IRIC Launches its Scientific Program with an International Symposium on Cancer

Montreal, May 22, 2006 – The Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) is pleased to launch its scientific program on Thursday, May 25, with the presentation of a major symposium entitled Towards New Horizons in Cancer Therapy.

The event, which will take place at IRIC, in the Marcelle-Coutu Pavilion at Université de Montréal, constitutes an exceptional opportunity to bring together members of the international research community to discuss the most promising approaches in cancer control.

Leading figures in biomedical research will participate in the symposium. Some will speak about the latest discoveries in cancer research and others will present their vision of the conditions required for the biomedical community to deliver research breakthroughs that translate into effective cancer control. Guest speakers include:

» MICHAEL WOSNICK, Executive Director, National Cancer Institute of Canada
» DREW PARDOLL, Co-Director, Cancer Immunology and Hematopoiesis Program, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center
» HANS CLEVERS, Director, Netherlands Institute for Developmental Biology
» ALAN BERNSTEIN, President, Canadian Institutes of Health Research
» ALAIN BEAUDET, President and Chief Executive Officer, Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec
» RUDOLF JAENISCH, Founding Member, Whitehead Institute and Professor of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
» GERALD M. RUBIN, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Vice President and Director, Janelia Farm Research Campus

IRIC will also take the opportunity to present its scientific program, which reflects a vision that is both eclectic and synergistic. Based on a fully integrated research approach, IRIC investigators use an array of model organisms and highly sophisticated core facilities to confront a common problem: cancer.

The symposium Towards New Horizons in Cancer Therapy will take place on Thursday, May 25, 2006 from 8:15 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., in Auditorium S1-151 at IRIC, in the Marcelle-Coutu Pavilion, 2950 chemin de Polytechnique, on the Université de Montréal campus. Admission is free but registration is mandatory as seating is limited. Information and registration: 514 343.6111 extension 0633.

Acknowledgements
IRIC wishes to thank the Institute of Cancer Research/Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the Gouvernement du Québec, the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec and Genome Quebec for their continuing support.

The symposium made possible thanks to our generous sponsors: ABI Applied Biosystems ? BD Biosciences ? Beckman Coulter ? IBM ? Micro 2200 ? Novartis ? Steris Canada. IRIC also thanks Agilent, Thermo Electron North, America, Varian et VWR for their support.

About IRIC
IRIC is a systems biology based cross-disciplinary research centre dedicated to immunology and cancer. It is led by a group of internationally-recognized scientists and engages in ambitious collaborations involving complementary fields of expertise to tackle some of the greatest obstacles to human health. IRIC opened its doors at the heart of the Université de Montréal campus in spring 2005 and is expected to double in size over the coming years, for a total of over 500 investigators, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and professionals by the end of the decade. For more information, visit our website at: iric.ca

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Contact:

Hélène Panaïoti
Director, Public Affairs and Scientific Advancement
Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer
514 343.7894
helene.panaioti@umontreal.ca