Diet and Metabolism in Cancer
Thursday, June 18, 2026
9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
MIT Huntington Hall (10-250)
The goal of this symposium is to explore how nutritional and metabolic factors influence cancer development and therapy, as well as foster interdisciplinary discussions and highlight insights that can advance cancer prevention and treatment.
There will be four sessions during the full-day event featuring international experts from academia and leading clinical institutions and covering topics such as the influence of diet on health and cancer, diet-gut interactions, diet and the immune system, as well as translational applications for diet in anticancer therapy.
Agenda
8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.Check-in
Tables and staff are located under the Dome in Building 10.
9:00 a.m. - 9:05 a.m. Welcome and opening remarks
Matthew Vander Heiden
Director, MIT Koch Institute
9:05 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.Session 1: Influence of diet on health and cancer
Session chair: Jose Ortiz-Preciado, MIT Koch Institute
Opening Talk
Walter Willett
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Influence of diet on health and cancer
Mandar Muzumdar
Yale School of Medicine
Diet-induced cell stress primes the pancreas for cancer
Matt Vander Heiden
MIT Koch Institute
Impact of diet on cancer progression
10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.Coffee break
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.Session 2: Diet-gut interactions in cancer
Session chair: Tony Zhang, MIT Koch Institute
Omer Yilmaz
MIT Koch Institute
Dietary control of stem cells in physiology and disease
Wendy Garrett
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Enhancing anti-tumor immunity through the diet and microbiota for colon cancer
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.Lunch break & poster session
Poster session will take place under the Dome in Building 10.
1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.Session 3: Diet & the immune system
Session chair: Manon Bulliard, MIT Koch Institute
Alison Ringel
MIT Koch Institute
Lipid sensing and signaling in tumor-reactive CD8+ T cells
Eran Elinav
Weizmann Institute of Science
Host-microbiome interactions in health and disease
2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.Break
3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.Clinical session: Translational applications for diet in anticancer therapy
Session chair: Josh Acklin, MIT Koch Institute
Andrew Chan
Massachusetts General Hospital
Early-onset colorectal cancer: From correlation to causation to prevention
Oliver Maddocks
Faeth Therapeutics
Overcoming complexity: multi-node inhibition of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway
Closing talk
Valter Longo
USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology
Identification and targeting starvation escape pathways in cancer treatment
4:30 p.m.Closing Remarks
Matthew Vander Heiden
Director, MIT Koch Institute
Thank you to our sponsors!
BioConvergence Cancer Alliance Members
Silver
Bronze
Thank you for additional support!
