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Microbial infections and human cancer – Course and Conference Office

EMBO | EMBL Symposium

Microbial infections and human cancer

Overview

Please note that this event will now take place virtually.

Symposium Overview

Microbial-host interaction has a profound impact on numerous biological systems, including metabolism, immunology, DNA integrity and nutrition. Pathobionts and pathogenic bacteria have developed specific abilities to gain growth advantage and niche resilience which affect these key host biological processes, often leading to disease states such as cancer. While the connection between helicobacter infection and gastric cancer was originally considered an exception, many new examples of bacterial infection contributing to cancer have been identified. This symposium brings together the leading scientists in the field of microbial ecology, immunology, metabolism, genomics and infection to discuss the latest progress in microbial infection and cancer from an interdisciplinary perspective. This conference will provide a larger audience of young researchers and students with a stimulating platform to present their research, to network and to develop this emerging and exciting field further.

Session Topics

  • Bacterial genomics and cancer                                   
  • Bacterial metabolism and cancer                               
  • Microbiome in infection and cancer                          
  • Bacteria and immune responses                                
  • Bacteria and mammalian cell proliferation/transformation                                      
  • Bacteria and therapeutic responses                           

Speakers

Keynote Speakers

Eran Elinav

German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)

Germany

Speakers

Jun Sun

University of Illinois College of Medicine

USA

Jun Yu

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

China



Scientific Organisers

Xin Lu

University of Oxford

UK



Conference Organisers

Chris Stocks

Chris Stocks

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Maryann

Maryann Heck

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Programme

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  • The virtual conference includes live-streamed invited speakers and short talk presenters with Q&A sessions after each talk, as well as Panel Discussion sessions. 
  • All digital poster presenters are encouraged to upload a recorded flash talk or narration with their digital poster and to be present during their poster session time to present to participants.
  • Information on the live stream and access to the discussion platform and digital posters will be provided shortly before the start of the event.
  • Access to the recorded talks will be available for 2 weeks after the start of the event.

All times in the programme below are shown as the time in Europe/Berlin.

To find out the equivalent time zone in your location, enter Berlin, the programme time and date along with your city into the Time Zone Converter.

