ESF Research Conferences

Registration at ESF desk                         

Welcome Drink

Conference Opening and Welcome Message from the Chair

Session I : Mucosal Immunity

Chair: Ylva Engström, Stockholm University

Co-chair: Brian Lazzaro, Cornell University, Ithaca

Won-Jae Lee, Seoul National University

Nicolas Buchon, Cornell University, Ithaca

Interplay between immune and repair mechanisms in the gut of Drosophila

Bernard Charroux, IBDML CNRS, Marseille

Peptidoglycan sensing by the receptor PGRP-LE in the Drosophila gut induces immune responses to infectious bacteria and tolerance to microbiotaprospective program

Ylva Engström, Stockholm University

The POU/Oct transcription factor Nubbin (Nub) is a repressor of NF-κB dependent gene expression that increases the tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress

Dominique Ferrandon, CNRS, Strasbourg

Resilience of the intestinal epithelium to the action of a bacterial pore-forming toxin in Drosophila

Jens Rolff, Free University, Berlin

Microbe management during metamorphosis

Andre Pitaluga, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro

Sand fly Immunity: from Leishmania infection to gut homeostasis

Session II: Cellular immunity-hematopoiesis- wound healing

Chair: Utpal Banerjee, UCLA, Los Angeles

Co-Chair: Saskia Hogenhoot, Jonh Innes Centre, Norwich

Utpal Banerjee, UCLA, Los Angeles

Systemic control of blood progenitor maintenance in Drosophila

Michele Crozatier, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse

Characterization of the hematopoietic niche: a model study in Drosophila

Angela Giangrande, CNRS, Strasbourg

A novel transcription pathway conserved in the immune system

Urlich Theopold, Stockholm University

A Drosophila immune response against Ras-induced apoptotic death

Coffee break

Will Wood, University of Bath, Bath

Detecting Damage and Developing Immunity in the Drosophila embryo

Delphine Destoumieux-Garzon, UMR 5119 CNRS, Montpellier

Evading intracellular killing in oyster hemocytes

Petr Kopáček, Institute of Parasitology, Ceske Budejovice

The role of thioester-containing proteins in tick innate immunity

Session III: Systemic immune response, from recognition to effectors

Chair: George Christophides, Imperial College, London 

Co-chair: Paul Schmid-Hempel

Michael Boutros, DKFZ Heidelberg

Regulation of cellular signaling during intestinal homeostasis and immune responses in Drosophila

Petros  Ligoxygakis, Oxford University

Drosophila as a model surrogate host to study Candida infection

Soichiro Kurata, Tohoku University, Sendai

A receptor guanylyl cyclase mediating Toll-independent/dMyD88-dependent humoral response and dMyD88-independent cellular response in Drosophila immunity

Magda Atilano, ITQB, Lisbon

Bacterial autolysins trim cell surface peptidoglycan to prevent detection by the Drosophila innate immune system

George Christophides, Imperial College, London

The mosquito complement and its interactions with the malaria parasite

Inna Biryukova, Max-Planck Institute for Infektionsbiologie, Berlin

Transcriptome-wide analysis of small non-coding RNA expression in An. gambiae

12:00-12:15

Mike Osta, American University of Beyrouth

Clip domain serine protease homologs are central regulators of the mosquito complement-like system

Marcos Sorgine, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro

Bodies of evidence: Lipid bodies and Eicosanoids in mosquito immunity

Session IV: Antiviral immunity

Chair: Jean-Luc Imler, Institut de recherche sur la biologie de l'insecte, Tours

Co-chair: Jens Rolff, Free University, Berlin

Sarah Cherry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

Using high throughput screening to identify host factors involved in antiviral immunity

Bertsy Goic-Figueroa, Institut Pasteur, Paris

Viral persistence in insects: a tripartite play

Ronald Van Rij, Radboud University Nijmegen

Viral counter-defence mechanisms to antiviral RNAi responses in insects

Raj Bhatnagar, ICGEB, New Delhi

Influence of viral microRNAs in establishing baculovirus in larvae of Helicoverpa armigera

Jean-Michel Drezen, Institut de Recherche sur la biologie de l'insecte, Tours

Recurrent domestication of viruses by parasitic wasps to face hosts immune defenses

Olivier Lamiable, UPR9022 du CNRS, Strasbourg

Diedel, an immunomodulator molecule, involved in resilience to viral infection in Drosophila

Darren Obbard, University of Edimburgh

Discovery, distribution and evolutionary genomics of viruses naturally infecting Drosophila melanogaster

Ewa Chrostek, Instituto Gulbenkian, Lisbon

Phenotypic and phylogenomic analysis of Wolbachia wMel variants and their protection to viruses

Session V: Symbiosis: from mutualism to parasitism

Chair: Marylène Poirié,Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis

Co-chair: Petros Ligoxygakis, University of Oxford

Saskia Hogenhout, John Innes Centre, Norwich

Insect vectors and vector-borne disease agents of plants - the surprising dynamics of interactions among three unrelated organisms

Natacha Kremer, University of Wisconsin, Ithaca

First contact in the squid-vibrio symbiosis: a physical and molecular point of view

Bok Luel Lee, Pusan National University

Gut symbiont enhanced host innate immune responses in bean-bug and Burkholderia symbiosis system

Didier Bouchon, UMR 6772 CNRS/Université de Poitier

Functional analysis of differentially expressed immune pathways in the symbiotic association between the pill-bug Armadillidium vulgare and the feminising Wolbachia

Steven Sinkins, University of Oxford

Wolbachia in mosquitoes: immunity and pathogen inhibition

Marylène Poirié, Université de Nice, Sophia-Antipolis

"Modulation” of insect immune defenses: how diverse are symbiont and parasite effects?

Fleur Ponton, University of Sydney

Nutrition mediates the relationship between Drosophila and Wolbachia

Session VI: From population genetics to ecological immunity

Chair: Dieter Ebert, Universität Bael. Basel

Co-chair: Will Wood, University of Bath, Bath

Franck Jiggins, University of Cambridge, Cambridge

Why do flies vary in susceptibility to infectious disease?

Dieter Ebert, Universität Basel, Basel

Genetics of host - parasite coevolution

Brian Lazzaro, Cornell University, Ithaca

Complexity in the function and evolution of insect immunity

Elena Gomez-Diaz, CSIC, Barcelona

Epigenetics of insect-pathogen interactions: an immunological perspective

Paul Schmid-Hempel, ETH Zürich, Zürich

Insect immune defences: evolutionary ecology reloaded

Andrea Barthel, Max-Planck-Institut for chemical ecology, Jena

Generalist vs specialist: consequence of a specialized lifestyle

Courtney Murdock, Pennsylvania State University, University Park

Rethinking vector immunology: the role of the environment in shaping resistance

Session VII: Social insects in their environment

Chair: Sylvia Cremer, IST Austria, Klosterneuburg

Co-chair: Ulrich Theopold, Stockholm University

Sylvia Cremer, IST Austria, Klosterneuburg

Social immunisation in ant societies

William Hughes, University of Sussex, Brighton

Social immunity in social insects: evolution and environment

Elke Genersch, Institute for Bee Research, Hohen Neuendorf

Pathogen-host-interactions in American Foulbrood disease

Eugene Ryabov, University of Warwick

Effect of pathogenic strains of Deformed wing virus and the mite Varroa destructor on global gene expression in the honeybee (Apis mellifera)

Jonathan Snow, Columbia University, New York

Midgut dysbiosis and damage response in a model of honey bee pesticide toxicity