BioMalPar XXI: biology and pathology of the malaria parasite

Time (Europe/Berlin)	Speaker
11:30 – 13:00	Registration and light refreshments
13:00 – 13:15	Opening remarks by Scientific organisers
13:15 – 14:15	Plasmodium genomics for malaria elimination in sub-saharan Africa Abdoulaye Djimde – Bamako University, Mali
14:15 – 17:00	Session 1: epidemiology Chair: Stuart Ralph – University of Melbourne, Australia Co-chair: Ashley Vaughan, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, USA
14:15 – 14:45	Leveraging potent monoclonal antibodies to guide the design of next-generation malaria vaccines               Azza Idris – Ragon Institute, USA
14:45 – 15:00	The origin and evolution of Plasmodium falciparum Martha Kivecu – University of Edinburgh, UK
15:00- 15:15	High-altitude malaria transmission: evidence of Plasmodium vivax persistence and local spread in Ethiopia Gustavo da Silva – University of Notre Dame, USA
15:15 – 15:45	Coffee Break
15:45 – 16:15	Traversing the valley of death: successfully translating research into diagnostics  Kevin Tetteh – FIND, Switzerland
16:15 – 16:30	Decoding the functional and evolutionary impact of sickle-associated loci in the Plasmodium falciparum genome Annie Forster – University of Oxford, UK
16:30 – 16:45	Plasmodium falciparum establishes chronic infections through high var gene expression switching rate Mathieu Quenu – University of Montpellier, France
16:45 – 17:15	Flash talk session 1 #35 – Laura Akkerman #43 – Jordan Barrett #45 – Ezra Bekkering #55 – Claudia Camarero-Hoyos #69 – Jerzy Dziekan #87 – Jessica Home #103 – Duangkamon Loesbanluechai #115 – Petter Michaela
17:15 – 17:30	Discussion Future of PlasmoDB David Roos – University of Pennsylvania, USA
17:30 – 18:45	Poster Session 1 (odd numbers)
18:45 – 20:15	Dinner in canteen
20:15 – 20:45	Lifetime achievement award
20:45 – 22:00	After dinner drinks

Time (Europe/Berlin)	Speaker
09:00-12:00	Session 2: Vaccines and immunity Chair: Wiebke Nahrendorf – University of Edinburgh, UK Co-chair: Steven Kho – Menzies School of Health Research, Australia
09:00 – 09:30	Plasmodium liver stage: silently making a bang Maria Mota – Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine, Portugal
09:30 – 09:45	The contribution of leukocytes to cerebral malaria vascular pathogenesis in a 3D blood-brain barrier model Alina Batzilla – EMBL Barcelona , Spain
09:45 – 10:00	Using Plasmodium knowlesi and bar-seq to unravel the effect of PvDBP polymorphisms in parasite fitness and antibody susceptibility Konstantinos Kousis – London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK
10:00 – 10:30	Coffee Break
10:30 – 11:00	How the spleen senses, retains and processes erythrocytes: insights into the pathogenesis and control of malaria. Pierre Buffet – Institut Pasteur, France
11:00 – 11:15	A systems-level dissection of the host response to Plasmodium falciparum during asymptomatic infection and malaria in the same individual Florian Bach – Stanford University, USA
11:15 – 11:45	Advances in vaccines for blood-stage malaria Simon Draper – University of Oxford, UK
11:45 – 12:00	Targets of circumsporozoite protein-based malaria vaccines: what we missed in 1987 and what is missing now Franklin Nuokpem, University of Ghana – Ghana *Virtual talk*
12:00 – 13:30	Meet the speakers and Lunch
12:15 – 13:15	Women in Malaria peer-to-peer lunchtime workshop Sarah Reece – University of Edinburgh, UK Elena Gomez – Institute of Parasitology & Biomedicine, Spain **limited spaces** **onsite only**
13:30 – 17:00	Session 3: Vectors and transmission Chair: Liliana Mancio – Institut Pasteur, France Co-chair: Matthijs Jore – Radboud University Medical Center, The Netherlands
13:30 – 14:30	Keynote lecture It’s about time! Daily rhythms in malaria infections matter for parasite survival and transmission  Sarah Reece – University of Edinburgh, UK
14:30 – 14:45	Mapping Plasmodium falciparum transitions and interactions in the anopheles female at the single cell resolution Lisa Verzier – Harvard University, USA
14:45 – 15:00	Defining transcriptional signatures of Plasmodium falciparum hematopoietic infection at the single cell level Barbara Stokes – University of Glasgow, UK Not available on demand
15:00 – 15:30	Coffee Break
15:30 – 16:00	How efforts in studying singular var gene choice led to the identification of a new factor essential for Plasmodium falciparum replication Till Voss – Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute / University of Basel, Switzerland
16:00 – 16:15	N6 methyladenosine primes the malaria parasite transcriptome for transmission Selina Mussgnug – Institut Pasteur, France
16:15 – 16:30	Multistage requirement of the microtubule-binding protein DCX during mosquito gut colonization by Plasmodium falciparum Emma Ganga – University of Geneva, Switzerland
16:30 – 17:05	Flash talk session 2 #38 – Eduardo Alves dos Santos #40 – Kodzo Atchou #46 – Sandra Bennink #54 – Filipa C. Neves #68 – Krishanpal Karmodiya #70 – Rebecca Edgar #80 – Amke Hackmann #90 – Long Huynh #96 – Ashton Kelly #98 – Steven Kho #102 – Henrico Langeveld #108 – Andrew McCluskey #110 – Sherihan Musa #124 – Barbara Diaz Terenti #130 – Madhavi Shukla
17:05 – 18:30	Poster Session 2 (even numbers)
18:30 – 20:00	Conference dinner in EMBL Canteen
20:00 – 23:00	Party with live band Athi.Rocks

