Joint 15th ISDCI Congress and ZII meeting, August 28 – September 1, 2023

Institute of Immunology and Infection Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK. 

Keyword: MHC evolution 

Prof. Jim Kaufman has been working on various aspects of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) for almost 50 years, much of that time trying to understand the evolution of the MHC by studying animals other than humans and mice, particularly chickens. He has worked at Harvard University as a PhD student, the Basel Institute for Immunology as his first independent position, the Institute for Animal Health as the head of the Division of Immunology, the University of Cambridge as the Professor of Comparative Immunogenetics, and now the University of Edinburgh as a Chair of Immunology. He and his group continue to work from genes, genetics and genomics to biochemistry and cell biology, cellular immunology, infection studies and now to population genetics, all to understand the structure, function and evolution of immunity. Recently, people in the group have been studying not only chickens but also passerine birds, Tasmanian devils, rabbits and bats, along with work on T cell receptors, on natural killer receptors and ligands, and on a low-tech high-throughput experimental approach to determining T cell epitopes. 

Laboratory of experimental medicine  Department of medicine of Radboud University, The Netherlands 

Keyword: Trained Immunity

Leo Joosten is head of the Laboratory of Experimental Medicine at Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. As pathobiologist he is interested in host defence mechanisms triggered by pathogenic microorganisms causing chronic inflammation such as Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease in humans. He explores the role of Toll-like receptors (TLR), Nod like receptors (NLR), and C-type lectin receptors (CLR) in recognition of pathogens, and the role of the inflammasome and the autophagy machinery in pathogenesis. In his keynote lecture he will summarize the current state of knowledge and application of trained immunity, a long-term functional modification of cells in the innate immune system.

Assistant Professor, Hubrecht Institute, The Netherlands Department Clinical Sciences 

Internal Medicine of Companion Animals 

Keyword: Organoids 

Kerstin Schneeberger is Assistant Professor at Utrecht University, working in the field of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine. During her PhD at the University Medical Center Utrecht, she acquired extensive expertise in stem cell biology of the gastrointestinal tract, and applied adult stem cell derived organoids as disease models and for regenerative purposes. In her postdoctoral projects at the faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, she combined her expertise in adult stem cell derived organoids with her biotechnological background to develop new organoid technologies, such as bioreactors for large-scale organoid expansion and synthetic hydrogels for clinical applications of organoids. As member of a H2020 consortium, she focuses on whole-organ tissue engineering as an alternative to scarce donor organs for end-stage liver disease patients (OrganTrans). She has published more than 20 papers in high-impact journals and has been awarded with several prestigious research grants and prizes. In her Keynote lecture, she will describe the history of organoids in research and development and present the most recent advances obtained in human and animal (liver) organoid research.

Professor, Wageningen University and Research

Laboratory of Microbiology

Keywords: CRISPR/Cas, bacteria immunity

John van der Oost is professor of Bacterial Genetics in the Laboratory of Microbiology at Wageningen University, The Netherlands. He and his co-workers were the first to demonstrate that the CRISPR-Cas system uses an RNA-guided mechanism to specifically target DNA. Moreover, they demonstrated that an appropriately designed CRISPR can allow for specific targeting of any DNA sequence. His work provided an excellent basis for the development of genome editing tools that currently find applications in biotechnology and molecular medicine. In his keynote he will summarize the current state of knowledge and application of prokaryotic anti-viral defence systems, including CRISPR-Cas and Argonaute.

Group Leader at the Laboratory of Pathogens and Host Immunity, at University of Montpellier and CNRS, France

Keyword: Macrophage polarization in zebrafish

As an immunologist, she is interested in how macrophages dynamically adapt their state, behaviour and function during an immune response. From single cells to whole organism, she is tackling this question using a simple model, the transparent zebrafish larva. She developed innovative genetic tools for direct tracking of the dynamics of macrophage polarization during wound healing and infection, showing that macrophage polarization is extremely dynamic. In her keynote lecture she will summarize the current state of knowledge about the macrophage polarization and how it can be subverted during bacterial infections. 

Assistant Professor

Cell Biology and Immunology group Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands

Keyword: mechanobiology and phagocytic cup shaping in macrophages

Daan Vorselen is Assistant Professor at the Cell Biology and Immunology group of Wageningen university. Throughout his research career Daan worked on a variety of topics, from prediction of population collapse of laboratory yeast colonies, to probing of mechanical properties of extracellular vesicles in blood disorders, to phagocytic behaviour of immune cells. His current work aims to understand rapid and complex immune cell dynamics, and particularly the role of physical forces in shaping these dynamics. He uses a truly interdisciplinary approach, combining development of biophysical methods with quantitative imaging and advanced molecular biology approaches. In his keynote lecture he will present recent results on the dynamics and molecular basis of force generation during phagocytosis.