Immunology and Inflammation (I&I) - Berlin-wide symposium 2024

© TV tower symbol originally by Icon Mafia, modified and adapted under CC BY 4.0 by Sebastian Hofer

A new era of immunological research has begun, positioning the immune system at the intersection of modern systems biology, pathologies, and transformative immunotherapies across diverse medical fields. The emergence of novel technologies has led to a deeper understanding of our immune system. Pioneering immunology-based therapies have been approved and are successfully used in clinics. We are uncovering increasingly complex interactions between immune cells, organs, and tissues. Berlin, with its high-profile research environment, is at the forefront of this immunology revolution. 

The 2024 Immunology & Inflammation (I&I) Berlin-wide symposium capitalizes on the rich research landscape of the greater Berlin area. This year’s I&I symposium aims to bring together researchers from various Berlin institutions to foster scientific exchange, networking, and spark new collaborative efforts.

The symposium serves as an interactive platform for the exchange of ideas and scientific networking among the city’s immunologists. We particularly encourage early-career researchers, PhD candidates, and postdocs to present their work through short talks and posters, with awards for the best poster and best talk. Additionally, there will be ample time for networking during the evening’s get-together with food and drinks.

We warmly invite you to attend the 2024 Berlin-wide I&I symposium on October 7 and contribute to shaping the future of the city’s immunology community.

If you have questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with the organizing team: 
i&i_seminar_series@mdc-berlin.de

Registration Fees

Participation in the symposium (with or without abstract): 50 €

The registration fee includes coffee breaks, lunch buffet and dinner buffet. The costs for
accommodation and travel to the venue are not included in the registration fee and must be arranged independently.

Cancellation fees

20 % cancellation fee until August 8, 2024

50 % cancellation fee until September 7, 2024

90 % cancellation fee until September 23, 2024

Abstracts

We encourage early career researchers, PhD candidates and postdoctoral fellows to submit abstracts to be considered for short talks and posters through the registration link by September 16, 2024. From these submissions, six short talks will be selected with the opportunity to win an award for the best presentation. With your consent, abstracts accepted for poster presentations will be published in the symposium booklet. Please take note of the following abstract guidelines:

• Be sure to include the title of your work, your name and affiliation, and the affiliation of your co-authors.
• The abstract should not be longer than 300 words.
• Abstracts must be in English.
• Please submit only one abstract per participant.

Registration 08:00 – 08:50

08:50 Welcome by Simon Haas (BIH/MDC)

Session 1: Innate Immunity

Chairs: Irene Mattiola & Caroline Holley

09:00 – 09:30	Being in the Right Place - Mapping the TOLL Reads to Autoimmune Disease - Olivia Majer (MPI Infection Biology)
09:30 – 09:45	Selected Short Talk – Abstract No. 3 Diet modulates colonic epithelial proinflammatory responses by influencing butyrate-producing microbiota – Safak Bayram (Charité)
09:45 – 10:15	Innate Lymphoid Cells and Tissue Homeostasis – Andreas Diefenbach (Charité & DRFZ)
10:15 – 10:30	Selected Short Talk – Abstract No. 29 Beyond the barrier: microbial signatures shape dermal innate lymphoid cell function and skin homeostasis – Bruno Rocha (Charité)
10:30 – 11:00	NK cell memory and clonality – Chiara Romagnani (Charité & DRFZ)

11:00 – 11:30   COFFEE BREAK 

Session 2: Adaptive Immunity

Chairs: Inmaculada Martinez Reyes & Thomas Kammertoens

11:30 – 12:00	How T-cells recognize antigens – insights from advanced imaging – Johannes Huppa (Charité)
12:00 – 12:15	Selected Short Talk – Abstract No. 13 Autophagy and the autophagy-related kinase ULK1 contribute to T helper cell type 17 differentiation – Elisabeth Gressler (MDC)
12:15 – 12:45	B cell memory, EBV infection and gene editing – Klaus Rajewsky (MDC)
12:45 – 13:00	Selected Short Talk – Abstract No. 7 Towards the molecular mechanism of LMP1 induced B cell lymphomagenesis – Yue Zong (MDC)

13:00 - 14:20   LUNCH BREAK 

14:20 - 14:30   GROUP PHOTO

Session 3: Translational Immunology

Chairs: Carolin Knappe & Alisa Iakupova

14:30 – 15:00	Metabolic checkpoints controlling onset and resolution of inflammation - Gerhard Krönke (Charité & DRFZ)
15:00 – 15:15	Selected Short Talk – Abstract No. 18 Understanding the Link Between Macrophage Metabolism and Age-Associated Diseases - Maria Dzamukova (Charité)
15:15 – 15:45	Mechanisms driving hyper inflammatory T cell responses – Birgit Sawitzki (BIH)
15:45 – 16:00	Selected Short Talk – Abstract No. 24 Autoimmune organ damage by an ILC1-monocyte-derived macrophage module – Katerina Stergioula (DRFZ)
16:00 – 16:30	Cell death and inflammation  – Eicke Latz (DRFZ)

16:30 - 17:00   COFFEE BREAK 

Session 4: Flash Talks

Chairs: Maria Berruezo Llacuna & Sebastian Hofer

17:00 – 17:45 Selected Flash Talks

1.	Abstract No. 16 - The role of extracellular RNA on mediating the innate neuroinflammatory response following subarachnoid hemorrhage - Monika Svecla (Charité)
2.	Abstract No. 19 - Sequential mutagenesis through a dual-recombinase allele: FOXO1 re-expression rescues class switching in germinal center B cells - Carlota Farre i Diaz (MDC)
3.	Abstract No. 20 - Neutrophil extracellular traps induce a novel regulatory system in uropathogenic Escherichia coli - Dora Čerina (MPI Infection Biology)
4.	Abstract No. 21 - Elucidating the anti-fungal role of kidney-resident macrophages in invasive candidiasis - Karolin Hublitz (Charité)
5.	Abstract No. 30 - Inheritance of old mitochondria controls early T cell fate commitment and is regulated by autophagy - Mariana Borsa (University of Oxford)

17:45 -18:00   Closing Words - Katja Simon (MDC)

18:00 - 19:15   Posters

19:15 - 19:30   Awards for Best Short Talk, Best Flash Talk & Best Poster

19:30 - 21:00   Get-Together & Networking with Food & Drinks

I&I Organizing Committee

Katja Simon (MDC), Simon Haas (BIH, MDC), Inmaculada Martinez Reyes (MDC), Somesh Sai (MDC), Thomas Kammertoens (Charité), Irene Mattiola (Charité), Caro Holley (MPI), Sebastian Hofer (MDC), Maria Berruezo Llacuna (MDC), Alisa Iakupova (MDC), 
Carolin Knappe (MDC) & Tzu-Jiun Kuo (MDC)

Participating institutions:

Max Delbrück Center (MDC)
Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH)
German Rheumatism Research Centre Berlin (DRFZ)
Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology
Institute of Medical Immunology – Charité
Institute of Tumor Immunology – Charité
Institute of Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Immunology – Charité
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology – Charité
Department of Gastroenterology, Infectiology and Rheumatology – Charité
Department of Infectious Diseases and Critical Care Medicine – Charité
Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology – Charité