Detailed Programme

Saturday, May 16, 2026

3.00 PM Registration

7.00 PM Dinner

8.10 PM Welcome Adresses
Introductory Remarks Jessica Quintin (Institut Pasteur, France)
FEBS overview presentation Zrinka Kovarik (FEBS Member in Charge, IMI, Croatia)
FEBS Press Hajrah Khawaja (The FEBS Journal, UK)

8.40 PM Keynote lecture
Chair: Agostinho Carvalho (University of Minho - ICVS, Portugal)
Stuart M. Levitz (UMass Chan Medical School, USA)
The perfect storm driving the fungal epidemic and how the research you are doing can counteract it

9.30 PM Welcome Reception

Sunday, May 17, 2026

7.30 AM Breakfast

8.30 AM Plenary Session 1: Clinical Challenges and Molecular Mechanisms of Fungal Infections and Antifungal Resistance

8.30 AM Bridget M. Barker (Northern Arizona University, USA) Introduction

8.50 AM Fariba M. Donovan (University of Arizona, USA) Coccidioidomycosis: Clinical, Diagnostic, and Therapeutic Challenges

9.20 AM Katrien Lagrou (KU Leuven, Belgium) Advancing Diagnostics and Understanding of Pulmonary Aspergillosis in Europe

9.50 AM Coffee Break

10.20 AM Jeniel E. Nett (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA) Clinical challenges and pathogenesis of C. auris skin colonization

10.50 AM Chris Kosmidis (University of Manchester - NAC, UK) Advancements in Diagnosis and Management of Chronic Pulmonary Aspergillosis – BSMM Speaker

11.20 AM Fanny Lanternier (Institut Pasteur, France) Advances in mycoses surveillance and management in Europe

12.15 PM Lunch

3:45 PM Workshop I: Clinical Challenges and Molecular Mechanisms of Fungal Infections and Antifungal Resistance

Chairs : Greetje VandeVelde (KU Leuven, Belgium) and Robert Cramer (Geisel School of Medicine, USA)

3.45 PM Adnane Sellam (Université de Montréal, Canada) Isw2-mediated chromatin remodeling governs antifungal tolerance and heteroresistance in Candida albicans

4.00 PM Kin Ming (Clement) Tsui (National Center for Infectious Diseases, Singapore) Evolution, diversity, and spread of fluconazole-resistant Candida parapsilosis isolates associated with increased ERG11

4.15 PM Sarah Beattie (University of Iowa, USA) A mold-active antifungal compound suitable for treatment of CNS fungal diseases

4.30 PM Theodore White (University of Missouri Kansas City, USA) Incidence of Fungal Infections in the United States over the Last 10 Years using Electronic Health Records

4.45 PM Coffee Break

5.15 PM Elevator Pitch, Session A

Chairs : Edward Wallace (University of Edinburgh, UK) and Fanny Lanternier (Institut Pasteur, France)

5.15 PM Margot Delavy (Memorial Sloan Kettering, USA) Investigating the characteristics of micafungin heteroresistance in Candida parapsilosis

5.21 PM Jianqiong Huang (Guangzhou Medical University, China) A ß-(1,3)-glucan binding protein is an effector of the resistance of Drosophila against Candida glabrata and Candida auris

5.27 PM Sara Alhihi (University of Perugia, Italy) Invasive Fungal Infections and Targeted Therapies in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

5.33 PM Jessica Allison (Queen's University of Belfast, UK) A One Health approach to Antifungal resistance: Investigating the development of azole cross-resistance in Candida species

5.39 PM Anagha C.T. Menon (Université de Montréal, Canada) Comprehensive insights into fungal sulfur metabolism and its role in fitness and pathogenicity in Candida albicans

5.45 PM Mathieu Giguere (Université Laval, Canada) FungAMRseer : Computational Prediction of Antifungal Resistance

5.51 PM Teresa Pissarro (Universidade Nova - ITQB, Portugal) Ocean secrets: Marine bacteria yield powerful antifungals

5.57 PM Margaux Charrier Le Blan (Université de Tours - CEPR, France) Dysregulated bronchial epithelial innate immunity promotes post-influenza Aspergillus superinfection

