OCTOBER 10
8:00-9:00 | Registration, coffee and networking
9:00-10:00 | Ziedona Hall
Opening Plenary Session and Keynote Speaker – Day 1
Chair: Valts Abols Chief Executive Officer, Children’s University Hospital Latvia
Opening remarks: Hosams Abu Meri Minister of Health of the Republic of Latvia
Opening remarks: Aigars Petersons Rector, Riga Stradins University
Opening remarks: Edvards Francis Kuks Ministry of Education and Science of Republic of Latvia
Opening remarks: John Tully Chair of PMNET Forum Steering Committee, LCOF Founder, Chair of the Board of MikroTik
MoU Announcement
Patient Story
Keynote speech: Prof. Dr. Med. Stefan Pfister Director of Preclinical Program, Hopp Children’s Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Head, Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, DKFZ, Deputy Head, KiTZ Clinical Trial Unit (ZIPO) and Pediatric Brain Tumors, Heidelberg University Hospital, Germany
Globalizing Access to State-of-the-Art Molecular Tumour Diagnostics
10:00-10:30 | Coffee break
10:30-12:00 | Ziedona Hall
Cancer Genetics and Precision Oncology
Chair: Alinta Hegmane and Diana Azzam
Speaker: Live Fagereng Project Manager of the EU-project PRIME-ROSE and Coordinator of Precision Cancer Medicine at OUH Centre for Precision Cancer Medicine PRIME-ROSE & Oslo University Hospital, Norway
PRIME-ROSE: A European Network of Precision Medicine Trials for Advancing Cancer Treatment
Speaker: Daiga Murmane Dr. Med. Clinical Geneticist, Riga East Clinical University Hospital, Latvia
Genetic Diagnostics of Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome
Speaker: Neeme Tonisson President of the Estonian Medical Association, Professor, Group Leader at Estonian Biobank, University of Tartu, Clinical Geneticist in Tartu University Hospital, Estonia
Breast Cancer Precision Prevention Initiatives in Estonia
Speaker: Melinda Halasz Assistant Professor, University College Dublin, School of Medicine & Systems Biology, Ireland
Targeting Mitochondria for the Therapy of MYCN-Amplified Neuroblastoma
STAKEHOLDER SESSION
10:30-12:00 | Room A
Precision Medicine National Implementation Strategies
Moderator: Martins Daugulis
Panelist: Lene Cividanes Head of Research and International Relations, Danish National Genome Center, Denmark
Panelist: Sonata Jarmalaite Deputy Director for Research & Development and Professor, The National Cancer Institute of Lithuania Vilnius University, Lithuania
Panelist: Mikaela Friedman External Relations Officer, Genomic Medicine Sweden
Panelist: Arnon Afek Associate Director General, Sheba Medical Center, Acting Director of Sheba General Hospital, Israel
Panelist: Marcis Leja Professor of Medicine, Director of the Institute of Clinical and Preventive Medicine, University of Latvia, Head of the Dept. of Research, Riga East University Hospital, Latvia
10:30-12:00 | Room B
Pediatric Oncology
Chair: Anna Valaine and Stefan Pfister
Speaker: Stefan Pfister Director of Preclinical Program, Hopp Children’s Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Head, Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, DKFZ, Deputy Head, KiTZ Clinical Trial Unit (ZIPO) and Pediatric Brain Tumors, Heidelberg University Hospital, Germany
The Embryonal Origins of Pediatric Cancers and How This Could Be Translationally Exploited
Speaker: Shai Izraeli Director, Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Division at the Schneider Children’s Medical Center, Israel
Precision Medicine in Pediatric Hematology-Oncology
Speaker: Gustaf Ljungman Senior Consultant Pediatric Hematology & Oncology, Children’s University Hospital Professor Pediatrics, Uppsala University, Sweden
The Genomic Medicine Sweden Childhood Cancer Project
Speaker: Marie Bernkopf Head of Laboratory for Pediatric Solid Cancers and Staff Scientist, St.Anna Children’s Cancer Research Institute, Austria
