About us
The mission of ISCaM (ex ISPDC, International Society for Proton Dynamics in Cancer) is to improve communication and to foster collaborative activities and research programs between European and non European scientists engaged in acidity, proton dynamics, metabolism and microenvironment in cancer research.
ISCaM can consolidate, co-ordinate and facilitate International collaboration, facilitate translation of research to clinical development, and fundraise for Networking activities, scientific programs and projects, scientists mobility, young scientists grants and carrier programs.
Read ISCaM Statute at this link
Our Mission
Our mission is to advocate and effectively promote our approach to cancer therapy in the scientific community, social community, Funding Agencies, Governments, and stimulate translation into clinical applications.
- To create a critical mass of scientists engaged in research activities on Metabolism in Cancer.
- To gain visibility at National, European and International level.
- To duly raise the necessary awareness of both the scientific community and society.
- To attract resources to finance and conduct research in the field of metabolism in cancer.
- To be recognized as an important counterpart for the European Commission, funding agencies and Industry.
- To represent the main scientific stakeholder in the field.
ISCaM numbers
10 years of activities
25
Travel Grants Awarded
180
Members
10
Annual meetings
Board members
Alessandro Carrer
President
Group leader
Veneto Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM)
Padua, Italy
Alessandro investigates metabolic dependencies and their impact on epigenomic reprogramming during pancreatic carcinogenesis. He trained at University of Pennsylvania and his lab employs mouse transgenics to dissect metabolic and epigenomic perturbations that lead to tumor onset.
Veneto Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM)
Padua, Italy
Alessandro investigates metabolic dependencies and their impact on epigenomic reprogramming during pancreatic carcinogenesis. He trained at University of Pennsylvania and his lab employs mouse transgenics to dissect metabolic and epigenomic perturbations that lead to tumor onset.
Pawel Swietach
Past-President
Professor of Physiology
Oxford University, UK
His laboratory at the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics investigates signalling by small molecules in the heart and in cancer, with a particular focus on hydrogen ions, which determine pH. His research focus on the understanding of the mechanisms by which cells handle their acidic products and how, in turn, acid/base chemistry affects biology.
Oxford University, UK
His laboratory at the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics investigates signalling by small molecules in the heart and in cancer, with a particular focus on hydrogen ions, which determine pH. His research focus on the understanding of the mechanisms by which cells handle their acidic products and how, in turn, acid/base chemistry affects biology.
Cyril Corbet
President-elect
FNRS Research Associate
Experimental and Clinical Research Institute UC Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
His research group investigates the metabolism of therapy-resistant cancer cells (incl. cancer stem cells) and the interplay thereof with the tumor microenvironment in order to develop new targeted therapies overcoming conventional treatment escape.
Experimental and Clinical Research Institute UC Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
His research group investigates the metabolism of therapy-resistant cancer cells (incl. cancer stem cells) and the interplay thereof with the tumor microenvironment in order to develop new targeted therapies overcoming conventional treatment escape.
Elena Rainero
Secretary
Lecturer
University of Sheffield, UK
Her laboratory studies the role of the extracellular matrix in controlling cancer cell metabolism. Elena recently demonstrated that starved breast cancer cells internalise and digest matrix components to sustain their proliferation. Her lab is now characterising the molecular mechanisms and the metabolic pathways regulating this process, to identify novel potential therapeutic targets. Her lab is also interested in defining the role of extracellular matrix remodelling and trafficking in controlling cancer cell invasion and metastasis.
University of Sheffield, UK
Her laboratory studies the role of the extracellular matrix in controlling cancer cell metabolism. Elena recently demonstrated that starved breast cancer cells internalise and digest matrix components to sustain their proliferation. Her lab is now characterising the molecular mechanisms and the metabolic pathways regulating this process, to identify novel potential therapeutic targets. Her lab is also interested in defining the role of extracellular matrix remodelling and trafficking in controlling cancer cell invasion and metastasis.
Margherita Cortini
Treasurer
Tenure-track scientist
Department for Research, Innovation and Technology
Rizzoli Orthopaedic Specialty Hospital, Bologna, Italy
Margherita’s research focus is the understanding of the interaction between tumor and stromal cells and their reciprocal metabolic reprogramming during primary and metastatic tumor growth.
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Maria Rodriguez Colman
Board member
Associate professor
Center for Molecular Medicine (CMM)
Institute of Biomedical Sciences (IRB), Lleida, Spain
The Rodriguez Colman Lab investigates the "Metabolism of Stem Cells and Cancer" at the subcellular, cellular and tissue scale. To that end, they use organoids models, a multicellular and hetero-cellular system able to recapitulate the complexity of stem cell and differentiation dynamics. Organoids are derived from healthy adult, embryonic or cancer tissue. Next to research analysis of bioenergetics, metabolomics and other omics, they perform cutting-edge 4-D live imaging to gain insights of metabolic changes at different scales with temporal resolution. They introduce fluorescent based genetic reporters to monitor metabolism in different cellular compartments and cell type specification changes, and analyze these complex long-term live imaging data with machine learning based single cell tracking coupled to in-house analytical pipelines. Her lab investigates the molecular mechanisms by which metabolic changes drive cell fate decisions in health, development and disease.
