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First Round of Abstract Submission Ends: Apr 15, 2026
Extended Early Bird Ends: Aug 28, 2025

Keynote Speakers

Prof. Juliane Walz
University of Tübingen, Germany
Title:

To be Confirmed

Juliane S. Walz (*1985) is a hematologist, oncologist and immunologist. Her research work focusses on the development of peptide-based immunotherapies for malignant and infectious disease until the stage of clinical evaluation. After a research scholarship at the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, USA she was appointed in 2022 on a full (W3) Professorship for Peptide-based immunotherapy and as Medical Director of the CCU Translational Immunology at the University of Tübingen.
Prof. Janusz Rak
McGill University, Canada
Title: Harnessing extracellular vesicle pathways to target vascular peculiarities and immune cell exclusion in glioblastoma
Janusz Rak, MD, PhD is a Professor of Pediatrics and Jack Cole Chair in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at McGill University and Investigator at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RIMUHC). His laboratory investigates how oncogenic events deregulate tumour microenvironment, orchestrate intercellular communications and trigger vascular alterations and systemic vascular paraneoplastic syndromes in cancer. The focal point of these studies are processes mediated by the exchange of extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes carrying oncogenic, diagnostic and therapeutic cargo. He published over 220 research papers (43,000 citations, h-index 87). He currently directs the CFI funded program – Centre for Applied Nanomedicine (CAN) and the NET program sponsored by Fondation Charles Bruneau and CIBC to investigate EV-based liquid biopsy approaches in pediatric cancer. He also leads projects supported by Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Cancer Research Society and other sources. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Prof. Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet
Lorraine University, France
Title: Will Update
Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet is a Professor of Gastroenterology at Nancy University Hospital and an internationally recognized expert in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). He founded in 2023 the IHU INFINY, an institute dedicated to the prevention and cure of IBD, thanks to a national grant awarded by the French President, Emmanuel Macron. Between 2015 and 2023, he was the President of the Groupe d'Etude Thérapeutique des Affections Inflammatoires du Tube Digestif (GETAID), a unique national network of French IBD centers running innovative clinical trials that is internationally recognized for conducting high-quality research. Between 2020 and 2023, he was the President of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO) and Scientific Secretary of the International Organization for the Study of IBD (IOIBD), the two leading international organizations in IBD. He is currently the principal investigator of several dozen ongoing local, national and international academic and industry clinical trials. He has raised nearly 35 million euros in funding over the past few years. He is the President of the ICARE project, a European prospective cohort that has enrolled 10,000 IBD patients between 2016 and 2019 and that is assessing for the first time the real risk-benefit profile of current therapeutic strategies. He has initiated and has been responsible for numerous international projects (STRIDE initiative, defining early Crohn’s disease, etc.). Thanks to his position in international organizations, he has developed several international indexes such as the IOIBD disease severity index and the WHO disability index for IBD. He has published more than 1,100 articles referenced in PubMed. His current H-index is of 116 and he is the top-rated expert in Crohn’s disease in the world according to “Expertscape”. He was ranked No. 1 in the top 14 authors of relevant literature of IBD diagnosis in nearly 10 years (Liu C, et al. Front Immunol. 2022). He was also ranked No. 1 in the top 10 most productive authors in Crohn’s disease treatment research between 2004 and 2023 (Xu L, et al. Front Pharmacol. 2024). Moreover, since 2019 he is ranked by Clarivate among the “highly cited researchers”.
Dr. Li Yang
National Cancer Institute, NIH, USA
Title: Will Update
Dr. Yang’s research program focuses on the mechanisms underlying tumor-host interplay in cancer metastatic progression. Dr. Yang has made seminal contributions to the identification of the immune and inflammatory mediators in the anti- and pro-tumor functional switch of TGF-β, mechanisms of myeloid cell recruitment in the tumor microenvironment, as well as myeloid TGF-β signaling in cancer immune surveillance and in inflammatory stroke.
Prof. Gian Marco Ghiggeri
Giannina Gaslini Children Hospital, Genoa, Italy
Title: 'The landscape of autoantibodies in Lupus Nephritis
I am the Chief of Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation Unit and Director of the Laboratory on the Pathophysiology of Uremia. Since 2016 I am the Director of the Department of integrated Pediatric and Hemato- Oncology Sciences, Giannina Gaslini Institute, Genova. Since 1987, 475 pediatric kidney transplants have been performed at our institution, within several national clinical programs including a pediatric program for kidney transplantation in sensitized children. Our pediatric program has been active in the field of viral infection monitoring and evaluation of virus-specific immunity, with specific focus on polyomavirus BK and Epstein-Barr virus-related lymphoproliferative disease. Through a collaboration with Dr. Comoli, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico S. Matteo, Pavia, we implemented a program of Cell Therapy for EBV-PTLD after solid organ transplantation. Since 2010, we focused our clinical and research activity on characterizing the pathogenic potential of anti-HLA donor specific antibodies, in order to identify patients at risk for antibody-mediated rejection and graft loss, and design preventive treatment strategies. In last ten years our Unit has developed and validated new therapeutic strategies for idiopathic nephrotic syndrome based on anti-CD20 antibodies. The lab is actively involved in the investigation of the mechanisms of nephrotic syndrome in humans and autoimmune diseases. For the past 15 years, we have characterized many genetic factors, biomarkers and biochemical defects in FSGS and membranous nephropathy. We had an active collaboration with the Sanna-Cherchi lab on the genetic studies of kidney malformations and nephrotic syndrome. In addition, I have participated in many international multicenter studies and networks, including clinical trials, so I am well aware of the requirements for standardized operating procedures for high quality clinical research. The patient population and the infrastructure at our institution are well suited for execution of the proposed project aims.
Prof. David C. Wraith
University of Birmingham, UK
Title: Antigen-specific immunotherapy of autoimmune diseases
David Wraith is a research immunologist who began his career at NIMR, London in 1981 working on the immune response to viruses. In 1986, he received MRC funding to work at Stanford University where he developed a lifelong interest in autoimmune diseases. This led to him establishing a Wellcome Trust funded research laboratory in Cambridge. In 1995, he took up the Chair in Experimental Pathology at Bristol and between 2016 and 2023 was Director of the Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy in Birmingham. David has over 200 publications with >21,000 citations. His group recently defined the cellular and molecular basis of antigen-specific immunotherapy leading to definition of the genetic and epigenetic control of the approach.

