Microproteins: From Translation to Function in Health and Disease (Q3)
May 1-4, 2028  | Keystone Resort, Keystone, CO, United States
Jonathan Mudge, Sonia Chothani and Can Cenik
* Session Chair † Invited but not yet accepted | Program current as of October 10, 2026 12 PM | For the most up-to-date details, visit https://www.keystonesymposia.org
7:30–10:00 PM Posters
Monday, May 1, 2028
4:00–8:00 PM Registration
6:00–8:00 PM Welcome Mixer
Tuesday, May 2, 2028
7:30–8:30 AM Breakfast
8:30–8:40 AM Welcome Remarks
8:40–9:30 AM Keynote Address (Joint)
  Steven P. Gygi †, Harvard Medical School
Proteomics Beyond the Reference Proteome: Identifying Non-Canonical Translation Products with Confidence
 
9:30–11:45 AM Uncovering the Hidden Proteome (Joint)
  Marie Anne Brunet †, Université de Sherbrooke
From Translation to Function: Discovering Functional Microproteins and Peptideins
 
  Sarah Slavoff †, Yale University
The Hidden Human Proteome: From Discovery to Molecular Function
 
  Francis O'Reilly †, St. Jude Childen's Research Hospital
Rigorous Proteomic Strategies for Mapping Protein Interactions and the Expanded Proteome
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
10:00–10:20 AM Coffee Break
11:55–12:55 PM Panel Discussion: When is a Non-Canonical Protein Real? (Joint)
11:55–1:00 PM Lunch
1:00–2:00 PM Poster Setup
2:00–10:00 PM Poster Viewing
2:30–4:30 PM Symposia Spotlight 1: Microprotein Discovery and Function
  Short Talks Chosen from Abstracts
 
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available
5:00–7:00 PM The Origins and Diversity of Microproteins
  Gisela Storz †, NICHD, NIH
Hidden Proteins in Bacteria: Lessons from the Smallest Proteomes
 
  Ami S. Bhatt †, Stanford University
Hidden Translation in Microbial Communities: Discovering Small Proteins in the Human Microbiome
 
  Susan B Carpenter †, University of California, Santa Cruz
Small Proteins in Immunity: From Non-Canonical Translation to Function
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner
Wednesday, May 3, 2028
7:30–8:30 AM Breakfast
8:30–11:30 AM Decoding Non-Canonical Translation
  Jonathan Mudge, Institute of Cancer Research and EBI
uORF Translation in Microprotein Evolution and Dosage Control
 
  Can Cenik, University of Texas at Austin
Decoding Translons: Predictive Models of Translation from Sequence
 
  Ezgi Hacisuleyman †, Scripps Institute
RNA Architecture and the Regulation of Non-Canonical Translation
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
9:30–9:50 AM Coffee Break
11:30–12:30 PM Lunch
11:30–1:00 PM Poster Setup
1:00–10:00 PM Poster Viewing
3:00–4:30 PM Career Roundtable
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available
5:00–7:00 PM Predicting the Expanded Proteome: From Sequence to Function
  Julie Aspden †, University of Leeds
Non-Canonical Translation in Development: From Small ORFs to Biological Function
 
  Alan Saghatelian †, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Expanding the Bioactive Proteome: From Microprotein Discovery to Biological Function
 
  Sonia Chothani, A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore
Hidden Translation in Human Physiology and Disease
 
  Debora Marks †, Harvard Medical School
Learning Protein Sequence to Function Relationships in the Dark Proteome
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner
7:30–10:00 PM Posters
Thursday, May 4, 2028
7:30–8:30 AM Breakfast
8:30–11:30 AM Microproteins in Disease and Therapeutics
  Kevan M. Shokat †, University of California, San Francisco
Drugging the Previously Undruggable: Chemical Strategies for Hidden Protein Biology
 
  Juan C. Alvarez †, Merck
From Hidden Protein to Drug Target: Translating the Expanded Proteome into Therapeutic Strategy
 
  John Prensner †, University of Michigan
Non-Canonical ORFs as Tumour-Specific Dependencies and Therapeutic Vulnerabilities
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
9:30–9:50 AM Coffee Break
11:30–12:30 PM Lunch
2:30–4:30 PM Symposia Spotlight 2: Microproteins in Disease and Therapeutics
  Short Talks Chosen from Abstracts
 
4:30–5:00 PM Coffee Available
5:00–6:45 PM The Hidden Proteome in Cancer: From Dark Antigens to Therapeutic Targets (Joint)
  Bing Zhang †, Baylor College of Medicine
Proteogenomic Landscapes of Cancer: Integrating Non-Canonical Translation into Tumor Biology
 
  Jyoti Choudhary †, Institute of Cancer Research
Mapping the Hidden Proteome: Proteogenomic Discovery of Non-Canonical Translation
 
  Steven A. Carr †, Broad Institute
Immunopeptidomics for Mapping Tumor-Specific Antigens
 
  Vinidhra Mani †, ProFound Therapeutics
Mining the Dark Proteome for New Therapeutic Targets
 
  Short Talk(s) Chosen from Abstracts
 
6:45–7:00 PM Meeting Wrap-Up: Outcomes and Future Directions
6:55–7:55 PM Panel Discussion 2: From Discovery to Medicine: Moving Dark Proteins from the Lab to the Clinic (Joint)
7:00–8:00 PM Social Hour with Dinner
8:00–11:00 PM Entertainment
8:00–11:00 PM Cash Bar
Friday, May 5, 2028
12:00–11:59 PM Departure