Time (Europe/Berlin)	Speaker
09:00-13:30	Session 4: Molecular and cellular biology Chair: Catherine Merrick – University of Cambridge, UK Co-chair: Julie Verhoef – University of Cambridge, UK
09:00 – 09:30	Identification of novel Plasmodium virulence factors and their role in malaria infection and disease Ellen Bushell – Umea University, Sweden
09:30 – 09:45	Sequential resource-sharing speeds up Plasmodium falciparum proliferation Patrick Binder – German Cancer Research Centre, Germany
09:45 – 10:00	Locked out and left behind: a study of organellar inheritance in Plasmodium Sophie Collier – The University of Melbourne, Australia
10:00 – 10:30	Coffee Break
10:30 – 11:00	Studying the apicomplexan rhoptry secretion system by cryo-electron tomography Yi Wei Chang – University of Pennsylvania, USA
11:00 – 11:15	Striated fiber assemblins underpin the fidelity of asexual replication in Plasmodium falciparum IIzat Ali – Harvard Medical School, USA
11:15 – 11:45	Decoding the molecular mechanisms of rhoptry secretion in Toxoplasma gondii Maryse Lebrun – University of Montpellier, France Not available on demand
11:45 – 12:00	Redefining var gene expression dynamics: a single-cell perspective on immune evasion in Plasmodium falciparum Francesca Florini – Weill Cornell Medicine, USA
12:00 – 13:30	Meet the speakers and Lunch
12:00 – 13:30	**Lunch time workshop ** PlasmoDB/VEuPathDB workshop David Roos – University of Pennsylvania, USA
13:30 – 16:15	Session 5: Drug targets and resistance Chair: Stuart Ralph, University of Melbourne, Australia Co-chair: Jerzy Dziekan – Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Australia
13:30 – 14:00	Nucleases for Plasmodium falciparum organelle genome maintenance and role of an LCR in DNA substrate repertoire expansion Saman Habib – CSIR – Central Drug Research Institute , India
14:00 – 14:15	Impact of COVID-19 pandemic in parasite populations from the Western Brazilian Amazon Roberto Moraes Barros – UNIFESP, Brazil
14:15 – 14:30	Quinoxaline-based anti-schistosomal compounds have potent anti-plasmodial activity Mukul Rawat – University of Dundee, UK
14:30 – 15:00	Coffee break
15:00 – 15:30	Using real world parasites biology to guide translational malaria drug discovery programs Laurent Dembele – Malaria Research and Training Center, Mali
15:30 – 15:45	Deconvolution of the on-target activity of plasmepsin V peptidomimetics in Plasmodium falciparum parasites Madeline G. Dans – Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Australia
15:45 – 16:00	Targeting Plasmodium myosins to fight malaria Julien Robert-Paganin – Institut Curie, France
16:00 – 16:30	Genetic and genomic approaches to inform malaria vaccinology: lessons from the field Amy Bei – Yale School of Public Health, USA
16:30 – 16:45	Closing remarks and poster prize announcements

