Federal Office for Radiation Protection

8th International Workshop on the Causes of Childhood Leukemia



08–10 July 2026 | Kolpinghaus Munich

From 8–10 July 2026, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) will host the 8th International Workshop on the Causes of Childhood Leukemia in Munich.
 
The event is part of a workshop series that aims to advance understanding of the disease’s primary drivers by bringing together international experts to review evidence, share new data, and define priority research directions.
 
The upcoming 8th workshop will focus on examining the role of infections in the development of the disease, methodologies for measuring the exposome, and insights from recent animal experimental studies regarding the effects of magnetic field exposure. Additionally, new and ongoing international collaborations will be presented.

The workshop will take place on-site at Kolpinghaus Munich and will be complemented by online participation options to enable broad international involvement.

Registration deadline: 14 June 2026


Program

This is a preliminary program. Titles and times of the talks may be subject to change.

1st day, Wednesday, 8th July 2026

From 11:00 a.m. Registration | Welcome Coffee
Session 1 | Opening
1:00–1:15 p.m. Welcome BfS
1:15–1:30 p.m. Setting the scene J. Schüz
Session 2 | European perspectives
Chairs: Friederike Erdmann, Ben Spycher
1:30–1:50 p.m. Green and blue spaces (online) R. Ramis
1:50–2:10 p.m. The Problems of Childhood Leukaemia and Nuclear Installations R. Wakeford 
  GEOCAP program cancelled
2:10–2:40 p.m. Coffee break
Session 3 | National and international collaborations
Chairs: Maria Gomolka, Wafa Alimam
2:40–3:00 p.m. EDI-4-ALL: Early Detection and Interception for Childhood Lymphoblastic Leukemia U. Fischer
3:00–3:20 p.m. Natural background radiation and childhood leukemia and brain tumors: a multi-national joint analysis (RadoNorm) B. Spycher
3:20–3:40 p.m. Uncovering New insights from the COVID-19 pandemic FOR Childhood Cancer prevention and care (UNI-4-CC): Rationale and Overview of the Project F. Erdmann
3:40–4:00 p.m. Towards the elimination of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in children through identification of their environmental causes (ELI-ALL) J. Schüz
4:00–4:10 p.m. Short break  
Proffered Papers I
Chairs: Janine Schmidt, Ljubica Zupunski
4:10–4:15 p.m. Travel Award  
4:15–4:30 p.m. Maternal Pesticide Exposure Before and During Pregnancy and Risk of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Offspring: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis N. Rodet
4:30–4:45 p.m. EPI-CT Study: A European Study on the Assessment of Malignant Hematological Diseases Following Pediatric CT Scans M.-O. Bernier
4:45–5:00 p.m. TRACE: Tracking Radiation-induced leukAemia in Children, from Exposure to mEchanisms M. Lopez Riego
From 8:00 p.m. Get together | 60 seconds to napoli, Sendlinger Straße 12, Munich

2nd day, Thursday, 9th July 2026

Session 4 | Ionizing and non-ionizing radiation
Chairs: Dan Baaken, Richard Wakeford
9:00–9:20 a.m. Feasibility of a nationwide case-control study to investigate the association between exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields from railway installations and childhood leukemia incidence in Germany J. Schüz
9:20–9:40 a.m. Exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from radio and TV transmitters and acute leukemia among children in metropolitan France in the period 2002-2013: the CIRE-RF study L. Zupunski
9:40–10:00 a.m. Residential radon and childhood leukemia risk: A systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis. W. Alimam
10:00–10:30 a.m. Coffee break
Session 5 | Childhood leukemia mouse models
Chairs: Janine Schmidt, Alli Farrokhi
10:30–10:50 a.m. Second Hits, First Principles: Gene–Environment Interactions in Childhood Disease — Lessons from ETV6::RUNX1-Driven Leukemia and CBP-Deficient Immune Models A. Pandyra
10:50–11:10 a.m. Mouse models of childhood leukemia: a bridge between epidemiology and prevention C. Cobaleda
Session 6 | Effects of MF exposure in animal experimental studies
Chairs: Janine Schmidt, Ali Farrokhi
11:10–11:30 a.m. Influence of Extremely Low-Frequency Magnetic Fields on Immune Development in a Susceptible Mouse Model of Childhood Leukaemia D. Sachno
11:30-11.50 a.m. Investigation of Leukemia Development in Genetically Predisposed Animal Models Following Magnetic Field Exposure J. Sündermann
12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m. Lunch
Key note lecture | Infections
Chairs: Joachim Schüz
1:00–2:00 p.m. The Role of Infections in the Etiology of Childhood Leukemia: From Epidemiological Hypotheses to Mechanistic Evidence I. Sánchez-García
2:00–2:30 p.m. Panel discussion  
2:30–3:00 p.m. Coffee break
Proffered Papers II
Chairs: César Cobaleda, Alexandra Pandyra
3:00–3:15 p.m. Investigating the Role of Immune Training and Innate Immune Stimuli in Enhancing Immunosurveillance against ETV6::RUNX1+ BCP-ALL H. Sahin
3:15–3:30 p.m. Helminth-Induced Immune Training and Its Potential Impact on Leukemia Progression Y. Zeng
3:30–3:45 p.m. Immune Training: A Prophylactic and Therapeutic Gatekeeper against B-ALL M.N.F. Morcos
3:45–4:00 p.m. Differential Impact of Early-Life Vaccination on Preleukemic Cells in a Murine Model of B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia A. Farrokhi
4:00–4:15 p.m. High Birth Weight predisposes to Childhood B-Cell Leukemia in genetically predisposed mice A. Casado García 
4:15–4:30 p.m. Investigating the influence of environment on childhood leukaemia-initiating events using monoculture and 3D models J.R. Saville
From 7:00 p.m. Conference Dinner | Altes Hackerhaus, Sendlinger Straße 14, Munich


