BRMEC14 Conference Agenda
The colloquium will start at approximately 08.45 on each day and close at approximately 18.00, after which there will be an evening dinner for registered delegates where more opportunities for discussion and networking will take place.
28th - 30th May 2025 - Click here to expand/contract
Session Presenter(s) 08:45 Welcome to BRMEC14 - Objectives Simon Carding Colloquium chair:
Quadram Institute, UK / European ME Research Group (EMERG)Systems biology approaches to study infections in complex diseases Tamas Korcsmaros Session chair:
Imperial College Londontbc speakers tbc Panel Discussion Chaired discussion amongst delegates Genomics Session chair: tbc
Insights from the ME/CFS Genomics (provisional) Chris Ponting
University of Edinburgh, UKtbc tbc Panel Discussion Chaired discussion amongst delegates Chronic Infection Aetiology David Price Session chair:
Cardiff University, UK / EMERGtba Confirmed speaker tba tba tbc tbc Discussions Chaired discussion amongst delegates Immune System Primary and Secondary Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber Session chair:
Medical University of Vienna, Austria / EMERGtbc tbc tbc tbc tbc tbc Panel Discussion Chaired discussion amongst delegates Molecular Biology Elisa Oltra Session chair:
Universidad Catolica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir, Spain / EMERGtba speakers tba tbc speakers tbc Orthostatic intolerance and autonomic physiology Jos Bosch Session chair:
University of Amsterdam, Netherlands / EMERGtba Confirmed speaker tba Confirmed speaker tba Confirmed speaker tbc tbc - Panel Discussion Chaired discussion amongst delegates Metabolism Body and Cell Rikke Olsen Session chair:
Aarhus Universitet, Denmark / EMERGSpeaker tbc tbc Speaker tba Confirmed speaker Panel Discussion Chaired discussion amongst delegates Nervous System and Neuroinflammation Session chair: tba tba tba tba tba Panel Discussion Chaired discussion amongst delegates In vitro Models and Biomarker Discovery Jonas Bergquist Session chair:
University of Uppsala, Sweden / EMERGSpeaker tbc tbc Speaker tbc tbc Speaker tba Confirmed speaker Speaker tbc tbc Panel Discussion Chaired discussion amongst delegates BRMEC14: Day 2 Summary and Group Discussion Chaired discussion
Research Leader, Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich Research Park, UK
Professor Simon Carding
UK
Upon completing postgraduate work at the Medical Research Council’s Clinical Research Centre in Harrow,
Professor Carding “emigrated” to the USA to take up a postdoctoral position at New York University School of Medicine,
and then at Yale University as a Howard Hughes Fellow in the Immunobiology Group at Yale University.
While
at Yale an interest in gamma-delta (γδ) T cells was acquired working closely with Adrian Hayday on molecular genetics and then
with Prof. Peter Doherty to establish their role in (viral) infectious disease.
He left Yale after five years to take up a faculty position at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia where he
developed a research interest in mucosal and GI-tract immunology, performing studies in germfree mice with Prof John Cebra
that helped establish
the role of gut microbes in the aetiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
After 15 years in the USA, he returned to the UK to take up the Chair in Molecular Immunology at the University of Leeds
where he established a new research
programme on commensal gut bacteria and Bacteroides genetics leading to the development of a Bacteroides drug
delivery platform that is being used
for developing new interventions for IBD and for mucosal vaccination.
In 2008 he was recruited by UEA and IFR to develop a gut research programme, taking up the Chair of Mucosal Immunology
at UEA-MED and the position of head
of the Gut Biology Research Programme at IFR, which later became part of the Gut Health and Food Safety (GHFS) Programme.
GHFS research covers a broad area of gut biology including epithelial cell physiology, mucus and glycobiology, mucosal immunology,
commensal microbiology, foodborne bacterial pathogens, and mathematical modelling and bioinformatics.
The success of this programme has led to the establishment of the Gut Microbes and Health research programme
that is integral to the research agenda of The Quadram Institute.
Research Director, Coordinating Research Centre, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital, Denmark
Co-chair European ME Research Group
Dr Jesper Mehlsen
Denmark
Dr Jesper Mehlsen graduated as a medical doctor in 1979 and finished his specialist training in 1990.
He has published more than 140 scientific papers in peer reviewed journals, mainly on the autonomic nervous system and more recently
on complex diseases possibly resulting form HPV-vaccination.