You can choose to attend the conference either onsite in Heidelberg or virtually. If you hope to present your research, you need to decide which mode suits you best before the abstract submission deadline, considering the below: 

If you plan to attend the conference onsite, you can register and apply for an oral or poster presentation. A selection process will take place with the results announced 2-3 weeks after the abstract submission deadline. Please note that once you have registered for onsite attendance and submitted an abstract for an oral presentation, you will still have the opportunity to present a poster onsite even if not selected for an onsite oral presentation. However, it is not possible to switch and apply for a  virtual oral presentation after the submission deadline. 

If you plan to attend the conference virtually, you can only apply for a virtual oral presentation as there will be no virtual posters. If your abstract is not selected for a virtual oral presentation, you can still participate in the conference with access to all the live streamed talks, a video library of the recorded talks and a facility to submit questions. Only participants attending the event onsite can present a poster.

On-site registration fees include admission, conference materials, meals and coffee breaks. Participants are expected to book and pay their own accommodation and travel expenses.

Virtual registration fees include access to all of the talks (livestreamed and on demand) and facility to submit questions.

On-site Academia	€735
On-site PhD Student	€635
On-site Industry	€935
On-site Journal Editors*	€250
Virtual Academia	€250
Virtual PhD Student	€175
Virtual Industry	€275

* Editors from scientific journals are allowed to attend at a reduced rate, but asked to contribute to the conference in return by taking part in ‘meet the editors’ sessions or other planned activities within the programme.

A letter to support your visa application will be issued, on request, once payment of the registration fee is confirmed. We recommend that you book your visa appointment as soon as possible, to avoid any delay with your visa application.

Accredited journalists may be eligible to register for complimentary press registration. Registrants may be required to provide accreditation or equivalent proof of press membership after registration. Please contact Christopher Stocks for more information. Please note that we do not offer complimentary registrations for editors of scientific journals.

Confirmation and payment

Registration will be on a first come, first served basis. Your place can only be confirmed after payment of the registration fee. If you are added to our waiting list, please consider taking advantage of our offerings to participate virtually.

On-site participants: Types of payments accepted are international bank transfers and credit card payments. 

Virtual participants: We are only able to accept card payments. In exceptional cases we can accept bank transfers. Please contact events@embl.de for details.

Abstract submission

Onsite and virtual participants registering to attend are eligible to submit an abstract.

After registration you can submit your abstract via a separate link that will be provided in the email confirmation. Alternatively, you can access the link on the confirmation page directly after registering. The same login credentials are used for both processes.

Please note:

Abstract body: The limit of 2000 characters refers to manually typed text and excludes spaces. If an error occurs try using a different web browser (preferably Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox).

If you copy-paste the text into the form, hidden formatting might still be included which may cause the text to exceed the 2,000 character limit resulting in an error message. We recommend you clear all formatting before pasting in the text.

If you have special symbols in your text, make sure you are using Unicode characters, otherwise these will not be recognised.

Title: The title should not exceed 20 words. Only the first word of the title should start with a capital letter and the rest should be lowercase.

Authors and affiliations: Please fill in the author’s details as requested in the online form. The compulsory fields are: First Name, Last Name, Organisation Name (Affiliation or Company), Country and Email.

Kindly mark only one author in the role of First Author and please don’t forget to indicate who will be the Presenter.

