Timetable

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Preliminary List of Symposia and Workshops (as of June 2009)

Confirmed Plenary Speakers

Barry Marshall, Australia
Man vs Helicobacter – The Past 50,000 years and the next 50

Pascale Cossart, France
Listeria monocytogenes: a multifaceted paradigm

Alfred L. Goldberg, USA
Functions of the Proteasome:  From Protein Degradation to Antigen Presentation and Cancer Therapy

Bo Barker Jørgensen, Denmark
Microbial life under extreme energy limitation - the starving majority

Sören Molin, Denmark
An Opportunist's Journey: From the Environment to chronic lung infections

Lowff Award Lecture

SYMPOSIA

• Microbial Pathogens, Host Susceptibility and Response
  Chairpersons:
  Philippe Sansonetti, France 
  Shigella as a model of subversion of immune responses by bacterial pathogens 
  Hans-Dieter Klenk, Germany
  Mechanisms of pathogenicity and host adaptation of influenza viruses
  Speakers:
  Geoffrey Smith, UK
  Vaccinia virus encoded Bcl-2 proteins innate immune signaling
  Bruno Lemaitre, Switzerland 
  Host defense and stem cell proliferation in the gut of bacteria-infected Drosophila
  
• Cellular Microbiology
  Chairpersons:
  Ari Helenius, Switzerland
  Cell biology of vaccinia virus entry 
  Staffan Normark, Sweden
  How are gram-positive bacteria handling maturation of secreted proteins in an oxidizing environment
  Speakers:
  Ralf Bartenschlager, Germany
  Hepatitis C Virus - Host cell interaction: A tale of lipids and proteins
  Heiko Herwald, Sweden
  The role of contact systems in infectious diseases 
  
  
• Emerging and Re-emerging Diseases
  Chairpersons: 
  Tone Tonjum, Norway
  Genome dynamics and meningococcal meningitis 
  Mats Wahlgren, Sweden
  Antigenic variation in Plasmodium falciparum and deadly malaria
  Speakers:
  Sunetra Gupta, UK
  Transmission dynamics and evolution of the influenza virus
  Francoise Portaels, Belgium
  Buruli ulcer and detection of Mycobacterium ulcerans from the environment
  
  
• Metagenomics of the Human Body
  Chairpersons:
  David Spratt, UK
  Oral metagenomics and antibiotic resistance
  Julian Marchesi, UK
  Exploring gut functions using metagenomics
  Speakers:
  Stacy Finkbeiner, USA
  Metagenomic analysis of the human diarrhea virome
  Folker Meyer, USA
  The MG-RAST server for the analysis of large metagenomes used to analyse and compare 20 US soil metagenomics
  
  
• Environmental Metagenomics
  Chairpersons:
  Christa Schleper, Austria
  Metagenomics and -transcriptomics of ammonia oxidizing archaea
  Ed Delong, USA
  Microbial community "omics" in the ocean - beyond the "parts list"
  Speakers:
  Janet Jansson, USA
  Exploring the human environment using a combination of omics approaches
  Oded Beja, Israel
  Photosystem-I gene cassettes in marine cyanophages
  
  
• Microbes and Alternative Energy Sources
  Chairpersons:
  Bärbel Hahn-Hägerdal, Sweden
  Can lignocellulose be efficiently fermented to ethanol?
  Bernhard Schink, Germany
  Limits of biomass utilization via hydrogen and methane formation
  Speakers:
  Yuri Gorby, USA
  The role of microbial nanowires in extracellular electron transfer in microbial communities
  Philippe Soucaille, France
  Metabolic engineering of Clostridium acetobutylicum for the production of butanol
  
  
• Food Microbiology
  Chairpersons:
  Hanne Ingmer, Denmark
  Control of Staphylococcus aureus toxin production 
  Colin Hill, Ireland
  The Listeria conundrum: 4B or not 4B?
  Speakers:
  Willem de Vos, The Netherlands
  Intestinal interactomics
  Michiel Kleerebezem, The Netherlands
  Post-genomic analyses of probiotic-host interactions 
  