6.03 PM Dries Maes (KU Leuven, Belgium) Assessment of host-pathogen interactions and pathogen dissemination routes in preclinical cerebral cryptococcosis models

6.09 PM Jeany Söhnlein (University Hospital Wuerzburg, Germany) Employing human in vitro macrophage models to identify early immune response mediators against Aspergillus fumigatus

7.00 PM Dinner

8.00 PM Poster Session A

Monday, May 18, 2026

7.30 AM Breakfast

8.30 AM Plenary Session 2: Molecular Mycology: Next-Generation Insights into Fungal Virulence

8.30 AM Iuliana Ene (Institut Pasteur, France) Introduction

8.50 AM Jane Usher (University of Exeter - MRC CMM, UK) Cracking the Code of Combinatorial Stress: Genomic Innovation in Candida glabrata

9.20 AM Victoriano Garre (Universidad de Murcia, Spain) Unlocking DNA Adenine Methylation–Based Regulation for Novel Mucormycosis Therapies

9.50 AM Coffee Break

10.20 AM Richard J. Bennett (Brown University, USA) Chromosome-level regulation of filamentation and host colonization in Candida

10.50 AM Evelina Tutucci (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands) Spatial and Temporal Regulation of Gene Expression During Hyphal Growth in Candida albicans

11.20 AM Matthew G. Blango (Leibniz-HKI, Germany) The epitranscriptome as an underappreciated regulatory layer in human fungal pathogens

12.00 PM Group Photo

12.15 PM Lunch

3.45 PM Workshop II: Molecular Mycology: Next-Generation Insights into Fungal Virulence

Chairs : Michael C. Lorenz (MMS UTHealth, USA) and Elizabeth Ballou (University of Exeter - MRC CMM, UK)

3.45 PM Jerome Govin (Institute of Advanced Biosciences, France) From epigenetic vulnerabilities to new chromatin functions in Candida

4.00 PM Christophe d’Enfert (Institut Pasteur, France) Mapping of expression quantitative trait loci identifies novel properties of the genetic clusters structuring the Candida

4.15 PM Jeffrey Rybak (St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, USA) Clinically emergent mutations in RBA1 are genetic determinants of Candidozyma auris pathogenic adaptation

4.30 PM Joachim Morschhäuser (University of Würzburg - IMIB, Germany) A septation initiation network (SIN) comprising three essential protein kinases controls cytokinesis in Candida albicans

4.45 PM Coffee Break

5.15 PM Elevator Pitch, Session B

Chairs : Evelina Tutucci (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands) and Jonathan Richardson (King's College London, UK)

5.15 PM Darian Santana (St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, USA) A Candida auris Clonal Subpopulation Seeds Resistance Emergence Under Fluconazole Stress

5.21 PM Seung-Heon Lee (University of Toronto, Canada) Identification of Hsp90 genetic interactors in Cryptococcus neoformans

5.27 PM Marhiah Montoya (UM Kansas City, USA) Systematic classification and Text Mining-Based Mapping of Fungal ICD Codes to Support Clinical, Epidemiologic, and Translational Studies of Human Fungal Pathogens

5.33 PM Maialen Areitio (Universität Zürich, Switzerland) Malassezia spp. and Candida auris interactions at the host skin interface

5.39 PM Zixu Wang (VU Amsterdam University, Netherlands) Forging the Fatal Tip: How Candida albicans Builds Its Pointy Hyphal Weapon

5.45 PM Ivan Ibanda (University of Liverpool, UK) Quantitative Systems Pharmacology Analysis of Cell Fate Decisions under Oxidative Stress in Candida albicans

5.51 PM Marina Álvaro Moya (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain) Characterization of the Immune Response Induced by a Gut Microevolved Candida albicans Strain

