CThe most important types of regulation of the immune response, which are disturbed in autoimmune diseases, are the withdrawal of immunological tolerance to self-antigens (in which cellular and cytokine types of regulation become unbalanced) and genetic type. The lecture analyzed the consequences of dysregulation of cellular, cytokine, genetic, idiotypic-anti-idiotypic, immune-neuroendocrine types, which cause a breakage of immunological tolerance and start of autoagression. Moreover, such a complex dysregulation creates the ground on which the autoimmune reaction quickly turns into a syndrome and a disease.
Keynote speaker: Anna HAVRYLYUK My name is Anna Havrylyuk. I was born on 22 Decembre, 1960 in Lviv. In 1977 I started to study in Lviv Ivan Franko State University, the faculty of Biology, graduated in 1982. My speciality after studying was microbiology. From 1982 to 1983 I worked as a biology and chemistry teacher in a rural school in the Lviv region. From 1983 to 1993 I worked as a senior laboratory assistant, junior and senior researcher of the radio immunological laboratory of the Departament of Surgical Diseases of the Lviv State Medical Institute. From 1993 to 1998 I worked as laboratory doctor in the Departament of immunological diagnostics at the Lviv Regional Diagnostic Center. From 1998 to the present I have been working as a assistant, associate professor and professor (since 2019) of the Departament of Clinical Immunology and Allergology of the Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University. In 1990 in Kyiv I defended my thesis for the degree of Candidate of Biological Sciences, and in 2017 in Kyiv I defended my thesis for the degree of Doctor of Biological Sciences. I am the author of about 290 pjblished works. The field of my scientific interests is fundamental immunology, immunology of reproduction.
Cancer metastasis involve a series of sequential steps: i) epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of individual cells within the primary tumor leading to their intravasation, ii) systemic survival of such circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and, finally, iii) their ability for extravasation at distant sites, where mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET) potentiates their proliferation into metastatic lesions. Historically, EMT has been shown to be crucial for invasive and circulating cancer cells. However, it has been recently debated whether it plays actually a role for metastatic establishment. In fact, there are reports proposing that metastasis can directly derive from tumor-derived epithelial micro-emboli that break off from primary tumors, lodging into distal capillaries, where they initiate metastatic growth. These observations are exposing the cancer research community to a novel perspective concerning the metastatic process,in which patients with epithelial cancers may have CTCs retaining adhesion that are able to achieve distant colonization. Accordingly, our own results led us to assume that proficient cell-cell adhesion is decisive to promote collective cell invasion, as well as survival of matrix-detached cancer cells, by inducing stem-like properties and by decreasing their oxidative stress, which will potentiate the success of the metastatic process. It is then the aim of my research group to understand how cell adhesion is involved in epithelial cancer metastasis, contributing towards the identification of new strategies to monitor this complex biological process and to hamper cell adhesion-mediated survival in metastatic cancer cells, as well as its associated molecular mechanisms. Using breast cancer as the main model of study, we have been focusing our activity to answer the following questions: How do alterations in cell adhesion during early EMT impact cell plasticity, invasive capacity and metastatic spreading?; How does cell adhesion, and its induced-signaling pathways, contribute to the invasion-metastasis cascade?; How do cancer cells communicate with the metastatic microenvironment and how does this dynamic crosstalk coordinate and dictate colonization capacity? In this lecture, I will share some of our most recent results obtained under these questions.