Day 1 – Wednesday 6 April 2022
TimeTitle
14:00 – 14:15 Opening remarks
14:15 – 15:00Keynote lecture 1:
Stem cell-based organoids in human disease
Hans Clevers – Roche Innovation Center, Switzerland
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
15:00 – 17:30Session 1: Microbiome in infection and cancer
Session chairs: Xin Lu & James Kinross
15:00 – 15:25Microbiome control of host immunity
Yasmine Belkaid – National Institutes of Health, USA
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
15:25 – 15:40Host-microbiota interactions during colorectal cancer development
Lars Vereecke – Ghent University, Belgium
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
15:40 – 15:55Deficiency in mismatch repair (MMR) pathway increases susceptibility to colibactin-induced colorectal cancer
Alberto Martin – University of Toronto, Canada
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
15:55 – 16:10Break
16:10 – 16:35Gut microbial co-metabolism determines the efficacy and toxicity of chemotherapy
James Kinross – Imperial College London, UK
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
16:35 – 16:50Diet-induced luminal nitrates selectively enrich genotoxic E. coli to induce colibactin-dependent colon carcinogenesis
Bupesh Kumar Thakur – University of Toronto, Canada
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
16:50 – 17:15Innate lymphoid cells adapt intestinal epithelial stem cells to genotoxic stress
Andreas Diefenbach – Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
17:15 – 17:30Multi-omics analyses reveal multimodal Fusobacterium DNA damage perturbations in colorectal cancer
Radhika Kataria – King’s College London, UK
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
17:30 – 18:00Break and meet the speakers
18:00 – 18:45Poster session
18:45 – 19:55Session 2: Bacterial genomics and cancer
Session chairs: Jun Yu & Achim Breiling
18:45 – 19:00Association of Helicobacter pylori and autoimmune gastritis with stomach cancer in a cohort of young Finnish women
Julia Butt – DKFZ Heidelberg, Germany
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
19:00 – 19:15Mechanistic insight into Colibactin as a mutagenic driver of cancer
Hilmar Berger – University of Kiel, Germany
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
19:15 – 19:30Improved detection of colibactin-linked mutations in human cancer
Jens Puschhof – German Cancer Research Center / Hubrecht Institute, Germany
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
19:30 – 19:55Metagenomics for the study of the microbiome-cancer interaction
Nicola Segata – University of Trento Italy
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
19:55 – 20:55Speed networking
Day 2 – Thursday 7 April 2022
TimeTitle
13:00 – 14:00 Poster session
14:00 – 15:35 Session 2: Bacterial genomics and cancer (continued)
Session chairs: Jun Yu & Achim Breiling
14:00 – 14:25Induction of BRCAness by the Helicobacter pylori CagA oncoprotein
Masanori Hatakeyama – The University of Tokyo, Japan
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
14:25 – 14:40A Fecal Microbiota Signature with High Specificity for Pancreatic Cancer
Ece Kartal – Heidelberg University, Germany
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
14:40 – 14:55Repetitive Exposure to Non-Typhoidal Salmonellae is an Environmental Risk Factor for Colon Cancer
Daphne van Elsland – Leiden University Medical Centre, The Netherlands
LIVE STREAM ONLY
14:55 – 15:10Gut microbiome in colorectal cancer: basic research and clinical translation
Jun Yu – The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
15:10 – 15:35Campylobacter jejuni-derived cytolethal distending toxin promotes cancer metastasis through the activation of MMP9 by JAK2-STAT3 signaling
Zhen He – Sixth Affiliated hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, China
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
15:35 – 16:05Break and meet the speakers
16:05 – 17:40Session 3: Bacterial metabolism and cancer
Session chairs: Thomas Rudel
16:05 – 16:20Fusobacterium nucleatum secretes amyloid FadA as a molecular switch for commensal-to-pathogen conversion
Yiping Han – Columbia University, USA
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
16:20 – 16:35The intestinal microbiota modulates pancreatic carcinogenesis through intratumoral natural killer cells
Ryan Thomas – University of Florida, USA
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
16:35 – 17:00Microbiome metabolic pathways reveal a diet-microbe link for enhancing colon cancer immunity
Wendy Garrett – Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, USA
LIVE STREAM ONLY
17:00 – 17:15Microbiome-host crosstalk analysis unravels formate as an oncometabolite in colorectal cancer
Elisabeth Letellier – University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
17:15 – 17:40Tumor metabolisms mimic: Metabolic reprogramming as a driver for bacterial infection
Thomas Rudel – Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany
LIVE STREAM ONLY
17:40 – 18:10Break and Meet the speakers
18:10 – 18:55Keynote lecture 2:
Host micro biome interactions in health and disease
Eran Elinav – German Cancer Research Center, Germany
LIVE STREAM ONLY
18:55 – 20:25Session 4: Bacteria and therapeutic responses
Session chairs: Jun Sun & Christian Jobin
18:55 – 19:20Intestinal barriers inhibit microbial infection and colon cancer
Jun Sun – University of Illinois, USA
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
19:20 – 19:35Gut microbiota that render an anti-tumor response
Rabi Upadhyay – New York University School of Medicine, USA
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
19:35 – 20:00Serologic markers of infection and cancer risk in the upper genital tract: expanding evidence
Britton Trabert – University of Utah/Huntsman Cancer Institute, USA
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
20:00 – 20:15The gut-cancer dialogue governing tumor immunosurveillance
Laurence Zitvogel, University Paris Saclay, France
PRE-RECORDED TALK
20:15 – 20:45Meet the speakers
20:45 – 21:45Bar mixer
Day 3 – Friday 8 April 2022
Time Title
14:00 – 16:30 Session 5: Bacteria and immune responses
Session chairs: Jacques Neefjes & Britton Trabert
14:00 – 14:15 Interaction of bacterial genera associated with therapeutic response to immune checkpoint PD-1 blockade in a United States cohort
Rachel Newsome – University of Florida, USA
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
14:15 – 14:40 Uncovering the pro-tumourigenic role of innate immune DNA sensors in gastric cancer
Brendan Jenkins – Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Australia
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
14:40 – 15:05How Salmonella contributes to colon and gallbladder cancer
Jacques Neefjes – Leiden University, The Netherlands
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
15:05 – 15:20Battle for the Endoplasmic Reticulum: Host versus Pathogen
Paulomi Sanghavi – Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
15:20 – 15:35 The role of morphogen signals in shaping healthy and infected-precancerous gastric mucosa.
Francesco Boccellato – University of Oxford, UK
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
15:35 – 16:00Co-infections modulate H. pylori-induced gastric preneoplasia
Anne Müller, University of Zürich, Switzerland
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
16:00 – 16:30Break and Meet the speakers
16:30 – 18:45Session 6: Bacteria and mammalian cell proliferation/transformation
Session chairs: Anne Muller & Rachel Newsome
16:30 – 16:55Aetiologies of mutational signatures in human cancer: from infection to endogenous abnormalities
Ramona Schulz-Heddergott, University of Göttingen, Germany
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
16:55 – 17:10 Modeling Helicobacter pylori-induced gastric carcinogenesis using wild type and genetically modified murine gastric organoids
Jiazhuo He – University of Zürich, Switzerland
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
17:10 – 17:25Synthetic colibactin analogs promote specific transcriptomic and mutational changes in intestinal epithelial cells
Michael Dougherty – University of Florida, USA
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
17:25 – 17:50Gut microbiota signatures of colorectal cancer
Georg Zeller – EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
17:50 – 18:05Ectopic expression of H. pylori CagA in human gastric organoids leads to intestinal differentiation
Mar Reines – Max Planck for Infection Biology, Germany
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
18:05 – 18:20 Dysregulated endolysosomal trafficking in cells arrested in the G1 phase of the host cell cycle impairs Salmonella vacuolar replication
Ana Eulalio – CNC, University of Coimbra, Portugal
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
18:20 – 18:45Aetiologies of mutational signatures in human cancer: from infection to endogenous abnormalities
Serena Nik-Zainal – The University of Cambridge, UK
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND AFTER LIVE STREAM
18:45 – 19:10Break and Meet the speakers
19:10 – 19:25 Closing Remarks