Please enter your co-authors correctly via the system by adding accounts together with their organisation/institute. Do not copy-paste them into the body of the abstract text, as they will not be indexed in the abstract book.

Presentation types: When submitting your abstract, you can apply for an oral or poster presentation. A selection process will take place with the results announced 2-3 weeks after the abstract submission deadline.

For detailed instructions on how to submit a conference abstract, follow the instructions provided in this video.

Please check our FAQs pages for further information on how to submit an abstract.

Financial assistance

Limited financial assistance is provided by the EMBL Advanced Training Centre Corporate Partnership Programme and EMBO in the form of registration fee waivers, travel grants, and childcare grants.

Your place in the meeting is only confirmed by paying the registration fee, which is mandatory even when receiving a fee waiver.

Registration fee waiver

The fee waiver will cover the registration sum that you have paid to attend the course or conference.

Travel grant

The travel grant will cover the cost of travel to an on-site event (airfare, train, bus, taxi, accommodation, visa, and/or registration fees*) and is provided up to specified caps which are normally as follows:

–up to €400 for participants travelling to an EMBL Conference or EMBO|EMBL Symposium from within Europe.

–up to €1000 for participants travelling to an EMBL Conference or EMBO|EMBL Symposium from outside Europe.

–up to €500 for any participant travelling to an EMBO Workshop.

–up to €1000 for any participant working in Chile, India, Singapore or Taiwan travelling to an EMBO Workshop.

–up to €700 for any participant working in Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovenia, and Turkey travelling to an EMBO Workshop.

*Registration fees are only covered for EMBO Workshops

The organisers may reduce the grant cap to accommodate more participants. Recipients will be notified of their travel cap amount when they are informed of the outcome of their application. Original receipts must be provided with your signature for all costs incurred within two months of completion of travel. Scanned copies cannot be accepted.

Childcare grant

There is the possibility to apply for a childcare grant to offset child care costs incurred by participants, speakers, and organisers when attending a conference.

Eligible costs include (but are not limited to) fees for a baby-sitter or child-care facility, and travel costs for a caregiver. Please note that priority will be given to early stage researchers. In order to apply for this grant, you must be registered by the abstract submission deadline. There is a limited amount of funding available for the childcare grants and funds will be distributed amongst eligible applicants.

Application

On-site participants

You may apply for financial assistance when submitting your abstract. In your application you will be asked to answer questions regarding why your lab cannot fund your attendance and how your attendance will make a difference to your career. Application for financial support will not affect the outcome of your registration application.

Virtual participants

If you are attending virtually, you can apply for financial assistance in the submission portal by the abstract deadline. Read the instructions on how to apply for financial assistance. Only submissions for financial assistance will be accepted. Presentation abstracts cannot be submitted here and will be declined. 

In your application you will be asked to summarise your current work,  answer questions regarding why your lab cannot fund your attendance, and how your attendance will make a difference to your career. Application for financial support will not affect the outcome of your registration application.

Selection

The scientific organisers will select the recipients of registration fee waivers and travel grants during the motivation letter or abstract selection process. Results will be announced approximately 6 – 8 weeks before the event start date, however for some events this may be delayed. Selection results do not impact your admission to the meeting. Selection for registration fee waivers and travel grants is based on scientific merit, your current work or study location, the reasons for needing financial support, and the impact this event will have on your career.

Childcare grants will be allocated in the same timeframe (6-8 weeks before the event start date). Please note that priority will be given to early-stage researchers.

Reimbursement

Costs will be reimbursed after the meeting only once a reimbursement form and original receipts (from travel costs) have been received.

Further details

View our list of external funding opportunities and information on attending a conference as an event reporter.

For further information about financial assistance please refer to the FAQ page.

Accommodation is not included in the conference registration fee.

The hotels below have rooms on hold for participants until 28 April, 2025, in some cases at special rates. Please email the hotel directly, quoting the booking code BMP25-01 to confirm the exact price of the room.