Keynote speaker: Joana PAREDES Joana Paredes is a Principal Investigator and Group Leader of the Cancer Metastasis Group at i3S, Porto, Portugal. She is also an Affiliated Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto and the member of the Scientific Committee of the European Network for Breast Development and Cancer (ENBDC). Her research primarily focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the metastatic capacity of tumor cells, emphasizing their ability to communicate with each other and with their microenvironment. The goal is to identify new biomarkers for diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment response in metastatic breast cancer. Joana Paredes holds a degree in Biology from the University of Coimbra (Portugal) and a Ph.D. in Human Biology from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (Portugal). For four years, she worked at the Cancer Research Lab of Ghent University (Belgium) and at Ipatimup (Porto, Portugal). She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Oncobiology at ICVS, University of Minho (Portugal), and began her independent research career in 2010 at Ipatimup, supported by the Ciência 2007 and FCT Investigator programs. She secured a permanent position in 2018 and became a group leader in 2021 at i3S. According to Scopus, Joana Paredes is the co-author of 93 peer-reviewed publications in international journals, with over 5200 citations and an h-index of 43. Her results have been published in prominent cancer research journals, including Cancer Research, Oncogene, Clinical Cancer Research, Breast Cancer Research, BBA Reviews on Cancer, Stem Cells, Journal of Pathology, Oncotarget, BMC Cancer, The Lancet Oncology, Gastroenterology, Gut, and Human Molecular Genetics. Joana Paredes also was the President of ASPIC (Portuguese Association for Cancer Research) from 2000 to 2024. In 2024, she was awarded as an Inspiring Woman in Science.
Cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells are a heterogeneous population of NK, NKT, and T cells with MHC-unrestricted antitumor activity against a wide range of tumors. In both preclinical and clinical studies, CIK cells have demonstrated therapeutic efficacy, minimal side effects, and low toxicity. However, due to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, these cells can become exhausted, senescent, lose antitumor activity, and exhibit a reduced ability to infiltrate solid tumors. These challenges have prompted efforts to improve CIK cell production protocols, identify more effective cell compositions, particularly for solid tumor therapy, explore strategies such as targeting specific antigens using monoclonal antibodies, genetic modifications, and other enhancements. This presentation will provide a comprehensive review of the latest insights into CIK cell biology, methods for their optimization, and their potential applications in antitumor cell therapy. Additionally, the results of studies examining the effects of different culture protocols and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) modifications on the composition and functional activity of CIK and CAR-CIK cell populations will be presented.
Keynote speaker: Olha KARAMAN Olha Karaman, Senior Researcher at the Laboratory of Immunology, National Cancer Institute (Vilnius, Lithuania), has been working in the field of cancer immunotherapy for over 20 years. Since 2023, she has been a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow and a visiting scientist in the Nishimura Laboratory at Loyola University of Chicago (USA). Dr. Karaman earned her PhD in Oncology from the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (2004) and held research positions at IEPOR, where she investigated cancer vaccines and other antitumor immunotherapies. Her research focuses on cellular adaptive and innate antitumor immunity, including natural killer (NK) cells, macrophages, cytotoxic T cells, and NKT cells. She specializes in cancer immunotherapy approaches such as adoptive cell therapy (e.g., cytokine-induced killer cells, CAR-T cells, and TCR-modified lymphocytes), cancer vaccines, and immune system modulators (cytokines, microbial products, etc.). Additionally, she has extensive experience in immunomonitoring tumor progression and evaluating the effectiveness of antitumor therapies. Dr. Karaman is also actively involved in teaching undergraduate and graduate biology students at National Taras Shevchenko University and Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Her contributions include 3 patents and a lecture-report titled “Scientific and Educational Lectures of Oncologists – Protecting the Health of Youth in Ukraine.” The results of her research have been published in 80 peer-reviewed articles and presented at numerous scientific conferences in Ukraine, Latvia, Sweden, Lithuania, France, Greece, Germany, and the USA.
