Finland China Food and Health Network and Fibrobesity Research Programme Symposium “Cancer Metabolism and Nutrition” October 17th-18th in Oulu

Finland-China Food and Health (FCFH) Network and University of Oulu Fibrobesity Research Programme jointly organized a symposium “Cancer Metabolism and Nutrition” on October 17th and 18th, 2024, at the University of Oulu, bringing together a multidisciplinary group of experts to discuss the links connecting nutrition, metabolism and cancer.

Among the invited speakers was Assoc. Prof. Anne-Maria Pajari from the University of Helsinki who talked about the benefits of plant-derived polyphenol metabolites on health as well as potential mechanisms underlying the risks associated with processed meat and N-nitroso compounds. Prof. Eija Pirinen from the University of Oulu discussed the metabolic profiling of high-grade serous ovarian cancer tumors and how this could be related to defective DNA repair. Prof. Juha Klefström from the University of Helsinki introduced his work on identifying novel Myc-based synthetic lethal strategies to tackle growth of tumors expressing high levels of Myc, a common pan-cancer oncogene. Prof. Gonghong Wei introduced a comprehensive proteomics-based analysis of the protein-protein interaction networks of more than 200 transcription factors and provided insight how this data resource will contribute to our understanding of gene regulation and cellular state. Prof. Edwin Cheung from the University of Macau presented his work on the transcriptional co-regulatory networks in androgen-dependent prostate cancer. His team had performed an AR-interactome analysis to elucidate the key components within this network. An interesting insight into biosensor development was provided by Prof. Xia Yang from Southwest University. She presented her work on the development of a highly sensitive Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) platform for the analysis of hazardous molecules and nucleic acids. This innovative approach holds promise for enhancing the detection capabilities for both the food industry and consumers as well as for medical diagnostic purposes. Overall, the symposium was a successful event stimulating new ideas and stirring up potential new collaborations between the participants. The meeting was hosted by Prof. Aki Manninen, Assoc. Prof. Jane Chen and Asst. Prof. Jian-An Huang, all FCFH-researchers within the Disease Networks Research Unit at the Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of Oulu.

We want to extend our gratitude to all speakers and participants for creating a pleasant and lively atmosphere for this symposium!