3rd day, Friday, 10th July 2026
 
Session 7 | Exposome and Mechanisms
Chairs: Maria Gomolka, Akram Ghantous
9:00–9:20 a.m. The evolutionary dynamics of lymphoid tumours and its impact on outcome M. Duran-Ferrer
9:20–9:40 a.m. Epigenome-wide analyses of ALL and early-life exposures: backtracking to birth A. Ghantous
9:40–10:00 a.m. Maternal blood concentrations of essential and toxic elements in pregnancy and childhood leukemia I. Caspersen
10:00–10:20 a.m. Findings from the PEDIAC consortium T. Mercher
10:20–10:50 a.m. Coffee break
Proffered Papers III
Chairs: Carolina Vicente-Dueñas, Ida Caspersen
10:50–11:05 a.m. Defining Pre-Leukemic States and Evolutionary Trajectories in PAX5-Driven B-Cell Leukemia A. Abdelsaid
11:05–11:20 a.m. Functional Profiling of Germline PAX5 Variants in Pediatric B-ALL R. Haag
11:20–11:35 a.m. Maternal folate depletion induces tissue-specific epigenetic alterations linked to childhood leukaemia J. R. Saville
Session 8 | Looking around and forward – what to do next?
11:35–12:15 p.m. Summary & Farewell BfS


Upload abstract

The deadline for abstract submission has been extended to 14 April. We encourage all interested participants to submit their abstracts by this new deadline.
Please use this link to download the template for the abstract. 

To submit your abstract, please send it to jschmidt@bfs.de by 14 April.

BfS Childhood Leukemia 2026 Travel Award

The German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) is pleased to announce the availability of one travel award for a PhD student to attend the 8th International Workshop on the Causes of Childhood Leukemia 2026.
 
  • The BfS Travel Award is open to PhD students presenting at the workshop.
  • The award will be granted to the applicant with the highest-rated abstract.
  • Selection will be primarily based on the quality of the abstract.
Evidence of PhD student status may be requested before award is provided.

Funding will be provided on a reimbursement basis; the awardee is required to initially cover travel expenses and submit valid receipts and invoices to BfS following the workshop to receive reimbursement.


Registration

* mandatory field
Registration deadline: 14 June 2026
If you still like to register, please contact the following mail: leukemiaworkshop.muc@bfs-strahlenschutz.de

Type of participation

Please select how you would like to attend the event.
Ticket
€ 150,00
€ 100,00

By registering, I agree that my personal data will be processed for the purpose of organizing and conducting the event in accordance with applicable data protection regulations. Further information can be found in the Data Protection Information.


Location

Tagungszentrum Kolpinghaus
Adolf-Kolping-Str.1
80336 München
Website

If you have any questions regarding the event, please contact the organizing office appointed by the Federal Office for Radiation Protection, operated by the agency familie redlich, which can be reached on weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (CET).

Organizing Office “8th International Workshop on the Causes of Childhood Leukemia”
c/o familie redlich AG
Gustav-Meyer-Allee 25 | 13355 Berlin
Email: leukemiaworkshop.muc@bfs-strahlenschutz.de

 
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