The research focuses on developing advanced biotechnologies to enhance biogas production and address environmental challenges. Current inefficiencies in biogas fermentation arise from poor substrate selection, suboptimal plant designs, and the resistance of lignocellulosic materials to biodegradation. To overcome these issues, thermodynamic prediction of the interaction of microorganisms with toxic compounds has been developed, and bioreactors with active mass exchange and direct flow mechanisms have been designed, eliminating stagnation and increasing fermentation efficiency. Microbial communities are applied for the detoxification and degradation of a wide range of organic and inorganic waste. Enhanced fermentation techniques achieve rapid biogas production, reducing waste mass significantly within two days under optimized conditions. Sequential waste detoxification generates valuable by-products, including biofertilizers, biomethane, and hydrogen. The research introduces innovative bioreactor designs capable of processing complex waste mixtures like solid food waste and methane tank sludge while maintaining energy efficiency. A closed-loop system integrates filtrate recycling, leachate purification, and landfill gas utilization, boosting methane extraction and electricity generation. Practical applications, such as a landfill gas-to-electricity project in Ukraine, demonstrate biogas yields up to 1.5 times higher than conventional methods. These advancements promote sustainable solutions for waste management and energy generation, offering scalable strategies to reduce environmental impact and enhance resource recovery.
Keynote speaker: Oleksandr TASHYREV Oleksandr Tashyrev is a researcher specializing in environmental biotechnology and microbiology. He currently holds a professorship at the Institute of Environmental Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Opole, Poland, a role he assumed in 2023. Also, he serves as the Chair of the Department of Biology of Extremophilic Microorganisms at the D. K. Zabolotny Institute of Microbiology and Virology of the National Academy of Sciences in Kyiv, Ukraine. Professor Tashyrev’s academic journey includes a Ph.D. in Microbiology (1986) and a Dr.Sci. in Biotechnology (2005). His expertise lies in the thermodynamic modeling of microbial interactions with extreme environmental factors such as metals, radionuclides, and synthetic organic compounds. He also focuses on biotechnologies for converting toxic waste into valuable resources, such as biofuels, metal concentrates, and pure water, and has developed methods for producing biohydrogen and biomethane from food waste. Over his career, he has taught numerous courses, including molecular microbiology, environmental biotechnologies, and the role of extremophilic microorganisms in biotechnology. As a dedicated mentor, he has successfully supervised multiple Ph.D. students who have gone on to make significant contributions to microbiology. His work has been widely recognized, earning him the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine award in 2018 for "Training the Scientific Generation" and a team award from the Rector of the University of Opole in 2024 for scientific achievements.
Particulate matter (PM), which is among the main components of polluted air, can contribute to the development of gastrointestinal diseases and alter the composition of gut microbiota and its metabolic properties. Particulate matter can differ in shape, origin, and chemical composition, chemical composition, but the main parameter for their classification is size. Solid particles are divided into coarse (up to 10 microns in diameter), fine (up to 2.5 microns) and ultrafine (nano) particles (up to 100 nm in diameter). Although a number of studies have demonstrated the ability of coarse and fine particulate matter to disrupt the integrity of the intestinal barrier and affect the the composition and diversity of the intestinal microbiota, the main and greatest threat is posed by solid nanoparticles (up to 100 nm in diameter), which, due to their size, have unique physical and chemical properties. We will review the current state of the art on the topic as well as discuss the original research data on the the influence of different concentrations of PM derived from the combustion of cottonwood (PMC) and medical masks (PMM) on the gut permeability, growth intensity, biofilm formation capability, and antibiotic susceptibility.