For more than 35 years, he has worked clinically and in research with dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system.
Such dysfunction may lead to symptoms from a number of different organs often dominated by diminished control of blood pressure
and heart rate.
Over the past 5 years, he has worked clinically and in research with patients who suspect side effects due to HPV vaccination to
be the cause of a number of symptoms, common to those seen in chronic ME.
Dr Mehlsen is co-chair of the European ME Research Group (EMERG).
Tamas Korcsmaros
UK
Dr Tamas Korcsmaros is a systems biologist working with both computational and experimental approaches to study
signalling networks in the gut.
For 15 years, he has been been working in the field of intra- and inter-cellular signalling networks and the regulation of autophagy,
a key cellular process for maintaining health and fight diseases.
He is particularly interested in how cell-cell and cell-microbe interactions affect intestinal homeostasis,
and how one could use precision medicine to tackle current challenges to treat patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
In his group they have developed gap-filling computational resources and applied experimental novel systems,
such as organoids, to achieve these goals.
Besides leading his research group that focuses on improving our understanding on the pathomechanisms of IBD, he is also co-leading the
NIHR Imperial BRC Organoid Facility to establish patient-specific multi-omics studies for various complex diseases.
REFERENCES
References
David Price
UK
Professor David A Price MRCP DPhil DTM&H FAoP FLSW FRSB graduated with double first class honours
in medical sciences and pathology at the University of Cambridge and completed his clinical training at
King's College Hospital London.
He practised internal medicine, specialising in infectious and tropical diseases,
before pursuing a doctorate in molecular immunology at the University of Oxford.
After further academic clinical appointments,
his research was conducted with fellowship support at the NIH Vaccine Research Center.
He was appointed as Chair of Infection
and Immunity at Cardiff University School of Medicine in October 2007.
His research program focuses on the development and
implementation of advanced biotechnologies to characterise immune responses against globally relevant pathogens, such as
HIV-1 and SARS-CoV-2.
REFERENCES
Associate Professor Jos Bosch
Netherlands
In 2012 he was appointed associate professor in the Department of Psychology, section Clinical Psychology.
His research investigates the psychobiology of medical disorders, with the aim to understand and mitigate the impact of disease.
His dual expertise in psychology and biology allows him to approach this topic in a genuinely interdisciplinary manner,
by integrating methods and concepts from both fields, and apply these to experimental laboratory studies,
clinical investigations, and epidemiological analyses. More recently hsi work has expanded to include Data Science and Artificial
Intelligence (AI) as a source of novel approaches to the analysis and modification of human biology and behaviour.
The latter program of research is funded by two H2020 consortium grants, of which he isa lead and a coordinator,
and involves intensive collaborations with groups accross continental Europe, the UK, and the US.
Since 2019 he became Associate Editor of Health Psychology Review, having previously acted as associate/senior editor for Brain, Behavior & Immunity (2011-2014), Psychological Bulletin (2010-2013), and Health Psychology (2010-2015).
In 2018 he was appointed Program Leader of the AMC/VUmc research institute ‘Amsterdam Public Health' (APH), Divsion of Mental Health (https://www.amsterdamumc.org/research/institutes/amsterdam-public-health.htm). In 2020 I was reappointed for 2 more years.
In 2023 Jos was awarded a grant of more than seven million euros to commence new biomedical research into ME/CFS.
Further reading:
Amsterdam UMC leads international consortium in the search for treatment for ME/CFS
Associate Professor Rikke Katrine Jentoft Olsen
Research Unit for Molecular Medicine, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Denmark
Our research group has a longstanding interest in inborn errors of mitochondrial metabolism with special focus on fatty acid oxidation disorders. We integrate genetic diagnostics of affected families with research into cell pathological mechanisms and novel treatment modalities in the form of mitochondrial vitamins/co-factors and anaplerotic compounds for the tricarboxylic acid cycle. In recent years, we have initiated research programs to understand the role that mitochondria may play in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).
Besides science, Rikke KJ Olsen is an active member of the Neonatal Screening Program for inborn errors of metabolism in Denmark and board member of international scientific organisations within fatty acid oxidation disorders and ME/CFS.
