Cells are continuously subjected to a barrage of DNA damage from both endogenous and external sources, and an elegant set of enzymatic pathways has evolved to repair or tolerate this damage. Deficient or aberrant repair results in mutations that can lead to cancer.

The 2012 conference on DNA Damage, Mutation, & Cancer is designed to address diverse research areas focused on DNA damage, mechanisms of mutagenesis and genetic instability, and the relationships between genetic instability and human cancer. Cutting edge research will be presented on the molecular mechanisms involved in the repair and processing of DNA lesions, genome instability, and cancer etiology. Topics to be covered include DNA structure and mutagenic mechanisms, telomere biology and genetic instability, DNA repair deficiency syndromes and cancer, pathways for damage repair or tolerance through lesion bypass, chromatin-mediated genomic instability, and promising strategies for targeting DNA repair pathways in cancer therapy.

The invited speakers, who are at the forefront of their respective fields, come from a variety of disciplines, and the program will be designed to allow ample time for discussion following each presentation, as well as during the poster sessions. The conference will strongly encourage the presentation and discussion of unpublished results. We will also provide an opportunity for junior investigators to present short talks on exciting topics to be selected from submitted abstracts. We anticipate that productive scientific exchange at this conference will significantly impact cancer research and result in establishing novel multi-disciplinary collaborative efforts.