Keynote speaker: Ganna TOLSTANOVA Ganna Tolstanova has completed her PhD in Human and Animal Physiology (2003) and Doctor of Science degree in Biochemistry (2011) at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (TSNUK), Kyiv, Ukraine. From 2006 to 2013, has worked as Visiting Research Fellow in VA Medical Center, Long Beach UCI, Irvine; the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA. She established in 2014 the Council of Young Researchers at Taras Shevchenko National University and made it recognized on the national and international levels. Moreover, she actively participates in reforming of research infrastructure and regulation acts at Ukraine. Since September 2017, she has been the Professor at the Department of Supramolecular Chemistry (Institute of High Technologies, Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv). She was awarded the academic rank of Professor in 2019. She is the co-founder of Basic Gastroenterology Section at Ukrainian Gastroenterological Association and co-member of Scientific Advisory Board of Ukrainian Biochem Journal and associate editor “Gastrointestinal and Hepatic Pharmacology” Frontiers in Pharmacology. Her scientific interests related to the field of experimental gastroenterology with main focus on gut epithelial barrier and function; metabolic activity of microbiota in the different diseases pathogenesis. Her research projects supported by CRDF, Mevlana, MESU, NSFU and other research foundation. From 2015 to 2021, she worked as Head of the Scientific Research Department, TSNUK. Since 2022, she has been Vice-Rector for Research at TSNUK. She has published over 100 original articles. She is a co-author of 2 patents and 9 book chapters. H-index 16. Five PhD students have graduated under her supervision.
The rapid evolution of mRNA-based therapeutics has revealed both remarkable potential and persistent challenges in achieving optimal protein expression and sustained therapeutic effect. This presentation explores recent engineering advances in next-generation RNA platforms designed to overcome traditional limitations of conventional mRNA therapeutics. We examine innovative molecular architectures including circular RNA (circRNA), self-amplifying RNA (saRNA), trans-amplifying RNA systems, and novel capless RNA constructs, focusing on their structural optimization for enhanced translational efficiency and in situ stability. Particular emphasis is placed on rational design strategies to modulate immunogenicity profiles while maintaining therapeutic efficacy. The discussion encompasses emerging delivery technologies tailored to these advanced RNA formats, including developments in lipid nanoparticle engineering and alternative carrier systems. By addressing the multifaceted challenges of RNA therapeutic delivery and expression, this work provides insights into the engineering principles driving the next wave of mRNA-based medicines and vaccines.
Keynote speaker: Oleksandr HUBAR Oleksandr Hubar is the Head of the Biotechnology R&D Department at Pharmaceutical Corporation Yuria-Pharm (Ukraine) and serves as a member of the Corporate Scientific Advisory Board. After receiving his M.S. in Immunology from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, where his research focused on developing analytical and computational tools for mass spectrometry-based monoclonal antibody epitope mapping, Oleksandr joined Yuria-Pharm to establish a full-cycle biotechnology R&D platform and pipeline from the ground up. With more than 9 years of industrial experience at Yuria-Pharm, Oleksandr has participated and led a number of drug development projects in both innovative and biosimilar development programs. The R&D division, led by Oleksandr, performs the development of several recombinant protein candidates based on a proprietary eukaryotic CHO-derived expression platform, being the first demonstrated commercial-grade platform developed in Ukraine. His team is pioneering work on the characterization of immunogenicity determinants of next-generation mRNA- and DNA-based vector systems and the development of mRNA and non-immunogenic non-viral DNA-based gene therapy vectors and expression systems for in situ protein replacement therapeutics.
Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing technologies enable cost-effective immune system profiling and open new avenues for studying the adaptive immune receptor repertoire (AIRR) at a population scale. AIRR analysis provides critical insights into the immune system’s complexity across various diseases, including cancer, autoimmune conditions, and infectious diseases. AIRR-Seq offers detailed views of T and B cell receptors, but its limited sample diversity hampers the detection of novel population-specific V(D)J alleles in ethnically diverse groups. Non-targeted NGS technologies, such as RNA-Seq, promise to address this gap by providing access to large datasets across different ancestries. This talk will focus on the development of scalable bioinformatics algorithms for profiling adaptive immune receptor repertoires and assembling novel population-specific alleles from non-targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) data.
