The ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE, a series of yearly meetings conceived by Drs. Benjamin F. Trump and Curtis C. Harris, was begun in 1985.  The year 2008 brought great sadness to attendees of the Aspen Cancer Conference. Founder Benjamin F. Trump, M.D., passed away on February 25, 2008. The scientific world, particularly pathology, lost one of its great leaders, experimentalists, clinicians and teachers.  The ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE lost a devoted friend, one especially dedicated to the young scientists who annually present poster abstracts.  In Dr. Trump's honor, an annual Fellowship will be provided to a young scientist, the Benjamin F. Trump Fellow, and a more advanced scientist will be invited to present the Benjamin F. Trump Lecture.  The first Lecture will be presented by James E. Klaunig, Ph.D., the Director of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Indiana University School of Medicine.

The Conference has continued to emphasize the relationships between toxicity and carcinogenesis and the identification of novel strategies in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and therapy.  It is evident that new paradigms are needed to explain that an increasing number of  mutagenic and non-mutagenic agents result in carcinogenesis, that cell injury and death, repair, and inflammation are constant companions of cancer development, and that what has been termed "tumor promotion" is a very complex issue.  Recent developments in cancer genetics, including the role of tumor suppressor genes, underline this principle. Also discussed are molecular and clinical advances in causation, diagnosis, prevention, and therapy of human diseases including cancer.

The purpose of these meetings was and continues to be the assembly of a group of leading scientists working in a wide range of disciplines and representing industry, government and academia to confer formally and informally on current concepts and aspects of research which transcend the normal boundaries that often exist between different scientific disciplines, agencies and organizations.

In order to plan for future CONFERENCES and WORKSHIPS in a meaningful way, ongoing financial support from government, industry, foundations, and academia is essential.  We invite organizations with a particular interest in the topics and recommendations of these CONFERENCES to become Sustaining Sponsors of the ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE.  A Sustaining Sponsor is an organization that provides a minimum of $15,000.00 per year toward the support of the ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE.  Sponsors are encouraged to have representatives participate in the selection of topics for consideration and in the identification of appropriate scientific speakers, and to nominate participants to be invited to the CONFERENCES.

During recent years, the emphasis has focused increasingly on the molecular aspects of toxicity and carcinogenesis, and the relationship between the two as they relate to human risk.  The format consists of invited presentations and discussions in the mornings, and poster sessions and informal discussions in the afternoons and evenings, fostered by the environment provided in Aspen, Colorado. One of our goals is to sponsor attendance by post-doctoral fellows, graduate students, medical students, veterinary students, and young faculty, with special efforts made to guarantee diversity.  We have encouraged the participation of young investigators for the last several conferences, and have included poster sessions through which informal contact in mutual areas of interest can be made with established investigators.  This, along with sessions on the applications of new technology in related areas of research, should assist greatly in future developments in these fields.

The TWENTY-FOURTH ASPEN CANCER CONFERENCE (July 19-22, 2009):  Mechanisms of Toxicity, Carcinogenesis, Cancer Prevention and Cancer Therapy, addressed the following:  Personalized Medicine; Cancer Genetics; Metabolism, Obesity, Aging and Cancer; Free Radicals; Microbiome and Disease Rish; Chronic Inflammation and Cancer; Non-Coding RNA and Developmental Implications; and Epigenetics. 

Begun in 2008 as a memorial to Aspen Cancer Conference co-founder Benjamin F. Trump (1932-2008), the second Benjamin F. Trump Lecture was presented by Raymond N. DuBois, M.D., Ph.D., Provost and Executive Vice President for Research at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. 

Also of interest, a Keynote Address was presented by Craig B. Thompson, M.D., Director of the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania.  Selected Aspen Cancer Conference Fellows presented poster abstracts at a special evening session that included presentation of the Fourth Theodore T. Puck Award and the Second Benjamin F. Trump Award.  This session has become popular among the selected junior investigators who are given the opportunity to present their data to scientists they have perhaps known only in the literature. The public lecture series continued in 2009 with Breast Cancer as the theme.  Once again prominent laboratory scientists, clinicians, and a well known cancer survivor spoke to Conference participants and the Aspen lay public.

Over the years, these meetings have not only stimulated productive discussion and formal as well as informal interactions among leading scientists from this country and abroad but have also led to fruitful collaborations between scientific groups. Based on the success of the previous meetings, similar CONFERENCES, with 90 invited participants, will be held in the summer for four days every other year.  In the intervening years WORKSHOPS of approximately 60 invited participants are conducted to discuss recent developments and to plan the following main CONFERENCE.

Extended abstracts and poster abstracts for Conferences from 1987-2006 have been published in Toxicologic Pathology each respective year.  Molecular Carcinogenesis has published yearly meeting reports.  To further communicate the results of the Conference, a website (www.aspencancerconference.org) was established in 2001.

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