EMBO Keynote Lecture

Prof. Dr. Federica Sallusto

ETH Zurich and Università della Svizzera italiana

Professor Federica Sallusto is a renowned Italian-Swiss immunologist and professor of Medical Immunology at ETH Zurich and Università della Svizzera italiana. She leads the Cellular Immunology Laboratory and directs the Center of Medical Immunology at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) in Bellinzona. Her pioneering research has significantly advanced our understanding of T cell differentiation, memory, and trafficking, including the identification of central and effector memory T cells, Th22 cells, and distinct Th17 subsets. Prof. Sallusto is a member of EMBO and the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, international member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. and past president of the European Federation of Immunological Societies (EFIS)”

Confirmed plenary speakers

Gerhard Krönke

Charité University Hospital Berlin

Gerhard Krönke is the chair and director of the Medical Department of Rheumatology and Clinical immunology at the Charité University Hospital Berlin. His research work focuses on the molecular mechanisms contributing to the development of immune mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. A particular focus of his research lies on the identification of novel therapeutic targets and treatment approaches, which resulted in the identification of a novel molecular mode of action of glucocorticoids as well as the introduction of novel therapeutic strategies such as CAR T cells and T cell engagers as newly emerging therapeutic principles for IMIDs. He received multiple awards as well as an ERC Starting grant and an ERC consolidator grant.

William Agace

University of Copenhagen and Lund University

William Agace completed his PhD in 1996 at Lund University, Sweden. After a postdoc in Boston he returned to Lund in 1999 to establish an independent research group. He currently holds a Professorship at the Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Copenhagen University and at the Immunology Section, Lund University, Sweden. His research interests lie within the field of intestinal immunology and here his group has provided valuable insights into the mechanisms regulating T cell migration to the intestine as well as the diversity and function of intestinal dendritic cells. More recently his group has focused on characterizing immune compartments along the length of the human intestine and in understanding the role of intestinal fibroblasts in regulating immune function in health and disease. He has for many years been an active member of the Society of Mucosal Immunology (SMI), serving as both european councillor and president and as a past editor of the SMI associated journal Mucosal Immunology.

Riitta Lahesmaa

Turku Bioscience Centre and University of Turku

Riitta Lahesmaa, M.D., Ph.D. is Professor of Systems immunology and the Director of Turku Bioscience Centre, Turku, Finland (https://bioscience.fi/). She directs IMMUNOCAPS, a Research Council of Finland project in immunology at the University of Turku and her research group belongs to the InFLAMES flagship programme.

Dr. Lahesmaa's research group aims at understanding regulation of immune response and molecular mechanisms of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and other human immune mediated and inflammatory diseases. The studies have resulted in the identification of novel molecular mechanisms and new regulators of T cell functions and very early changes in immune response associated with development of T1D. She has participated to a number of EU-funded consortia and projects. She has published > 250 original papers and reviews and has several issued patents and patent applications. She is an elected member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters and EMBO.

Johanna Olweus

University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital

Johanna Olweus is Professor at the University of Oslo and Head of Department of Cancer Immunology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital. She is an MD, PhD (University of Bergen, Norway) by training with a medical specialty in clinical immunology. The ambition of her group is to discover T cell receptors with therapeutic potential directed at novel cancer targets. This goal is pursued with her ERC Consolidator grant and in the Center of Excellence PRIMA – the PRecision Immunotherapy Alliance (2023 – 2033, Research Council of Norway), for which Olweus is Director 2028-33. Olweus´group is part of the MATCHMAKERS consortium that launched in 2024 funded by the CRUK/NIH to pursue the Cancer Grand Challenges – to crack the T-cell receptor cancer recognition code.

Niklas Björkström

Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital

Niklas Björkström is a Professor at Center for Infectious Medicine, Karolinska Institutet and consultant physician in clinical microbiology at Karolinska University Hospital. Björkström earned his medical and doctoral degrees at Karolinska Institutet, performed postdoctoral studies at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA, and have been a principal investigator at Karolinska Institutet since 2014. Björkström is an ERC Starting Grant recipient, WAF fellow, SSF Future Research Leader and has received numerous awards for his work including the Anders Jahre Award for Young Researchers, IPSCSG Investigator Award, and the UEG Rising Star Award.

The main focus of his research is to understand the biology of human innate and unconventional lymphocytes in health and disease with a focus on the human liver and biliary tract system as well as the uterus. His research group is specialized in advanced immunological methods for analysis of rare populations of human immune cells in tissues.

Bjørn Tore Gjertsen

University of Bergen and Haukeland University Hospital

Bjørn Tore Gjertsen, MD, PhD. is Professor of Hematology from 2007 at Department of Clinical Science at the University of Bergen, working as Research Chief and Consultant Hematologist at Helse Bergen Health Trust, developing early phase clinical trials at Haukeland University Hospital. In 2016 Gjertsen was appointed co-director for Centre for Cancer Biomarkers (CCBIO) Norwegian Centre of Excellence, University of Bergen. His major research interest is development of targeted therapy and accompanying diagnostics in the aggressive blood cancer acute myeloid leukemia. His laboratory is working on intracellular signal transduction and its regulation of the tumor suppressor protein p53. Single cell signaling and immune profiling by multiplexing mass cytometry has been developed for monitoring of immuno- and signaling-directed therapy and is currently used for therapy development of various cancers and myeloid leukemias.

