Viral Pathogenesis and Immunity: From Molecular Discoveries to Therapeutics (E2)
June 15-18, 2026  | Herrenhausen Palace, Hannover, Germany
Michaela U. Gack, Michael S. Diamond, Volker Thiel and Pei-Yong Shi
Scholarship Deadline: Feb. 12, 2026 | Abstract Deadline: May. 26, 2026 | Early Registration Deadline: Apr. 17, 2026
* Session Chair † Invited but not yet accepted | Program current as of March 17, 2026 8 AM | For the most up-to-date details, visit https://www.keystonesymposia.org
Monday, June 15, 2026
4:00–8:00 PM Registration Grand Mussmann Hotel, Tivoli Room
6:00–8:00 PM Welcome Mixer Central-Hotel Kaiserhof
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
8:00–9:00 AM Breakfast Individual Hotel
8:30–9:00 AM Poster Setup Ballroom
8:45–5:00 PM Poster Viewing Ballroom
9:00–9:10 AM Welcome Remarks Auditorium
9:10–10:00 AM Keynote Address Auditorium
  Kate A Fitzgerald, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Molecular Mechanisms of Antiviral Innate Immunity and Inflammation
 
10:00–12:15 PM Host-Virus Interactions in Innate Immunity Auditorium
  Michaela U. Gack, Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Innate Immune Sensing and Viral Escape Mechanisms
 
  John W. Schoggins, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Decoding the Antiviral ISG Response
 
  Taia T Wang, Stanford University
Antibody Signaling through Fc gamma Receptors as Key Driver of Infection and Inflammation Outcome
 
  Emily Rex, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Short Talk: FEAR Factor: Viral Evasion of an IFN-Independent Innate Immune Response
 
10:30–10:50 AM Coffee Break Foyer
12:15–1:15 PM Lunch Ballroom
12:30–2:30 PM Poster Session 1 Ballroom
2:30–4:30 PM Symposia Spotlight 1 Auditorium
  Manutea C Serrero, Aarhus University
SMARCA2 Enables Tonic Expression Of ISGs To Control Virus Infections In The Brain
 
  Brigitte Flannery †, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Arenaviral NP Exonuclease Function in Host Antiviral Suppression and Infectious Genome Production
 
  Indra Bekere, Technical University of Munich
Spatial Coordination of Viral dsRNA Sensing by the OAS Proteins
 
  Roberto B.D. Cattaneo, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
Measles Virus Spreads in the Brain by Relocating its Proteins to Neurites and Calibrating Cell-to-Cell Fusion
 
  Yara Bouery †, Université Paris Cité
Alphavirus nsP3 Organizes into Tubular Scaffolds Essential for Infection and the Cytoplasmic Granule Architecture
 
  Scott B Biering, University of California, San Diego
Calprotectins Safeguard against Dengue Virus Nonstructural Protein 1-mediated Endothelial Dysfunction and Vascular Leak
 
  Kam Leng Aw-Yong, Duke-NUS Medical School
A Previously Unrecognized Epithelial Factor Mediates Pteropine Orthoreovirus Entry into Human Cells
 
  Eva Harris, University of Califonia, Berkeley
Ephrin B1 is a Dengue Virus NS1 Receptor Required for Induction of Endothelial Dysfunction
 
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available Foyer
5:00–7:00 PM Species Expansion of (re)Emerging Viruses and Associated Immunity Auditorium
  Michael S. Diamond, Washington University School of Medicine
Evolutionary Relationships of Entry Receptors and Arboviral Pathogenesis
 
  Maria-Carla Saleh, Institut Pasteur
RNA Interference and Viral Immunity in Insects
 
  Jonathan Abraham, Harvard University
Entry Factors Determining Alphavirus Infection
 
  Kartik Chandran, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Short Talk: Roles of the Tick-borne Encephalitis Virus Receptor LRP8 in Viral Infection and Pathogenesis
 
  Sean Hui †, Washington University in St Louis School of Medicine
Short Talk: Structural Basis of Yellow Fever Virus Engagement of the LRP1 Receptor
 
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner Auditorium
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
8:00–9:00 AM Breakfast Individual Hotel
8:30–9:00 AM Poster Setup Ballroom
8:45–5:00 PM Poster Viewing Ballroom
9:00–12:00 PM Success and Failures of Adaptive Immunity to Acute and Persistent Virus Infections Auditorium
  Kellie Ann Jurado, University of Pennsylvania
Fetal Immune Responses and their Influence on Life-Long Health
 
  David Veesler, University of Washington
TMPRSS2-mediated Coronavirus Spike Activation and Inhibition
 
  Daniela Weiskopf, La Jolla Institute for Immunology
Adaptive Cell-Mediated Immune Responses to Vaccination and Natural RNA Virus Infection
 
  Ted C. Pierson, NIAID, National Institutes of Health
Humoral Immunity to Arboviruses
 
