Vaginal Microbiome Science & Innovation to Advance Women’s Health (G1)
April 7-10, 2027  | Fairmont Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
Sharon Achilles, Jeanne M. Marrazzo and Serah Gitome
Scholarship Deadline: Dec. 11, 2026 | Abstract Deadline: Mar. 18, 2027 | Early Registration Deadline: Feb. 9, 2027
* Session Chair † Invited but not yet accepted | Program current as of June 3, 2026 11 AM | For the most up-to-date details, visit https://www.keystonesymposia.org
Wednesday, April 7, 2027
4:00–8:00 PM Registration
Thursday, April 8, 2027
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast
7:30–8:00 AM Poster Setup
7:45–5:00 PM Poster Viewing
8:00–8:10 AM Welcome Remarks
8:10–9:00 AM Keynote Address
  Serah Gitome, Kenya Medical Research Institute
From Discovery to Delivery: Equity, Global Diversity, and the Social Determinants of Vaginal Microbiome Health
 
9:00–11:15 AM Global Diversity and Dynamics of the Vaginal Microbiome in Health and Disease
  Jacques Ravel †, University of Maryland School of Medicine
Global Structure of the Vaginal Microbiome: The Limits of CSTs and Clinical Correlates
 
  Nicola Segata †, University of Trento
Beyond CSTs: Strain-level and Functional Resolution of the VMB
 
  Laura Symul †, Universite Catholique de Louvain
Dynamics and Diversity across Populations: Do Current VMB Frameworks Hold up?
 
  Hasmot Ali †, The JiVitA Project of Johns Hopkins University
Short Talk: What do the Clinical Tools for BV Capture and Miss in Rural Bangladesh?
 
  Lan Zhu †, Peking Union Medical College Hospital
Short Talk: Geographic Diversification of Vaginal Microbiota Across China: Implications for Classification Frameworks and Regional Diagnostic Standards
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
9:30–9:50 AM Coffee Break
11:15–11:30 AM Panel Discussion with Speakers: What Would a More Robust, Globally Applicable, Clinically Actionable Classification System for the Vaginal Microbiome Look Like and What Would it Take to Get There?
11:30–12:30 PM Health Equity Hot Seat
12:30–1:30 PM Lunch
1:00–2:30 PM Posters
2:30–4:30 PM Symposia Spotlight 1: Implementation-Focused/User-Centered Research
  Short Talks Chosen from Abstracts
 
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available
5:00–6:45 PM Mechanistic Foundations of Host-Microbiome Interactions in the Vaginal Ecosystem
  Douglas S Kwon †, Harvard Medical School
Microbiome-Driven Mucosal Immune Activation: Innate and Adaptive Pathways Linking Vaginal Communities to Host Susceptibility
 
  Amanda Lewis †, University of California, San Diego
Metabolic Function of the Vaginal Microbiome: Biochemical Drivers of Community Stability, Transition, and Host Interaction
 
  Adam Burgener †, Case Western Reserve University
Proteomic Signatures of Host–Microbe Interactions: Defining Functional States of the Vaginal Ecosystem
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
6:45–7:00 PM Panel Discussion with Speakers: What has VMT Taught us About the Host and Microbial Determinants of a Durable, Beneficial Vaginal Microbiome and Where Does that Point us for Intervention?
7:00–8:00 PM On Own for Dinner
Friday, April 9, 2027
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast
7:30–8:00 AM Poster Setup
7:45–5:00 PM Poster Viewing
8:00–11:00 AM From Association to Prediction: Vaginal Microbiome Links to Pregnancy Outcomes
  Bhabatosh Das †, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute
Vaginal Microbiome Signatures of Preterm Birth in Indian Women: From Population-Level Association to Strain-Level Genomics and Point-of-Care Prediction
 
  David MacIntyre †, Imperial College London
Multi-Omic Integration and Predictive Modeling: Turning Microbiome Association into Clinical Prediction of Preterm Birth
 
  Rachel Tribe †, King's College London
From Association to Prediction: Biomarkers and Risk Stratification for Preterm Birth
 
  Tobias Brummaier †, Mahidol University
Short Talk: Vaginal Microbiota and Cytokine Signatures of Preterm Birth in Karen and Burman Women: A Multi-Omic Predictive Study from the Thai-Myanmar Border
 
