E
Tuesday, 29th September 2026
| 09.00 | Registration |
| 09.45 – 10.00 | Welcome Note LEMS Organising Committee Christine Selhuber-Unkel, Oliver Fackler, Kerstin Göpfrich, Peer Fischer, Michael Platten |
| 10.00 – 10.45 10.00 – 10.15 10.15 – 10.45 | Session 1 | Function-based Selection and Molecular Characterization of Highly Efficient Immune Cells Chair: TBC Deciphering elite immunity to brain tumors Michael Platten, DKFZ / Heidelberg University and University Hospital Mannheim, Germany TBC Sai Reddy, Botnar Institute of Immune Engineering, Basel, Switzerland |
| 10.45 – 11.30 10.45 – 11.00 11.00 – 11.30 11.30 – 11.45 11.45 – 12.15 | Session 2 | Microphysiological Model Systems Chair: TBC TBC Oliver Fackler, Heidelberg University Hospital, Center for Integrative Infectious Disease Research, Germany Recapitulating Complex Immunocompetent Tissues using Organ-on-chip and Organoid Technologies Peter Loskill, University of Tübingen, Germany Break How to engineer biomimetic in vitro cell culture systems to generate valid and relevant scientific insights? Roman Zantl, IBIDI, Germany |
| 12.15 – 12.45 12.15 – 12.30 12.30 – 12.45 | Session 3 | Nanotechnology-based Therapeutics and Vaccines Chair: TBC TBC Hedda Wardemann, German Cancer Research Center, Germany AI-driven protein design for SynthImmune and beyond Michael Jendrusch, Heidelberg University, Germany |
| 12.45 – 14.15 | Lunch |
| 14.15 – 15.00 14.15 – 14.30 14.30 – 15.00 | Session 4 | Engineering Targeting and Delivery Chair: TBC Target-cell specific delivery of nucleic acid cargo: Overcoming Challenges and Unlocking New Frontiers F. Nina Papavasiliou, German Cancer Research Center, Germany Engineering extracellular vesicles Ken Witwer, Johns Hopkins University, USA |
| 15.00 – 15.45 15.00 – 15.15 15.15 – 15.45 | Session 5 | Towards Synthetic Immune Effector Cells Chair: TBC RNA design: Folds for future synthetic cells and therapeutics Kerstin Göpfrich, Heidelberg University, Germany Functional DNA Origami Devices for Mechanical Actuation and Targeted Cytosolic Delivery Kurt Vesterager Gothelf, Aarhus University, Denmark |
| 15.45 – 16.45 | Poster Session with Coffee Break |
| 16.45 – 18.00 16.40 – 17.00 17.00 – 17.20 17.20 – 17.40 17.40 – 18.00 | Session 6 | Computational Modelling for Prediction and Validation of Key Parameters of Immunity Chair: TBC TBC Thomas Höfer, German Cancer Research Center, Germany TBC Anna Kreshuk, EMBL Heidelberg, Germany Bridging Science and Society: Ethics, Law, and Global Implementation in the SynthImmune Cluster of Excellence Markus Herrmann, Heidelberg University, Germany Collaborative Ethics & Engineering at the edges of life Jeantine E Lunshof, Harvard University, USA |
| 18.00 – 20.30 | Welcome Reception |
Wednesday, 30th September 2026
| 09.00 – 10.40 09.00 – 09.30 09.30 – 10.00 10.00 – 10.20 10.20 – 10.40 | Session 7 | Organoid engineering Chair: TBC Mechano-hacking organoids for health Iain Dunlop, Imperial College London, UK Nanoparticles and hydrogels for drug delivery in immunotherapy Miriam Breunig, Regensburg University, Germany Selected from abstracts Selected from abstracts |
| 10.40 – 11.00 | Break |
| 11.00 – 12.50 11.00 – 11.30 11.30 – 12.00 12.00 – 12.30 12.30 – 12.50 | Session 8 | Organoid engineering Chair: TBC Hybrid Vesicle-Base Artificial Cells Brigitte Städler, Aarhus University, Denmark Structured Hydrogels for Engineering Tissues Marcy Zenobi-Wang, ETH Zürich, Switzerland Bioengineering early neural development Adrian Ranga, KU Leuven, Belgium Selected from abstracts |
| 12.50 – 14.00 | Lunch |
| 14.00 – 17.10 14.00 – 14.30 14.30 – 15.00 15.00 – 16.00 16.00 – 16.20 16.20 – 16.50 16.50 – 17.10 | Session 9 | Organoid engineering Chair: TBC TBC Simone Mayer, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany Engineering Organoids: Tools and Models for Translational Research Ramsey Najm, Heidelberg University, Germany Poster Session Break Tissue engineered stem cell based cardiac models to investigate acquired heart disease Eric Schoger, Heidelberg University Hospital, Germany Selected from abstract |
| 18.30 | Conference Dinner Kulturbrauerei Heidelberg Find here -> Google Maps! |
Thursday, 1st October 2026
| 09.00 – 10.40 09.00 – 09.30 09.30 – 10.00 10.00 – 10.20 10.20 – 10.40 | Session 10 | Engineering Molecular Systems Chair: TBC Engineering with Biomolecular Motors and Enzyme Cascades Henry Hess, Columbia University, USA Engineering dynamic behaviour in synthetic cells Macromolecular control; compartment-driven feedback and communication Dora Tang, Saarland University, Germany Selected from abstracts Selected from abstracts |
| 10.40 – 11.00 | Break |
| 11.00 – 12.50 11.00 – 11.30 11.30 – 12.00 12.00 – 12.30 12.30 – 12.50 | Session 11 | Engineering Molecular Systems Chair: TBC Beyond Electrochemistry: Cellular Mechanics in Brain Health Taher Saif, University of Illinois, USA Learning without neurons in physical systems Menachem Stern, AMOLF, The Netherlands TBC Aránzazu del Campo, Leibniz Institute for New Materials, Saarbrücken, Germany Selected from abstracts |
| 12.50 – 14.00 | Lunch |
| 14.00 – 16.10 14.00 – 14.30 14.30 – 15.00 15.00 – 15.30 15.30 – 15.50 15.50 – 16.10 | Session 12 | Engineering Molecular Systems Chair: TBC Supramolecular structures of phase-separating proteins Charlotta Lorenz, Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, Aachen, Germany TBC Engineering programmable nanoscale tools to manipulate cells Nicolas Völcker, Monash University, Australia Selected from abstract Selected from abstract |
| 16.10 – 16.15 | Closing Remarks and poster prizes |