Keynote speaker: Serghei MANGUL Dr. Mangul is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pharmacy and Computational Biology at the University of Southern California. He specializes in the design, development, and application of novel data-driven computational approaches to accelerate the diffusion of genomics and biomedical data into translational research and education. Dr. Mangul is a passionate advocate for promoting transparency and reproducibility in data-driven biomedical research, as well as for making bioinformatics education accessible to all. Dr. Mangul’s work is dedicated to advancing the principles of reproducibility, data sharing, and software usability, with the ultimate goal of shaping a more equitable and impactful future for the field of bioinformatics. Dr. Mangul received his Ph.D. in Bioinformatics from Georgia State University, and he holds a B.Sc. in Applied Mathematics from Moldova State University, Chisinau, Moldova. He completed his postdoctoral training in computational genomics with Prof. Eskin at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Mangul is the recipient of the prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER and Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program awards. He serves as a mentor for the NIH AIM-AHEAD Leadership Fellowship and NCATS Training Program in Advanced Data Analysis.
The next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have revolutionized microbiology by enabling the sequencing of numerous DNA and RNA fragments in a single run. However, the rapid development of new NGS technologies, the broadening of their applications, and the vast volumes of generated data can be overwhelming for researchers not immersed in genomic studies daily. Bioinformatics translates raw genetic data into actionable insights, making it invaluable for addressing practical questions in microbiology and medicine. This presentation reviews the latest NGS technologies used in whole-genome sequencing, metagenomics, and transcriptomics, highlighting their practical applications in biosecurity and epidemiology. Additionally, the presentation covers third-generation sequencers in epigenetic studies, a novel molecular approach offering deeper insights into bacterial genome functioning and virulence development.
Keynote speaker: Оleh REVA Professor Oleh M. Reva, a Full Professor in bioinformatics at the Centre for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at the University of Pretoria, has a distinguished career in microbiology and bioinformatics. With an MSc from Kyiv State University (1990) and a PhD from the Academy of Science of Ukraine (1995), he has held research positions in Ukrainian, German and South African institutes, where he advanced to Full Professor in 2020. Prof. Reva’s research spans functional genomics, metagenomics, epigenetics, bioinformatics tool development, and drug design, contributing various international research projects. His mentorship has fostered a generation of bioinformatics experts across academia and industry, with over 100 publications and significant collaborations globally. He is a founder and treasurer of the South African Society for Bioinformatics, with an NRF rating of C1 and h-index scores of 29 (Scopus) and 35 (Google Scholar).
The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has underscored the urgent need for effective therapeutic interventions to combat emerging viral threats and address their long-term consequences. Bacteriophage-derived double-stranded RNA (Larifan) has shown considerable potential in inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 replication in vitro and in animal models, such as Syrian hamsters. However, the pronounced immune subversion caused by SARS-CoV-2 highlights the importance of further investigating the role of the innate immune system, particularly in response to antiviral treatments. In this lecture, we will discuss and analyse the comprehensive characterization of innate immune responses triggered by Larifan, following its intranasal administration in K18-hACE2 transgenic mice, and its implications for the development of effective viral infection therapies.
Keynote speaker: Dace PJANOVA Dace Pjanova received her PhD degree in Molecular Biology in 2007 at the University of Latvia. During her PhD and postdoctoral studies, she has trained at the Genetic Epidemiology Division, Cancer Research UK, St. James’s University Hospital, Leeds, and the Section for Pathology at the University of Bergen, Norway. In 2011, she became a leading researcher at the Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre where she has led the Cancer cell and melanoma research group. Since 2023 she is a tenured professor at the Rīga Stradiņš University, one of the largest entities in the Baltic States in medicine, health science and pharmacy. Her research is mainly directed to cell biology with a particular respect to immunotherapies. She has been the main investigator of 18 competitive research projects, has had 48 peer-reviewed publications and more than 50 conference presentations (Scopus H-index 15). Dace Pjanova is a member of international associations GenoMEL and BioGenoMEL (international melanoma genetics consortiums). She has received L`ORÉAL Latvia scholarship "For Women in Science" with the support from UNESCO Latvian National Commission and the Latvian Academy of Sciences. Since 2018 she is a Corresponding Member of Latvian Academy of Sciences.
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