Meetings & Courses Program

Crossroads of Biology

You are viewing a past event. Please visit the course homepage for current courses.
Methods in Cancer Neuroscience
March 9 - 25, 2026

Key Dates
Application Deadline: January 9, 2026
Arrival: March 9th by 6pm EST
Departure: March 25th around 12pm EST

CSHL Courses are intensive, running all day and often including evenings and weekends; students are expected to attend all sessions and reside on campus for the duration of the course.

Instructors
Jeremy Borniger, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Ece Eksi, Oregon Health and Science University
Manuel Valiente, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncologicas, Madrid, Spain 
Paola (Pay) Vermeer, University of South Dakota/Sanford Research

Assistant Instructor
Alexandria Battison, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 

Cancer neuroscience is a growing field that incorporates the study of malignancies, the nerves that infiltrate them and neuronal influences on disease initiation, its progression and the overall state of the host. The molecular, biological, immunological and neuronal understanding of these complex interactions requires multi-disciplinary approaches and methodologies that have historically been relegated to non-cancer fields. The Methods in Cancer Neuroscience is a short, intensive sixteen day hands-on course that will provide training in techniques necessary to define the complex influence of nerves in cancer. These techniques will span the areas of modelling cancer through orthotopic or systemic inoculation, viral injections and fiber optic placement for optogenetic, cranial window implantation and two photon video-microscopy, virus injections for neuronal tract tracing, behavioral assays, primary neuron and glia isolation and co-culture with cancer cells/ immune cell, and stable cell line generation, in vivo electrophysiology and data analysis, immunolabeling of co-cultures, functional assays (i.e., neurite outgrowth, clonogenic assays, and others), mouse brain organotypic cultures, advanced analysis of calcium reporters, scRNA-seq and data analysis, among other techniques. Lectures and techniques will be taught by the leaders in the field. Trainees will also benefit from interacting with and establishing fruitful collaborations with instructors.

Techniques to be Taught
Lecture Topics

  • Neuroimmunology

  • Mouse modeling 

  • 2P microscopy

  • Organoids

  • Behavior and circuits

Hands-on Module Topics

  • Inoculation of cancer cells

  • Computational analysis of behavior

  • Trace-n-Seq

  • Analysis of electron microscopy images

  • Viral injections & fiber optic placement

  • Viral injection for tracing

  • In vivo electrophysiology and data analysis

  • Optogenetics

  • In vitro calcium reporter test

  • Image analysis: fixed and dynamic data

  • From the brain to the 10X: tissue preparation and QC

  • Single cell spatial omics in cancer-neuroscience

  • Tissue clearing

  • Schwan cell, DRG and SVZ isolation and culture

  • BLI analysis and tissue processing of CNS tumors

  • Immunolabelling of co-cultures


2026 Invited Speakers and Module Leaders
Keynote Speakers
Benjamin Deneen, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
Frank Winkler, Heidelberg University, and DKFZ Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany 

Jeffrey Barr, Sanford University, Sioux Falls, SD 
Helen Bateup, University of California, Berkeley, El Cerrito, CA 
Isaac Chiu, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 
Sandeep Robert Datta, Harvard University, Boston, MA 
Liset Menendez de la Prida, Instituto Cajal, Madrid, Spain 
Karen Dixon, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland 
Simon Grelet, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL 
Jasper Panten, SciLifeLab, Sweeden 
Elizabeth Repasky, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY 
Jeffrey Salisbury, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 
Nicole Scheff, University of Pittsburgh, Wexford, PA 
Erica Sloan, Monash University, Parkville, Australia 
Sebastien Talbot, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada 
Kathryn Taylor, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 
Andreas Trumpp, HI-STEM gGmbH, Heidelberg, Germany 
Eugenia Trushina, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 
Manuel Valero Garcia, Hospital del Mar Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain 
Varun Venkataramani, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany 
Yi Ye, New York University, New York, NY 
Ofer Yizhar, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
Hui Zong, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

The Methods in Cancer Neuroscience course  is an intensive program designed to provide comprehensive training in the techniques necessary to study the interactions between the nervous system and cancer. Given the limited seats available, the ideal candidate should meet several criteria to ensure they can fully benefit from the program.
•Current Position: The candidate should be a graduate student enrolled in a PhD or MD/PhD program or postdoctoral researcher. Indicate year when the position was initiated.
•Personal Statement (500 words max) and Project Description (500 words max): The Personal Statement should be a well-articulated statement outlining the candidate's research interests, career goals, and how the course will benefit their interdisciplinary work in cancer neuroscience. The Project Description should briefly describe the candidate's current or proposed research project, clearly stating its relevance to cancer neuroscience and how it integrates aspects of both fields. 
•Curriculum Vitae (CV) (3 pages max): highlight academic achievements, research experience, and relevant skills in cancer biology and/or neuroscience. Although details are needed, the CV should not exceed 3 pages.
•Letters of Recommendation (3 letters max): Principal investigators (required) and mentors (recommended; up to 2) who can attest to the candidate's potential for interdisciplinary research in cancer neuroscience.

We would like to acknowledge the following companies that provided invaluable support:
Axion Biosystems, NeuroNexus Technologies, Sutter Instrument

This course is supported by the National Cancer Institute. Additional funds are provided by:

        

Financial aid is available to help offset tuition costs as follows:

  • Financial aid for domestic applicants may be provided by the National Cancer Institute (application pending)[up to 50% subsidy depending on need]
  • Financial aid for international applicants is provided by the (Howard Hughes Medical Institute). [up to 30% subsidy depending on need]

Please indicate your eligibility for funding in your financial aid request submitted when you apply to the course. Financial aid requests do not affect selection decisions made by the instructors.

Cost (includes food and housing): $5,300 USD

No fees are due until you have completed the full application process and are accepted into the course.

Before applying, ensure you have:
  1. Personal Statement & Project Description (Upload as one document)
  2. Letter(s) of recommendation;
  3. Curriculum vitae/resume;
  4. Financial aid request (optional).
    More details

 

If you are not ready to fully apply but wish to express interest in applying, receive a reminder two weeks prior to the deadline, and tell us about your financial aid requirements, click below:

For more on this course, read what former trainees said of their experience. Also, be sure to check out our growing online alumni presence.