Emerging Cell Therapies (K2)
February 1-4, 2026  | Fairmont Banff Springs, Banff, AB, Canada
Wendell A. Lim, Ashley K. Koegel and Robbie G. Majzner
Scholarship Deadline: Oct. 2, 2025 | Abstract Deadline: Jan. 9, 2026 | Early Registration Deadline: Dec. 3, 2025
* Session Chair † Invited but not yet accepted | Program current as of August 23, 2025 8 AM | For the most up-to-date details, visit https://www.keystonesymposia.org
Sunday, February 1, 2026
4:00–8:00 PM Registration Riverview Lounge
6:00–8:00 PM Welcome Mixer Riverview Lounge
Monday, February 2, 2026
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast Alberta/New Brunswick
8:00–9:00 AM Welcome and Keynote Address Alhambra Ballroom
  Uri Alon, Weizmann Institute of Science
Systems Medicine: Cell Therapies as Agents to Rewire the Physiological Circuits of Disease
 
9:00–11:15 AM New Cell Types for Therapy Alhambra Ballroom
  Nicholas Arpaia, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Engineered Probiotic Bacteria for Cancer Immunotherapy
 
  Yiyin Erin Chen, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Skin Microbiota to Manipulate Immune Responses
 
  Frederick Bennett, University of Pennsylvania
Microglia Replacement
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
9:30–9:50 AM Coffee Break Riverview Lounge
11:15–1:00 PM Poster Setup Alberta/New Brunswick
11:15–5:00 PM On Own for Lunch
1:00–10:00 PM Poster Viewing Alberta/New Brunswick
2:30–4:30 PM Symposia Spotlight 1: Late-breaking research presentations selected from abstract submissions Alhambra Ballroom
  Short Talks Chosen from Abstracts
 
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available Riverview Lounge
5:00–7:00 PM Cell Therapies for Autoimmunity and Inflammation Alhambra Ballroom
  Georg A Schett, Uniklinikum Erlangen
Cell Therapies for Lupus
 
  Ashley K. Koegel, Bristol Myers Squibb
Autoimmune Cell Therapies
 
  Megan K. Levings, University of British Columbia
CAR Tregs
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner Alberta/New Brunswick
7:30–10:00 PM Poster Session 1 Alberta/New Brunswick
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast Alberta/New Brunswick
8:00–11:00 AM Foundational Synthetic Biology Tools for Cell Engineering Alhambra Ballroom
  Wendell A. Lim, University of California, San Francisco
Cells as Integrators of Complex Functions
 
  Amanda Iniguez, Moonlight Bio
Cell Therapies using T Cell Tumor Drivers
 
  Speaker to be Announced
 
  Xiaojing Gao, Stanford University
Biomolecular Circuits as Medicine
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
9:00–9:20 AM Coffee Break Riverview Lounge
11:00–1:00 PM Poster Setup Alberta/New Brunswick
11:00–5:00 PM On Own for Lunch
1:00–10:00 PM Poster Viewing Alberta/New Brunswick
1:45–2:45 PM Career Roundtable (Joint) Alhambra Ballroom
3:00–4:30 PM Panel Discussion: Regulatory Hurdles for Cell Therapies Alhambra Ballroom
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available Riverview Lounge
5:00–7:00 PM Cancer Cell Therapies: Preclinical Alhambra Ballroom
  Emily Beura, Kelonia Therapeutics
in vivo Engineering using iGPS Technology
 
  Robbie G. Majzner, Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Cancer Cell Therapy
 
  Mark Yarmarkovich, New York University
Peptide Centric CARs
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner Alberta/New Brunswick
7:30–10:00 PM Poster Session 2 Alberta/New Brunswick
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast Alberta/New Brunswick
8:00–11:00 AM Cancer Cell Therapies: Clinical Alhambra Ballroom
  Claudia Rossig, University of Münster
GD2-Targeted CAR T Cell Therapies for Solid Cancers
 
  Kristen Hege, Independent board member, Adaptimmune, Mersana, Kelonia, KSQ, EvolveImmune.
GART Lessons Learned Guiding Next Gen Cell Therapies
 
  Marcela V. Maus, Harvard Medical School
Cell Therapies for Glioblastoma and Beyond
 
  Andras Heczey, Seattle Children's
GPC3-CAR T Cells for Patients with Solid Tumors
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
9:00–9:20 AM Coffee Break Riverview Lounge
11:00–5:00 PM On Own for Lunch
2:30–4:30 PM Symposia Spotlight 2: Late-breaking research presentations selected from abstract submissions Alhambra Ballroom
  Short Talks Chosen from Abstracts
 
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available Riverview Lounge
5:00–6:45 PM Cell Therapies for Regeneration Alhambra Ballroom
  Stefan Irion, BlueRock Therapeutics
Cell Therapy for Neurodegenerative Disease
 
  Faranak Fattahi, University of California, San Francisco
Peripheral Nerve Regeneration
 
  Jacob H Hanna, Weizmann Institute of Science
Utilizing Synthetic Embryo Models for Enhanced Stem Cell Differentiation
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
6:45–7:00 PM Meeting Wrap-Up: Outcomes and Future Directions (Organizers) Alhambra Ballroom
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner Alberta/New Brunswick
8:00–11:00 PM Cash Bar
8:00–11:00 PM Entertainment
Thursday, February 5, 2026
12:00–11:59 PM Departure