  
• Gene Evolution
  Chairpersons:
  Dan Anderson, Sweden
  Evolution of new genes
  Uri Gophna, Israel
  Are protein-protein interactions a barrier to lateral gene transfer?
  Speakers:
  Alex Mira, Spain
  The recombination-divergence trade-off
  Eduardo Rocha, France
  Evolutionary dynamics of Escherichia coli genomes in ecological context
  
  Bio-nanomachines (Cytoskeletons, Self Assembly and Self Replication)
  Chairpersons:
  Herve Joel Defeu Soufo, Germany
  Organization of the bacterial cytoskeleton
  Ehud Gazit, Israel
  Bionanotechnology: Self-Assembly in Physiology and Pathology
  Speakers:
  Kerstin Stingl, Germany
  Single molecule analysis of bacterial transformation
  Mads Hovgaard, Ireland
  Functional amyloid: A generic link providing mechanical strength in natural adhesives
  
  
• Microbial Substructures
  Chairpersons:
  Dirk Schüler, Germany
  Cell biology and genetics of magnetosome formation in magnetotactic bacteria  
  Laura van Niftrik, The Netherlands
  Cell biology of unique anammox bacteria that contain a prokaryotic organelle
  Speakers:
  Grant Jensen, USA
  How electron cryotomography is opening a new window into bacterial ultrastructure
  Felicitas Pfeifer, Germany
  Gas vesicle formation in halophilic archaea 
  
   
• Extremophiles
  Chairpersons:
  Helena Santos, Portugal
  Osmolytes of hyperthermophiles: Are they involved in thermoadaptation?
  David Prangishvili, France
  Virus-host interactions in hyperthemophiles
  Speakers:
  Hans-Peter Klenk, Germany
  Lessons from a flood of extremophile genomes
  Haruyuki Atomi, Japan
  Novel metabolic enzymes from the hyperthermophilic archaeon, Thermococcus kodakaraensis
  
  
• Microbial Diversity
  Chairpersons:
  Karl Schleifer, Germany
  Microbial diversity: The hidden majority
  Ramon Rossello-Mora, Spain
  Insights into the microdiversity and biogeography of Salinibacter ruber
  Speakers:
  Michael Schloter, Germany
  Steering genetic treasures of microbes - a way of sustainable use of soil
  Jakob Pernthaler, Switzerland
  Diversity and versatility: Population ecology of planktonic bacteria
  
  
• Plant/microbe Interactions
  Chairpersons:
  Jari Valkonen, Finland
  RNase III encoded by a plant RNA virus suppresses antiviral defence
  Ulla Bonas, Germany
  How Xanthomonas type III effector proteins manipulate the host
  Speakers:
  Steve Whitham, USA
  Functional genomic analysis of ribosomal proteins in host-virus interactions
  Stephane Genin, France 
  Subversion of plant cellular pathways by Ralstonia solanacearum type III effectors

• ISME-FEMS Symposium - Biofilms in Ecology and Medicine
  Chairpersons:
  Jean-Marc Ghigo, France
  Unmasking cryptic cell-surface adhesins in Escherichia coli
  Inigo Lasa, Spain
  Dissecting individual roles of GGDEF proteins within the c-di-GMP signaling network in Salmonella
  Speakers:
  Carsten Matz, Germany
  Bacteria-protozoa interactions in biofilms
  Hillary Lappin-Scott, UK
  Gene transfer in biodegradative biofilms
  
  
• Secretion
  Chairpersons:
  Joachim Frey, Switzerland
  Impact of secretion systems in bacterial pathogenicity
  Arnold Driessen, The Netherlands
  Protein translocation across the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane
  Speakers:
  Maria Sandkvist, USA
  Type II Secretion - moving towards a molecular mechanism
  Guy Cornelis, Switzerland 
  Assembly of the Yersinia type-III secretion injectisome
   
