3rd International Precision Medicine Networking forum took place in Riga in October

The 3rd Precision Medicine Networking (PMNet) forum took place in Riga, Latvia on 10-11 October this year. For the second time, this forum included a special session for functional precision medicine organised by SfPM member Inese Čakstiņa-Dzērve, Lead Researcher at the Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) Institute of Microbiology and Virology. She is also a former Fulbright fellow at Letai lab. The session was co-chaired with a speaker from last year, Caroline Heckman (FIMM, Helsinki, Finland). The speaker team consisted of 2 SfPM board members (Diana Azzam and Christian Regenbrecht) and 2 Letai lab alumni (Triona Ni Chonghaile and Čakstiņa-Dzērve).

During the session topics ranged from an introduction on functional precision medicine and exciting results and conclusions from a clinical study carried out by Diana Azzam and her group (“Using Functional Precision Medicine to Guide Cancer Treatments”) to the more scientific and insightful topic, Bcl-2 dependence in multiple myeloma given by Triona Ni Chonghaile. Christian Regenbrecht participated with a presentation inspired by Queen’s “Bohemian Rapsody” - “Functional Precision Medicine: Is This the Real Life? Is This Just Fantasy?”, while Čakstiņa-Dzērve presented her insights on the first steps towards functional precision medicine in Latvia.

Speakers at the session on functional precision medicine at the PMNet Forum 2024, Riga Latvia. From the left: Christian Regenbrecht, Triona Ni Chonghaile, Diana Azzam, Caroline Heckman, Inese Čakstiņa-Dzērve

A fundamental and applied research project, "Hypoxia-induced molecular alterations and druggable targets in triple negative breast cancer cell lines - HipTNBC", funded by the Latvian Council of Science is currently being implemented at RSU. This project utilises functional assays to determine how triple-negative breast cancer cells survive under low oxygen conditions (hypoxia). The findings from the study were also presented at the forum. 

As the name of the event shows, the forum is mainly for networking. During several talks, participants were inspired and came up with new ideas about possible applications for COST actions available in EU, the need for harmonisation of functional precision medicine protocols across laboratories, and exchanged the ideas on feasibility pilot-studies. The forum was not all about work, however, and participants were treated to an amazing dinner in the heart of Riga Old town at the House of the Black Heads. The world-renowned pianist Andrejs Osokins entertained participants with a musical performance.

Mark your calendars for the next PMNet Forum in Latvia on 9-10 October 2025. Make sure to include Saturday in your visit, since Čakstiņa-Dzērve offers guided tours in and around Riga!

Video of the forum

Photo gallery from the forum