In its commitment to excellence in research, the Josep Carreras Institute convened an international symposium with the world’s most renowned researchers in the fields of leukaemia and lymphoma. On 20-22 November, more than 150 participants gathered together at the IJC headquarters to learn and discuss the latest updates in haematology research.

The programme included 18 keynote presentations, nine short talks, and more than 30 posters, gathering the status quo of current research in genetics and epigenetics of malignant hemopathies. The meeting was divided in six different sessions, covering the fields of stem cells, premalignancy, Immune Niches and Disorders, the research of myeloid neoplasms, acute leukaemia and lymphomas and the epigenetics and chromatin dynamics in haematological malignancies. The meeting was co-organized by the IJC Group Leaders Laura Belver, Anna Bigas, Marcus Buschbeck and Manel Esteller.

The IJC Symposium had exceptional panel of international speakers: Iannis Aifantis, New York University (NYU); Francesco Bertoni, Institute of Oncology Research (Ior); Anna Bigas, Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute (IJC) and Hospital del Mar Research Institute; Vincenzo Calvanese, Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute (IJC); Jan Cools, KU Leuven, Center for Human Genetics; Matteo Della Porta, Humanitas Cancer Center; Courtney DiNardo, MD Anderson; Manel Esteller, Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute (IJC); Florian H. Heidel, Hannover Medical School (MHH); Ross Levine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Institute; Ari Melnick, Weill Cornell Medicine; Michael Milsom, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ);Bruno Paiva, Cima Universidad de Navarra, Research Center (CIMA); Christoph Plass, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ); Alberto Orfao, University of Salamanca; Brigitte Schlegelberger, Hannover Medical School (MHH); Maria L. Toribio, Centro de Biología Molecular "Severo Ochoa" and George Vassiliou, Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute.

The nine amazing short talks were delivered by Michael Scherer, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ); Cristina Lopez-Rodriguez, Universitat Pompeu Fabra; Alessandra Ferrelli, The Francis Crick Institute; Andreas Lennartsson, Karolinska Institutet, Alba Maiques-Diaz, IDIBAPS; Ruslan Sadreyev, Massachusetts General Hospital; Alexander Waclawiczek, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ); Nuno R. dos Santos, i3S - Institute for Research and Innovation in Health - University of Porto and Wim Vanden Berghe, University of Antwerp.

All participants were invited to vote for their favourite posters to choose the awardees of the Molecular Oncology Poster Sessions Awards. The best posters were from Vincent Cuminetti, University I Oslo, Fatma Necmiye Kaci, Unviersity of Leeds; Aina Rill, from the Cellular systems genomics group of IJC and Marta Valverde from the Cancer Metabolism group of IJC.

The “Updates on Genetics and Epigenetics of Haematological Malignancies” Symposium received support from Ajuntament de Barcelona, CIBERONC, dD Biolab, Cultek, Bonsai Lab, BGI, Ecogen, Active Motif (Condalab), Macrogen, Mission Bio, Diagnóstica Longwood SL, HemaSphere and The Company of Biologist.