  
• Filamentous and Non-filamentous Fungi in Biotechnology
  Chairpersons:
  Javier Arroyo, Spain
  Cell wall stress in yeast: new insights from functional genomics
  Johan Thevelein, Belgium
  Yeast traits important for bioethanol production
  Speakers:
  Jürgen J. Heinisch, Germany
  Signaling in yeast cell wall biosynthesis: how does it start and how does it work?
  Merja Penttilä, Finland
  The key role of filamentous fungi in biorefinery applications
  
  
• ESCMID-FEMS Symposium - Molecular Methods for Diagnosis of Infective Agents
  Chairpersons: 
  Haroun N. Shah, UK
  Molecular Detection of Human Pathogens using Genomic and Proteomic Techniques
  Jacques Schrenzel, Switzerland
  Nucleic acid amplification: a new era after real-time PCR
  Speakers:
  Kees Maquelin, The Netherlands
  Optical fingerprinting in Medical Microbiology; Raman spectroscopy for typing and identifying microorganisms
  Donna Wolk, USA 
  PCR/ESI-MS for the rapid analysis of multiplex PCR products: Identification and genotyping of Staphylococcus Aureus and other microbial pathogens 
• Global Regulatory Networks
  Chairpersons:
  Eliora Ron, Israel
  Temperature-dependent proteolysis as a control element in bacterial regulatory networks 
  Michael Hecker, Germany
  From physiological proteomics to regulatory networks in Gram-positive bacteria
  Speakers:
  Thorsten Mascher, Germany
  Cell envelope stress response in Gram-positive bacteria: From signaling principles to regulatory networks
  Franz Narberhaus, Germany
  Control of bacterial heat shock and virulence gene expression by RNA thermometers
  
  
• Population Genomics and Evolution of Human Pathogens
  Chairpersons:
  Carmen Buchriesser, France
  Intracellular parasitism, the driving force of evolution of Legionella pneumophila and Legionella sp
  U. Dobrindt, Germany
  Between Commensalism and Pathogenesis:Population Genomics of Escherichia coli
  Speakers:
  Wilma Ziebuhr, Ireland
  Biofilm-forming staphylococcus epidermidis: clinical impact, molecular epidemiology and genome flexibility
  Philippe Glaser, France
  Population genomics of Group B streptococci - evolution of human versus animal isolates
  
  

• ASM-FEMS Symposium - The Challenge of Antibiotic Resistance Chairpersons:
  Keith Klugman, USA
  Impact of vaccination versus antibiotic use on the evolution of resistance in Streptococcus pmeumoniae
  Henning Sørum, Norway
  Fish pathogens develop antibiotic resistance in collaboration with aquatic environment
  Speakers:
  Fernando Baquero, Spain
  Units of selection in antibiotic resistance
  Didier Mazel, France
  The integrons and their cassettes form a general stress response component
  
  

Trends in Vaccine Development- Novel Approaches and Targets
Chairpersons:
Jeffrey Almond, France 
Challenges in Vaccine Development
Alex Von Gabain, Austria
Identification of bacterial antigens - a step towards rationale design of vaccines 
Speaker:
Mariagrazia Pizza, Italy
Bacterial genomes as basis for the discovery of vaccine antigens and novel virulence factors.
Rafi Ahmed, USA
Immune Strategies for treating Chronic Viral Infections

• Lyme Borreliosis: Outstanding Problems in Management and Prevention

Chairpersons:
Franc Strle, Slovenia                        
Clinical Lyme borreliosis
Gerold Stanek, Austria                       
Laboratory diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis
Speakers:
Sven Bergström, Sweden                      
Biology of Borrelia
Alessandro Mannelli, Italy                                       
Ecology of Lyme borreliosis spirochetes

Viral outbreaks in the 21st century

G.F.  Rimmelzwaan, The Netherlands
Viral outbreaks and pandemics: present and future risks 
Klaus Stöhr, USA
Vaccine discovery and production: strategies of a global pharmaceutical company
Déirdre Hollingsworth, UK
Influenza pandemics models and intervention measures
Jean-Claude Piffaretti, Switzerland
Smallpox: should we fear a come back?