Hotel Anlage	Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Heidelberg	Hotel Monpti
Hotel Bayrischer Hof	Hotel ibis Heidelberg	Premier Inn Heidelberg City Zentrum
B&B Hotel	Staycity Aparthotel Heidelberg	The Heidelberg Exzellenz Hotel
Leonardo Hotel Heidelberg City Centre	Hilton Heidelberg	Meininger Heidelberg

As further changes in our events are possible, you should book flights, trains and hotels with flexible options and favourable cancellation conditions

Travel information

For travel information, please see here.

If you are travelling to the conference within Germany then you are eligible for the Deutsche Bahn ‘Event Ticket’ (called the ‘Veranstaltungsticket’ in German). This will result in a lower ticket price if your travel distance to Heidelberg is more than 100 km. You need to provide proof of your event attendance when purchasing the ticket.

For more information in English see here or in German see here.

You can book your ticket here.

Conference shuttle buses

Conference bus schedule

Conference shuttle buses are free of charge for participants, and depart from designated bus stops near the hotels to EMBL and back, mornings and evenings.

The bus stops for this conference are:

• Hotel Staycity (Speyerer Str. 7)
• Kurfürsten-Anlage (Opposite Main Train Station)
• Hotel Premier (Kurfürsten-Anlage 23)
• Leonardo Hotel Heidelberg City Center (Bergheimer Str. 63)
• Neckarmuenzplatz (Heidelberg Tourist Information)
• Peterskirche (Bus stop)
• Hans-Böckler-Straße (Rohrbacher Str. 22) (Bus stop)
• ISG Hotel (Im Eichwald 19)

View Conference shuttle bus stops and hotels on a larger map. Please note that not every bus stop will be used for every event.

Further details

Address: EMBL, Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.

For more information about accommodation and travel, please refer to the FAQ page.

Catering

All meals and coffee breaks are included in the registration fee. Our catering staff will prepare a wide variety of vegetarian meals, meat and fish dishes, soups, pasta, fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as a variety of desserts.

Please wear your badge at all times when serving yourself.

No food or drinks are allowed in the auditorium.

Charging lockers

There are lockers available next to the stairs leading down into the Auditorium. You will find some of those equipped with sockets to charge your smartphone/tablet etc.

Electricity and charging station

In most places the electricity is 220 volts AC (50 cycles). An adaptor and a plug that fits the German socket may be needed for your appliances/laptop (i.e. American, Japanese, etc.). A USB charging station for electronic devices is available at the registration desk.

EMBL merchandise

If you are interested in purchasing EMBL merchandise (products presented in the glass display in the registration area), please email the EMBL shop to place an order or get in contact with your Course Organiser.

Kindly note the EMBL shop is only open upon request and all purchases must be made in cash (Euros only).

Health and safety notes

Do not smoke in any EMBL building.
Eating and drinking is prohibited in the Auditorium and all laboratories.
Do not enter any restricted areas or the laboratories unless instructed to do so.

If first aid is required …

• The first aid room is located next to the ATC Registration Desk (room 10- 205).
• Dial the Emergency number 222 from any EMBL internal phone only.
• Where is the accident? What happened? How many injured?
• Emergency number 06221-387 7821 from mobile phones.
• Please report all accidents to the conference officer at the registration desk.

In case of fire …

• Press the nearest fire alarm button or the Emergency number 222 from any internal phone.
• A loud fire alarm will go off if an evacuation is required. On hearing the alarm leave the building immediately following the escape route and fire wardens and head to one of the meeting points
• Do not use the lifts.

Beyond first aid…

Please remember to bring your own medication, if needed, to the conference. Note that the next pharmacy is a 4-minute drive from the EMBL, but for many medications you will be required to see a doctor to get a prescription.

Ensure in advance that your medical insurance will cover you during your visit in the event that you do need to see a doctor while in Heidelberg. In any case, the EMBL Course and Conference Office will assist you to get to the pharmacy and a doctor of your choice if necessary.

Internet

Wi-Fi is available on campus using the EMBL-Events network and the event specific password, which will be provided on site. The eduroam network (secure, worldwide roaming access service developed for the international research and education community) is also available.

Lost and found

‘’Lost and Found’’ items are kept at the registration desk until the end of the conference.

