Innate Immunity: Diversity in Host Defense and Disease (L7)
March 22-25, 2026
| Fairmont Banff Springs, Banff, AB, Canada
Kate Schroder, Jonathan C. Kagan and Petr Broz
Scholarship Deadline: Dec. 11, 2025 | Abstract Deadline: Feb. 27, 2026 | Early Registration Deadline: Jan. 22, 2026
| 4:00–8:00 PM |
Registration |
Riverview Lounge |
| 6:00–8:00 PM |
Welcome Mixer |
Riverview Lounge |
| 7:00–8:00 AM |
Breakfast |
Alberta/New Brunswick |
| 8:00–8:10 AM |
Welcome Remarks (Joint) |
Cascade Ballroom |
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* Anne Brunet, Stanford University
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* Kate Schroder, University of Queensland
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| 8:10–9:00 AM |
Keynote Address (Joint) |
Cascade Ballroom |
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Beth Stevens, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School
How Do Brain Macrophages Shape Cognitive Aging and Neural Plasticity? |
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| 9:00–11:30 AM |
Targeting Innate Immunity for Healthy Aging (Joint) |
Cascade Ballroom |
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* Kate Schroder, University of Queensland
Session Chair |
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* Katrin Andreasson, Stanford University
Immune Metabolism and Healthy Brain Aging |
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Emily Goldberg, UCSF
Inflammaging |
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Oliver Hahn, Calico Life Sciences LLC
Short Talk: Decoding Drivers of Microglia Aging Via Heterochronic Myeloid Cell Replacement |
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Cecilia G de Magalhaes, Brigham and Women's Hospital - Harvard Medical School
Short Talk: Targeting Brain Biological Age and Function through Young Microglia Transplantation |
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Susan B Carpenter, University of California, Santa Cruz
Short Talk: The Long Noncoding RNA, GAPLINC, Functions in Trans as a Critical Regulator of Metabolic and Inflammatory Genes in Macrophages |
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Byron F Mobbs, The institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland
Short Talk: Inflammasome Inhibitors in Disease: Is There a Therapeutic Trade-off of Compromised Host Defence? |
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| 9:30–9:50 AM |
Coffee Break |
Riverview Lounge |
| 9:50–9:55 AM |
Award Recipient Acknowledgement |
Cascade Ballroom |
| 11:30–1:00 PM |
Poster Setup |
Alberta/New Brunswick |
| 11:30–5:00 PM |
On Own for Lunch |
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| 1:00–10:00 PM |
Poster Viewing |
Alberta/New Brunswick |
| 2:30–4:30 PM |
Symposia Spotlight 1: Mechanisms Shaping Innate Immune Signatures |
Cascade Ballroom |
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* Philippe D. Pierre, Centre d'Immunologie Marseille-Luminy, CIML
Session Chair |
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* Iwona Koenig, Upstate Medical University
Session Chair |
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Rune Hartmann, Aarhus University
STING Recruits the NEMO/IKK Complex Via M1-Linked Ubiquitin to Induce NF-κB Activation |
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Ana Kitanovic, German Rheumatology Research Center Berlin
Decoding Innate Immune Heterogeneity Using Multi-omics: Early Mechanistic Profiles from an Ongoing Precision-Immunology Program |
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Chang Yoon Moon, Icahn School of Medicine
Unlike Macrophages, Dying Cell-derived Polyamines Modulate Dendritic Cell Phagocytosis and Adaptive Priming |
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Ella L Brunsting, University of Maryland, Baltimore
Type I Interferon Transcriptionally Suppresses Immune Response Genes Through ISGF3 Independent Mechanisms |
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Prasanna Suresh, University of Cambridge
Toll-like Receptor Signalling Outcomes are Directed by the Stoichiometry of the Endogenous TRIFosome |
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Heather Teague, National Institutes of Health
Heterogeneity of Human Pulmonary Neutrophils Following Endotoxin Exposure |
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Emma L Kuan, Allen Institute for Immunology