5.57 PM Laura Marthe (Sorbonne Université - Cimi, France) Fungal invasion studied in an innovative stratified epithelia model using live cell imaging combined with damage sensitive reporters

6.03 PM Katie Quinn (Geisel School of Medicine, USA) Glycolysis is Necessary for Aspergillus fumigatus Pulmonary Infection Initiation

6.09 PM Rasha Zaher (Leibniz-HKI, Germany) Phagosomal dynamics during Lichtheimia corymbifera infection of macrophages

7.00 PM Dinner

8.00 PM Poster Session B

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

7.30 AM Breakfast

8.30 AM Plenary Session 3: Molecular Mechanisms of Cross-Kingdom Interactions and Their Impact on Pathogenesis

8.30 AM Guilhem Janbon (Institut Pasteur, France) Introduction

8.50 AM Iliyan D. Iliev (Weill Cornell Medicine, USA) Immunity and Inflammation form the prism of gut fungal commensalism - IUBMB Speaker

9.20 AM Aurélie Deveau (Université de Lorraine - IAM, France) Interkingdom interactions in toxic environment: when fungi and bacteria teams up to survive and grow in deadly conditions

9.50 AM Coffee Break

10.20 AM Michael C. Lorenz (MMS UTHealth, USA) Interkingdom interactions between Candida albicans and Enterococcus faecalis are ruled by secreted peptides

10.50 AM Ilse D. Jacobsen (Leibniz - HKI, Germany) The good and the bad: Strain-dependent virulence synergism between Enterococcus faecalis and Candida albicans

11.20 AM Ioly Kotta-Loizou (Imperial College London, UK) Mycovirus infection in Aspergillus fumigatus

12.00 PM Lunch

Free Afternoon and Evening

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

7.30 AM Breakfast

8.30 AM Plenary Session 4: Beyond Mycology, Interdisciplinary Approaches to Fungal Research

8.30 AM Marcio L. Rodrigues (Fiocruz, Brazil), Introduction

8.50 AM Dominique Ferrandon (Université de Strasbourg - IBMC, France) Genetic analysis of Drosophila host defenses against microbial infections: protection against secreted virulence factors 

9.20 AM Christian R. Landry (Université Laval, Canada) Towards a complete understanding of antifungal resistance

9.50 AM Coffee Break

10.20 AM Toni Gabaldón (IRB Barcelona, Spain) Discovery of environmental yeast hybrids with pathogenic potential: evolutionary and clinical implications

10.50 AM Antonio Di Pietro (Universidad de Córdoba, Spain) Transposons drive rapid adaptation in a clonally evolving fungal pathogen

11.20 AM Anne G. Oostlander (TU Braunschweig, Germany) Microbial dialogs: Intra- and interspecies communication in filamentous fungi

12:15 PM Lunch

3.45 PM Workshop III: New Frontiers in Molecular Mycology: Interdisciplinary Approaches and Cross-Kingdom Interactions

Chairs : Attila Gacser (University of Szeged, Hungary) and Josh J. Obar (Geisel School of Medicine, USA)

3.45 PM Edward Wallace (University of Edinburgh, UK) Post-transcriptional control of fungal growth and virulence by the RNA-binding protein Ssd1

4.00 PM Bernado Ramírez-Zavala (University of Wuerzburg - IMIB, Germany) Functional analysis of uncharacterized putative essential protein kinases of Candida albicans

4.15 PM Brooke Esquivel (University of Missouri - Kansas City (UMKC), USA) Analysis of the Canine Oral Mycobiome and Implications for Human Health

4.30 PM Leijie Jia (Leibniz-HKI, Germany) Convergent evolution of a fungal effector enabling phagosome membrane piercing

4.45 PM Coffee Break

5.15 PM Elevator Pitch, Session C

Chairs : Fariba Donovan (University of Arizona, USA) and Benoit Briard (Université de Tours - CEPR, France)