MONALISA – a SIOPEN Pragmatic Clinical Trial to Monitor Neuroblastoma Relapse with Liquid Biopsy Sensitive Analysis
STAKEHOLDER SESSION
10:30-12:00 | Room C
Patient Engagement in Biobanks (In Latvian)
Moderator: Marta Augucevica
Panelist: Anna Clareborn Project Manager, Uppsala University, Sweden
Panelist: Sanita Sinica Project Expert, Latvian Rare Disease Alliance, Latvia
Panelist: Vita Rovite Head of the Molecular and Functional Genomics Research Group, Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre and Head of the Latvian National Biobank, Latvia
Panelist: Ilmars Stonans Deputy Director, Institute of Clinical and Preventive Medicine, University of Latvia
Panelist: Ieva Micule Clinical Geneticist, Head of Clinic for Medical Genetics and Prenatal Diagnostics, Latvia
12:00-13:00 | Lunch
13:00-14:30 | Ziedona Hall
Functional Precision Medicine
Chairs: Inese Cakstina – Dzerve and Caroline Heckman
Speaker: Diana Azzam Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Health Sciences Scientific Director Center for Advancing Personalized Cancer Treatments (CAPCT) Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work Florida International University, USA
Using Functional Precision Medicine to Guide Cancer Treatments
Speaker: Triona Ni Chonghaile Associate Professor, Department of Physiology and Medical Physics, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Ireland
Identifying BCL-2 Dependence in Multiple Myeloma
Speaker: Christian Regenbrecht Institute of Pathology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Functional Precision Medicine: Is This the Real Life? Is This Just Fantasy?
Speaker: Inese Cakstina – Dzerve Assistant Professor, Department of Biology and Microbiology and Lead Researcher, Science Hub, Institute of Microbiology and Virology, Riga Stradins University, Latvia
First Steps and Future Perspectives in Latvia Towards Functional Precision Medicine
STAKEHOLDER SESSION
13:00-14:30 | Room A
Roundtable: Latvian National Precision Medicine Coalition (in Latvian)
Moderator: Martins Daugulis
Panelist: Ilze Lore
Panelist: Janis Klovins
Panelist: Marcis Leja
Panelist: Agrita Kiopa
Panelist: Valts Abols
Panelist: Normunds Stanevics
Panelist: Aija Gerina-Berzina
Panelist: Sanita Sinica
Panelist: Baiba Ziemele
Panelist: Olga Valcina
Panelist: Eriks Mikelsteins
Panelist: Kaspars Losans
Panelist: Roberts Melbardis
Panelist: Sanita Janka
Panelist: Inese Kaupere
Panelist:Laura Strovalde
Panelist: Madara Auzenbaha
Panelist: Marcis Neibergs
Panelist: Mikus Diriks
13:00-14:30 | Room B
Cellular Immunotherapies in Pediatric Care
Chair: Claudia Rossig and Una Riekstina
Speaker: Claudia Rossig Affiliated Group Leader Princess Máxima Center of Pediatric Oncology, The Netherlands
CAR T Cell Therapies for Pediatric Solid Cancers
Speaker: Jochen Buechner Pediatrician, Senior Consultant Oslo University Hospital Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Norway
Genetically Modified T Cells Targeting TdT as a Novel Therapy Against T- and B-Cell Malignancies
Speaker: Sarah Tasian Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in the United States; Visiting Researcher at the Prinses Máxima Centrum, The Netherlands; Pediatric oncologist and physician-scientist, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), USA
Advances in the Management of Relapsed/Refractory Pediatric B-ALL: the Present and Future of Immunotherapy
Speaker: Adeel Saleem Prinses Maxima Centrum, The Netherlands
Setting Up a GMP, Multi-product Cell and Gene Therapy Unit
14:30-15:00 | Coffee break and networking
15:00-15:25 | Ziedona Hall
CONSORTIUM ANNOUNCEMENT
Chair: Roberts Melbardis
STAKEHOLDER SESSION
15:00-15:25 | Room A
Partner Symposium: Value of Comprehensive Genomic Profiling (CGP)
Speaker: Anke Homann Director of Medical Affairs Medical Affairs Oncology team at Illumina, Germany
STAKEHOLDER SESSION
15:00-15:25 | Room B
Partner Symposium: Research in the Estonian Biobank and Efforts to Return Genetic Results to Society