Center for Molecular Medicine (CMM)
Institute of Biomedical Sciences (IRB), Lleida, Spain
The Rodriguez Colman Lab investigates the "Metabolism of Stem Cells and Cancer" at the subcellular, cellular and tissue scale. To that end, they use organoids models, a multicellular and hetero-cellular system able to recapitulate the complexity of stem cell and differentiation dynamics. Organoids are derived from healthy adult, embryonic or cancer tissue. Next to research analysis of bioenergetics, metabolomics and other omics, they perform cutting-edge 4-D live imaging to gain insights of metabolic changes at different scales with temporal resolution. They introduce fluorescent based genetic reporters to monitor metabolism in different cellular compartments and cell type specification changes, and analyze these complex long-term live imaging data with machine learning based single cell tracking coupled to in-house analytical pipelines. Her lab investigates the molecular mechanisms by which metabolic changes drive cell fate decisions in health, development and disease.
Sophie Trefely
Board member
Tenure track group leader
Babraham Institute, Cambridge, UK
The Trefely Lab investigates the role of nuclear metabolism in ageing and metabolic syndrome (obesity and type 2 diabetes), using innovative techniques to investigate metabolite signals linking diet and epigenetic regulation.
Babraham Institute, Cambridge, UK
The Trefely Lab investigates the role of nuclear metabolism in ageing and metabolic syndrome (obesity and type 2 diabetes), using innovative techniques to investigate metabolite signals linking diet and epigenetic regulation.
Jean-Emmanuel Sarry
Board member
Permanent scientist
CRCT-Oncopole, Toulose, France
The Sarry lab specialized in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), an heterogeneous group of hematological malignancies resulting from the transformation of hematopoietic progenitors, and in the interplay between metabolic pathways and the acquisition of resistance to chemotherapy.
CRCT-Oncopole, Toulose, France
The Sarry lab specialized in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), an heterogeneous group of hematological malignancies resulting from the transformation of hematopoietic progenitors, and in the interplay between metabolic pathways and the acquisition of resistance to chemotherapy.
Sara Sdelci
Board member
Group leader
Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona, Spain
The Sdelci lab aims at dissecting the role of enzymatic activities on chromatin, with a particular focus on cancer, trying to identify the molecular networks defining the direct interplay between chromatin and cancer metabolism.
Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona, Spain
The Sdelci lab aims at dissecting the role of enzymatic activities on chromatin, with a particular focus on cancer, trying to identify the molecular networks defining the direct interplay between chromatin and cancer metabolism.
Past ISPDC/ISCaM presidents
Stefano Fais
Past ISPDC President
Research director
Istituto Superiore di Sanità
Rome, Italy
Stefano Fais, MD, became a medical doctor in 1981, and has shared his efforts for more than 15 years between his clinical practice and his research activity. In 1994 he decided to fully dedicate his time to research; nowadays he holds the position of Research Director of the anti-neoplastic drugs sector at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità - National Health Institute in Rome, Italy. He authored more than 200 scientific papers and books, and helds over 10 patents for medical applications.
Istituto Superiore di Sanità
Rome, Italy
Stefano Fais, MD, became a medical doctor in 1981, and has shared his efforts for more than 15 years between his clinical practice and his research activity. In 1994 he decided to fully dedicate his time to research; nowadays he holds the position of Research Director of the anti-neoplastic drugs sector at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità - National Health Institute in Rome, Italy. He authored more than 200 scientific papers and books, and helds over 10 patents for medical applications.
Angela M. Otto
Past ISPDC President
Professor (retired)
Technische Universität München
Munich, Germany
In the past years, the central interest of Dr. Angela M. Otto has been the biochemistry of tumor metabolism in conditions mimicking a precarious tumor micro-environments - using different defined cell culture conditions of cancer cells as a model system for analyzing tumor heterogeneity and chemosensitivity.
Technische Universität München
Munich, Germany
In the past years, the central interest of Dr. Angela M. Otto has been the biochemistry of tumor metabolism in conditions mimicking a precarious tumor micro-environments - using different defined cell culture conditions of cancer cells as a model system for analyzing tumor heterogeneity and chemosensitivity.
Silvia Pastorekova
Past ISPDC President
General Director of the Biomedical Research Center
Slovak Academy of Sciences
Bratislava, Slovakia
Her major scientific interests include molecular mechanisms of persistent virus infections and the role of hypoxia and acidosis in tumor development. She made a principal contribution to identification, molecular and functional characterization of carbonic anhydrase IX (MN/CA IX), a marker of tumor hypoxia and promising therapy target. She authored or coauthored more than 110 publications in peer reviewed journals and is also a co-inventor of international patents related to MN/CA IX application in medicine.
Slovak Academy of Sciences
Bratislava, Slovakia
Her major scientific interests include molecular mechanisms of persistent virus infections and the role of hypoxia and acidosis in tumor development. She made a principal contribution to identification, molecular and functional characterization of carbonic anhydrase IX (MN/CA IX), a marker of tumor hypoxia and promising therapy target. She authored or coauthored more than 110 publications in peer reviewed journals and is also a co-inventor of international patents related to MN/CA IX application in medicine.
