Mission possible – delivering translational impact is an international symposium organised together with the Finnish Cancer Institute. It will be held in Helsinki, Finland, on 25–26 September 2025. We expect around 300 participants to attend this multidisciplinary scientific event, which will bring together both clinical and experimental research experts.
Topics include: Translational clinical trials – Spatial Biology: biomarkers for precision oncology – Liquid biopsies – Translational tumor biology – AI in precision oncology
Preliminary Programme
9:00 Session 4: From bench to bedside
Chairs: Päivi Ojala and Anniina Färkkilä
Sarah-Maria Fendt, VIB Center for Cancer Biology
Elisa Oricchio, ISREC – Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research, EPFL
Sakari Vanharanta, University of Helsinki
11:00 Session 5: Precision cancer medicine
Chairs: Caroline Heckman and Sirpa Leppä
Philipp Staber, Medical University of Vienna
Kristoffer Rohrberg, University Hospital of Copenhagen
Katriina Jalkanen, Helsinki University Central Hospital
12:15 Lunch and farewell
9:00 Symposium opening words
Session 1: Spatial biomarkers for precision oncology
Chairs: Anniina Färkkilä and Tuomas Mirtti
Speakers:
Peter Sorger, Harvard Medical School
Leeat Keren, Weizmann Institute of Science
Mika Kontro, Helsinki University Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center
Maija Hollmén, Medicity, University of Turku
Leena Latonen, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Eastern Finland
11:45 Lunch
13:15 Session 2: Clinical implications of liquid biopsies
Chairs: Sirpa Leppä and Esa Pitkänen
Florent Mouliere, University of Manchester
Stefan Alig, University Hospital Essen
Matti Nykter, University of Tampere
15:30 Session 3: Enhancing clinical impact
Chairs: Anniina Färkkilä and Thomas Hackman
Jan Geissler, Patvocates
Panel discussion
16:30 Poster session
18:30 Dinner
Venue
Little Finlandia
Located in the heart of Helsinki, the Little Finlandia (Karamzininranta 4, 00100 Helsinki) offers easy access and beautiful views of a scenic park and Töölönlahti Bay.
There are easy and frequent public transport connections from the airport, bus and train stations. Tram and bus stops are in the immediate vicinity of the house. Next to the Finlandia building there is a parking garage, Aimo Park, with the following lift connections: Karamzininranta 2 and the elevator hall of the Finlandia Hall building (closest to Little Finlandia). The drive to the parking garage takes place via Karamzininranta. Parking is available for a fee.
Dinner will be served at Hesperia Ballroom at the Crowne Plaza Helsinki (Mannerheimintie 50, 00260 Helsinki).
Registration
Registration and call for abstracts will open in May 2025. Please come back for updates!
Sponsors
Join us in supporting innovation and collaboration at Mission Possible. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact us at ican-symposium@helsinki.fi.
The exhibition area will be located in the Little Finlandia foyer.
Organisers
Scientific Organizing Committee
Anniina Färkkilä (Chair), Assoc. Prof., University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital
Sirpa Leppä (Chair), Professor, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital
Caroline Heckman, Research Director, University of Helsinki
Tuomas Mirtti, Professor, University of Helsinki of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital
Päivi Ojala, Professor, University of Helsinki
Esa Pitkänen, FIMM-EMBL Group Leader, University of Helsinki
Thomas Hackman, iCAN Patient and Citizen Advisory Board
Tiina Vesterinen, Managing Director, Finnish Cancer Institute
iCAN core
Helene Wahl, Satu Sankkila, Marketta Liljeström
Contact
We are happy to answer your questions at ican-symposium@helsinki.fi