment for an aging world.
Corina Amor Vegas, M.D., Ph.D., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Engineering CAR T-cell therapies to eliminate senescent cells
Olga Anczukow-Camarda, Ph.D., The Jackson Laboratory
Alternative splicing programs in age-associated breast cancer
Darren Baker, Ph.D., M.S., Mayo Clinic
Functional consequences and therapeutic targeting of senescent cells in cancer
Junyue Cao, Ph.D., Rockefeller University
Single-cell dynamics of tissue aging and cancer susceptibility
Vadim N. Gladyshev, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School / Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Multi-omics aging signatures and biological clocks for cancer risk stratification
Ana P. Gomes, Ph.D., Moffitt Cancer Center
Age-driven metabolic and microenvironmental cues that fuel tumor progression
Vera Gorbunova, Ph.D., University of Rochester
Longevity mechanisms and cancer resistance across species
Marcia Haigis, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School
Mitochondrial metabolism at the nexus of aging, immunity, and cancer
Steve Horvath, Ph.D., UCLA
Epigenetic clocks as tools to quantify biological aging in cancer
George Kuchel, M.D., UConn Health
Geroscience, frailty, and resilience in cancer care
Ross Levine, M.D., Memorial Sloan Kettering
Clonal hematopoiesis and the path to myeloid malignancy
Sheila Stewart, Ph.D., Washington University
Stromal senescence and age-related cancer progression
Tuomas Tammela, M.D., Ph.D., Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Cell-state plasticity and inflammatory progenitors in aging-associated lung cancer
Duygu Ucar, Ph.D., The Jackson Laboratory
Epigenomic circuits of immunosenescence across the lifespan
Nicolas Vabret, Ph.D., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
LINE-1 sensing, innate immunity, and immune aging
Peter Van Galen, Ph.D., Harvard
Single-cell views of hematopoietic stem cell aging and leukemia evolution
Amit Verma, M.B.B.S., Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Aging, clonal hematopoiesis, and myelodysplastic syndromes
Junhao Wen, Ph.D., Columbia University
Multi-organ age gaps and disease risk
A. Phillip West, Ph.D., The Jackson Laboratory
Mitochondrial stress, innate immune sensing, and inflammaging
Tony Wyss-Coray, Ph.D., Stanford University
Proteomic clocks and circulating factors linking systemic aging to cancer risk
Ömer Yilmaz, M.D., Ph.D., MIT / Massachusetts General Hospital
Diet, stem cells, and intestinal regeneration in aging-associated colorectal cancer
Daniel J. Zabransky, M.D., Ph.D., Johns Hopkins
Fibroblasts in the aged pancreas: tumor progression and treatment resistance
Marinka Zitnik, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School
AI and predicting cancer immunotherapy responses
