Prevent 2026

Genetic predisposition and childhood leukemia:
from mechanism to prevention

Workshop: Prevent 2026

Date: September 25th, 2026

The recognition of host genetic factors underlying susceptibility to childhood leukemia has advanced considerably over the past decade. The age at which childhood leukemias manifest appears to correlate with distinct underlying biological pathways. The progression from carrying a deleterious germline variant to developing overt malignancy involves complex, multistep gene-environment interactions with key external triggers, such as infection and inflammatory stimuli, driving clonal progression.

Understanding the mechanisms by which predisposed clones transform under specific pressures may reveal strategies to better treat, and even prevent, hematopoietic malignancies from occurring.

The aim of this meeting is to discuss the knowns and unknowns and to define a long-term strategic research agenda towards a better understanding of the modifiable factors of childhood leukemia in order to prevent it.

Solving Cancer Newsweek Cover

Biological Pathways Overview

Immune Stress Diagram

Preliminary Program

Workshop: Prevent 2026
Date: September 25th, 2026

Leukemia Research
08:00 Registration
08:45 Opening presentation

Session 1: Genetic predisposition and childhood leukemia therapy

Chair: Manuel Ramírez-Orellana

09:00 Gianni Cazzaniga
University of Milano-Bicocca Tettamanti Center, IRCCS San Gerardo, Italy
09:30 Andishe Attarbaschi
How to treat children with AT or CMMRD with lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphoma St Anna Children’s Hospital, Medical University of Vienna
10:00 Olli Lohi
Chromosome 12p alterations shape drug sensitivity in ETV6::RUNX1 leukemia Tampere Center for Child, Adolescent, and Maternal Health Research, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
10:30 – 11:00   ☕ Coffee Break
11:00 Alejandro Vaquero
The SIRT7–PAX5 axis in B-ALL: linking B-cell identity, epigenetics and stress adaptation Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute (IJC), Barcelona (Spain)

Short talks selected for oral presentation

11:30 Biola M. Javierre Deciphering Genetic Susceptibility in B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Through a 3D Epigenetic Lens Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute (IJC), Badalona, Spain
Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Barcelona, Spain
11:45 Short talk selected from submitted abstracts

Session 2: Modifiable factors and childhood leukemia

Chair: Cesar Cobaleda

12:00 Janine-Alison Schmidt
BfS research program «Radiation Protection in the Process of Power Grid Expansion»: Childhood leukemia and magnetic fields Federal Office for Radiation Protection (Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz, BfS), Germany
12:30 Joachim Schüz Environmental causes of childhood leukaemia: what we know, what we don’t know International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France
13:00 Carolina Vicente-Dueñas
Etiologic Diversity in the Development of Distinct Molecular Subtypes of B-ALL Institute of Biomedical Research of Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain

Short talks selected for oral presentation

13:30 Short talk selected from abstracts
13:45 Short talk selected from abstracts
14:00 – 15:00   🍽️ Lunch and poster view

Session 3: From Genetic predisposition to Leukemia

Chair: Gianni Cazzaniga

15:00 Anindita Roy
Understanding the origins and evolution of preleukaemia in childhood ALL University of Oxford Department of Paediatrics
15:30 Gregor S. D. Reid
Infection-related modifiers of B-ALL progression University of British Columbia: Vancouver, BC, CA
16:30 Simon Haas
Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology, MDC Berlin-Mitte, Germany
17:00 Isidro Sanchez-Garcia Childhood leukemia latency: time for mechanistic cancer prevention? Cancer Research Center (CSIC-USAL), Salamanca (Spain)
Institute of Biomedical Research of Salamanca (IBSAL), Salamanca, Spain

Short talks selected for oral presentation

17:30 Davide Seruggia Dissection of cis and trans regulators defines regulatory logic of disease-associated sequence variation at IKZF1 St. Anna Children’s Cancer Research Institute (CCRI) / CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Vienna, Austria)
17:45 Short talk selected from abstracts
18:00 – 18:30   ☕ Coffee break

Looking forward – what to do next? (Round Table)

Time: 18:30 – 19:15

Chairs: Marta Puyol (Spanish Cancer Charity) and XXXXX (Italian Cancer Charity)

Participants:

  • Janine-Alison Schmidt
  • Gianni Cazzaniga
  • Joachim Schüz
  • Isidro Sanchez-Garcia

Registration

Please register via the following website:

Secure your spot

Registration closes on 30th June 2026

REGISTER NOW

It only takes 2 minutes.

Call for Abstracts

We invite abstracts (in English) for platform presentations.

Topics related to childhood leukemia development

Leukemia development and immunity

Inflammation and the bone marrow microenvironment

Genetics and epigenetics

Environmental risk factors (infections)

The best abstracts will be selected for oral presentations.

Submission deadline: 30th June 2026

Venue

Salón de Actos,
Edificio Central CSIC

Un entorno histórico y científico de excelencia en el corazón de Madrid.

ADDRESS

C. de Serrano, 117
Chamartín, 28006. Madrid

📍 View on Google Maps
Edificio Central CSIC Exterior
Interior CSIC Cajal

Organizers

Isidro Sánchez-García

Isidro Sánchez-García

Cancer Research Center
CSIC-USAL
Salamanca, Spain

César Cobaleda

César Cobaleda

Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CBMSO)
CSIC/UAM
Madrid

Manuel Ramírez-Orellana

Manuel Ramírez-Orellana

Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology
Hospital Infantil Universitario Niño Jesús, UAM
Madrid, Spain

Contact

Get in touch with the organizing committee

🔬

Scientific Contact

For inquiries regarding the program and abstracts:

Isidro Sánchez-García

isg@usal.es
📧

Administrative Contact

For registration, payments, and logistics:

prevent2026@usal.es
 

With the collaboration of

Sponsors