Speaker: Elin Org Professor of Microbiomics, Head of the Estonian Genome Centre, Vice Director of University of Tartu Institute of Genomics, Estonia
15:25-15:30 | Technical break
15:30-17:00 | Ziedona Hall
Precision Prevention/Screening
Chair: Marcis Leja and Christoph Kaleta
Speaker: Arvids Irmejs Associate Professor, Director of Institute of Oncology and Molecular Genetics, Riga Stradins University General Surgeon, Head of Breast Unit, Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital, Latvia
BRCA1/2 Genetic Population Screening Pilot in Latvia. Initial Results and Lessons to Learn
Speaker: Karlis Arturs Moors Doctoral Candidate, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Germany
Metabolic Modeling Methods for Predicting Host-Microbiome Interactions
Speaker: Christoph Kaleta Head of Research Group “Medical Systems Biology” Research Group Medical Systems Biology, Institute for Experimental Medicine, University of Kiel and University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Towards Modeling-Driven Design of Personalized Microbiome Interventions
Speaker: Jernej Kovac Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana; Senior Analyst in Genomics, Clinical Institute of Special Laboratory Diagnostics, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Slovenia
Precision Prevention: Harnessing Genetics for Early Detection in Familial Hypercholesterolemia Screening in Slovenia
STAKEHOLDER SESSION
15:30-17:00 | Room A
Latvia as an EATRIS Member State: Advancing Translational Medicine
Moderator: Inese Cakstina – Dzerve and Toni Andreu
Latvia as a member state – call for action for potential partners
Panelist: Zanda Daneberga Professor of Medical Genetics and Head of the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Oncology, Riga Stradins University, Latvia
Panelist: Osvalds Pugovics Deputy Director Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis, Latvia
Panelist: Ilmars Stonans Deputy Director, Institute of Clinical and Preventive Medicine, University of Latvia
15:30-17:00 | Room B
Childhood Cancer Biobanks
Chair: Monta Briviba and Lars O. Baumbusch
Speaker: Johanna Sandgren Director of the Swedish Childhood Tumour Biobank, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
The Swedish Childhood Tumor Biobank – A National Omics and Tissue Research Resource for Pediatric Cancers
Speaker: Torben Mikkelsen Associate Professor, Department of Pediatric Oncology at Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark
Building a Biobank for Childhood Brain Tumor Research and Collaborating by Sharing Knowledge
Speaker: Daniel Naumovas Head of Biobank, Senior Researcher, Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos, Lithuania
Biobanks & Personalized Medicine: Unlocking the Future of Tailored Healthcare
Speaker: Monta Briviba Head of the Core Facility Genome Center, Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Latvia
Latvian Pediatric Cancer Initiative: Biobanking as a Key Scientific Resource
17:00-17:30 | Networking
OCTOBER 11
8:30-9:00 | Registration, coffee and networking
9:00-10:00 | Ziedona Hall
Opening Plenary Session and Keynote Speaker – Day 2
Chair: Agrita Kiopa Vice-Rector for Research at Riga Stradins University, Latvia
Opening remarks: Viktors Valainis Minister for Economics of the Republic of Latvia
Opening remarks: Linda Ozola Deputy Chairman of the Riga City Council
Opening remarks: Raivis Bremsmits Director of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia
MoU Announcement
Patient story: Marta Augucevica Project expert, Latvian Alliance of Rare Diseases, Latvia
Keynote speech: Sarah Tasian Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in the United States, Visiting Researcher at the Prinses Máxima Centrum, The Netherlands, Pediatric oncologist and Physician-Scientist, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), USA
