Leaders in Cancer Epigenetics Share Knowledge and Advance Cancer Care
The 6th Biennial Miami Epigenetics and Cancer Symposium attracted a global roster of epigenetics experts to discuss the field’s emerging developments.
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, a part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, hosted the 6th Biennial Miami Epigenetics and Cancer Symposium earlier this year.
The cancer center began hosting the two-day symposium in 2014, when Sylvester Director Stephen D. Nimer, M.D., recruited epigenetics researcher Ramin Shiekhattar, Ph.D., to develop the cancer center’s epigenetics program. Today, Drs. Shiekhattar and Nimer co-organize the event, which has evolved into a global platform for sharing the latest in cancer epigenetics.
Sylvester’s experts joined speakers from Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Max Plank Institute, the University of Oxford and other cancer centers. Together, they presented and discussed cancer epigenetics, which is the study of how behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect whether genes are turned on or off. In the case of cancer, epigenetic alterations can increase cancer risk.

Epigenetic researchers are playing an important role in novel advances in cancer research and care, according to Dr. Nimer, also Oscar de la Renta Endowed Chair in Cancer Research, executive dean for research and professor of medicine, biochemistry and molecular biology at the Miller School.
“Our understanding of cancer epigenetics will further not only drug development but also personalized medicine,” Dr. Nimer said. “This symposium is helping to pave the way for research that translates to patient care.”
Where Epigenetics and Cancer Meet
The Miami Epigenetics and Cancer Symposium brings together outstanding colleagues who work at the interface of epigenetic mechanisms and cancer, according to Dr. Shiekhattar, professor of human genetics, chief of the Division of Cancer Genomics and Epigenetics and co-leader of the Cancer Epigenetics Program at Sylvester.
“Sessions focused on elucidating the epigenetic pathways in cancer cells that could be targeted therapeutically to inhibit tumor growth and resistance,” Dr. Shiekhattar said. “Since a key aspect of cancer occurrence is related to an individual’s age and lifestyle, the conference also encompasses speakers who study cancer metabolism and the role of aging in cancer.”

“Gathering brilliant minds reinforced the transformative potential of our work. By unlocking the complexities of gene regulation, we edge closer to breakthroughs that will redefine how we understand and treat cancer,” said Danny Reinberg, M.S., Ph.D., Sylvester researcher, Distinguished Professor in the John T. MacDonald Department of Human Genetics and Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and associate director for faculty training and recruitment at the Miller School.
Cancer Epigenetics Highlights
Epigenetic deregulation is a hallmark of cancer, according to Maria “Ken” Figueroa, M.D., Sylvester’s associate director for translational research and professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Miller School.
“This year, national and international leaders in the field shared cutting-edge science, uncovering novel mechanisms in cancer initiation and maintenance and their implications for the development of novel therapeutic approaches,” Dr. Figueroa said.
Luisa Cimmino, Ph.D., member of the Cancer Epigenetics Program and assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Miller School, said luminary panelists presented recent novel discoveries ranging from the role of RNA, chromatin and spatial organization of the genome in cancer biology.

David Lombard, M.D., Ph.D., co-leader of Sylvester’s Cancer Epigenetics Program and clinical professor and vice chair of clinical and translational research, said metabolism is “an enormously complex and very old field in biology, which is the sum of all biochemical reactions taking place in cells, tissues and the organism overall.”
The field of metabolism, Dr. Lombard said, has been rejuvenated thanks to the advent of new technologies and by the realization that metabolism is highly relevant to cancer.
“Cancer cells reprogram their metabolism to allow for unrestricted growth, and this reprogramming may provide new therapeutic opportunities,” Dr. Lombard said. “Metabolism is especially relevant to epigenetics since all of the epigenetic marks that we study are ultimately derived from metabolite precursors, which are products of cellular metabolism.”
While Sylvester is a pioneer in its commitment to cancer epigenetics research, Dr. Nimer said, “There are many in our field who are making important discoveries and, like us, are eager to share and collaborate. We created this symposium in the hopes that the world’s experts in this field would gather here to share what they know, and that hope has been realized.”
Tags: cancer epigenetics, Dr. Danny Reinberg, Dr. David Lombard, Dr. Luisa Cimmino, Dr. Maria Figueroa, Dr. Ramin Shiekhattar, Dr. Stephen Nimer, epigenetics, Sylverster Comprehensive Cancer Center