The symposium began with an online session on Monday, chaired by Prof. Monilola Olayioye. The program featured three invited talks highlighting recent advances in antibody engineering and immune system modulation. Prof. Mark Cragg from the University of Southampton discussed strategies for engineering antibodies with enhanced agonistic activity. Prof. Bruno Correia of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne presented new approaches to computational protein design in the era of artificial intelligence, while Assoc. Prof. Jamie Spangler from Johns Hopkins University explored how molecular engineering can be used to reprogram immune responses.
The in-person session on Tuesday, opened by Prof. Markus Morrison and chaired by Prof. Roland Kontermann, continued the discussion with a focus on translational and therapeutic applications. Prof. Matthias Peipp of Kiel University presented advances in antibody engineering for cancer immunotherapy. Jun.-Prof. Clara T. Schoeder from Leipzig University highlighted computational protein design strategies for immunotherapeutic drugs, including vaccine candidates and CAR-T cell targeting domains. The final lecture was delivered by Dr. Janine Schuurman, an independent biotech consultant, who discussed how insights from antibody biology can guide the development of novel therapeutic functionalities.
The symposium concluded with a lively panel discussion led by Prof. Morrison that brought together speakers and participants to reflect on emerging opportunities and challenges in the design of next-generation biotherapeutics.
The event provided an excellent platform for scientific exchange and networking, highlighting the growing importance of interdisciplinary approaches in advancing protein engineering and immunotherapy research. The symposium was organized with support from 3R-BioMedicUS SRI and the Stuttgart Research Center Systems Biology (SRCSB).
