Nathalie Balaban
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Israel
EMBO | EMBL Symposium
This conference will take place at EMBL Heidelberg, with the option to attend virtually.
Resilience to antimicrobial drugs is a rapidly increasing problem of global health. Similarly, cancer cells that become drug-resistant or tolerant affect therapy outcomes, for instance during cancer chemotherapy. The underlying biological mechanisms of tolerance, resistance, and persistence are increasingly being studied and reveal a complex interplay between (cellular) evolution, biochemistry, and metabolism. Understanding these mechanisms holds the long-term promise of developing new therapeutic strategies less prone to drug resistance and, in the short term, enhances our understanding of clonal evolution and single-cell biology. With this new symposium, we aim to gather a highly international group of researchers to exchange in-person on the latest work on the biological mechanisms that mediate drug resistance and tolerance across the species barriers.
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Israel
University of Basel
Switzerland
Garvan Institute of Medical Research
Australia
National University of Singapore
Singapore
Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica
Portugal
Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência
Portugal
Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung GmbH
Germany
Harvard Medical School
USA
UCL Cancer Institute
UK
University of Witwatersrand
South Africa
CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology
India
Biological Research Centre, Szeged
Hungary
EMBL Heidelberg
Germany
University of Exeter
UK
Université Libre de Bruxelles
Belgium
Chinese Academy of Sciences
China
University of Oxford
UK
Georgia Institute of Technology
USA
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
USA
Tel Aviv University
Israel
The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology
USA
Institute of Biochemistry, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Germany
EMBL Heidelberg
Germany
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.
Are you on social media? Post using #EESDrugresistance and don’t forget to tag @EMBLEvents.
Time (Europe/Berlin) | Speaker |
---|---|
12:00 – 13:30 | Registration and light refreshments |
13:30 – 13:45 | Opening remarks |
Session 1: Molecular targets and mechanisms of tolerance and resistance | |
13:45 – 14:15 | Susanne Häußler – Bacterial pathogens, virulence mechanisms, and antibiotic resistance |
14:15 – 14:30 | Selected short talk #1 |
14:30 – 14:45 | Selected short talk #2 |
14:45 – 15:15 | Itai Yanai – Single-cell biology and clonal evolution in drug resistance |
15:15 – 15:30 | Selected short talk #3 |
15:30 – 16:00 | Coffee Break and Meet the speakers |
16:00 – 16:30 | Sophie Helaine – Bacterial entry, survival, and persistence during infection |
16:30 – 16:45 | Selected short talk #4 |
16:45 – 17:05 | Judith Berman – Mechanisms of drug resistance and tolerance in fungal pathogens |
17:05 – 17:20 | Selected short talk #5 |
17:20 – 17:45 | Flash Talks |
17:45 – 19:15 | Dinner in Canteen |
19:15 – 20:30 | Parallel social option: Pub Quiz in Canteen |
19:00 – 21:00 | Parallel social option: After dinner drinks in ATC Rooftop lounge |
Time (Europe/Berlin) | Speaker |
---|---|
Session 2: Resistance and tolerance mechanisms of microbiomes and commensals | |
09:00 – 09:30 | Bavesh Kana – New drug targets and biomarkers in tuberculosis |
09:30 – 09:45 | Selected short talk #6 |
09:45 – 10:00 | Selected short talk #7 |
10:00 – 10:15 | Selected short talk #8 |
10:15 – 10:45 | Coffee Break and Meet the speakers |
10:45 – 11:15 | Linqi Wang – Fungal adhesion proteins and morphotype transition |
11:15 – 11:30 | Selected short talk #9 |
11:30 – 11:50 | Marina Rodnina – Understanding resistance mechanisms and the interplay between resistance and bacterial fitness |
11:50 – 13:20 | Lunch + Meet the editors |
Session 3: Resistance and tolerance mechanisms, single cell biology, persistence & clonal evolution | |
13:20 – 13:50 | Marvin Whiteley – Social lives of bacteria, chronic infections, and implications for antibiotic resistance |
13:50 – 14:05 | Selected short talk #10 |
14:05 – 14:35 | Rachel Wheatley – Within-patient evolution of AMR in Pseudomonas aeruginosa |
14:35 – 14:50 | Selected short talk #11 |
14:50 – 15:20 | Coffee Break + Meet the speakers |
15:20 – 15:50 | Nassos Typas – Bacterial cellular networks and interactions with the environment, host, drugs, and the gut microbiome |
15:50 – 16:05 | Selected short talk #12 |
16:05 – 16:25 | Markus Ralser – Single cell interactions and metabolic influence on drug tolerance |
16:25 – 16:40 | Selected short talk #13 |
16:40 – 18:00 | Poster Session 1 (odd numbers) |
18:00 – 19:30 | Dinner in EMBL Canteen |
19:30 – 21:00 | After dinner drinks in ATC Rooftop lounge |
Time (Europe/Berlin) | Speaker |
---|---|
Session 4: Resistance and tolerance mechanisms: the role of efflux and drug transport | |
09:00 – 09:30 | David Croucher – Memory of stochastic single-cell apoptotic signalling promotes chemoresistance |
09:30 – 09:45 | Selected short talk #14 |
09:45 – 10:15 | Vinay Nandicoori – Evolution of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis |
10:15 – 10:30 | Selected short talk #15 |
10:30 – 11:00 | Coffee Break and Meet the speakers |
11:00 – 11:30 | Laurence Van Melderen – Toxin-antitoxin systems, antibiotic tolerance, and bacterial metabolic regulation |
11:30 – 11:45 | Selected short talk #16 |