WORKSHOPS

• Small RNAs
  Chairpersons:
  Gerhart Wagner, Sweden
  Reglatory RNAs in bacteria: biological roles and mechanisms
  Joerg Vogel, Germany
  Post-transcriptional regulons controlled by small noncoding RNAs
  
  
• Chemolithotrophy
  Chairpersons:
  Svetlana N. Dedysh, Russia
  Choosing the best lifestyle: Obligate methanotrophy versus facultative methanotrophy
  Paul Bodelier, The Netherlands
  Ecological factors regulating methanotrophy in soils and sediments
  
  
• Secondary Metabolites, Antibiotics and Molecular Signals
  Chairpersons:
  Stefano Donadio, Italy
  Challenges in antibiotic discovery
  Dieter Haas, Switzerland
  Links between primary and secondary metabolism in Pseudomonas
  
  
• Endosymbionts
  Chairpersons:
  Matthias Horn, Austria
  Raman microspectroscopy reveals long-term extracellular activity of a chlamydial endosymbiont
  Siv Andersson, Sweden
  Recombination and gene transfer in endosymbionts of flies and rodents

• Advances in Pollutant Degradation
  Chairpersons:
  Juan Ramos, Spain
  Characterization of the TODS-TODT two-component regulatory system
  Jan Roelof van der Meer, Switzerland
  Horizontal gene transfer of the ICEclc genomic island in pseudomonas
  
  
• Microbiology of Marine Ecosystems
  Chairpersons:
  Michail Yakimov, Italy
  Deep-sea hypersaline anoxic basins: chemosynthetic view on ecosystem functioning
  Heide Schulz-Vogt, Germany
  Ecophysiology of large Sulfur Bacteria
  
  
• Microbial Infections of Aquatic Animals
  Chairpersons:
  Bjarnheiður Guðmundsdóttir, Iceland
  Infections of fish with Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. achromogenes
  Eann Munro, UK
  A recent outbreak of infectious salmon anaemia in Scotland (January 2009), How does this relate to the global isav picture
  
  
• Viral Infections and Host Genetics
  Chairpersons:
  Gabriella Campadelli Fiume, Italy 
  Molecular basis of herpes simplex virus (HSV) entry into the cell and design of fully retargeted oncolytic HSVs
  Herbert Pfister, Germany
  Pathogenesis of human papillomaviruses of genus beta and human EVER- gene-mediated resistance

• Pathogenicity Islands
  Chairpersons:
  Eric Oswald, France
  Functional analysis of genomic islands in Enterobacteriacae: from septicemia to cancer
  Ulrich Dobrindt, Germany
  Genes in motion: impact of genomic islands on genome plasticity of Escherichia coli
  
  
• Helicobacter and Campylobacter
  Chairpersons:
  Arnoud van Vliet, UK
  The Campylobacter jejuni transcriptome: efficient use of a tightly packed genome
  Thomas Boren, Sweden
  Adaptation of adhesin-receptor interactions: Lessons from Helicobacter pylori
  
  
• What's new in Pathogenomics?
  Organised by: Network of Excellence "EuroPathoGenomics"/ERA-NET "PathoGenoMics"
  Chairpersons:
  Bernt Eric Uhlin, Sweden
  Pathogenomics of adhesion by extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli
  Francisco Garcia-del Portillo, Spain  
  Genomics applied to dissect new salmonella intracellular lifestyles
  PhD Awards, ERA-NET PathoGenoMics
   