His group successfully completed phase 2 clinical trials of peptide immunotherapy in Multiple Sclerosis and phase 1 trials in Graves’ hyperthyroid disease. Antigen-specific immunotherapy with peptides has the potential to treat many serious autoimmune and allergic diseases for which there is no effective treatment: currently >1/5 children will suffer from an allergy or autoimmune condition during their lifetime. This approach is designed to improve the safety and efficacy of immunotherapy by specifically targeting the cells involved in the disease.
Prof. Eyad Elkord
Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, China
Title: T regulatory cells and immune checkpoints in cancer: Findings, challenges, and opportunities
Prof. Eyad Elkord holds a professorship in the Department of Biosciences and Bioinformatics and serves as the Director of the Suzhou Municipal Key Laboratory of Biomedical Sciences and Translational Immunology at the School of Science, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China. He is also an honorary professor at the University of Salford, United Kingdom.
Prof. Elkord is as internationally recognized scientist for his pioneering work in immune regulation, and has edited several books for prominent journals. With more than 145 publications in high-impact international journals and over 14,000 citations, his research is highly influential, reflected in an h-index of 49 and an M-index of 2.7. He has been named to Stanford University’s global lists of top 2% scientists for five consecutive years (2019–2023), ranking in the top 0.26% in the Immunology subfield. Additionally, he was recognized by Elsevier among the Most Highly Cited Chinese Researchers of 2024.
Prof. Moutih Rafei
Canada
Title: To be Confirmed
Expert in cellular and molecular immunology with major focus on cell-based therapies and therapeutics. Innovative scientist who can continuously propose and implement new research projects and foster external collaborations based on emerging human disease understanding. Ability to work comfortably under pressure while maintaining high energy level in a field that emphasizes speed, organizational skills, decisiveness, and effective interpersonal communications. Expertise in training laboratory personnel with consistent track record of surpassing standards and goals. Research Interests: - Cytokines engineering and biology - Autoimmune diseases and oncology - Cell therapy and immuno-therapeutics - Discovery of novel compounds for stimulating thymopoiesis - Ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic stem cells
Prof. Mariella Della Chiesa
University of Genoa, Italy
Title: To be confirmed
Mariella Della Chiesa is Associate Professor of Histology at the Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Genoa (Italy), with a Clinical and Experimental Immunology PhD. Her research activity has always been focused on features and functional properties of human NK cells and their role in antiviral and antitumor immune responses, including their potential use in novel immunotherapies. She contributed to isolate a KIR-specific monoclonal Ab employed in anti- leukemic clinical trials. She has identified several molecular mechanisms that regulate interactions occurring between NK cells and different dendritic cells subtypes. Her studies on NK cell development following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation have contributed to the identification and characterization of NK cells endowed with unexpected adaptive features, generated upon cytomegalovirus infection, termed "adaptive" NK cells. She has recently patented a cost-effective method for expanding highly functional "adaptive" NK cells to be used in novel cell- based therapeutic approaches. Her studies are now also focused on analyzing the characteristics of tumor-infiltrating NK cell in colorectal cancer, leading to the identification of specific tissue- resident NK cell subsets that could have a translational impact. Mariella Della Chiesa is author of 59 scientific articles (Scopus h-index 34, Google Scholar h- index 39)
Prof. Maria Leite de Moraes
Université Paris Cité, France
Title: To be confirmed
