Harvard 41st Annual Critical Issues in Tumor Microenvironment 2026

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+ Target Audience: oncologists, cancer researchers, immunologists, primary care physicians

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41st Annual Critical Issues in Tumor Microenvironment: Angiogenesis, Metastasis, and Immunology
September 14, 2026 – September 17, 2026

Explore the latest breakthroughs in tumor microenvironment research, and engage in dynamic online lectures and discussions designed to identify critical knowledge gaps, advance translational research, and accelerate improvements in cancer treatment.

The “41st Annual Critical Issues in Tumor Microenvironment: Angiogenesis, Metastasis and Immunology” course, directed by Professor Rakesh K. Jain, will continue to offer the best in critical analysis of what is currently known about the tumor microenvironment, including lectures covering: angiogenesis, metastasis, immunology, metabolism, microbiome, chronobiology, carcinoma-associated fibroblasts, cancer-neuroscience, adoptive cell therapies including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells, and integrating physical sciences and AI in oncology. The faculty is internationally recognized. They will present the latest findings from their laboratories and clinics. The goal of this course is to highlight key gaps in present knowledge of cancer and outline future directions for research at the bench and in the clinic.

The course will return to a four-day online format. Learning formats will include didactic lectures, trainee-led Q&A, and group discussions. The faculty will encourage an open discussion and will provide critical comments on challenges and future opportunities in research in cancer and in the establishment of novel therapeutic approaches and biomarkers to guide treatment. The aim of this course is to analyze and synthesize the most up-to-date findings. Our faculty will present valuable information in a systematic and comprehensive framework, along with a critical review of various measurement techniques. This course is dedicated to helping to improve clinical translation of this knowledge and competence, leading to improved cancer treatment.

Who Should Participate

Primary Care Physicians, Specialty Physicians, Researchers, and Others

Learning Objectives

•  Identify pharmacological approaches to normalize the tumor microenvironment, including tumor-associated blood vessels, fibroblasts, and the extracellular matrix.
•  Evaluate molecularly targeted agents approved or currently in clinical development in combination with immunotherapies for cancer treatment and incorporate them into practice.
•  Identify emerging determinants of immunotherapy outcomes, including blood vessels, fibroblasts, extracellular matrix, neuronal-tumor interactions, circadian cycle, microbiome, and discuss potential approaches to harness them.
•  Compare correlative studies of biomarkers and their response and resistance to immunotherapies in cancer patients.
•  Evaluate state-of-the-art genetic and imaging techniques and their applications in pre-clinical and clinical studies.
•  Assess relevant, state-of-the-art, or translational pre-clinical models of anti-cancer therapies for adult and pediatric malignancies.
•  Recognize the steps and determinants of the metastatic process of cancer.
•  Identify the applications of AI in cancer care and research.

 

+ Topics:

Day 1: Monday, September 14, 2026

Time	Content	Speaker
10:00 – 10:10 am	Opening Remarks	Rakesh Jain
10:10 – 11:20 am	Tumor Microenvironment I: Angiogenesis and Vascular Function	Rakesh Jain
11:20 – 11:35 am	Q&A	Rakesh Jain; Dai Fukumura
11:35 – 11:50 am	Break
11:50 am – 1:10 pm	Tumor Microenvironment II: Vascular Normalization and Immunotherapy	Rakesh Jain
1:10 – 1:25 pm	Q&A	Rakesh Jain; Dai Fukumura
1:25 – 2:25 pm	Lunch Break
2:25 – 3:45 pm	Tumor Microenvironment III: Extracellular Matrix, Lymphatics and Metastasis	Rakesh Jain
3:45 – 4:00 pm	Q&A	Rakesh Jain; Dai Fukumura
4:00 – 4:30 pm	Break
4:30 – 5:35 pm	Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy Overview	Arlene Sharpe
5:35 – 5:50 pm	Q&A	Arlene Sharpe; Zohreh Amoozgar

Day 2: Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Time	Content	Speaker
10:00 – 11:05 am	Skull Bone Marrow as a Site for Immuno- Surveillance of Healthy Brain and Brain Tumors	Jonathan Kipnis
11:05 – 11:20 am	Q&A	Marc Charbati
11:20 – 11:50 am	Break
11:50 am – 12:55 pm	Neuron-Cancer Interactions in the TME *pre-recorded	Michelle Monje
12:55 – 1:10 pm	Q&A	Anna Geraghty
1:10 – 2:10 pm	Break
2:10 – 3:15 pm	Determinants of How Tumors Use Metabolism to Support Growth	Matthew Vander Heiden
3:15 – 3:30 pm	Q&A	Sonu Subudhi
3:30 – 4:00 pm	Break
4:00 – 5:05 pm	Emerging Strategies to Improve CAR-T cell Therapy for Glibolastoma and other Solid Tumors	Hideho Okada
5:05 – 5:20 pm	Q&A	Sumedha Pareek

Day 3: Wednesday, September 16, 2026

Time	Content	Speaker
10:00 – 11:05 am	AI in Basic and Clinical Oncology	Eliezer Van Allen
11:05 – 11:20 am	Q&A	Sonu Subudhi
11:20 – 11:50 am	Break
11:50 am – 12:55 pm	Dissecting the Ecosystem of Gliomas by Single-Cell and Spatial Genomics	Mario Suva
12:55 – 1:10 pm	Q&A	Daniel Radin
1:10 – 2:30 pm	Lunch Break
2:30 – 3:30 pm	Mechanisms of the Gut Microbiome from Biomarker to Immunotherapy Adjuvant	Bertrand Routy
3:30 – 3:45 pm	Q&A	Benjamin Wolf
3:45 – 4:00 pm	Break
4:00 – 5:05 pm	RREBELLIOUS INTERFERENCE: Challenging old paradigms and discovering new strategies for targeting pediatric brain tumors	Robert Wechsler-Reya
5:05 – 5:20 pm	Q&A	Taylor Uccello

Day 4: Thursday, September 17, 2026

Time	Content	Speaker
10:00 – 11:05 am	Fibroblast Heterogeneity in Solid Tumors: Implications for Pancreatic Cancer	David Tuveson
11:05 – 11:20 am	Q&A	Heena Kumra
11:20 – 11:50 am	Break
11:50 am – 12:55 pm	Metastasis Ecosystems	Joan Massague
12:55 – 1:10 pm	Q&A	Lei Xu
1:10 – 2:10 pm	Break
2:10 – 3:15 pm	Identifying Immune Vulnerabilities in Solid Tumors *pre-recorded	Lisa Coussens
3:15 – 3:30 pm	Q&A	Sumedha Pareek
3:30 – 4:00 pm	Break
4:00 – 5:05 pm	Circadian Clock and Metabolic Vulnerabilities of Cancer	Chi Dang
5:05 – 5:20 pm	Q&A	Melin Khandekar
5:20 – 5:30 pm	Summary and Closing Remarks	Rakesh Jain