Dissecting Type I and II Interferon Impacts on Human Immune Cells in Disease by a Cell Type-Specific Interferon Response Atlas |
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Tomohiko Okazaki, Hokkaido University
The Dark Side of the Niche: How Skull-Derived CXCR2+ Cells Sabotage Brain Antiviral Defense |
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| 4:30–5:00 PM |
Coffee Available |
Riverview Lounge |
| 5:00–7:00 PM |
Cell Type-Specific Innate Immune Responses |
Cascade Ballroom |
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* Arturo Zychlinsky, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology
Session Chair |
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* Jelena Bezbradica Mirkovic, University of Oxford
Session Chair |
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Garth L Burn, Max Planck for Infection Biology
NETosis and Inflammation |
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Veit Hornung, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich
The CARD8 Inflammasome Drives T Cell Death |
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Jose Ordovas-Montanes, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School
Deconstructing Barrier Tissues Identifies Tipping Points |
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Mariana J. Kaplan, NIAMS, National Institutes of Health
Neutrophil Dysregulation in Systemic Autoimmunity |
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| 7:00–8:00 PM |
Social Hour with Dinner |
Alberta/New Brunswick |
| 7:30–10:00 PM |
Poster Session 1 |
Alberta/New Brunswick |
| 7:00–8:00 AM |
Breakfast |
Alberta/New Brunswick |
| 8:00–11:15 AM |
Innate Immune Signaling I: Inflammatory Response |
Cascade Ballroom |
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* Matthias Geyer, University Clinics Bonn, University of Bonn
Session Chair |
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* Ella N Hartenian, University of Lausanne
Session Chair |
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Jelena Bezbradica Mirkovic, University of Oxford
Lytic Cell Death–Driven Autoantigen Release Fuels Autoimmune Inflammation |
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Alan P Watt, NodThera
NLRP3 Inhibitors for the Treatment of CardioMetabolic Disease and Obesity |
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Jonathan C. Kagan, Harvard Medical School
Regulation of Innate Immunity |
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Michael Crackower, Ventus Therapeutics
Therapeutic Development of Inhibitors of Canonical and Non-Canonical Inflammasome Signaling |
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Shuntaro Abe, Hokkaido university
Short Talk: Regulatory Mechanisms of Intracellular Protein Carboxylation and Its Role in Antiviral Response |
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Cristhian Cadena, Genentech
Short Talk: IRF2 Degradation Tunes the Innate Immune Response |
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Iwona Koenig, Upstate Medical University
Short Talk: Lost Isoforms, Lasting Inflammation: A Translational Checkpoint in IFN-I-High Autoimmunity |
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| 9:00–9:20 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 |
| 3:00–4:30 PM |
Career Roundtable (Joint) |
Alhambra Ballroom |
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Jodi Gullicksrud, Cell Press
Scientific Editor |
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Emma L Kuan, Allen Institute for Immunology
Scientist III |
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Rune Hartmann, Aarhus University
Professor |
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ChiaoWen Yang, Eli Lilly and Company
Director |
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| 4:00–5:00 PM |
Coffee Break with Hot Chocolate, Firepits & Mountain Views |
Riverview Lounge |
| 5:00–7:00 PM |
Inflammaging (Joint) |
Cascade Ballroom |
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* Heather Teague, National Institutes of Health
Session Chair |
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Andrea Ablasser, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Remote Presentation: cGAS-STING Modulators and Cell Senescence |
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Vishva M. Dixit, Genentech, Inc.
