From October 15 to 17, 2026, the “CIMR-Nature Conference | Genome Maintenance Systems in Cancer” was held at the Conference Hall of Capital Medical University (CMU). The conference was jointly organized by Chinese Institutes for Medical Research (CIMR), Beijing; CMU, and CMU-affiliated Beijing Chest Hospital, in collaboration with Nature Reviews Cancer, Nature, Nature Cancer, Nature Communications, and Nature Progress Oncology. Since its establishment, CIMR has successfully hosted multiple high-level international academic events on the campus of CMU, and this conference stands out as one of the largest-scale gatherings to date. As a key activity within the “Capital International Medical Innovation Forum” series, the conference featured keynote talks, session talks, panel discussions, short talks, a Meet-the-Editor session, a poster session, and laboratory tours. It brought together 44 distinguished guests, including internationally renowned scientists such as James Chen, Nicola Curtin, Michael Karin, Xin Lu, René Medema, Bik-Kwoon Tye, Stephen West and Wei Yang. The conference focused on how cellular mechanisms that maintain genome function influence tumor immunotherapy, aiming to improve early diagnosis and clinical prognosis for cancer patients. Over 600 representatives attended, including experts and scholars from basic research and clinical practice, as well as young researchers and students.

At the opening ceremony, Guo-Min Li, Distinguished Investigator and Director of Chinese Institute for Cancer Research, CIMR; Liang Li, President of Beijing Chest Hospital, CMU; and Gabrielle Brewer, Editor of Nature Reviews Cancer, delivered welcome remarks. Guo-Min Li noted that as a new-type R&D institution supported by the Beijing Municipal Government, CIMR is committed to biomedical innovation and clinical translation. Hosting this high-academic conference in partnership with the Nature portfolio of journals is a significant step toward enhancing international academic influence and building an open, collaborative ecosystem. He expressed his hope that attendees would spark intellectual exchange during the conference and jointly drive progress in the field.

The conference agenda closely followed cutting-edge developments, offering rich, diverse content. Discussions centered on six core topics: frontiers in genome maintenance mechanisms, targeting DNA replication and repair vulnerabilities, DDR (DNA Damage Repair) defects and synthetic lethality, DDR-targeted combination therapy, resistance mechanisms associated with DDR deficiency, and genomic instability and innate immune signaling. The speaker lineup was both prestigious and highly international, featuring top-tier scholars—including eight academicians—as well as scientists from the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, the Netherlands, and many outstanding domestic scholars. They shared their latest breakthroughs and provided a comprehensive analysis of the potential and challenges of genome maintenance systems in cancer therapy, from molecular mechanisms to clinical strategies.

To foster the growth and exchange of young talent, the conference established a dedicated Short Talk session, providing a valuable platform for young researchers to showcase their work. 

The conference also received poster submissions from China, the United States, Singapore, Australia, India, and other countries. After rigorous review by editors from the Nature portfolio journals, five posters received the“Best Poster” award. 

In addition, a “Meet-the-Editor” session was organized, in which Nature series editors engaged directly with attendees in in-depth exchanges on topics such as manuscript publication, research topic selection, and academic integrity.

As a high-level academic exchange event in the frontier medical field, this conference brought together leading scientists from around the world. It effectively bridged basic biological mechanism research, drug target development, and the advancement of clinical diagnostic and treatment protocols. The event significantly enhanced the international academic influence of CMU and CIMR in genome maintenance systems research and strongly promoted academic exchange and cooperation both domestically and internationally.