5.15 PM Philipp Brandt (Institut Pasteur, France) Decoding aneuploidy regulation through a genome-wide overexpression screen in Candida albicans

5.21 PM Julia Muenzner (Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany) Not all chromosomes are equal: chromosome-specific aneuploidy stability in Candida albicans

5.27 PM Tania Vanzolini (University of Urbino, Italy) The antifungal humanized monoclonal antibody Dia-T51 and its synergy with amphotericin B: in vitro and in vivo studies

5.33 PM Stef Jacobs (KU Leuven, Belgium) Exploiting collateral sensitivity to combat multidrug-resistant Candida: from treatment dynamics to drug repurposing

5.39 PM Mrinalini Parmar (IRB Barcelona, Spain) Disrupting drug resistance by exploiting collateral sensitivity to design novel therapeutic strategies for Candida auris and Candida glabrata infections

5.45 PM Keita Kayama (Institut Pasteur, France) Lipid Metabolism and Extracellular Vesicle Production in Cryptococcus neoformans

5.51 PM Alessia Sulla (University of Perugia, Italy) Organoid cultures as a 3D platform to study fungal infectious diseases

5.57 PM Thomas Easter (University of Manchester, UK) Mucorales spores demonstrate species-specific interactions with airway epithelial cells

6.03 PM Raquel Fernandes (University of Minho - ICVS, Portugal) Itaconate suppresses macrophage antifungal activity and promotes susceptibility to Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis

6.09 PM Simone Piccioni (Leibniz-HKI, Germany) How Aspergillus fumigatus clearance is shaped by alveolar sac morphology

7.00 PM Dinner

8.00 PM Poster Session C

Thursday, May 21, 2026

7.30 AM Breakfast

8.30 AM Plenary Session 5: Molecular Insights into Host-Pathogen Interactions: Fungal Evasion and Immune Defenses

8.30 AM Teresa Zelante (University of Perugia, Italy), Introduction

8.50 AM Margherita Bertuzzi (University of Manchester, UK) Novel insights into the antifungal potency of the alveolar epithelium – BSMM Speaker

9.20 AM Joshua J. Obar (Geisel School of Medicine, USA) Understanding the totality of MAVS-dependent responses within alveolar macrophages after Aspergillus fumigatus challenge

9.50 AM Coffee Break

10.20 AM Kelly M. Shepardson (UC Merced, USA) Type I IFN Signaling, via IFNb, Contributes to the Regulation of Damage and Antifungal Responses During Aspergillus fumigatus Infection

10.50 AM Rebecca Hall (University of Kent, UK) Environmental control of C. albicans innate immune evasion

11.20 AM Benoit Briard (Université de Tours - CEPR, France) Complement-mediated inflammasome activation during bacterial-fungal surinfection

12:15 PM Lunch

3.45 PM Workshop IV: Molecular Insights into Host-Pathogen Interactions: Fungal Evasion and Immune Defenses

Chairs : Rebecca Hall (University of Kent, UK) and Richard Bennett (Brown University, USA)

3.45 PM Camaron Hole (UT Health Science Center, USA) Neutrophils Modulate the Immune Response to Cryptococcus neoformans

4.00 PM Elvira Román (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain) Is there a role for Candida albicans adhesins during in the colonization of the gastrointestinal tract ? 

4.15 PM Justyna Karkowska-Kuleta (Jagiellonian University, Poland) Species-specific host modulation by extracellular vesicles from Candida yeasts 

4.30 PM Marc Swidergall (Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, USA) Early-life fungal colonization reveals stage-specific immune regulation in the oral mucosa 

4.45 PM Coffee Break

5.15 PM Keynote lecture
Chair: Clarissa Nobile (UC Merced, USA)
Geraldine Butler (University College of Dublin - Conway Institute, Ireland)
Evolutionary perspectives from fungal genomics

6.00 PM Award ceremony

6.30 PM Conclusion and Farewell Evening

Friday, May 22, 2026

Departure