Fatima Dhalla

University of Oxford

Dr Fatima Dhalla is a consultant clinical immunologist and senior scientist in Developmental Immunology laboratory in the University of Oxford. Her clinical work focuses on patients with inborn errors of immunity and diagnostic laboratory immunology, and fuels research projects that set out to define the genetic causes, develop diagnostic tests and establish best treatment practices and for patients with rare and undefined inborn errors of immunity. Her primary research focus lies in thymic stromal cell biology from fundamental aspects of their development, function and maintenance to more translational studies including models of human congenital thymic defects, thymic involution, and strategies to rejuvenate or boost the function of the thymus.

Marie Wahren-Herlenius

Karolinska Institutet and University of Bergen

Marie Wahren-Herlenius is a professor of Experimental Rheumatology at Karolinska Institutet and an adjunct professor at the University of Bergen. Her research interests are in Sjögren’s syndrome, an autoimmune rheumatic disease that affects predominatly women in a 9:1 proportion. She is persuing investigations to understand why the disease associated polymorphisms, which are equally common in men and women in the general population, only confer risk of Sjögren’s syndrome when present in women. She is also a member of the Nobel Assembly.

Mariana Borsa

University of Basel

Mariana Borsa is an immunologist exploring how organelle inheritance shapes immune cell fate. Her previous work uncovered how autophagy and asymmetric cell division contribute to the formation of long-lived memory T cells. Originally from Brazil, she earned her PhD in Immunology at ETH Zurich, where she was awarded the ETH Silver Medal for her thesis on T cell fate decisions. She then pursued postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford, supported by Sir Henry Wellcome, Marie Skłodowska-Curie, and SNSF fellowships. Integrating cell biology, immunology, and metabolism, her research employs in vivo models and multi-omics approaches to dissect immune cell differentiation. In September 2025, she established her independent laboratory at the University of Basel. The lab’s research is supported by both SNSF and ERC Starting Grants. She is also a board member of the Swiss Young Immunology Society.

Summer School Speakers

Emmet McCormack, University of Bergen
Professor Emmet McCormack is a pharmaceutics researcher whose work connects drug development, cancer biology, and advanced preclinical imaging. After a double honours degree in mathematics and chemistry, he completed a PhD in Pharmacognosy at Trinity College Dublin and later shifted to molecular imaging at the University of Bergen. He founded the PreCOS group and cofounded KinN Therapeutics, underscoring his focus on translational innovation. His research spans personalized cancer models, sonoporationenhanced therapies, and cellbased immunological approaches, earning highimpact publications and national innovation awards. McCormack is also affiliated with Haukeland University Hospital and the Centre for Cancer Cell Reprogramming, advancing preclinical strategies for improved cancer treatment.

Gyri Teien Haugland, University of Bergen
Professor Gyri Teien Haugland is a molecular biologist specializing in fish immunology and mRNA vaccine development for aquaculture. At the University of Bergen’s Department of Biological Sciences, her group studies innate and adaptive immune mechanisms in fish, including optimization of mRNA vaccine design, lipid nanoparticle delivery, and dendriticlike cell characterization. She leads a number of major research projects, including Research Council of Norway-funded development of mRNA-based vaccines against viral diseases in Atlantic salmon. Her publication record covers comparative immunology, molecular biology, and host–pathogen interactions, with influential work on phagocytosis, Bcell responses, and fish immune development. Haugland received the 2016 Brainpower Award for her contributions to Norwegian research and innovation.

Rebecca Cox, University of Bergen
Professor Rebecca Cox is a medical virologist and Head of the Influenza Centre at the University of Bergen. She completed her PhD at the London Hospital Medical College and postdoctoral training at Guy’s Hospital and in Bergen. With over 25 years in influenza research, her work spans vaccine development, human immunology, and preparedness for respiratory pandemics. She has advised WHO, the Norwegian pandemic committee, the EMA, and EU bodies, and is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. During the COVID19 pandemic, she led the Bergen COVID19 Research Group, studying infection dynamics, immune responses, and longterm complications. She also serves as deputy chair and senior editor for Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses.
 

Victor Greiff, University of Oslo
Professor Victor Greiff is a computational immunologist at the University of Oslo, focusing on highthroughput immunerepertoire sequencing and machine learning to advance diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccine design. Originally from Germany, he earned his PhD in Systems Immunology in 2012 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at ETH Zürich before joining UiO in 2018. His group develops computational frameworks for understanding antibody–antigen interactions and adaptive immune diversity. In 2023, he received an ERC Consolidator Grant to investigate the principles governing antibody binding. Greiff also contributes to international computational immunology efforts, including serving as Chair of the AIRR Community, and works at the interface of AI and immunology to improve immunebased therapies.

Yenan Bryceson, Karolinska Institutet
Professor Yenan Bryceson leads research in cytotoxic lymphocyte biology at Karolinska Institutet and the University of Bergen. He studied at the University of Oslo and completed his PhD through an NIH–Karolinska partnership, spending six years at the National Institutes of Health. Appointed Professor II at UiB in 2012, he now directs research in hematology, regenerative medicine, and cellular cancer therapy at Karolinska Institutet. His group investigates the molecular regulation of NK cells and CD8⁺ T cells, focusing on hyperinflammatory immunodeficiency syndromes and malignancy risk. To date, Bryceson has received multiple major awards, including the Göran Gustafsson Prize in Medicine and the EFIS Lecture Award.