Preliminary program

Saturday, May 16, 2026

3:00 PM Registration

7:00 PM Dinner

8:10 PM Welcome Adresses
Introductory Remarks
FEBS overview presentation Zrinka Kovarik, PhD
FEBS Press Hajrah Khawaja, PhD

8:40 PM Keynote lecture Stuart M. Levitz (University of Massachusetts Medical School, USA)
Title TBA

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, Flagstaff, USA) Introduction

8:50 AM Fariba M. Donovan (University of Arizona, Tucson, USA) Title TBA

9:20 AM Katrien Lagrou (KU Leuven, 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, Madison, USA) Title TBA

10:50 AM Chris Kosmidis (University of Manchester, Manchester, UK) Title TBA

11:20 AM Fanny Lanternier (Institut Pasteur, Paris, France) Title TBA

12:15 PM Lunch

3:45 PM Workshop 1: Clinical Challenges and Molecular Mechanisms of Fungal Infections and Antifungal Resistance
Oral presentations selected from Abstracts

4:45 PM Coffee Break

5:15 PM Elevator talks, Session A
Oral presentations selected from Abstracts

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, Paris, France) Introduction

8:50 AM Jane Usher (University of Exeter, Exeter, UK) Cracking the Code of Combinatorial Stress: Genomic Innovation in Candida glabrata

9:20 AM Victoriano Garre (University of Murcia, 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, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) Title TBA

11:20 AM Matthew G. Blango (Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology – Hans Knöll Institute (Leibniz-HKI), Jena, Germany) The epitranscriptome as an underappreciated regulatory layer in human fungal pathogens

12:30 PM Lunch

3:45 PM Workshop 2: Molecular Mycology: Next-Generation Insights into Fungal Virulence
Oral presentations selected from Abstracts

4:45 PM Coffee Break

5:15 PM Elevator talks, Session B
Oral presentations selected from Abstracts

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, Paris, France) Introduction

8:50 AM Iliyan D. Iliev (Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, USA) Immunity and Inflammation form the prism of gut fungal commensalism - IUBMB Speaker

9:20 AM Aurélie Deveau (INRAE, Université de Lorraine, Champenoux, France) Title TBA

9:50 AM Coffee Break

10:20 AM Michael C. Lorenz (MMS UTHealth Houston, USA) Interkingdom interactions between Candida albicans and Enterococcus faecalis are ruled by secreted peptides

10:50 AM Ilse D. Jacobsen (Leibniz-HKI, Jena, Germany) The good and the bad: Strain-dependent virulence synergism between Enterococcus faecalis and Candida albicans

11:20 AM Ioly Kotta-Loizou (Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK) Title TBA

12:30 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 (Instituto Carlos Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, Brazil), Introduction

8:50 AM Dominique Ferrandon (Université de Strasbourg, France) Title TBA

9:20 AM Christian R. Landry (Université Laval, Québec, Canada) Towards a complete understanding of antifungal resistance

9:50 AM Coffee Break

10:20 AM Toni Gabaldón (IRB and BSC, Barcelona, Spain) Title TBA

10:50 AM Antonio Di Pietro (University of Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain) Title TBA

11:20 AM André Fleissner (Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany) Title TBA

12:15 PM Lunch

3:45 PM Workshop 4: Beyond Mycology, Interdisciplinary Approaches to Fungal Research
Oral presentations selected from Abstracts

4:45 PM Coffee Break

5:15 PM Elevator talks, Session C
Oral presentations selected from Abstracts

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, Perugia, Italy), Introduction

8:50 AM Margherita Bertuzzi (University of Manchester, Manchester, UK) Novel insights into the antifungal potency of the alveolar epithelium

9:20 AM Joshua J. Obar (Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth, 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 (University of California, Merced, USA) Title TBA

10:50 AM Rebecca Hall (University of Kent, Canterbury, UK) Title TBA

11:20 AM Eva Pericolini (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy) The protective role of type I interferon axis in vulvovaginal candidiasis

12:15 PM Lunch

3:45 PM Workshop 5: Molecular Insights into Host-Pathogen Interactions: Fungal Evasion and Immune Defenses
Oral presentations selected from Abstracts

4:45 PM Coffee Break

5:15 PM Keynote lecture Geraldine Butler (University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland)
Evolutionary perspectives from fungal genomics

6:00 PM Award ceremony

6:30 PM Conclusion and farewell Event

Friday, May 22, 2026

Departure