Practical Information

Registration Fees and Abstract Submission

Registration Fees (include access to all of the talks, digital poster sessions and online group discussions, and help us cover our costs to run the event. For further information please refer to the FAQ page):

PhD Student €140
Academia€190
Industry€240

Accredited journalists may be eligible to register for a complimentary registration. Registrants may be required to provide accreditation or equivalent proof of press membership after registration. Please contact Christopher Stocks for more information.

Confirmation and Payment

Types of payments accepted are international bank transfers and credit card payments.

Abstract submission

Abstract submission deadline: Wednesday 16 February 2022.

Only registered participants are eligible to submit an abstract. We only accept online abstract submissions.

After you have logged in and successfully registered, you will receive an email asking you to submit your abstract.  Click on the link provided and enter your abstract in the text box provided. Alternatively you can submit your abstract by clicking on the link on the confirmation page directly after registering. The same login credentials are used for both processes.

When submitting your abstract you can also 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:

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

Authors and Affiliations: Please fill in the author’s details as requested in the online form. The compulsory details are: First Name, Last Name, Organisation Name (Affiliation or Company), Country and Email. Mark only one author as the role of First author and please don’t forget to indicate who will be presenting. The order of the authors will be listed as follows: First Author, Co-First Author (alphabetically if multiple), co-author(s) (in the order added by the submitter).

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.

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

Financial Assistance

Registration Fee Waiver

All academic and student registrants are invited to apply for a registration fee waiver, provided by the EMBL Advanced Training Centre Corporate Partnership Programme and EMBO. The registration fee waiver covers the registration sum that you have paid to attend the meeting. Conference participants are not required to pre-pay the registration fee to be selected for a fee waiver for a virtual meeting. If you have already paid the registration fee and are awarded a fee waiver, it will be reimbursed after the meeting.

