Fibrosis: Cross Organ Pathology and Pathways to Clinical Development (K4)
February 2-5, 2026  | Fairmont Banff Springs, Banff, AB, Canada
Florian Rieder, Tatiana Kisseleva and Marco Prunotto
Scholarship Deadline: Oct. 23, 2025 | Abstract Deadline: Jan. 13, 2026 | Early Registration Deadline: Dec. 4, 2025
* Session Chair † Invited but not yet accepted | Program current as of November 25, 2025 10 AM | For the most up-to-date details, visit https://www.keystonesymposia.org
Monday, February 2, 2026
4:00–8:00 PM Registration Van Horne Foyer
6:00–8:00 PM Welcome Mixer Van Horne Foyer
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast President's Hall
8:00–8:10 AM Welcome Remarks (Joint) Van Horne A/B
8:10–9:00 AM Keynote Address (Joint) Van Horne A/B
  Thomas A Wynn, Pfizer
Anti-Fibrotic Therapy: Thinking outside the TGF-beta box		  
9:00–11:30 AM From Fibroblasts to Fibrosis, and Back Again (Joint) Van Horne A/B
  Boris Hinz, St. Michael's Hospital and University of Toronto
To Push or Pull? How the Mechanical Environment Affects Stromal Activation		  
  Sheila A. Stewart, Washington University School of Medicine
Stromal Reprogramming Sensitizes Metastatic Breast Cancer to Immunotherapy		  
  Michael B. Brenner, Harvard Medical School
Notch and Wnt Signaling in Inflammatory Fibroblast-Mediated Pathology		  
  Gisli Jenkins, Imperial College London
Short Talk: DEMISTIFIing Multi-Organ Fibrosis		  
  Angela Riedel, University of Würzburg
Short Talk: A TLR4-Dependent Fibroblast-Monocyte Axis in Tumor-Draining Lymph Nodes Contributes to Metastasis in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer		  
9:30–9:50 AM Coffee Break Van Horne Foyer
9:50–9:55 AM Award Recipient Acknowledgement Van Horne A/B
11:30–1:00 PM Poster Setup Van Horne C
11:30–2:30 PM On Own for Lunch
1:00–10:00 PM Poster Viewing Van Horne C
2:30–4:30 PM Symposia Spotlight 1 Van Horne A
  Khristian Bauer-Rowe, STANFORD
Creeping Fat Adipocytes Can Transdifferentiate Into Pro-Fibrotic CTHRC1+ Fibroblasts in Intestinal Fibrosis		  
  Yao Zhang †, Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine
Spatiotemporal Decoding Reveals Pro-Fibrotic Niche Transitions in Intestinal Fibrosis of Crohn’s Disease		  
  Eric Nelius, University of Zurich
HIF Signaling and Type 2 Innate Lymphoid Cell Effector Functions in the Lung: A Tale of Inflammation versus Regeneration		  
  Irina Ferapontova, University of Zurich
Combined Ribosome Profiling and Immunopeptidomics of Fibroblasts from Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis reveal Therapeutic Vulnerabilities		  
  Valerie Horsley †, Yale University
Nuclear Mechanosensing Regulates Fibrosis Via Epigenetic Induction of Fibrotic Gene Expression		  
  Allen Wang †, University of California, San Diego
Single Cell Multiomics Reveals Drivers of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis		  
  Souradipta Ganguly, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute
Mechanistic Understanding of MASLD-Driven Liver-Heart Dysfunction and its Reversibility		  
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available Van Horne Foyer
5:00–7:00 PM Mechanisms of the Extracellular Matrix Environment Driving Disease Van Horne A
  Rachel Lennon, University of Manchester
The Matrisome in Disease Pathology		  
  Natalie J. Torok, Stanford University
Viscoelasticity Promoting Cancer Progression		  
  Detlef Schuppan, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Targeting the ECM to Treat Liver Fibrosis and Liver Cancer		  
  Peleg Hasson, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Short Talk: Inhibiting Enzyme-Mediated Fibronectin Fibrillogenesis – A Novel Mechanism For Fibrosis Inhibition		  
  Kate Hitpass Romero, The University of Auckland
Short Talk: Age-Related Meningeal Extracellular Matrix Remodeling Compromises CNS Lymphatic Function;		  
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner President's Hall
7:30–10:00 PM Poster Session 1 Van Horne C
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast President's Hall
8:00–10:30 AM Fibroblast Heterogenity across Organs: A Critical Basis for Discovery and Therapy Translation Van Horne A
  Suzanne Devkota, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Microbiome Influence on Adipose Tissue Fibrosis		  
  Florian Rieder, Cleveland Clinic
Fibroblast interactions in Intestinal Fibrosis		  
  Stefanie Dimmeler, Institute of Cardiovascular Regeneration