Maria LEITE-DE-MORAES is an immunologist at INEM (Institut Necker-Enfants Malades) in Paris. She is a full Research Director (DR1) at CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research) and has made seminal discoveries on the ontogeny and function of invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) cells, as well as their role in experimental and clinical allergic asthma. Her team is currently focusing on another type of innate-like T cells, mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells, and their involvement in pathogenic and regulatory immune mechanisms in asthma, cystic fibrosis, and chronic skin inflammation, using both experimental models and pediatric patient cohorts. She has authored over 100 articles in international peer-reviewed journals, with an H-index of 42. ORCID: 0000-0002-2891-2269.
Prof. Julien C. Marie
INSERM, France
Title: Novel effect or T cell subsets initiating cancer
Professor Julien C. Marie is director of research at INSERM in France . He is the deputy director of the Cancer Research Center of Lyon.
Dr Marie has been awarded of numerous prizes from academia of science and European institute for his work on immune regulation and cancer immunology.
Prof. Patrick Baeuerle
Cullinan Therapeutics, Inc., USA
Title: T cell engaging antibodies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases
Patrick is a co-founder, Chief Scientific Advisor and Chairman of the SAB of Cullinan Therapeutics, a NASDAQ-listed company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Cullinan currently runs six clinical stage programs for treatment of autoimmune diseases and oncology. As an Executive Partner with the Boston-based VC firm MPM, and being a drug developer and immunologist, Patrick has co-founded nine portfolio companies during the past ten years: Harpoon, TCR², iOmx, Maverick, Cullinan, Crossbow, Aktis, Werewolf and Triptych. Prior to this, Patrick served as Vice President of Research and General Manager of Amgen Research Munich GmbH and as the CSO of Micromet, a US-based biotech company pioneering T cell-engaging antibodies. His industry career started at small molecule-focused Tularik in South San Francisco, a company also acquired by Amgen. Prior to the biotech industry, Patrick was a Professor and Chairman of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Medical Faculty of Freiburg University, Germany, where he conducted groundbreaking research on transcription factor NF-kappaB. Patrick holds a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Munich (LMU) and performed his post-doctoral training with Dr. David Baltimore at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research of MIT. Today, he is an Honorary Professor of Immunology at the Medical Faculty of LMU in Munich, Germany, an elected member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and EMBO. He has a Hirsh Index of 144.
Prof. Evelyn Ullrich
Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany
Title: To be confirmed.
Prof. Ullrich, MD, is Professor of Cellular Immunology and head of the unit “Experimental Immunology and Cell Therapy” at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. She completed her clinical and research training in Freiburg, Erlangen and Paris and is a specialist in internal medicine and immunology. The current research of her group addresses the development of engineered personalized immune cell therapy with focus on NK cells. Currently, Evelyn Ullrich is speaker of the study group “NK cells & ILCs” of the German Society for Immunology (DgfI e.V.). She is an internationally recognized expert in this field, author, reviewer and editor of specialist journals and spokesperson of NK cell consortia funded by the German Cancer Research Center (DKTK) and as part of the Priority and Drug Development Program supported by the German Cancer Aid (Stiftung Deutsche Krebshilfe). Furthermore, she is speaker of a German Research Foundation (DFG)-funded Clinician Scientist program and the Mildred Scheel Career Center (MSNZ) in Frankfurt, which is an excellence program for promoting young scientists in cancer research.
Prof. Lazaros I. Sakkas
University of Thessaly, Greece
Title: Sex bias in Systemic Sclerosis
Professor Emeritus, Internal Medicine and Rheumatology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly. I have been trained in internal medicine, and Rheumatology and gained experience in rheumatology in Greece, UK, and USA. I gained hands-on experience and training in molecular biology and Immunology in well-known Centers, at Guy’s/St’Thomas’ Medical and Dental Schools, University of London, UK, and Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