  
• Differential Gene Expression in Bacterial Populations
  Chairpersons:
  Oscar Kuipers, The Netherlands
  Bistable networks and bet-hedeging in Bacillus subtilis
  Jan Willem Veening, UK
  A mechanism for cell-cycle regulation of sporulation initiation in Bacillus subtilis
  
  
• Waterbourne Pathogens
  Chairpersons:
  Victor DiRita, USA
  A natural host model to study Campylobacter jejuni, a waterborne and foodborne pathogen of humans
  Shah Faruque, Bangladesh
  Genetic and ecological factors in the epidemic cycle of a waterbourne bacterial pathogen: the cholera paradigm
  
  
• Filamentous and Non-filamentous Fungi in Disease
  Chairpersons:
  David Andes, USA
  Candida biofilms: multiple pathways to resist therapy
  Regine Kahmann, Germany
  Pathogenic development in smut fungi is controlled by novel secreted effectors 
  
   
• Uropathogenic Escherichia coli: the good guys and the bad guys
  Chairpersons:
  Mark Schembri, Australia
  Adhesins of Uropathogenic Escherichia coli
  Per Klemm, Denmark
  Biofilm formation by urinary tract infectious Escherichia coli
  
• Innovations in Microbiology Education
   Chairperson: 
   Anne Farewell, Sweden
   Speakers:
   Joanna Verran, UK
   Encouraging creativity and transferable skills in undergraduate microbiology    
   course
   Ann Farewell, Sweden
   Using case studies in microbiology
   Andreas Hoglund, Sweden
   Innovative labs

          SPECIAL EVENTS

• Defining Phyla Within Prokaryotes (The Bergey’s Trust)
  Chairpersons:
  William Whitman, USA
  Paul de Vos, Belgium
  Speakers:
  Wolfgang Ludwig, Germany
  The conserved core of prokaryotic genomes: Is there information for delineating higher taxa?
  Kostas Konstantinidis, USA
  Assessing the value of the higher ranks of bacterial taxonomy with genomics
  Celine Brochier-Armanet, France
  How many phyla are there in the Archaea?
  Satoshi Hanada, Japan
  Gemmatimonadetes, a new bacterial phylum proposed in 2003 
   
  
• ECCO - European Culture Collection Organization Special Event: Microbial Diversity, Genomics, Methods and Microbial Commons for Interaction Within the Research Community
  Chairpersons:
  Dagmar Fritze, Germany
  Introduction
  Edward Moore, Sweden
  Speakers:
  Nikos Kyrpides, USA
  Genomics and relevance for culture collections and researchers
  Brian Tindall, Germany
  Typification of biological materials
  Edward Moore, Sweden
  Authentication of biological material: Relevance for research
  Tom Dedeurwaeredere, Belgium
  Microbial commons and legal considerations for researchers and their deposited materials
  
  
• Biosafety in Europe - "A joint event between FEMS and the European BioSafety Association".
  Chairpersons:
  Benedictus J.M. Verduin, The Netherlands
  Jean-Claude Piffaretti, Switzerland
  Speakers:
  Benedictus J.M. Verduin
  European BioSafety Association (EBSA) and its projects
  Martin Kuster
  The biosafety professional (BSP) in relation to occupational health and new developments
  Ingegerd Kallings
  The Laboratory Biorisk Management Standard CWA 15793:2008
  Allan Bennett, UK
  Two fatal cases of Anthrax in the UK - Biosafety aspects of bioresponse
  
•  The Jorgen Lehman and Gerhard Domagk Symposium on Tuberculosis
  Mycobacterium tuberculosis Persistence, Latency, and Drug Tolerance
  Chairpersons:
  Brigitte Gicquel, France
  Host and mycobacterial factors in tuberculosis
  Neeraj Dhar, Switzerland
  Single-cell analysis of mycobacterial drug tolerance using microfluidics and timelapse microscopy
  Speaker:
  Sebastian Gagneux, UK
  The cause and consequence of genetic diversity in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
  Ulrich Schaible, Germany
  Host pathogen interactions in tuberculosis