Nuclear Receptors are, physiologically and pharmacologically, a critical superfamily of transcription factors. They drive key processes at every stage from development and reproduction to ageing and cancer. They are critical determinants of everyday health via their roles in metabolism and circadian rhythms. Nuclear receptors allow external factors to influence cellular pathways and the fact that many bind and are activated by small molecules means they represent highly druggable targets; currently, 13% of FDA-approved drugs target nuclear receptors.

This meeting will address the new roles and novel crosstalk mechanisms that are emerging for many of the 48 human nuclear receptors, in health and disease. For example, it has long been known that the estrogen receptor drives progression of the majority of breast cancers, and patients with estrogen receptor-positive disease are treated using antiestrogens or aromatase inhibitors to inhibit estrogen signalling. Now however, it is apparent that activation of other nuclear receptors (e.g. progesterone and androgen receptors) can inhibit breast cancer progression, resulting in clinical trials of drugs that activate these receptors and studies to elucidate cross talk between these critical regulatory signalling pathways. The androgen receptor, itself long the main therapeutic driver and target in prostate cancer, is emerging as a key player in metabolic disease, while conversely other nuclear receptors including the glucocorticoid receptor and several orphan nuclear receptors are implicated in prostate cancer progression. Meanwhile, given the impact of many nuclear receptors on the central nervous system, it is unsurprising that they are being explored in the context of neurological disorders and depression. Thus, there is wide scope for re-purposing of licensed drugs and development of new NR-targeting therapies for a host of conditions and diseases.

Crosstalk between nuclear receptors and other fundamental processes is another exciting expanding area that will also be covered. DNA damage repair pathways are inextricably linked to steroid signalling via transcriptional processes, with implications for drug combinations in several diseases. Hitherto unsuspected roles of nuclear receptors in epigenetic control and the processing and function of non-coding RNAs opens up the capacity of this superfamily to further means of impacting on development and normal functioning, but also on disease development.

This unique meeting will bring together many of the leading figures in nuclear receptor research from across the globe, to discuss emerging roles and their implications for health and disease – and both human and drug development – in an intimate meeting that will generate meaningful idea exchange and interaction that will help to further shape this influential field.

Key Sessions

• Nuclear receptors and cancer
• Nuclear receptors in reproduction, development and metabolism
• Nuclear receptors in central systems
• Translating nuclear receptors to the clinic
• Nuclear receptors in non-malignant disorders
• Nuclear receptors, the genome and epigenome

Student & Postdoc Offer

Take advantage of this fantastic opportunity! Fully paying academics can bring a student or junior post doc (early career) for only $765. Both registration packages include; accommodation for the 04, 05, 06 May 2022 (on a shared basis for students and junior postdocs) and a 24hour all-inclusive food and beverage package for the conference period. Once registered, please contact Amy Johnson to obtain a special registration link for your student or junior postdoc.

Early Career Grants

We have 3 x $500 registration grants available for early career candidates. Please submit an abstract for consideration via email to Amy, along with a short message outlining why you would benefit from attending this conference. Please submit your abstracts in line with the appropriate deadlines.

Talk Deadline: 4 March 2022 
Poster Deadline: 31 March 2022

Confirmed Keynote Speaker

Peter Nelson (Fred Hutch)

Confirmed Invited Speakers

Moray Campbell (The Ohio State University)
EPIGENETIC CONTROL OF TYPE II NUCLEAR RECEPTOR BOOKMARKING FUNCTIONS DETERMINES TYPE I NUCLEAR RECEPTOR ENHANCER INTERACTIONS
Jason Carroll (University of Cambridge)
NEW INSIGHT INTO THE ROLE OF HNF4 IN PANCREATIC CANCER
Frank Claessens (KU Leven)
WHICH OF THREE AR DIMERIZATION MODES IS THE BETTER THERAPEUTIC TARGET?
Karolien De Bosscher (Ugent University)
CROSS-TALK MECHANISMS TO RE-WIRE THE GLUCOCORTICOID RECEPTOR FOR ENHANCED THERAPEUTIC BENEFIT IN CANCER AND INFLAMMATION 
Geoffrey Greene (University of Chicago)
CHOOSING AN OPTIMAL ER-TARGETED THERAPY FOR MUTANT ER+ METASTATIC BREAST CANCER
Theresa Hickey (University of Adelaide)
Carol Lange (University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center)
TO SLEEP PERCHANCE TO DREAM: PR REGULATION OF CELL CYCLE EXIT/ENTRY IN FALLOPIAN TUBE MODELS OF HIGH GRADE SEROUS OVARIAN CANCER
Mathieu Lupien (University of Toronto)
FINDING CANCER DRIVERS FROM THE NON-CODING PROSTATE CANCER GENOME
Sreejith Nair (Georgetown University)
NUCLEAR HORMONE CONDENSATES IN LIGAND-ACTIVATED GENE PROGRAMS AND CHROMATIN DYNAMICS.
Ines Pineda-Torra (University College London)
TRANSCRIPTIONAL CONTROL OF MEMBRANE LIPID BY THE NUCLEAR RECEPTOR LXR: NOVEL MECHANISM OF T CELL MODULATION
Ganesh Raj (UT Southwestern Medical Center)
David Ray (University of Oxford)
HNF4A IS REQUIRED TO SPECIFY GLUCOCORTICOID ACTION IN THE LIVER
Inez Rogatsky (Weill Cornell Medicine)
TRANSCRIPTIONAL AND EPIGENOMIC PROGRAMMING OF HOMEOSTATIC MACROPHAGES
Henriette Uhlenhaut (Technische Universität München)
LOCUS-SPECIFIC TRANSCRIPTIONAL COMPLEX ASSEMBLY BY THE GLUCOCORTICOID RECEPTOR
Cecilia Williams (KTH Royal Institute of Technology / Karolinska Institute)
ERβ - BIOMARKER AND FUNCTION IN GRANULOSA CELL TUMORS
Catherine Williamson (King's College London)
AETIOLOGY OF GESTATIONAL METABOLIC DISEASE
Leonie Young (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland)
ER/CDK12/MED1, A FUNCTIONAL TRANSCRIPTIONAL COMPLEX IN ADVANCED BREAST CANCER.
Amina Zoubeidi (Vancouver Prostate Centre)
ROLE OF AR IN LINEAGE PLASTICITY
Wilbert Zwart (Netherlands Cancer Institute)
CISTROMIC PLASTICITY IN CLINICAL TRIALS: HOW DOES PROSTATE CANCER EVADE AR INHIBITION?

Target Audience

Scientists and Clinician Scientists at a range of levels from postdoctoral and up: Principal Investigators, Junior Team Leaders, Research Fellows. Ambitious postgraduate students in the field will also be encouraged to attend.
Relevant specialties are wide-ranging, reflecting the importance of nuclear receptors in many aspects of health and disease. These include Endocrinology, Oncology, Paediatrics, Urology, Gynaecology, Obstetric Medicine, Neuroscience, Cardiology.