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This is a transformative time in cancer research and its impacts on advanced therapies. Basic knowledge of DNA Damage Reponses (DDR) and their functional integration with the therapeutically relevant immune responses are fundamentally advancing cancer biology and medicine. Besides being classified by tissue origins, cancers are increasingly being understood at the cellular and molecular level, allowing effective targeting with synthetic lethality for precision oncology. Precision therapies offer the potential for enhanced efficacy with reduced toxicities but come with the major challenge of preexisting or developed resistance. Clinically, most of the resistance to DDR inhibitors arises from the restoration of DNA repair pathways through reversion mutants or rewiring the DDR network. It is increasingly clear that DDR regulation and repair pathway choices drive therapeutic sensitivity and resistance responses. These findings underscore the critical need to develop actionable structural and mechanistic knowledge, spanning from nanoscale of individual enzymes to the mesoscale of regulated protein-complexes and their network responses. 

Recent breakthroughs in experimental methodologies (particularly cryo electron microscopy, electron tomography, mass spectrometry, X-ray scattering, and single-molecule biophysical techniques) have enabled the studies of increasingly complex and dynamic biological systems. These cutting-edge tools enable the integration of in vitro and in situ studies to reveal the detailed mechanisms underpinning cellular processes. Furthermore, the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) and its expanding applications in structural and mechanistic investigations are driving the field toward the integration of atomic-level structural data with physiological outputs. These advances present game-changing opportunities that enable us to tackle increasingly complex and challenging scientific problems, while also requiring fresh approaches.

The 7th DNA Replication/Repair Structures & Cancer Conference (7th DRRSC) on 24-28 February 2026 will bring together scientists from diverse fields to exchange cutting-edge research findings and stimulate new ideas and approaches to address the critical challenges in cancer research. Furthermore, due to the current challenging funding landscape, it is critical to form partnerships of creative talent to address large-scale problems efficiently. The meeting is designed to optimize opportunities for productive discussion, interaction, and collaboration. Conference talks and discussions will center on developing actionable mechanistic knowledge of DNA replication, transcription and repair stress responses and their inflammation impacts suitable to guide cancer research and intervention. A focus will be on leveraging the synthetic lethality concept for DDR defects. Talks will include emerging basic and clinical findings, cutting-edge trans-disciplinary methodologies and structural and mechanistic insights for dynamic complexes. The vibrant discussions and exchange of ideas will catalyze productive collaborations and offer new insights that will support research both within and between individual labs as well as across the broader scientific community. 

What makes this meeting unique?

Professor Ben Van Houten from the University of Pittsburgh says: “I can honestly say your meeting, by combining hard core structure-function studies with beautiful biology, hits an important area that many meetings miss; being part of that science is just terrific.”

Professor John Tainer from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre says: “Most participants contribute unpublished data and powerful discussions that identify and fill knowledge gaps with game-changing insights that make me want to stand up and cheer.”

Dr. Susan Tsutakawa from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab says: "This is my favorite meeting where every talk is directed at mechanisms in DNA replication and repair. The talks really inform me on what mechanisms are being considered, particularly those outside my immediate favourite pathway. Every breakfast, lunch, and dinner allow you to talk and propose problems that you haven't fully understood. You get the American, European, and Asian science coming together.”

Plenary Speaker

Johannes Walter (Harvard Medical School)
COPING WITH OBSTACLES DURING DNA REPLICATION

Rising Star Plenary Speakers

Joanna Loizou (Institute of Cancer Research)
SYNTHETIC LETHALITY AND RESISTANCE MECHANISMS IN CANCER
Katharina Schlacher (MDACC)
CONTROLLING MITOCHONDRIAL AND NUCLEAR DNA REPLICATION INSTABILITY IN CANCER AND THERAPY

Confirmed Invited Speakers

David Barford (MRC-LMB, Cambridge)
UNDERSTANDING KINETOCHORE MECHANISMS FROM STRUCTURES OF IN VITRO-RECONSTITUTED COMPLEXES AND cryo-ET OF NATIVE COMPLEXES
Simon Boulton (Francis Crick Institute)
SLFN11 RESTRICTS ESCAPE FROM REPLICATIVE CRISIS TO PREVENT ALT
Karlene Cimprich (Stanford University)
NEW MECHANISMS FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF GENOME STABILITY AT THE REPLICATION FORK
Brandt Eichman (Vanderbilt University)
MECHANISMS OF REPLICATION FORK REVERSAL
Karl-Peter Hopfner (University of Munich)
STRUCTURAL MECHANISM OF THE Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1 COMPLEX IN DNA DOUBLE-STRAND BREAK REPAIR
Maria Jasin (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)
REGULATING HOMOLOGOUS RECOMBINATION
Susan Lees-Miller (University of Calgary)
ARTEMIS: A MULTIVALENT HUB FOR DSB REPAIR
Georges Mer (Mayo Clinic)
MECHANISMS OF UBIQUITIN SIGNALING IN DNA DAMAGE REPAIR
Jo Morris (University of Birmingham)
NEW BRCA-PARTNERS
Mark O'Connor (AstraZeneca)
John Pascal (University of Montreal)
PARP FAMILY ENZYMES IN DNA DAMAGE SIGNALING AND REPAIR
Lori Passmore (MRC-LMB, Cambridge)
MECHANISTIC STUDIES OF DNA CROSSLINK REPAIR
Anna Pluciennik (Thomas Jefferson University)
CROSSTALK BETWEEN DNA REPAIR SYSTEMS IN GENOME INSTABILITY
Arnab Ray Chaudhuri (Erasmus University Medical Center)
MODULATING RAD51 DYNAMICS IN CHEMORESISTANCE
Susan Rosenberg (Baylor College of Medicine)
SINGLE-STRANDED ENDOGENOUS DNA DAMAGE WHERE RNAS END
Eli Rothenberg (New York University)
STRUCTURAL DISSECTION OF BRCA2 MUTATIONS AND RAD51 FILAMENTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER ONSET AND THERAPEUTIC OUTCOMES
Jessica Tyler (Weill Cornell Medicine)
EXTENDING LIFESPAN BY IMPROVING DNA DOUBLE-STRAND BREAK REPAIR
Bennett Van Houten (University of Pittsburgh)
MEASURING THE DYNAMICS OF DNA REPAIR PROTEINS WITH DNA LESIONS AND NUCLEOSOMES AT THE SINGLE MOLECULE LEVEL
Helen Walden (University of Glasglow)
TARGETTING USP1-UAF1 ACTIVITY IN THE FANCONI ANEMIA PATHWAY
Steve West (Francis Crick Institute)
DNA REPAIR PROTEINS: STRUCTURES AND FUNCTIONS
Scott Williams (NIH)
STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF DNA HELICASES REGULATING NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE AND VIRAL REPLICATION
Gijs Wuite (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
UNRAVELLING THE MECHANICS AND STRUCTURE OF WHOLE MITOTIC CHROMOSOMES
Ruiming Xu (Institute of Biophysics)
MECHANISM OF REPLICATION-COUPLED RETROELEMENT INSERTION
Wei Yang (NIH)
HARMONY IN DNA REPAIR: COORDINATED PROTEIN AND DNA MOVEMENTS
Timothy Yap (MDACC)
NOVEL CLINICAL STRATEGIES IN TARGETING SYNTHETIC LETHALITY: CURRENT SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES
Xiaolan Zhao (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)
MECHANISMS OF Smc5/6-BASED GENOME MANAGEMENT

AstraZeneca has provided a sponsorship grant towards this independent programme.