Set on the beautiful backdrop of Trento, Italy, the 36th annual Pezcoller Symposium, this year focusing on studying and treating cancer in the digital era, brought together an outstanding group of speakers with backgrounds in oncology, data scientists, and artificial intelligence to explore how cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment is being reshaped by recent digital innovations. The symposium featured a series of presentations covering topics such as digital twins, pediatric cancer dependency maps, diagnostic imaging, single-cell genomics, and precision cancer medicine as well as explored the possibilities and limitations that come with employing artificial intelligence for scientific discovery and therapeutic applications. The meeting was intimate, giving everyone a great chance to interact, and augmented by a career panel discussion as well as an emphasis on students and postdocs to ask questions. Even though there were moments of awkward silence as session chairs waited for these early career researchers to gather up the courage to ask their questions, it was successful when they did, as they asked insightful questions. Finally, I must mention that the meeting organizers and President Galligioni of the Pezcoller Foundation extended a warm welcome to the attendees – and they even hosted a fantastic dinner including the famous Trentino wine and cheese. Overall, the symposium was a great success and one I very much enjoyed attending – and hope to attend again in the future!

My recent experience at the Pezcoller Symposium in Trento, a historic crossroads of people and ideas, solidified my view that attending the conference is an essential scientific pilgrimage that all cancer researchers should make at some point during their careers.
The Pezcoller Symposium is uniquely designed to annually address an urgent and exciting topic in cancer research. From the program committee’s outstanding selection of subjects and speakers, each bringing diverse areas of expertise, to the event’s near-perfect pacing and intimate setting, the Symposium ensures that provocative ideas are both shared and meaningfully discussed.
It is truly a rare privilege to learn in an environment where such a diverse group of leading minds in the field are easily accessible and fully engaged, energized from discussions that span multiple disciplines and career stages.
The 2025 Symposium, “Studying and Treating Cancer in the Digital Era,” exceeded my high expectations. I left not only informed about the tremendous promise of emerging computational approaches, including AI, as catalysts for discovery and clinical translation, but was also inspired and reassured by the vital role of human experts. Leaders like those who spoke at the event are essential to thoughtfully guide and shape this rapidly evolving field.

The Pezcoller Symposium is one of the meetings I particularly enjoy attending, as it combines an outstanding scientific programme with a unique format that encourages in-depth discussions and meaningful interactions among researchers at all career stages.

This was my first time at a Pezcoller Symposium and I found it to be a very friendly conference with ample opportunities to meet with the other delegates.  The poster presenters were enthusiastic about introducing their work.  The speakers were well selected to give a great overview of the topic, highlighting the differing expertises of the area’s researchers.  I liked that the younger researchers were encouraged to ask questions, and that the speakers were not discouraged from also asking questions of others as well.  This generated lively discussion.  Another plus was the conference being in a beautiful location.