  Abigail Vanderheiden, Washington University in St. Louis
Short Talk: IFNg Producing Dural CD4+ T Cells Promote Hippocampal Memory Deficits in a Mouse Model of COVID-19
 
  Matthew R. Vogt †, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
Short Talk: A Single Non-Neutralizing Human Monoclonal Antibody Mediates In vivo Protection from Multiple Enterovirus Species via an Fc Effector Function Independent Mechanism
 
10:00–10:20 AM Coffee Break Foyer
12:00–1:00 PM Lunch Ballroom
12:30–2:30 PM Poster Session 2 Ballroom
3:00–4:30 PM Career Roundtable Auditorium
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available Foyer
5:00–7:00 PM Genetic and Acquired Immune Factors Modulating Viral Susceptibility Auditorium
  Shen-Ying Zhang, Rockefeller University
Human Genetic and Immunological Determinants of Viral Encephalitis
 
  Trine Mogensen, Aarhus University Hospital
VZV/herpesvirus and Innate Immunity Defects
 
  Charles Agoti, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme
Epidemiological Insights into Mechanisms of Respiratory Virus Reinfections
 
  Hridi Halder †, Helmholtz Munich
Short Talk: A Pan-Coronavirus Interaction Network Identifies Innate Immune Modules Converging with Host Genetic Risk
 
  Daniel J Rawle, QIMR Berghofer
Short Talk: Apolipoprotein E Drives Inflammation Resolution Pathways Essential for Recovery from Japanese Encephalitis
 
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner Ballroom
Thursday, June 18, 2026
8:00–9:00 AM Breakfast Individual Hotel
8:30–9:00 AM Poster Setup Ballroom
8:45–5:00 PM Poster Viewing Ballroom
9:00–12:00 PM Novel Approaches of Host-Directed and Immune-based Therapies to Virus Infections Auditorium
  Pei-Yong Shi, GSK
Prophylactic and Therapeutic Viral Vaccines
 
  Liang Shan, Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation
CARD8 Inflammasome Sensitization as Novel Antiviral Therapeutics Approach for HIV
 
  Lisa Purcell, Third Rock Ventures
Monoclonal Antibody Development and Technologies for Acute and Persistent Viral Infections
 
  Gong Cheng, Tsinghua University
Novel Antiviral Approaches to Control Mosquito-Borne Viruses
 
  Emi Nakahara, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Short Talk: Mammalian RTP4 Targets Sequences Enriched in Flavivirus RNA and Protects against Yellow Fever Virus Pathogenesis in Mice
 
  Jarrod Mousa, Florida State University
Short Talk: The Structural Basis of Protective and Nonprotective Human Monoclonal Antibodies Targeting Parainfluenza Virus Surface Proteins
 
10:00–10:20 AM Coffee Break Foyer
12:00–1:00 PM Lunch Ballroom
12:30–2:30 PM Poster Session 3 Ballroom
2:30–4:30 PM Symposia Spotlight 2 Auditorium
  Anice C Lowen †, Emory University School of Medicine
Host and Viral Factors Shaping Influenza A Virus Population Dynamics
 
  Gisa Gerold, Medical University of Innsbruck-Institute of Virology
A Suicide Gene Modified Chikungunya Virus Enables CRISPR Screen and Identifies an Entry Factor in Mosquitoes
 
  Seth Scott, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
TRIM5α Promotes Replication of Human Coronaviruses by Regulating Endosomal Entry
 
  Artem Ashurov, University Hospital of Cologne
Structural Characterization of Antibodies for Synergistic HCMV Neutralization
 
  Ella N Hartenian †, University of Lausanne
NINJ1 Blocks HSV-1 Entry into Macrophages to Impact Viral Replication and Immunity
 
  Arvin T Persaud, University of Toronto
The Incorporated Host Protein Repertoire can Shape Virus-Host Interactions: Insights from HIV-1
 
  Sofia Romero Ferrufino, NIH
SARS-CoV-2 Infection Dramatically Alters Human Brain Gene Expression
 
  Virginie Girault †, TUM
Multi-Proteomic Profiling Oo the Varicella-Zoster Virus-Host Interface Reveals Host Susceptibilities to Severe Infection
 
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available Foyer
5:00–6:45 PM New Approaches to Optimizing Vaccine-Induced Immunity to Viral Pathogens Auditorium
  Volker Thiel, University of Bern
Translating Viruses into Vaccines
 
  Penny L Moore, University of the Witwatersrand and National Institute for Communicable Diseases
Novel Platforms and Technologies for Vaccine Development and Boosting
 
  Andrea Carfi, Moderna
New Vaccination Approaches for Viruses
 
  Aaron Schmidt, Harvard Medical School
Short Talk: Rationally Designed Neuraminidase Immunogens Elicit Humoral Responses onto Conserved Viral Sites
 
6:45–7:00 PM Meeting Wrap-Up: Outcomes and Future Directions (Organizers) Auditorium
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner Ballroom
Friday, June 19, 2026
12:00–11:59 PM Departure