The NIH is hosting a virtual Jumpstart meeting to explore innovative opportunities at the interface between cancer research and synthetic biology on October 26, 28, and 30. 

Independent investigators who want to explore critical cancer questions that can be addressed by reengineering biology or who want to harness the unique capabilities of synthetic biology toward solving cancer research problems are encouraged to apply. Diverse expertise across the continuum of cancer research and all areas of synthetic biology and complementary fields including, but not limited to: engineering, systems biology, chemistry, protein engineering, materials science, physics, genetics, microbiome, computational sciences, data science, mathematics, and cell biology is sought.

The goals of the New Applications of Synthetic Biology to Cancer Research Challenges: 2020 Virtual Jumpstart are to: 1) expand collaborations between the synthetic biology and cancer research communities, and 2) increase awareness of research capabilities, needs, and driving questions. Applicants who demonstrate a collaborative spirit and represent a variety of disciplines, backgrounds, and approaches will be selected to participate. The deadline to apply is August 31st. At the end of the meeting, participants will have met and formed new collaborations around innovative ideas with investigators from different fields, iteratively developing ideas into realizable research projects. Applicants must be willing to commit to participate for entire duration (all day Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) of the Jumpstart.

This announcement is targeted to faculty-level participants. Please share this information with any colleagues you think may be interested.

For more information please visit: https://apply.hub.ki/synbioandcancer/

If you want to learn more before applying, join a pre-meeting information session with keynote by Dr. Ron Weiss (MIT) and group breakout discussions: Tuesday, August 25th, 4:30-6:00 pm ET. More information is on the application site and participants can register here.

Feel free to contact the meeting organizing team at synbioandcancer@gmail.com with any questions.