  Moses Obimbo Madadi †, University of Nairobi
Short Talk: Multi-Omic Profiling of Vaginal Microbiome and Metabolites in Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: Emerging Data from a Kenyan Prospective Cohort
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
9:00–9:20 AM Coffee Break
11:00–11:15 AM Panel Discussion with Speakers: What would a Globally Applicable, Clinically Deployable Predictive Biomarker for VMB-Associated Preterm Birth Risk Look Like and are we Close?
11:15–12:15 PM Lunch
1:00–2:30 PM Posters
3:00–4:30 PM Career Roundtable
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available
5:00–6:45 PM Vaginal Microbiome, HIV, and HPV: From Population Risk to Mechanism in the PrEP and HPV vaccine Era
  Joshua Kimani †, University of Nairobi- KACP
Vaginal Microbiome, HIV, and HPV in High-Risk Populations: Cohort Evidence from East Africa
 
  Kristina M. Broliden †, Karolinska Institute
Cervicovaginal Mucosal Immunity and HPV: How VMB States Shape Viral Persistence, Immune Evasion, and Progression to Dysplasia
 
  Sujatha Srinivasan †, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Microbiome-Driven Inflammation and Mucosal Susceptibility to HIV: From Bacterial Taxa to Reproducible Immune Signatures Across Diverse Populations
 
  Jeanne M. Marrazzo, Infectious Disease Society of America
Does the Vaginal Microbiome Still Matter? Rethinking Infection Risk in the PrEP and HPV vaccine Era
 
  Ieera Madan Aggarwal †, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital
Short Talk: Predominance and High-Risk HPV Infection: Clinical Data from a Singapore Tertiary Colposcopy Centre
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
6:45–7:00 PM Panel Discussion with Speakers: In the Era of Cabotegravir PrEP and the HPV Vaccine, for Whom and in What Settings does the Vaginal Microbiome Remain a Clinically Actionable Target for HIV and HPV Prevention and What Would it Take to Act on That?
7:00–8:00 PM On Own for Dinner
Saturday, April 10, 2027
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast
8:00–11:00 AM Engineering the Vaginal Microbiome: Progress, Limits, and the Path to Durable Engraftment
  Kelly Arnold †, University of Michigan
From Proof-of-Concept to Population Impact: Modeling the Requirements for Durable Vaginal Microbiome Interventions
 
  Johan van Hylckama Vlieg †, Freya Biosciences
Beyond Single Strains: Multi-Strain Consortia and Rational Design for Vaginal Microbiome Restoration
 
  Samuel Alizon †, Collège de France
Resource Competition and Ecological Stability: Why Vaginal Microbiome States Persist—and How They Might Be Shifted
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
9:00–9:20 AM Coffee Break
11:00–11:15 AM Panel Discussion with Speakers: What is the Single Biological or Ecological Barrier that, if not Solved, Will Prevent any LBP from Achieving Durable Engraftment Regardless of How Well it is Designed?
11:15–12:15 PM Workshop: Emerging Models and Methods
12:15–1:15 PM Lunch
2:30–4:30 PM Symposia Spotlight 2: Late-breaking research presentations selected from abstract submissions
  Short Talks Chosen from Abstracts
 
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available
5:00–6:00 PM Emerging Frontiers: Beyond Live Biotherapeutics—Host and Molecular Strategies to Enable Durable
  Sharon Achilles, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The Limits of Lactobacillus: A Funder's Case for Augmenting LBPs to Drive Real-World Impact
 
  Meilin Zhu †, Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard
Host Lipid Landscapes as a Lever for Microbiome Control: Clinical Evidence and Translational Potential
 
  Katharina Ribbeck †, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mucus as a Gatekeeper: Structural Control of Microbial Colonization and Ecosystem Stability
 
  Matthew J. Cummings †, Precisio Biotix Therapeutics
Precision Engineered Lysins Against BV Pathobionts with Multi-Target Design
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
6:00–6:15 PM Panel Discussion with Speakers: What is the Most Important Unanswered Question Standing between the Science Presented Today and a Combination Intervention that could move into a Phase 2 Efficacy Trial in an LMIC Setting?
6:15–7:00 PM Closing Keynote Address
  Caroline M. Mitchell †, Massachusetts General Hospital
From Microbiome to Medicine: What It Will Take to Translate Vaginal Microbiome Science into Women's Health Impact
 
7:00–8:00 PM On Own for Dinner
Sunday, April 11, 2027
12:00–11:59 PM Departure