With a great turnout (85 CanCell members from both core and associated groups), the meeting provided an excellent opportunity for sharing current research progress and establishing collaborations for future projects. Members were also given detailed overviews on the latest technology and specialist techniques available within the centre, including proteomics, live cell imaging approaches and genome-wide perturbation screens.
In addition to scientific discussions, there was time to celebrate some of the successes already achieved within the centre since its formation in January 2018. Researchers at CanCell have already published 17 papers in that time frame, and three of these were selected for Excellent Paper awards: congratulations to the first authors Michal Kostas, Eva Wenzel and Kristiane Søreng, all of whom gave great presentations summarising their publications. The meeting also included a poster session where postdocs Pilar Ayuda, Nina Marie Pedersen and Kristiane Søreng were awarded poster prizes. The centre celebrated Benan John Mathai as the first PhD from CanCell, Kaisa Haglund as the recipient of the 2018 Mørk’s Prize and the appointments of Jørgen Wesche as Professor II at IMB and Helene Knævelsrud as a member of the Young Academy of Norway.
The discussions that began during the scientific programme were continued in a more relaxed environment during dinner. Later in the evening CanCell members had the opportunity to interact and mingle, hit the dance floor and play shuffleboard. Those brave enough even headed for a late night swim in the Oslo fjord!
At this very successful first annual meeting members were able to identify common interests and expertise that will serve as grounds for future collaborations, as well as learn about courses and events taking place within the centre in the coming months. The meeting served as a great opportunity for CanCell members to establish connections that will help in reaching the centre’s research goals - we look forward to learning about the next success at the 2019 meeting!
By Joseph Mark Robertson and Laura R. de la Ballina
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