Persistent Fibroblast Activation in the Hypertrophic Human Heart		  
  Dean Sheppard, University of California, San Francisco
The Alveolar Fibroblast Lineage in Lung Inflammation and Fibrosis		  
9:00–9:20 AM Coffee Break Van Horne Foyer
10:30–11:00 AM Panel Discussion 1: Fibroblast Heterogeneity Across Organs Van Horne A
11:00–1:00 PM Poster Setup Van Horne C
11:00–3:30 PM On Own for Lunch
1:00–10:00 PM Poster Viewing Van Horne C
3:30–4:30 PM Career Roundtable (Joint) Van Horne B
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available Van Horne Foyer
5:00–7:00 PM Mechanisms that Drive the Progression and Regression of Fibrosis Van Horne A
  Scott L Friedman, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Genetics linked with Fibrosis: Commonalities and Differences across Organs		  
  Pilar Alcaide, University of Miami - Miller School of Medicine
The Crossroad of Inflammation and Fibrosis: Fibroblast and Immune Cell Interactions		  
  Tatiana Kisseleva, University of California, San Diego
Mechanisms of Regression of Liver Fibrosis		  
  Blandine Baffert, University of Virginia
Short Talk: ELMO1 Efferocytosis Protects Against Nephrotoxic Injury And Counters Fibrosis		  
  Lesley A. Hill, University of British Columbia
Short Talk: Mechanisms Regulating Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Quiescence and their Impact on Liver Regeneration, Fibrosis and Resolution		  
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner President's Hall
7:30–10:00 PM Poster Session 2 Van Horne C
Thursday, February 5, 2026
7:00–8:00 AM Breakfast President's Hall
8:00–10:30 AM Drug Development Pathways for Fibrosis – From Mechanisms to Medicine Van Horne A
  David A Brenner, Sanford Burnham Prebys
Preclinical Models of Fibrosis: Are we able to Predict Therapy Response		  
  Marco Prunotto, Medicxi
Drug Development Pathways for Fibrotic Diseases: Lessons Learned		  
  Andrea Sáez, Agomab Therapeutics
Local Delivery ALK5 Inhibitors to Treat Lung and Intestinal Fibrosis		  
  Shannon J Turley, Amgen Inc.
Elucidating Regulators of Pathogenic Stroma in Fibrotic and Inflammatory Diseases		  
9:00–9:20 AM Coffee Break Van Horne Foyer
10:30–11:00 AM Panel Discussion 2: Preclinical Evaluation and Clinical Development in Fibrotic Diseases Van Horne A
11:00–2:30 PM On Own for Lunch
2:30–4:30 PM Symposia Spotlight 2 Van Horne A
  Na Li, Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences
Targeting Cholesterol Biosynthesis (DHCR7) and PPAR Signaling to Reverse Fibrosis and Inflammation Across MetALD/MASH Models		  
  Lorena Rosas, The Ohio State University
BAX Activation by BTSA1.2 Drives Senolysis of CTHRC1-positive Fibroblasts to Alleviate Pulmonary Fibrosis		  
  Michael Jeffrey Podolsky, Weill Cornell Medical College
SEL1L Regulates Lung Collagen Homeostasis		  
  Preeti Yadav, University of california san francisco
Arginase 1-Dependent Myeloid–Fibroblast Metabolic Coupling Drives Collagen Synthesis in Lung		  
  Rafael Contreras, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Centromeric and Mitochondrial DNA Instability as Upstream Triggers of cGAS-STING-Mediated Fibrosis in Systemic Sclerosis		  
  Geoffrey Teixeira, Alentis Therapeutics
Claudin-1: A Cross-Organ Driver of Barrier Dysfunction with Disease-Modifying, Pan-Organ Antifibrotic Potential		  
  Wolfgang Merkt, University of Heidelberg
NK Cell Immunotherapy Reverses Lung Fibrosis by Eliminating Senescent Fibroblasts		  
  Wolfgang Jarolimek, Syntara Ltd
Lysyl Oxidase Inhibitors in Fibrotic Diseases: A Two-Pronged Therapeutic Approach Targeting Collagen Cross-Linking and Cell Signalling		  
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available Van Horne Foyer
5:00–6:45 PM Therapeutic Modulation of Stromal Cell Function (Joint) Van Horne A/B
  Viviana Cremasco, Novartis Biomedical Research
TGFb Neutralization and Tumor Stroma Modulation: From Bench to Bed		  
  Yuval Rinkevich, Helmholtz Zentrum München, GmbH
Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Repair		  
  Burkhard Ludewig, Kantonsspital St. Gallen
Immunomodulation of Myocardial Fibrosis		  
6:45–7:00 PM Meeting Wrap-Up: Outcomes and Future Directions (Organizers) (Joint) Van Horne A/B
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner President's Hall
8:00–11:00 PM Entertainment
8:00–11:00 PM Cash Bar
Friday, February 6, 2026
12:00–11:59 PM Departure