11:45 – 12:15 | Mariana Gomes de Pinho – Bacterial cell division and antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus aureus |
12:15 – 12:30 | Selected short talk #17 |
12:30 – 14:00 | Lunch |
Session 5: Molecular genetics of resistance and tolerance mechanisms | |
14:00 – 14:15 | Selected short talk #18 |
14:15 – 14:45 | Csaba Pál – Evolution of genome networks and antibiotic resistance |
14:45 – 15:15 | Jane Usher – Evolution of drug resistance and immune evasion in human fungal pathogens |
15:15 – 15:30 | Selected short talk #19 |
15:30 – 16:00 | Coffee Break + Meet the speakers |
16:00 – 16:20 | Luiz Pedro Sorio de Carvalho – A macroevolution-inspired approach to reveal novel antibiotic resistance mechanisms |
16:20 – 16:35 | Selected short talk #20 |
16:35 – 17:05 | Nathalie Balaban – Single-cell heterogeneity in bacterial tolerance and disease evolution |
17:05 – 17:20 | Selected short talk #21 |
17:20 – 17:50 | Isabel Gordo |
17:50 – 19:20 | Poster Session 2 (even numbers) |
19:20 – 21:00 | Conference dinner in the canteen |
21:00 – 00:00 | Party |
Time (Europe/Berlin) | Speaker |
---|---|
Session 6: The role of macro- and microenvironment on resistance & tolerance mechanisms | |
09:00 – 09:30 | Yunn Hwen Gan – Insights into Bacterial Virulence and Disease Progression |
09:30 – 09:45 | Selected short talk #22 |
09:45 – 10:15 | Lucas Boeck – Determinants and implications of antibiotic lethality in Mycobacterium abscesses infections |
10:15 – 10:30 | Selected short talk #23 |
10:30 – 11:00 | Coffee Break + Meet the speakers |
11:00 – 11:15 | Selected short talk #24 |
11:15 – 11:45 | Crispin Hiley – Mixed responses to targeted therapy driven by chromosomal instability through p53 dysfunction and genome doubling |
11:45 – 12:00 | Selected short talk #25 |
12:00 – 12:15 | Selected short talk #26 |
12:15 – 12:30 | Closing Remarks and Poster Prize Announcements |
12:30 – 13:00 | Packed Lunch and departure |
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 | €725 |
On-site PhD Student | €625 |
On-site Industry | €925 |
On-site Journal Editors* | €300 |
Virtual Academia | €225 |
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 Karoline Wolkersdorfer for more information. Please note that we do not offer complimentary registrations for editors of scientific journals.
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.
Only participants registering to attend the on-site event are eligible to submit an abstract. Abstracts will not be accepted from virtual participants.
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.
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.
The fee waiver will cover the registration sum that you have paid to attend the course or conference.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Costs will be reimbursed after the meeting only once a reimbursement form and original receipts (from travel costs) have been received.
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 Friday, 14 February 2025, in some cases at special rates. Please email the hotel directly, quoting the booking code EES25-01 to confirm the exact price of the room.
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 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 will be announced at a later stage.
View Conference shuttle bus stops and hotels in a larger map. Please note that not every bus stop will be used for every event.
Address: EMBL, Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
For more information about accommodation and travel, please refer to the FAQ page.
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.
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.
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.
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).
Please read EMBL’s COVID-19 safety policy for on-site events.
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 …
In case of fire …
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.
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’’ items are kept at the registration desk until the end of the conference.
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.
There is a nursing room available in the ATC Rooftop Lounge on level A29.
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.
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.
There is a room for prayer, meditation and yoga located on level E0 behind the Auditorium. Please be respectful of others using the room.
A variety of activities in Heidelberg can be found on the website of Heidelberg Marketing.
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.
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 |
Please note that only on-site participants are able to submit abstracts and participate in the poster sessions.
We are using an event platform for this conference. More information about the platform will be shared ahead of the conference.
Additional information can be found in our Code of Conduct.
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.
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.
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.
Media partners
Cancer Drug Resistance, an OAE Publishing Inc. journal
Medinformatics, a Bon View Publishing journal
Molecular Medicine, an EMBO Press 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.
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Date: 18 - 21 Mar 2025
Location: EMBL Heidelberg and Virtual
Venue: EMBL Advanced Training Centre
Deadline(s):
Abstract submission: 12 Jan 2025
Registration (On-site): 4 Feb 2025
Registration (Virtual): 11 Mar 2025
Organisers:
Contact: Karo Wolkersdorfer