The 20th International Symposium on Pediatric Neuro-Oncology was held June 13-15, 2022 in Hamburg, Germany. ISPNO is the major global meeting for the international community of professionals involved in the scientific research, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of kids and teens with brain and central nervous system cancers.

Doctors and researchers from the Morgan Adams Foundation Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Program had 39 abstracts selected for presentation at ISPNO 2022, among the most of any research group in the world. Of those, 11 were chosen for coveted and highly respected oral presentations during the three-day gathering.

  • PRMT5 promotes the formation and growth of pediatric high-grade glioma by maintaining tumor stem cell populations
    • John DeSisto, Aaron Knox, Ilango Balakrishnan, Hannah Chatwin, Philip Coleman, Sujatha Venkataraman, Rajeev Vibhakar, Adam L. Green
  • *Transcriptome Characterization of Pediatric Adamantinomatous Craniopharyngioma at the Cellular Level
    • Eric W. Prince, Tammy Trudeau, Oscar Chatain, Susan Staulcup, Juan Pedro Martinez-Barbera, Carsten Görg, Todd C. Hankinson
  • The use of novel in vitro models to study Adamantinomatous Craniopharyngioma disease biology and drug response
    • Tammy Trudeau, Eric Prince, Oscar Chatain, Keanu Chee, Eric Jackson, David Limbrick, Robert Naftel, Neil Feldstein, Gerald Grant, Kevin Ginn, Toba Niazi, Amy Smith, Lindsay Kilburn, Josh Chern, Annie Drapeau, Sandi Lam, James Johnston, Roy Dudley, Susan Staulcup, Todd C. Hankinson
  • *^Tumor associated myeloid cells drive the immunobiology of high risk pediatric ependymoma
    • AM Griesinger, K Riemondy, N Eswaran, AM Donson, N Willard, S Paine, G Bowes, J Rheaume, R Chapman, J Ramage, A Jackson, R Grundy, NK Foreman, T A Ritzmann
  • *Development of humanized immune system, posterior fossa A ependymoma patient-derived xenograft model
    • Andrea M Griesinger, Julie Lang, Andrew M Donson, Enrique Grimaldo, Angela Pierce, Aaron Knox, Jenna Steiner, Natalie Serkova, Timothy A Ritzmann, Richard Grundy, Nicholas K Foreman
  • *Spatial transcriptomic analysis of ependymoma implicates unresolved wound healing as a driver of tumor progression
    • Andrew M. Donson, Rui Fu, Gregory A. Norris, Nicholas Willard, Andrea M. Griesinger, Kent A. Riemondy, Vladimir Amani, Enrique Grimaldo, Faith Harris, Todd C. Hankinson, Siddhartha Mitra, Timothy A. Ritzmann, Richard R. Grundy, Nicholas K. Foreman.
  • *Transcriptomic resolution of subgroup-specific medulloblastoma architecture
    • Nicholas Willard, Michael Kaufmann, Kent Riemondy, Andrea Griesinger, Vladimir Amani, Enrique Grimaldo, Faith Harris, Gregory A Norris, Ahmed Gilani, Todd Hankinson, Jay Hesselberth, Nicholas Foreman, Andrew Donson
  • Combination Treatment of 5-Fluorouracil and All-Trans-Retinoic Acid for Ependymoma in Mice
    • Enrique Enrique Grimaldo, Andrew M Donson, Faith Harris, Vladimir Amani, Gregory A Norris, Jenna Steiner, Natalie Serkova, Kathleen Dorris, Nicholas K Foreman, Andrea M Griesinger
  • Sunitinib Induces Apoptosis-mediated Cytotoxicity in PFA Ependymoma
    • Bodhan O’Shaughnessy, Vladimir Amani, Andrea Griesinger, Faith Harris, Enrique Grimaldo, Andrew Donson, Nicholas Foreman
  • Epithelial progenitor cell abundance and CNV gains and losses impact the biology of EPN recurrence
    • Gregory A Norris, Rui Fu, Kent Riemondy, Nicholas Willard, Andrea Griesinger, Vladimir Amani, Enrique Grimaldo, Faith Harris, Ahmed Gilani, Todd Hankinson, Jay Hesselberth, Nicholas Foreman, Andrew Donson.