Luggage

There are lockers available on-site to store your luggage, which require a 2 EURO coin to operate. There is another luggage room on level E0, which is free to use but remains unlocked during the conference.

Nursing room

There is a nursing room available in the ATC Rooftop Lounge on level A29.

Photography

During the conference, an EMBL Photographer may be taking photos. If you would not like to appear in these, please inform the photographer or a member of the Course and Conference Office.

Printing

We can help to print your boarding pass/train ticket. Please send it to events@embl.de and collect your print-outs at the registration desk.

Room for prayer, yoga and meditation

There is a room for prayer, meditation and yoga located on level E0 behind the Auditorium. Please be respectful of others using the room.

Sightseeing

A variety of activities in Heidelberg can be found on the website of Heidelberg Marketing.

Travel to and from the venue

During the event, we provide conference shuttle buses to and from EMBL. In addition, there is the public bus 39A that serves the EMBL campus and taxis can be easily booked at any time. Information on the conference shuttle buses can be found on the individual event website and more detailed information on travelling to EMBL can be found on our Travel Information page.

Useful German expressions

Hello	Hallo
Goodbye	Auf Wiedersehen (formal) Tschüss (informal)
Good morning	Guten Morgen
Good afternoon	Guten Tag
Good evening	Guten Abend
Good night	Gute Nacht
I’m sorry	Es tut mir leid
Excuse me…	Entschuldigen Sie
How are you?	Wie gehts?
I’m fine thanks. And you?	Mir geht es gut , danke. Und Dir/Ihnen?
What is your name	Wie heißen Sie? (formal) Wie heißt Du? (informal)
My name is	Ich heiße…
Do you speak English	Sprechen Sie englisch?
I don’t understand	Ich verstehe nicht
Please speak more slowly	Können Sie bitte langsamer sprechen
Thank you	Dankeschön
Where is the toilet?	Wo ist die Toilette?
Please call me a taxi	Bitte rufen Sie mir ein Taxi
How do I get to….?	Wie komme ich zum/zur…..?
A beer/two beers please	Ein Bier/zwei Bier bitte
A glass of red/white wine please	Ein Glas Rot/Weisswein bitte
The menu, please	Die Speisekarte, bitte
Is there a local speciality?	Gibt es eine Spezialität aus dieser Gegend?
I’m vegetarian	Ich bin Vegetarier
It was delicious	Es war hervorragend
The bill, please	Die Rechnung, bitte
I have a headache	Ich habe Kopfschmerzen
I have a sore throat	Ich habe Halsschmerzen
My stomach hurts	Ich habe Magenschmerzen
I’m allergic to	Ich bin allergisch gegen
I need a doctor who speaks English	Ich brauche einen Arzt, der englisch spricht

What’s included?

• Access to all the livestreamed talks
• Video library of the recorded talks during the event and for 4 weeks afterwards. Please note: at the request of individual speakers, some talks are not recorded.
• Facility to submit questions

Please note that only on-site participants are able to submit abstracts and participate in the poster sessions.

Event platform

We are using an event platform for this conference. More information about the platform will be shared ahead of the conference.

Guidelines

• Do not broadcast the conference to unregistered participants.
• You are encouraged to tweet and post about the event. Tweet unless the speaker specifically says otherwise, but be mindful of unpublished data. 
• Please do not capture, transmit or redistribute data presented at the meeting.

Additional information can be found in our Code of Conduct.

Health and well-being

It is important to stay healthy and move around, especially when you are attending an event virtually. We have put together a few coffee break stretches and yoga videos in the conference platform for you to enjoy during the event.

How to ask questions

Please use the Q&A function in the event platform.

If you have any other questions, you can go to the Help Desk in the event platform. Click on ‘more’ on the top menu and click Help Desk. 

Time zone

The programme is planned based on the Europe/Berlin time zone, unless otherwise stated. Please take your time zone into consideration when planning your attendance.

Please find additional information including FAQs, terms and conditions, COVID-19 safety policy and travelling to EMBL on our Information for participants page.

COVID-19 information for on-site events at EMBL Heidelberg can be found in our COVID-19 FAQs.