Recent Progress and New Approaches for Pediatric AML
10:00-10:30 | Coffee break
10:30-12:00 | Ziedona Hall
Gene Editing
Chair: Una Riekstina and Ulrika Beitnere
Speaker: Pia Johansson Director, Cell and Gene Therapy Core Lund Stem Cell Centre, Lund University, Sweden
CRISPR and Human iPSCs: Transforming the Landscape of Biomedical Research
Speaker: Giedrius Gasiunas Chief Scientific Officer at Caszyme, a gene editing company specializing in the development of CRISPR-Cas technology Senior researcher, Department of Protein-DNA Interactions, Institute of Biotechnology at Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Lithuania
Engineering Compact CRISPR Nucleases for Genome Editing
Speaker: Ulrika Beitnere Senior Scientist, Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine, Germany
Unlocking Hope: Gene Therapy as Precision Medicine for Angelman Syndrome
Speaker: Anna Klucnika Stem Cell Gene Editing Team Leader Laverock Therapeutics, United Kingdom
Gene Editing Induced Gene Silencing (GEiGS®): A New Platform for Programmable Cell Engineering
STAKEHOLDER SESSION
10:30-12:00 | Room A
Riga iDays Hackathon Pitch session
STAKEHOLDER SESSIONS
10:30-12:00 | Room B
Biomedicine in Latvia – How to Afford More? (In Latvian)
Moderator: Aiga Balode
Panelist: Elina Sivina Medical Oncologist, Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital, Clinic of Oncology Associated professor, University of Latvia, Department of Oncology, Latvia
Panelist: Maija Abolina Member of the Council, Director of the Audit Department State Audit Office of the Republic of Latvia
Panelist: Normunds Stanevics CEO and Chairman of the Management Board, Riga Eastern Clinical University Hospital, Latvia
Panelist: Emil Syundyukov Co-Founder and CEO Longenesis, Latvia
Panelist: Liene Silina Chairman of the Board, Association of International Research-based Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers (SIFFA) Country Business Head Latvia, Novartis Baltics
Panelist: Samanta Budrecka Senior Expert, Ministry of Economics, Latvia
Panelist: Osvalds Pugovics Deputy Director, Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis, Latvia
10:30-12:00 | Room C
Patient Engagement in Clinical Trials
Moderator: Baiba Ziemele
Panelist: Janek Kapper Ambassador for Clinical Trials and Member of Two Working Groups, EU-X-CT Initiative, Advisory Board Member, World Patients Alliance (European Region), Founder and Chairman, Estonian Inflammatory Bowel Disease Society; Chairman, Patient Council at North Estonian Regional Hospital (PERH), Estonia
Panelist: Maryia Trubitsyna Consultant in Genomic and Precision Medicine, EMEA, IQVIA, Poland
Panelist: Monika Ehnman Research Coordinator for strategic funding to ITCC clinical trial centers in Sweden, advocate for increasing patient participation in early clinical trials at Barncancerfonden/The Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund, Sweden
Panelist: Jelena Butikova Board member, Latvian Diabetes Association
Panelist: Laila Matveja Deputy Head, State Agency of Medicines of Latvia
12:00-13:00 | Lunch
13:00-14:30 | Ziedona Hall
The Value of Data in Precision Medicine
Chair: Janis Klovins
Speaker: Oliver Billker DDLS steering group member, and MIMS (EMBL-Partnership)
Challenges and Opportunities Encountered in the Data-Driven Life Science (DDLS) Program in Sweden
Speaker: Andre Uitterlinden Professor of Complex Genetics, Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, The Netherlands
The Genome of Europe and Implementation of Genetic Information in Healthcare and Prevention
Speaker: Janis Klovins Chairman of the Scientific Council, Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Latvia
Harnessing Big Data for the Latvian Genomic Reference: Genetic Diversity and Predictive Healthcare Applications
STAKEHOLDER SESSION
13:00-14:30 | Room A
Artificial Intelligence in Precision Medicine
Moderator: Maija Radziņa