  • Integration of single-nuclei RNA-sequencing and spatial transcriptomics to define the complex tumor microenvironment of NF1-associated plexiform neurofibroma and highly-aggressive malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors
    • Vladimir Amani, Donson, AM., Riemondy, K., Fu, R, Willard, N., Norris, G., Gilani, A., Griesinger, A., Grimaldo, E., Harris, F., Foreman, NK.
  • *Metabolism mediated radiation resistance in MYC-driven Medulloblastoma
    • Bethany Veo, Eric Prince, Dong Wang, Andrew Goodspeed, and Rajeev Vibhakar
  • CDK8 promotes stemness of MYC-driven medulloblastoma
    • Dong Wang, Bethany Veo, Angela Pierce, Sujatha Venkataraman, Rajeev Vibhakar
  • Combined inhibition of CDK11 and EZH2 results in regression of MYC-amplified medulloblastoma
    • Dong Wang, Bethany Veo, Angela Pierce, Sujatha Venkataraman, Rajeev Vibhakar
  • SIRT2 cooperates with SMARCB1 to induce a differentiation block in ATRT
    • Irina Alimova, Dong Wang, Angela Pierce, Senthilnath Lakshmanachetty, Eric Prince, Etienne Danis, Natalie Serkova, Krishna Madhavan, Ilango Balakrishnan, Min Yang, Henning Lin, Nicholas Foreman, Sujatha Venkataraman, Rajeev Vibhakar
  • Targeting the adenosinergic immune suppression pathway in high grade glioma synergizes with innate immune checkpoint blockade
    • Yifan Liu, Senthilnath Laxmanachetty, Allison Cole, Joselyn Cruz Cruz, Eric Hoffmeyer, Rajeev Vibhakar, Sujatha Venkataraman, Siddhartha S Mitra
  • Novel gene-edited CAR-T cell therapy against Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma
    • Ilango Balakrishnan, Lillie leach, Senthil Lakshmanachetty, Angela Pierce, Krishna Madhavan, Susan Fosmire, Christina Meadows, Terry Fry, Rajeev Vibhakar, Eric M. Kohler, Sujatha Venkataraman
  • *Development and application of a novel antibody against CD99 as a therapeutic strategy in Diffuse Midline Glioma
    • Sujatha Venkataraman, Ilango Balakrishnan, Krishna Madhavan, Senthil Lakshmanachetty, Angela Pierce, Susan Fosmire, Zachary Nuss, Philip Coleman, Adam Green, Rajeev Vibhakar
  • Preclinical efficacy of combined radiotherapy with venetoclax treatment in targeting diffuse midline gliomas
    • Krishna Madhavan, Ilango Balakrishnan, Senthil Lakshmanachetty, Rajeev Vibhakar, Sujatha Venkataraman
  • Creation, use, and effectiveness of a primary provider education tool for timely pediatric CNS tumor diagnosis based on HeadSmart
    • Daniel Pacheco, Claire Fraley, David Walker, Adam L. Green
  • Novel In Vivo Models of Post-Radiation Recurrent Pediatric High-Grade Glioma Show Increased Susceptibility to MAPK Inhibition
    • Aaron J Knox, John DeSisto, Sarah Nelson-Taylor, Philip Coleman, Benjamin Van Court, Andrew Donson, Sana D Karam, Adam L Green
  • Characterizing the epidemiology of radiation-induced gliomas following cranial radiotherapy for pediatric cancers: a population-based study
    • Jacob B. Leary, Amy Anderson-Mellies, MPH, and Adam L. Green, MD
  • *Rapid PTEFb-dependent transcriptional reorganization underpins the glioma adaptive response to radiotherapy
    • Faye M. Walker, Lays Martin Sobral, Etienne Danis, Bridget Sanford, Ilango Balakrishnan, Dong Wang, Angela Pierce, Sana Karam, Natalie J. Serkov, Nicholas K. Foreman, Sujatha Venkataraman, Robin Dowell, Rajeev Vibhakar, Nathan A. Dahl
  • CDK9 is a druggable mediator sustaining Myc-driven circuitry in medulloblastoma
    • Krishna Madhavan, Faye M. Walker, Dong Wang, Lays Martin Sobral, Ilango Balakrishnan, Angela Pierce, Natalie J. Serkova, Nicholas K Foreman, Sujatha Venkataraman, Rajeev Vibhakar, Nathan A Dahl
