Conference Program

Explore the agenda for two days of insightful talks and networking.

đź“– Open Abstract Book (PDF)

Event Schedule

8:00 - 9:00
Registration, set-up posters and coffee

Welcome session

Chair: prof. Yves Briers and prof. Carlos São-José

9:00 - 9:10
Welcome by prof. Yves Briers (Ghent University, Belgium) on behalf of organizing and scientific committee
9:10 - 9:40
O01 Keynote lecture: The advancement of phage proteins: unlocking new frontiers in antimicrobial solutions

prof. Lone Brøndsted (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)

9:40 - 10:10
O02 Invited speaker: Targeting Group B Streptococcus with ClyX-2: A chimeric endolysin for vaginal biofilm clearance and reduced inflammatory response

prof. Daniel Nelson (University of Maryland, USA)

10:10 - 10:40
O03 Invited speaker: A catalog of capsule depolymerases encoded by Klebsiella phages

prof. Zuzanna Drulis-Kawa (University of Wroclaw, Poland)

10:40 - 11:10
Coffee break

Session 1: Computational research in phage proteins

Chair: prof. Rafał Mostowy and dr. Roberto Vázquez

11:10 - 11:40
O04 Invited speaker: Recognition, mining and engineering of active lysins against Gram-negative pathogens

prof. Hang Yang (Wuhan Institute of Virology, China)

11:40 - 12:00
O05 Selected speaker: In silico prediction and in-depth analysis of phage receptor binding protein structures, enzymatic activities and host receptor interactions

dr. Moritz Ertelt (Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology, Germany)

12:00 - 12:20
O06 Selected speaker: The tail fiber atlas & structural insights into phage infection.

Victor Klein-Sousa (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)

12:20 - 12:35
Poster pitch session 1 (4 x 3 min)

Chair: dr. Kevin De Muynck


12:20-12:23: P02 Selected Pitch: Robby Concha-Eloko (Institute for Integrative Systems Biology, Spain): Unlocking data in Klebsiella lysogens to predict capsular type-specificity of phage depolymerases
12:24-12:27: P05 Selected Pitch: Ilaria De Angelis (Ghent University, Belgium): Structural and functional analysis of K1- and K2-specific depolymerases for targeted therapy against multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae
12:28-12:31: P26 Selected Pitch: Dr. JĂ©ssica Duarte da Silva (Institute of Biology, University of Campinas, Brazil): Diversity of endolysins and depolymerases encoded by rare bacteriophages isolated by the B3-CEPID Project, a Brazilian Center for Research on Bacteria and Phages
12:32-12:35: P15 Selected Pitch: Aleksandra Otwinowska (University of Wrocław, Poland): Prophage-derived depolymerases as a promising source of capsule-targeting tools against Klebsiella pneumoniae
12:35 - 14:00
Lunch & poster session

Session 2: Phage proteins for biocontrol: from basic to translational research

Chair: Dr. Mark van Raaij and Dr. Mathias Schmelcher

14:00 - 14:30
O07 Invited speaker: Synthetic biology of modular phage proteins

prof. Yves Briers (Ghent University, Belgium)

14:30 - 15:00
O08 Invited speaker: Impact of temperature on endolysin LysRODI inactivation and killing dynamics of Staphylococcus aureus in milk

dr. Lucía Fernández (Instituto de Productos Lacteos de Asturias, Spain)

15:00 - 15:20
O09 Selected speaker: Harnessing depolymerases: Enhancing phage therapeutics against resistant pathogens

dr. Danielle Peters (National Research Council, Canada)

15:20 - 15:40
O10 Selected speaker: Practical applications of extremophilic endolysins and their derivatives

prof. Magdalena Plotka (University of Gdansk, Poland)

15:40 - 16:00
O11 Selected speaker: Combating Acinetobacter baumannii induced lung infections with phage-encoded antibacterial enzymes: Promise and challenges.

dr. Sharon Shui Yee Leung (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

16:00 - 16:30
Group picture (in front of the conference venue) and coffee break

Session 3: The ESCMID Study Group for Non-Traditional Antibacterial Therapy (ESGNTA) session

Chair: prof. Zuzanna Drulis-Kawa

16:30 - 16:50
O12 Selected speaker: Receptor binding proteins as novel diagnostic tools for bacterial infections

dr. Peter Braun (Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology, Germany)

16:50 - 17:10
O13 Invited speaker: Clinical trial with anti-staphylococcal lysin CF-301 for joint infections

prof. Tristan Ferry (University of Lyon, France)

17:10 - 17:30
O14 Invited speaker: Is it rational to work on phage proteins (and phage) as therapeutics? Yes! No! Carefully!

