Keynote Speakers
Prof Nadar Sani
Nader Sanai, MD, is the Francis and Dionne Najafi Chair in Neurosurgical Oncology at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. As one of the nation’s highest-volume brain tumor surgeons, Dr. Sanai has built a specialty clinical practice devoted to patients with benign and malignant brain tumors, particularly those in high-risk areas. Dr. Sanai directs the Ivy Brain Tumor Center, a not-for-profit drug development program for brain tumor patients. He has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications and delivered over 300 national and international lectures in CNS oncology. Collectively, Dr. Sanai’s published research has generated than 50,000 citations in the academic literature.
Prof Anthony Chalmers
Anthony Chalmers is Chair of Clinical Oncology at the University of Glasgow, Director of the Cancer Research UK RadNet Centre Glasgow+ and Co-Director of the Scottish Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence. His clinical practice at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre is devoted to the treatment of patients with brain tumours, and he runs the Translational Radiation Biology laboratory in the School Cancer Sciences. His main research ambition is to improve outcomes for patients with glioblastoma by combining radiotherapy with drug therapies that target the DNA damage response, but his interests and activities extend across other cancers of unmet need.
He is Chief Investigator for a portfolio of early and late phase clinical trials evaluating the PARP inhibitors and the ATM inhibitor AZD1390 in combination with radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy in the treatment of glioblastoma. He also collaborates with UK investigators on novel clinical trial platforms including EPIC-GB and the CONCORDE study in non-small cell lung cancer.
From 2020-24 he was an Executive Board Member of the European Association for Neuro-Oncology (EANO) and a member of the Medical Research Council’s Molecular and Cellular Medicine Board. From 2016-19 he was Chair of the UK’s Clinical and Translational Radiotherapy Research Working Group (CTRad) and in 2013 he co-founded the UK Radiotherapy-Drug Combinations Consortium.
He was a co-recipient of the BIAL Award in Biomedicine 2023 and received the European Society of Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) Interdisciplinary Award in May 2024. In June 2025 he was awarded the Weiss Medal by the UK Association for Radiation Research.
Dr Soma Sengupta
Dr. Soma Sengupta is a leading expert in neuro-oncology, serving as Clinical Professor of Neurology and Division Chief, while also driving research and clinical trials that advance care for patients with brain tumors and neurofibromatosis. Since 2011, my research has focused on the GABA-A receptor and its role in brain tumors. GABA-A receptors are proteins found in the cell membrane that respond to the neurotransmitter GABA. Alongside my husband, Dr. Daniel Pomeranz Krummel, and my mentor, Professor James Cook, we have developed small molecules designed to cross the blood-brain barrier and target brain cancers in a novel way
Mr David Fizgerald
David became the Director of Policy and Strategy for the NHS Cancer Programme in January 2018. He joined NHS England after four years in the Cabinet Office Implementation Unit, where he led the social policy team which advised the Prime Minister on delivery in areas including health, education, skills, housing and welfare. Before that, David worked at the Department for Education, first as bill manager for the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill and then as head of Childcare Funding Division, where he led the implementation of the then government’s commitment to extend free childcare to two year olds from lower income families.
Prof Haikun Liu
Haikun Liu is Head of the Molecular Neurogenetics Department at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and part of the DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance and the University of Heidelberg’s Interdisciplinary Center for Neurosciences. After earning his doctorate from the Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, he conducted postdoctoral research at DKFZ from 2005 to 2010. He went on to lead a tenure track Helmholtz Young Investigator Group in 2011 and established the Molecular Neurogenetics Department in 2015. His research focuses on glioblastoma, cancer dormancy, organoid technology, and translational drug development. His lab has made pioneering contributions to the field, including identifying therapuetic targets like TLX and GPD1 as a marker and regulator of brain tumor stem cells, and developing innovative organoid technologies such as LEGO, IPTO. His work has been recognized with honors including the EMBO Young Investigator Award, ERC Consolidator Grant, and the Chica and Heinz Schaller A
Dr Matthia Karreman
Matthia Karreman leads the Brain Metastases team in the laboratory of Prof. Winkler and Prof. Wick at the German Cancer Research Centre and the University Hospital Heidelberg, studying the cancer neuroscience of brain metastases. She performed her MSc studies and PhD at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Next, she moved to the EMBL in Heidelberg, to develop an approach to correlate 3D intravital correlative microscopy in the lab of Dr. Y. Schwab. During this time, various collaborations helped spiked her interest brain metastasis research, which is what brought her to her current line of research.
Prof Matthew Murray
Matthew Murray is a University Professor and Honorary Consultant Paediatric Oncologist, working at both the Department of Pathology, Cambridge University and Department of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom.
His research programme studies the clinical and molecular aspects of childhood cancers, particularly germ cell tumours (GCTs), which includes testis cancer, the leading cause of adult life years lost from cancer, and he has an interest in the benefits of agnostic use of whole genome sequencing for childhood cancer.
He was the first to demonstrate that the miR-371~373 and miR-302/367 clusters were over-expressed in all malignant GCTs, regardless of patient age, tumour site, or subtype.
He was also the first to identify the clinical utility of specific circulating microRNAs for diagnosis, disease-monitoring, and early relapse detection in malignant GCTs, the methodology for which has now been adopted by numerous other research groups globally to replicate the findings. He has embedded circulating miR-371a-3p testing in international randomised clinical trials (e.g., AGCT1531 and UKP3BEP) and is moving the assay towards clinical adoption.
He has published >140 manuscripts to date and has attracted ~£9M of grant funding to date as a Principal and Co-Investigator. Professor Murray has key national and international leadership roles in cancer biology.