Kind-Philipp-Foundation for Research in Pediatric Oncology
XXXVI. Annual Meeting
4th-7th of June 2025
Dear Colleagues,
After yet another excellent Kind-Philipp-Meeting in 2024, we are looking forward to welcoming you at next year’s meeting . The meeting will take place in Wilsede from, Wednesday, the 4th of June to , Saturday, 7th of June. We are looking forward to seeing you all for a stimulating meeting covering all aspects of paediatric cancer and leukaemia. You will find a lot of information here on our website.
Best regards,
Martin Stanulla, Rolf Marschalek, Jan-Henning Klusmann, Olaf Heidenreich
Kind-Philipp-Presentation Award
In order to promote ambitious and motivated young scientists, we have installed the Kind-Philipp-Presentation Award. The prize was first awarded in 2016 and acknowledges the best presentation at the Kind-Philipp-Meeting, regarding not only the data included in their abstract, but also the future perspective of their project and their presentation skill. For the first time this year, the chairs chose their favourite candidate of their session and nominated them for the award. All nominees were than presented to the participants who could vote for their favourite among those.
Winner of the Kind-Philipp-Presentation Award 2024 was Büsra Cinar from the Medizinischen Hochschule Hannover, Germany. The title of her presentation was „Polyphosphates as Regulators of Metabolic Homeostasis upon Amino Acid Starvation in Drug Resistant Leukemia Cells“. Congratulations!
Why meeting in Wilsede makes a difference
Wilsede is a very special place: scientists from all over Europe arrive in Undeloh (near Hamburg) and take horse-drawn carriages that transport them to Wilsede, passing a unique landscape (Lueneburg Heath) along the way. Wilsede itself also offers a distinctive scenery: old houses with thatched roofs, a restaurant and the spacious Wilsede barn that is the congress site. Participants can enjoy three days of cancer science surrounded by a charming atmosphere, with nice accomodation and “local cuisine”, including the famous grilled German Black Heath mutton (Heidschnucke).
For more than 30 years, in the early days of June, cancer researchers meet here to share their findings. Wilsede is an especially excellent opportunity for young researchers in the field of pediatric cancer. In a climate of trust and confidence, their latest research can be discussed with experienced colleagues. Everyone who has ever had the chance to attend one of these meetings wants to return. This is the spirit of our annual Wilsede meetings. We warmly invite you to become a part of it.
What to expect – Meeting and Keynote speakers
The Kind-Philipp-Meeting was established as a scientific and educational program at the interface of basic and clinical research in pediatric hematology and oncology. Advances in molecular techniques and immunotherapy are rapidly causing novel insights into the biology and therapeutic perspectives of pediatric cancer. Diagnoses using molecular techniques are also allowing us to distinguish distinct subgroups within cancer types and to identify patients with different disease behavior and prognosis.
The Kind-Philipp-Meeting covers all these aspects of pediatric hematology and oncology, including molecular and functional features of cancer cells, the role of somatic and germ-line mutations and epigenetic alterations in the biology and pathogenesis of cancer, advances in molecular diagnostics and novel therapeutic agents. The interactive nature of the meeting allows PhD students, postdocs and medical students from all over Europe to share their novel and unpublished biological, genomic, epigenetic or clinical data on leukemias and solid cancers.
Four keynote lectures from internationally renowned scientists will provide an overview of the status of the field and novel insights into cutting-edge technologies and cancer pathogenesis.
The Kind-Philipp-Meeting promotes informal interaction and ample discussion between young and established scientists and clinicians working in the field. The target audience will comprise of leading scientists, PhD students, medical students, basic scientists, physician-scientists, as well as clinicians with an interest in the field.
Below some insights on the keynote speakers of 2024.
Professor Brian Huntly
Professor of Leukaemia Stem Cell Biology,
Head of Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, UK
Lecture: „Aberrant Gene Regulatory Complexes In Leukemia“
Florian Heidel, Prof. Dr. med.
Director of the Clinic for Hematology, Hemostaseology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Hannover Medical School, Germany
Lecture: „Effectors of oncogenic signaling”
Anton Henssen, Prof. Dr. med.
Head of preclinical research, Attending Physician,
Pediatrician, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
Lecture: „Extrachromosomal Oncogene Amplification in Cancer”
Katrin Ottersbach, Prof. Dr. med.
Professor of Developmental Haematology / Cancer Research UK Fellow,
The University of Edinburgh, UK
Lecture: „The developmental origin and biology of infant leukemia”
Why we set this up
We are the organization team – passionate researchers ourselves and, most importantly, frequent visitors of Kind-Philipp-Meetings in the past. We fell in love with the location and with the spirit of leaving everyday business behind. We enjoy focusing on science without distraction, and our venue, the Emhoff, is truly a retreat. Every meeting, a keynote lecturer explains cutting edge knowledge to young scientists. The sessions are kept on a strict schedule to allow for ongoing discussions after the talks. Wilsede thus fosters scientific friendship and provides a great platform for young researchers to showcase their work.
We are indebted to a number of organizations and companies who, through their financial contributions, were and continue to be very important to this meeting. Therefore, we would like to offer our heartfelt thanks to these supporters whose valuable assistance enables us to continue and grow our successful meeting on childhood cancer research.
Scientific Program 2024
As in 2023, the 35th GPOH Kind-Philipp-Meeting will again cover the important and novel aspects of pediatric hematology and oncology. We are also looking forward to our four keynote lectures such as Brian Huntly, Florian Heidel, Anton Henssen and Katrin Ottersbach. The program will also leave room for informal interaction and ample discussion between young and established scientists and clinicians working in the field.
General information
Scientific program
Abstract submission is not open yet, the scientific program will be finalised after abstract submission closes.
Travel information
Travel by train:
The nearest train station can be found in Handeloh, and is easily reached by trains from Hamburg and Hannover. From and to Handeloh we will offer a continuous shuttle service from 14:30 to 18:30 on the day of arrival and from 11:30 to 14:30 on the day of departure. If you need a shuttle outside of these times, please contact organizers.
Travel by car:
If you wish to arrive by car, you will be able to find public parking areas in Underloh at the “Undeloher Hof”.
Travel by plane:
The nearest airports are located in Hannover and Hamburg, which are connected to Handeloh by public transport.
Parking
Parking is available in Undeloh on the public parking area next to the “Undeloher Hof”. Driving is only permitted up to Underloh. Do not drive through the nature reserve straight to Wilsede without permission.
Transport to Wilsede
Registration and most accommodations are located in Undeloh. Since the conference location Wilsede is part of a nature reserve and not accessible by car or public transport the following options are available: After registration horse-drawn carriages will be ready in Undeloh (public parking area in front of the “Undeloher Hof”) for the transport to Wilsede. In the mornings horse carriages will depart at 8:00 to bring you to the conference location. In the evenings horse carriages will leave from Wilsede to Undeloh at 23:00. On Saturday horse carriages are also prepared to take you back from Wilsede to Undeloh. It is also possible for you to rent bicycles for the duration of your stay. Bicycles can be rented in Undeloh for example at the Hotel “Heiderose”. However, if you have enough time you can also enjoy a walk through the nature reserve from Undeloh to Wilsede, which will take you approximately 50 min. Just be careful there are no paved roads between the two locations.
Registration and accommodation
The registration desk should be your first stop upon arrival. Registration will open at 16:00 in Undeloh (in front of the “Undeloher Hof”). Here you will receive all the necessary information for your stay. During registration, you will be allocated to your rooms and you will be informed if your accommodation is set in Undeloh or Wilsede. If you are accommodated in Wilsede, you will recieve your key in Wilsede at the Emmhof.