The Frontiers in Cancer Science (FCS) 2020 conference concluded successfully last week. This year’s conference was hosted virtually from 2^nd – 6^th November 2020 on ZOOM.  Returning for its 12^th year, FCS 2020 is proudly and jointly organised by nine major research institutes in Singapore – Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, Duke-NUS Medical School, Genome Institute of Singapore, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, National Cancer Centre Singapore, National University Cancer Institute, N.1 Institute For Health and Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. This year’s conference organizing committee was headed by Prof. David Virshup from Duke-NUS Medical School.

2020 is a landmark year for FCS, as the conference partnered with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) to hold the inaugural AACR-FCS Education Sessions in Southeast Asia. The goal of the Education Sessions was to provide graduate students and early-career investigators with a broader view of key topics. The nation’s largest annual cancer conference welcomed close to 1,200 registrants from over 50 countries as far as from Australia, China, India, Malaysia, Japan, USA, Great Britain and others.

Participants at the virtual FCS 2020 were privileged to learn from a list of highly accomplished international and local cancer researchers, including Ali Shilatifard, PhD, of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University; Ronald DePinho, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; and AACR President Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, of the University of California Los Angeles. Over the course of 5 days, speakers discussed research in both basic science and clinical realms, with topics ranging from advances in epigenetics, gene regulation, the tumor microenvironment, and immunotherapy.

This year, FCS 2020 received a total of 58 poster abstract submissions. Participants had the opportunity to present their e-posters online at the virtual poster presentation platform, which provided a medium for meaningful discussions and exchange of scientific inputs between poster presenters and attendees. Congratulations to the 5 poster presentation awardees, who each received an Amazon gift card worth up to SGD $400:

4^th place:
1. Daisuke Douchi (CSI Singapore)
2. Shreshtha Sailesh Bhatia (CSI Singapore)
3^rd place:
3. Mingara Jayasinghe (Department of Pharmacology, NUS)
2^nd place:
4. Malini Rethnam (CSI Singapore)
1^st place:
5.  Jia Jia Chan (CSI Singapore)

In addition, the conference also featured a series of short talks by 12 Oral Abstract Speakers who were selected to present the latest research findings from their high-quality abstracts. These short talks, which lasted no more than 15 minutes each, were engaging and intellectually stimulating as it allowed attendees to gain valuable insights into innovative research carried out by the younger investigators.

FCS 2020 would like to extend our gratitude to all our sponsors, media and conference partners for their invaluable support. Lastly, we would like to thank all attendees for making the virtual FCS 2020 a great success! Moving forward, FCS 2021 will be happening on 1^st – 3^rd November 2021. Mark your calendars now!