Sofia Avnet
Past ISCaM President
Staff Scientist
Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli
Bologna, Italy
Her main interests range from bone tumors, with particular regard to osteosarcoma, bone metastases, and giant cell tumor of the bone, to the pathophysiology of bone remodelling, also involving tissue engineering in orthopaedics through bioprinting and microfluidics, dual photon and spectral confocal microscopy.
Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli
Bologna, Italy
Her main interests range from bone tumors, with particular regard to osteosarcoma, bone metastases, and giant cell tumor of the bone, to the pathophysiology of bone remodelling, also involving tissue engineering in orthopaedics through bioprinting and microfluidics, dual photon and spectral confocal microscopy.
Pierre Sonveaux
Past ISCaM president
Principal Investigator, Professor of Pharmacology, F.R.S.-FNRS Senior Research Associate
UC Louvain
Brussels, Belgium
Previous work of his lab focused on metabolic cooperation and on the metabolic control of angiogenesis and metastasis, while their current general objective is to identify key molecular determinants driving these particular behaviors in order to propose new anticancer strategies targeting tumor metabolism.
Nicola Baldini
Past ISCaM President
Full professor
University of Bologna
Bologna, Italy
Specialist in the branch of orthopedics and oncology, professor Baldini holds his practice at the Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, in Bologna, Italy, as Director of the Laboratory of Biomedical Sciences and Technologies and Nano Biotechnologies. He is also the Director of the Research, Innovation and Technology department. His research focuses on the muscle and bone oncology, as well as on tissue engineering and metabolic skeletal diseases.
University of Bologna
Bologna, Italy
Specialist in the branch of orthopedics and oncology, professor Baldini holds his practice at the Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, in Bologna, Italy, as Director of the Laboratory of Biomedical Sciences and Technologies and Nano Biotechnologies. He is also the Director of the Research, Innovation and Technology department. His research focuses on the muscle and bone oncology, as well as on tissue engineering and metabolic skeletal diseases.
Stine Pedersen
Past ISCaM President
Full professor
University of Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark
The overall goal of her research is to understand the structure-function dynamics and physiology/pathophysiology of mammalian pH-regulatory ion transporters, with emphasis on their roles in epithelial cancers. To reach this goal, her group focus on a few selected transporters, in particular, the Na+/H+ exchanger NHE1 and the Na+,HCO3- cotransporter NBCn1. The Pedersen laboratory collaborates extensively, allowing researchers to study these transporters from the gene- and single molecule structure and dynamics level over their cell biology, in complex 3D culture models, and eventually to animal models.
University of Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark
The overall goal of her research is to understand the structure-function dynamics and physiology/pathophysiology of mammalian pH-regulatory ion transporters, with emphasis on their roles in epithelial cancers. To reach this goal, her group focus on a few selected transporters, in particular, the Na+/H+ exchanger NHE1 and the Na+,HCO3- cotransporter NBCn1. The Pedersen laboratory collaborates extensively, allowing researchers to study these transporters from the gene- and single molecule structure and dynamics level over their cell biology, in complex 3D culture models, and eventually to animal models.
Gyorgy Szabadkai
Past ISCaM President
Full professor
UCL, London, UK
The overarching aim of his research group is to understand how transcriptional regulation of the nuclear encoded mitochondrial proteome is converted into bioenergetic and signaling responses of the organelle in health and disease. His lab uses quantitative biochemical, computational, imaging and metabolomic approaches to identify components of adaptive mitochondrial pathways that will represent therapeutic targets to develop novel treatment strategies.
UCL, London, UK
The overarching aim of his research group is to understand how transcriptional regulation of the nuclear encoded mitochondrial proteome is converted into bioenergetic and signaling responses of the organelle in health and disease. His lab uses quantitative biochemical, computational, imaging and metabolomic approaches to identify components of adaptive mitochondrial pathways that will represent therapeutic targets to develop novel treatment strategies.
Paolo E. Porporato
Past ISCaM President
Associate professor
University of Turin
Turin, Italy
His research group is focused on the role of metabolism in fueling cancer progression. Tumors are highly energy demanding to support survival and growth in a harsh environment; hence, they promote nutrient mobilization from the body to support their increased metabolic demand, ultimately promoting systemic wasting and cachexia. In particular, his group is working on the metabolic competitions occurring between skeletal muscle and growing tumor with the aim of breaking the vicious circle which leads to skeletal muscle wasting and tumor growth.
University of Turin
Turin, Italy
His research group is focused on the role of metabolism in fueling cancer progression. Tumors are highly energy demanding to support survival and growth in a harsh environment; hence, they promote nutrient mobilization from the body to support their increased metabolic demand, ultimately promoting systemic wasting and cachexia. In particular, his group is working on the metabolic competitions occurring between skeletal muscle and growing tumor with the aim of breaking the vicious circle which leads to skeletal muscle wasting and tumor growth.