For many years, as Chairman of the Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University General Hospital of Larissa, Larissa, Greece, I was instrumental in teaching medical students, doctors in training, and postgraduate students, and shaping the rheumatology practice in central Greece. My main contribution to research has been genetic and environmental impact on rheumatic diseases, by analysing gene polymorphisms, sequencing of HLA-class-II genes and T cell receptor (TCR) genes in rheumatoid arthritis, introducing HLA-class I genotyping by PCR, sequencing TCR and IL-4 genes in systemic sclerosis, phenotyping B cells and intracellular signal pathways, and highlighting inflammation in osteoarthritis.

I served as Guest Editor in a few books and Journals, Editor of the Hellenic Rheumatology, and then Mediterranean Journal of Rheumatology, Editorial board member in many journals, and reviewer in many journals. I have authored more than 180 English language papers and more than 60 Greek language papers, 17 chapters in books (h-index 51, more than 8900 citations) and I gave lectures in several national and international meetings/congresses.
Prof. Niels Halama
The German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Germany
Title: To be Confirmed
Prof. Niels Halama obtained his MD at the University of Heidelberg, Germany in 2005. He then joined as Resident and Fellow the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT). From 2008 till 2016 he was Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Immunology and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg. Since 2017 Niels Halama has been attending the Physician for the Clinical Cancer Research Program “Colorectal Cancer.” In 2018 he got his habilitation in internal medicine at the University of Heidelberg and 2022 he obtained the Award of professorship. From 2019 to 2023 he was leading the department of Translational Immunotherapy at the DKFZ. In 2023 he was appointed W3 professor at the HI-TRON (Helmholtz-Institute for Translational Oncology) in Mainz and is Head of the Division “Tumor Immunology and Tumor Immunotherapy”. He is Chairman of the Scientific Management Board (HI-TRON) and member of the Extended Management Board of the Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCT and UMC).

In addition to running his laboratory, Prof. Niels Halama is Certified clinical investigator in oncology, clinical trials and medical products. 2003 till 2006 he was editor and author of the Section "Endocrinology” and “Neurology", for Medicle (www.medicle.org). He is member of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Immunologie (DGfI), American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), USA (AACR-sponsored membership), the Cancer Immunology Working Group (CIMM) and the International Cancer Microenvironment Society (ICMS). Prof. Halama is also highly involved in graduate and undergraduate training at the University of Mainz.

His research field is Tumor Immunology, Tumor immunotherapy, Tumor Inflammation, (Immunological) Biomarker Identification, Imaging Technologies, High-Throughput Processing, Colorectal Cancer, Pancreatic cancer, Breast Cancer, Malignant Melanom