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

Childcare Grant

For participants and speakers with childcare responsibilities there is the possibility to apply for a grant, provided by the EMBL Advanced Training Centre Corporate Partnership Programme and EMBO, to offset childcare costs incurred when participating at a virtual event. Eligible costs include fees for a babysitter or childcare facility or travel costs for a care giver. Please note that priority will be given to early stage researchers. Costs will be reimbursed after the meeting only once a reimbursement form and original receipts have been received. Attendance at the event is required in order to be eligible to receive the reimbursement. In order to apply for this grant, you must be registered by the abstract submission deadline.

Application

You may apply for financial assistance when submitting your motivation letter for courses, and abstract for conferences. 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.

For the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds Travel Grant, there is a pre-application question during the motivation letter submission process, and if selected you will be requested to complete a standard form and documentation consisting of your travel expense estimation.

Selection

The scientific organisers will select the recipients of all financial assistance 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 is based on your current work or study location, the reasons for needing financial support and the impact this event will have on your career.

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 and Shuttles

Accommodation is not included in the conference registration fee.

As further changes in our events are possible due to COVID-19, you should book flights, trains and hotels with flexible options and favourable cancellation conditions.

The hotels below have rooms on hold for participants until xxxx 2022, in some cases at special rates. Please quote the booking code xx22-0x and confirm the exact price of the room with the hotel directly.

Hotel AnlageHotel ibis HeidelbergPremier Inn Heidelberg City
Hotel Bayrischer Hof ISG Hotel Staycity Aparthotel Heidelberg
B&B HotelLeonardo Hotel Heidelberg City CentreSteffi’s Hostel Heidelberg
Exzellenz Hotel & Boarding HouseMeininger HeidelbergHotel Vier Jahreszeiten Heidelberg
Hotel Holländer Hof Hotel Monpti

Conference Shuttle Buses

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:

  • Kurfürsten-Anlage (Opposite Main Train Station)
  • Hotel Premier, Kurfürsten-Anlage 23
  • Leonardo Hotel (Bergheimer Str.)
  • Neckarmuenzplatz
  • Peterskirche
  • ISG Hotel

View Conference shuttle bus stops and hotels in 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 further information on getting to EMBL Heidelberg visit Public Transportation to the Venue. For information about accommodation and local transportation please refer to the FAQ page.

Virtual Participation

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.

Additional Information

Please find additional information including FAQs, terms and conditions on our Information for Participants page.

Sponsors

Media partners

EMBO Molecular Medicine, an EMBO Press journal

International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Molecular Oncology, a FEBSPRESS journal

Open Biology, a Royal Society journal

 

Sponsorship opportunities

We offer a variety of event sponsoring possibilities, with the flexibility to select a set sponsorship package or combine individual sponsorship options to suit your event budget. Discounts are available for companies sponsoring multiple events at EMBL Heidelberg. View other conferences, or contact sponsorship@embl.de for further information.

If you are interested in becoming a media partner of this event, please visit our media partnerships webpage.

About

EMBO | EMBL Symposia promote scientific communication and collaboration in the European research area. They provide scientists with a platform to discuss and exchange ideas on forward-looking topics and new developments in the life sciences.

Topics emphasise upcoming developments and the interdisciplinary nature of related fields. Jointly funded and organised by EMBO and EMBL – and complementary to their respective courses, workshops, and conference programmes – the symposia promote scientific communication and collaboration.

All symposia are held in the EMBL Advanced Training Centre (ATC) in Heidelberg, Germany, or virtually.

Date: 6 - 8 Apr 2022

Location: Virtual

Deadline(s):

Abstract submission: Closed

Registration: Closed

Organisers:

  • Achim Breiling
    EMBO Reports, Germany
    • Christian Jobin
      University of Florida, USA
      • Xin Lu
        University of Oxford, UK
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