  • Novel Fusion in Congenital Brainstem Diffuse High-Grade Glioma
    • Gregory A. Norris, Andrew M. Donson, Sarah A. Milgrom, Alisa Gaskell, Nicholas Willard, Nicholas K. Foreman, Ahmed Gilani, Nathan A. Dahl
  • Thromboembolic toxicity observed with concurrent trametinib and lenalidomide therapy
    • Priya P. Chan MD, Ashley Sabus PharmD, Molly S. Hemenway MS, PNP, Kathryn C. Chatfield MD, Nicholas K. Foreman MD, Nathan A. Dahl MD
  • *Chemokine receptor blockade reverses CCL2 mediated immunosuppression and restores CAR-T cell function in posterior fossa ependymoma
    • Allison P. Cole, Andrew M. Donson, Angela M. Pierce, Enrique Grimaldo, Jacob Calhoun Andrea M. Griesinger, Caroline Sublett, Rosandra N. Kaplan, Terry J. Fry, Nicholas K. Foreman, Anandani Nellan
  • Phase 0/I Study of GM-CSF and Intrathecal Trastuzumab In children with recurrent posterior fossa Ependymoma
    • Gregory Norris, Melissa Widener, Vladamir Amani, Andrew Donson, Debra Schissel, Courtney Bruno, Ashley Mettetal, Dominique Ramirez, Daniel Gustafson, Todd Hankinson, Michael Handler, Margaret Macy, Nicholas Foreman, Kathleen Dorris
  • Phase 0 and feasibility single-institution clinical trial of intravenous tocilizumab for adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma
    • Kathleen Dorris
  • *Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium (PBTC)-055: A phase I study of trametinib and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for BRAF-fusion or Neurofibromatosis type-1 (NF1)-associated pediatric gliomas
    • Lindsey Hoffman, Jean Mulcahy Levy, Lindsay Kilburn, Catherine Billups, Vanetria Stokes, Emily McCourt, Tina Young Poussaint, Olivia Campagne, Sonia Partap, Kathleen Dorris, Sameer Farouk Sait, Giles Robinson, Patricia Baxter, Clinton F. Stewart, Jason Fangusaro, Arzu Onar-Thomas, Ira Dunkel
  • Peri-transplant Radiation Therapy for Young Children Treated with High-Dose Chemotherapy for Primary Brain Tumors
    • Sarah A. Milgrom, Jane Koo, Nicholas Foreman, Arthur K. Liu, Kristen Campbell, Kathleen Dorris, Adam L. Green, Nathan Dahl, Andrew M. Donson, Rajeev Vibhakar, Jean M. Mulcahy Levy
  • Autophagy Sensitizes CNS Tumors to Targeted Therapy By Lowering Their Apoptotic Threshold
    • Michele Crespo, Shadi Zahedi, Andrew Morin, Darya Wodetzski, Cecilia Caino, Jean Mulcahy Levy
  • CDK7 as a target in ATRT
    • Andrew Morin, Jean Mulcahy Levy
  • A Phase 1, Safety and Dose Escalation Study of BXQ-350 in Combination with Radiation in Pediatric Patients with Diffuse Midline Glioma or Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma
    • Kathleen Dorris
  • Marijuana, Hemp, and the Child with Cancer: Education for Nurses
    • Molly Hemenway, Nicholas Foreman, Shelby Winzent, Erin Kissel, Julia Kasson, Kathleen Dorris
  • Neurofibromatosis Type I in the Setting of Neuro-Oncology
    • Molly Hemenway, Sara Kristinson, Nicholas Foreman
  • Baseline Survey of Hematology/Oncology/Cellular Therapy Staff/Faculty Perceptions of Palliative Care
    • Molly Hemenway, Melissa Waters, Jennifer Raybin
  • Transfusion related iron overload in pediatric patients with CNS tumors
    • Shelby Winzent
  • Single-cell transcriptional profiling of ATRTs reveals heterogeneus signatures of tumor and non-malignant cell populations
    • Andrew Donson, Nicholas Foreman, Rajeev Vibhakar

* Denotes oral presentation
^ Denotes winner of Pediatric Cancer Research Award for the highest-ranked abstract in the immunotherapy field