John Rex (AMR solutions)

17:30 - 18:15
Panel Debate: The hurdles for phage proteins towards clinical and market applications

Dr. Lorenzo Corsini (BioNTech R&D, Austria), Prof. Daniel Nelson (University of Maryland, USA), Dr. Kristof Van Emelen (Obulytix, Belgium)

19:15 - 22:30
Conference dinner

(Upon registration only; find dinner ticket and directions to the meeting point in your name tag)

Session 4: Fundamental research on phage proteins

Chair: prof. Rob Lavigne and dr. Rayén León Quezada

9:00 - 9:30
O15 Invited speaker: Endolysins: insights into their mode of action and regulation for enhanced applications

prof. Carlos São-José (University of Lisbon, Portugal)

9:30 - 9:50
O16 Selected speaker: PIT3: A phage-derived protein with anti-virulence activity against the Type III Secretion System in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Samiya Siddiqui (University of Leuven, Belgium)

9:50 - 10:10
O17 Selected speaker: Bacteriophage-encoded novel endolysins targeting Mycobacterium tuberculosis

prof. Urmi Bajpai (University of Delhi, India)

10:10 - 10:30
O18 Selected speaker: Fold first, ask later: structure-informed protein function prediction in Pseudomonas phages

Hannelore Longin (University of Leuven, Belgium)

10:30 - 10:50
O19 Selected speaker: Exploring phage early genes to combat drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii

Marta Gomes (University of Minho, Portugal)

10:50 - 11:20
Coffee break

Session 5: Tailocins

Chair: dr. Agnieszka Latka and prof. Hang Yang

11:20 - 11:40
O20 Selected speaker: Tracing the evolution of tail fibers and their receptors in historical metagenomes

prof. Hernán Burbano (University College London, UK)

11:40 - 12:00
O21 Selected speaker: Exploring the genetic basis of interspecies killing by tailocins

dr. David Baltrus (University of Arizona, USA)

12:00 - 12:20
O22 Selected speaker: Constraints on the evolution of tailocin tail fibers in host-associated bacteria

prof. Talia Karasov (University of Utah, USA)

12:20 - 12:35
Poster pitch session 2 (4 x 3 min)

Chair: dr. Kevin De Muynck


12:20-12:23: P42 Selected Pitch: Prof Haidai Hu (Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, Copenhagen University, Denmark): Zorya Anti-phage defense at the membrane boundary
12:24-12:27: P31 Selected Pitch: Magdalena Pełka (University of Warsaw, Poland): Phage-borne proteins with lytic activity against Neisseria gonorrhoeae
12:28-12:31: P34 Selected Pitch: Samuel Staubli (ETH ZĂĽrich, Switzerland): Phage-derived endolysins as precision tools against vancomycin-resistant enterococci
12:32-12:35: P36 Selected Pitch: Gilles Vandermarliere (Ghent University, Belgium): You get what you screen for: benchmark analysis of three expression hosts for the selection of new antibacterial enzybiotics
12:35 - 14:00
Lunch & poster session

Session 6: Phage lysins for therapy

Chair: prof. Daniel Nelson and dr. Lucía Fernández

14:00 - 14:30
O23 Invited speaker: Engineered phage lysins – tackling hurdles for clinical application

dr. Mathias Schmelcher (Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland)

14:30 - 14:50
O24 Selected speaker: Antibacterial mechanism of action of Gram-negative targeting endolysin ATX401 (formerly CF-370) is primarily through N-terminal AMP rather than murein hydrolase activity

dr. Lamya El Mortaji (Aurobac Therapeutics)

14:50 - 15:10
O25 Selected speaker: Systematic engineering of lysins yields highly potent, serum resistant activity towards drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii

dr. Guy Hermans (Obulytix)

15:10 - 15:30
O26 Selected speaker: Endolysins as therapeutics: bridging preclinical development and clinical manufacturing

dr. Tim Thysens (Eurofins)

15:30 - 15:50
O27 Selected speaker: Formulations of inhalable endolysin Cpl-1 and their efficacy in a murine lung infection model

prof. Hak-Kim Chan (University of Sydney, Australia)

15:50 - 16:10
O28 Selected speaker: Bacteriophage-derived endolysins restore antibiotic susceptibility in β-lactam- and macrolide-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae infections

dr. Niels Vander Elst (Karolinska Institute, Sweden)

16:10 - 16:40
Coffee break

Session 7: Phage receptor binding proteins: basic research

Chair: Prof. Malabika Biswas and dr. Peter Braun

16:40 - 17:00
O29 Selected speaker: Unravelling the host range of Klebsiella phages: depolymerases and beyond

prof. Rafal Mostowy (Jagiellonian University, Poland)

17:00 - 17:20
O30 Selected speaker: Gp38 adhesins of Straboviridae phages target specific extracellular loops of outer membrane receptors

dr. Veronika Theresa Lutz (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)

17:20 - 17:40
O31 Selected speaker: Receptor-binding protein evolvability is a major determinant of phage host range in capsule-diverse hosts

Celia Ferriol-González (University of Valencia, Spain)

17:40 - 18:00
O32 Selected speaker: Exploring flagellotropic phage adsorption by cryoEM

dr. James Hodgkinson-Bean (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)

18:00 - 18:20
O33 Selected speaker: Crystallographic structures of bacteriophage receptor-binding proteins and endolysins

dr. Mark van Raaij (Centro Nacional de BiotecnologĂ­a, Spain)

18:20 - 18:30
Poster and pitch awards

by dr. Kristof Van Emelen (Obulytix)

Closing