Full Chair Professor in Analytical Chemistry and Neurochemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Uppsala University, Sweden
Professor Jonas Bergquist
Sweden
Professor Begquist has a background as MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Neuroscience , Sahlgrenska University Hospital and the University of Gothenburg. Since 1999 , he has been a researcher in Uppsala, Sweden, and in 2005 was appointed professor of analytical chemistry and neurochemistry at the Department of Chemistry - BMC , Uppsala University. From 2011 he worked also as an adjunct professor of pathology at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Medical specialist in Immunology,
Head of Gastrointestinal Immunology research group
Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy,
Medical University of Vienna, Austria
Associate Professor Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber, MD, PhD
Austria
Dr. Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber Associate Professor of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research
at The University of Vienna.
Her research interests are
Immunology and Microbiology, Comparative Immunology and Oncology, Pathophysiology.
In 2011, Dr.in Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber completed her specialist training.
Since then, Dr.in Untersmayr-Elsenhuber has worked as a specialist
and associate professor at the ” Institute of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research at the Medical University of Vienna.
In 2012, Dr.in Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber completed her part-time doctoral studies in natural sciences at the University of Salzburg and received
her doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.).
She is the author of more than 40 internationally acclaimed articles published in renowned journals, which have so far been
cited more than 1000 times by other authors in publications.
For her work in the field of food allergy, Dr.in Untersmayr-Elsenhuber has received numerous prizes such as the Pirquet Prize,
the most important prize in the field of allergy research of the Austrian Society for Allergology and Immunology,
the Theodor Billroth Prize of the Medical Association of Vienna and the Vienna Chamber of Commerce Prize 2014.
In addition, Dr Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber has led and managed numerous competitively funded research projects on food allergy, gastrointestinal
immunology and oncology since 2005. She is a member of national and international committees such as the Austrian and European Societies for
Allergolgy and Immunology and the Collegium Internationale Allergologicum.
Dr. Untersmayr-Elsenhuber has participated in numerous science communication activities for years, such as the production of information brochures,
the Children’s University, the Long Night of Research and Science at the VHS Vienna.
(with grateful thanks to https://www.praxis-neustift.com/en/prof-ddr-eva-untersmayr-elsenhuber/)
Links:
Researchgate
Presenter to be confirmed
Details will be announced shortly.
Presenter to be announced
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Presenter to be announced
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Universidad Católica de Valencia “San Vicente Mártir”, Spain
Elisa Oltra
Spain
Dr. Elisa Oltra is a professor of Cell and Molecular Biology at the Universidad Católica de Valencia “San Vicente Mártir” where she also
works as a researcher in the area of stem-cell and cancer.
She obtained an M.S. degree in Biochemistry at the Universitat de Valencia (Spain) and later earned her PhD in Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology at the
University of Miami, FL (USA) where she stayed for her post-doctoral training and later, as Senior Scientist till 2006 when she moved
back to Spain. During her studies at the University of Miami she identified alternative 5´UTR sequences involved in regulating cell-cell
communication through mechanisms of differential connexin43 expression in the heart.
She also isolated a novel essential protein (Ini) and demonstrated its participation in mechanisms of transcription and splicing.
In 2009 she started a project to investigate the molecular basis of Fibromyalgia having identified at present irregularities
in RNAseL expression and miRNAs profile changes in the participating patients which could lead to a deeper understanding of the disease.
In 2012 she joined the IVP Valencian Institute of Pathology, also at the Universidad Católica de Valencia where she is currently studying a specific
type of vesicles: the exosomes, as mediators of stem-cell based therapies.
She is also academic director of the first officially accredited Master degree in Biobanking in Europe in collaboration with the Spanish Network
of Biobanking at the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid (Spain).
University of Edinburgh, UK
Chris Ponting
UK
Christopher Ponting is a British computational biologist, specialising in the evolution and function of genes and genomes.
He is currently Chair of Medical Bioinformatics at the University of Edinburgh and group leader in the MRC Human Genetics Unit.
He is also an Associate Faculty member of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences,
member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation and Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
His research focuses on long noncoding RNA function and evolution, on single cell biology and on disease genomics.
Professor Ponting contributed to the Human Genome Project, and participated in sequence comparison for the mouse, chicken, dog,
opossum, and platypus Genome Projects.
He has also used comparative genomics to contribute directly to the understanding of chromatin structure
and the genetics of numerous conditions including asthma,obesity, Alzheimer's disease, retinitis pigmentosa,
muscular dystrophies, and Aicardi–Goutières syndrome.
Additionally, his lab is part of DecodeME, a genetic study to determine the potential causes of myalgic encephalomyelitis.
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