The Circuitry of Inflammatory Cell Death Signaling |
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Eicke Latz, German Rheumatology Research Center (DRFZ)
Inflammasomes in Innate Immune Memory and Inflammaging |
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Julia Belk, Stanford
Short Talk: Clonal Hematopoiesis and the Aging Brain |
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Kirsten Kenney, Institute for Molecular Bioscience
Short Talk: Stress, Diet and the Inflammasome: NLRP3’s Role in Maintaining Hepatic Homeostasis |
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| 7:00–8:00 PM |
Social Hour with Dinner |
Alberta/New Brunswick |
| 7:30–10:00 PM |
Poster Session 2 |
Alberta/New Brunswick |
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
| 7:00–8:00 AM |
Breakfast |
Alberta/New Brunswick |
| 8:00–11:00 AM |
Innate Immune Signaling II: Inflammatory Cell Death |
Cascade Ballroom |
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* Susan B Carpenter, University of California, Santa Cruz
Susan Carpenter |
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* Rune Hartmann, Aarhus University
Session Chair |
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Kate Schroder, University of Queensland
Cell Explosion by Pyroptosis Escalates Immune Responses |
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James M. Murphy, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Getting Better- The Emergence of the Necroptotic Cell Death Effector, MLKL, as a Therapeutic Target in Inflammatory Disease |
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Kaiwen Chen, National University of Singapore
Threat Assessment Shapes Neutrophil Cell Fate Upon Inflammasome Activation |
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Ella N Hartenian, University of Lausanne
Short Talk: Membrane Tension Drives Opening of NINJ1 Lesions in Dying Cells |
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Benjamin E Steinberg, Hospital for Sick Children
Short Talk: Ninjurin-1 Mediated Plasma Membrane Rupture is Required for Sepsis-Induced Blood-Brain Barrier Permeabilization |
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Ji-Hun Shin, University of California, Irvine
Short Talk: Centrosome-Associated Assembly and Endosomal Trafficking Coordinate Spatial Activation of the NLRP3 Inflammasome in Human Monocytes |
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Mathilde Hansen, NTNU
Short Talk: NINJ1 Mediates Necrosis of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis-Infected Human Macrophages |
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| 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: Immune Regulatory Mechanisms in Host Defense |
Cascade Ballroom |
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* Jakub Began, University of Lausanne
Session Chair |
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* Charlotte Odendall, King's College London
Session Chair |
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Matthias Geyer, University Clinics Bonn, University of Bonn
Inhibition of NLRP3 by a Novel CNS-Penetrating Indazole Scaffold |
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Daniel Lingwood, Harvard Medical School
Spatial Control Of Cytokine Activation To Promote Immune Defense At The Respiratory Surface |
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Wenqing Zhou, UMass Chan Medical School
RORgt+ APCs Sense Gut Microbiota Through STING to Initiate Immune Tolerance |
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Andrew Sandstrom, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Recognition of Viral E3 Ligase Activity by the NLRP1 Inflammasome |
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Marie Siwicki, university of Calgary
Neutrophil Diversity in the Host Defense Niche |
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Benjamin tenOever, NYU School of Medicine
Fidelity Errors as the Nexus of Innate Sensing, Viral Fitness, and Evolution |
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Yoosik Kim, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
Genome-Wide Screening Reveals Biomolecular Condensates as Key Effectors of Dsrna-Induced Innate Immunity |
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| 4:30–5:00 PM |
Coffee Available |
Riverview Lounge |
| 5:00–6:30 PM |
Cell Autonomous Innate Immunity |
Cascade Ballroom |
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* Benjamin tenOever, NYU School of Medicine
Session Chair |
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* Kaiwen Chen, National University of Singapore
Session Chair |
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Russell E Vance, University of California, Berkeley
Pattern recognition without receptors |
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Petr Broz, University of Lausanne
Inflammasomes as Guardians Against Intracellular Pathogens |
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Charlotte Odendall, King's College London
EMBO Young Investigator Lecture: Interferon-Mediated Defense Against Enteric Bacterial Pathogens |
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| 6:30–7:15 PM |
Closing Keynote Address |
Cascade Ballroom |
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* Petr Broz, University of Lausanne
Session Chair |
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Kate A Fitzgerald, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Molecular Mechanisms Controlling Inflammatory Responses |
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| 7:15–7:30 PM |
Meeting Wrap-Up: Outcomes and Future Directions |
Cascade Ballroom |
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* Kate Schroder, University of Queensland
|
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| 7:30–8:30 PM |
Social Hour with Dinner |
Alberta/New Brunswick |