Panelist: Vadim Ratner Researcher at the Multimodal AI for Healthcare Group IBM Research, Haifa Lab, Israel
Panelist: Agnis Jakubovics Founder and Chairman of the Board, APPLY – Custom A.I. Solutions, Latvia
Panelist: Martin Reim President, Estonian Society of Radiology, Estonia
Panelist: Aiga Balode Deputy State Secretary, The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Latvia
STAKEHOLDER SESSION
13:00-14:30 | Room B
Investors Roundtable
Moderator: Emil Syundyukov
Panelist: Ramune Lauciuviene
Panelist: Irit Yaniv Founding Partner & CEO, Almeda Ventures, Israel
Panelist: Emil Syundyukov Co-Founder and CEO, Longenesis, Latvia
Panelist: Laura Strovalde Deputy Director in Charge of Investment and Energy, Investment and Development Agency of Latvia
Panelist: Sven Parkel Secretary General, Scanbalt, General Manager, Tartu Biotechnology Park, Estonia
Panelist: Giedrius Gasiunas Chief Scientific Officer at Caszyme, a gene editing company specializing in the development of CRISPR-Cas technology, Senior researcher, Department of Protein-DNA Interactions, Institute of Biotechnology at Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Lithuania
Panelist: Ulrika Edvardsson Managing Director, AstraZeneca BioVentureHub, Sweden
Panelist: Marc Ramis Castelltort Managing Partner, Montana Impact Fund, Venture Partner, Ship2B Ventures, Spain
14:30-15:00 | Coffee break
15:00-16:30 | Ziedona Hall
Radioligand Therapy
Chair: Elina Sivina and Donatas Vajauskas
Speaker: Thierry Stora Senior Physicist, CERN Medics, Switzerland
PRISMAP and CERN-MEDICIS: Enabling a New Generation of Radiopharmaceuticals
Speaker: Maija Radzina Chief of Riga Stradins University Radiology Research Laboratory, Vice-President of Latvian Radiology Association, Latvia
Radioligand Theranostics – Precision Medicine in Nuclear medicine and Molecular imaging
Speaker: Donatas Vajauskas Head of the Nuclear Medicine Research Centre at Kaunas Clinics, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU) and Radiology Clinic Professor at Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania
Targeted Radioligand Therapy – Lu-PSMA Treatment Managing mCRPC
Speaker: Jean-Michel Luyckx Head of Public Affairs, Novartis BeLux, Belgium
How Belgium is Embracing RLT, the Belgian Multi-Stakeholder Approach
STAKEHOLDER SESSION
15:00-16:30 | Room A
Riga iDays Hackathon Awards + Panel: Health Innovations
Moderator: Erika Butler
Panelist: Kristaps Palskis Researcher, Riga Technical University Institute of Particle Physics and Accelerator Technologies, Latvia
Panelist: Sven Parkel Secretary General, Scanbalt, General Manager, Tartu Biotechnology Park, Estonia
Panelist: Daniels Pavluts Member of Advisory Board Longenesis
15:00-16:30 | Room B
Young Scientists
Chair: Una Riekstina and Zanda Daneberga
Speaker: Olesja Rogoza PhD student, Riga Stradins University
Prediction of Breast Cancer Cell Fate Through BH3 Profiling
Speaker: Ilze Blake PhD student, University of Latvia
Influence of the Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Microenvironment on the Outcome of Therapy
Speaker: Evita Rostoka Postdoctoral researcher, University of Latvia
Determination Therapeutic Efficacy by PDAC- On-chip Microfluidic System
Speaker: Helvijs Niedra PhD student, Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre
Digital Spatial Profiling of RNA in Tumor Cells and α-SMA-Positive Stromal Cells of Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors
Speaker: Agnese Brokane PhD student, Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre
Effects of cancer-derived extracellular vesicles on tumour microenvironment: the functional significance and potential use in precision medicine.
Speaker: Aleksejs Fedulovs PhD student, University of Latvia
Individual Risk Factors for Glycemic Variability and Personalized Approach for Type 1 Diabetic Patients, Including AI Solutions
16:30-17:00 | Ziedona Hall