The Children's Tumor Foundation
06/23/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/23/2026 07:38
Children’s Tumor Foundation Brings Global NF Community to Denver at a Defining Moment for Research, Treatment, and Care
2026 NF Conference and NF Summit will convene researchers, clinicians, industry, investors, patients, and families as the NF field builds on treatment progress and accelerates what comes next
DENVER, CO - The Children's Tumor Foundation (CTF) will bring the global neurofibromatosis and schwannomatosis community to Denver this summer for two major convenings: the 2026 NF Conference, June 26-30, and the 2026 NF Summit, July 9-11, both hosted at the Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center.
Together, the events come at a defining moment for NF, a group of genetic conditions that cause tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body. Over the past decade, CTF and its partners have helped move NF from a field with no approved treatments to one with three treatments delivered to patients - including two FDA-approved therapies for NF1-associated plexiform neurofibromas and brigatinib's recent inclusion in National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Guidelines for NF2-related schwannomatosis. At the same time, new clinical trials are opening, the field is advancing through AI, precision medicine, and gene therapy, and more than 20 companies and industry partners are engaging with the NF ecosystem.
That progress did not happen by accident. It was built through sustained investment, patient participation, clinical networks, research infrastructure, and collaboration across patients, clinicians, scientists, industry, regulators, and advocates. The 2026 NF Conference and NF Summit will bring that entire ecosystem together in one place.
NF is at a very different place than it was even a few years ago. Treatments are reaching patients. New trials are opening. Industry and investors are paying attention. And the research community is moving faster because it is increasingly connected and collaborative. These meetings are where the field comes together to focus not only on what comes next, but how to accelerate the path forward.
From Discovery to Treatments
The NF Conference is the premier global meeting for NF research and clinical care, convening many of the world's leading scientists, clinicians, drug developers, biotech leaders, investors, and early-career researchers. This year's program reflects a field moving on multiple fronts: tumor biology, drug discovery, clinical trials, AI, biomarkers, precision diagnostics, gene-based approaches, pain, cognition, bone health, metabolism, sleep, and quality of life.
The 2026 NF Conference also reflects the expanding role of industry, technology, and innovation in NF. For the first time, CTF will host a Startup & Innovation Showcase, connecting emerging innovators with investors, drug development experts, and NF researchers, while introducing venture capital firms to the growing opportunities within NF. The program reflects a field that is attracting a broader range of technologies, companies, and investment interest than ever before.. The Conference will also feature an NF AI Innovation Workshop, bringing researchers, clinicians, AI experts, and industry participants together to explore how artificial intelligence, data, and emerging technologies can help accelerate discovery, improve trial readiness, and open new paths for rare disease research.
Conference keynote speakers include Larry Sherman, PhD of Oregon Health & Science University; Matthew Vander Heiden, MD, PhD of MIT; Branden Moriarity, PhD of the University of Minnesota; and Paul Hergenrother, PhD of the University of Illinois. Together, their work spans therapeutic targeting, cancer metabolism, genome engineering, immunotherapy, and selective anticancer drug discovery - areas that are increasingly important to the next generation of NF treatment strategies.
The Conference will also highlight the people and collaborations that will carry the NF field forward. Young Investigator Day will spotlight emerging researchers and help bring the next generation of NF scientists and clinicians deeper into the community, building the relationships and momentum that sustain progress long after the meeting ends. Poster sessions will showcase the breadth of research underway across NF, from early discovery to clinical questions and patient-centered outcomes. Translational pipeline sessions will focus on how promising science moves toward clinical impact, while partner meetings will create space for collaboration across the NF ecosystem. A dedicated Clinical Care Program will bring additional focus to the care questions facing patients and providers today, connecting scientific progress with the realities of diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, and long-term care.
Built Around Patients and Families
The NF Summit brings the same urgency to the patient and family community. Designed for people living with NF, caregivers, advocates, clinicians, researchers, and supporters, the Summit offers practical education, peer connection, advocacy opportunities, and direct access to the experts helping shape the future of NF care and research.
This year's Summit will feature two keynote speakers whose careers reflect the growing importance of patient-centered healthcare and partnership across sectors. Michele M. Oshman, Chief Patient Advocate and Senior Vice President of Alliance Development at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), will bring a national perspective on patient advocacy and the role of patient voices in shaping health policy and innovation. Freda Lewis-Hall, MD, DFAPA, MFPM, former Chief Medical Officer and Chief Patient Officer at Pfizer, will speak from more than four decades of experience across clinical care, research, medicine development, patient engagement, and health equity.
Summit programming will include sessions on research progress, treatment updates, clinical care, advocacy, community support, and life with NF across different ages and stages. The Summit also includes dedicated programming on NF2-related schwannomatosis, including the INTUITT-NF2 clinical trial, patient participation in research, quality-of-life measures, and strategies to protect hearing while controlling tumor growth.
Patients and families are not separate from the research engine. They are part of it. Their questions, participation, urgency, and lived experience shape the science and keep the field focused on what matters most: treatments, care, and better options for everyone living with NF.
A Connected Field, Built to Move Faster
NF affects approximately 1 in 2,000 people across all populations worldwide and can cause tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body. Depending on the type of NF, it can lead to blindness, deafness, severe pain, bone abnormalities, learning challenges, disfigurement, and cancer.
For years, NF was often viewed as too complex, too fragmented, or too small to attract sustained drug development. CTF has worked to change that by building the infrastructure needed to move research forward: patient registries, clinical networks, natural history studies, drug discovery programs, translational models, clinical trial readiness, and partnerships across academia, industry, and government.
The 2026 NF Conference and NF Summit are a reflection of that model. They are two distinct events with one mission: to bring together the people, science, data, tools, and lived experience needed to accelerate treatments for all forms of NF.
CTF's role is to make sure NF is not waiting on the sidelines. By bringing the right people together, investing in the right science, and building the systems that help promising ideas move toward patients, CTF helps create the conditions for progress, and these meetings are built to keep that progress moving.
Event Details
2026 NF Conference
June 26-30, 2026
Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center
Denver, Colorado
More information: nfconference.org
2026 NF Summit
July 9-11, 2026
Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center
Denver, Colorado
More information: nfsummit.org
The Children's Tumor Foundation published this content on June 23, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 23, 2026 at 13:38 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]