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The CMMC Annual Retreat 2026 is scheduled for:
February 24 - 25, 2026 at the MTI Lecture Hall
Dear CMMC Members, dear Colleagues, dear Students
Dear members of the Life Science Community at the UoC
We are delighted to invite you and your group members, along with interested members of the Medical Faculty and Science Faculty, to the CMMC Annual Retreat 2026. The CMMC Annual Retreat is scheduled for February 24, 2026, at 10 a.m. to February 25, 2026, at around 4 p.m. and will take place at the MTI Lecture Hall Building of the Medical Faculty (Building 44b, Joseph-Stelzmann-Str. 52, Cologne, Germany).
As in previous years, the program of the CMMC Annual Retreat 2026 will be organized by members of the CMMC Junior Faculty, and we are very grateful to Emma Fenech - Antonia Howaldt - Julian Nüchel - Valentina Piano - Anne Wolf (from left to right) for their great engagement.
We are honored and excited to organize the CMMC Annual Retreat 2026 and look forward to welcoming you to two days of scientific exchange and networking.
The CMMC Retreat will feature short talks by principal investigators, as well as flash talks and poster presentations by PhD students and postdoctoral researchers. We are especially keen to encourage flash talk and poster submissions and invite you to share your work with our scientific community. Please note: Previously presented posters from recent scientific meetings are welcome to be displayed. If such posters are not available or suitable and a new poster is presented, the CMMC will cover the printing costs.
We are pleased to welcome this year’s CMMC Keynote Speakers, Barbara Conradt (UCL London) and Mads Gyrd-Hansen (University of Copenhagen). The traditional CMMC Get-Together will take place on February 24, 2026, and the retreat will be accompanied by a Biotech Exhibition.
Three outstanding flash talks and poster presentations will be recognized with awards.
We look forward to welcoming you to the CMMC Annual Retreat 2026.
February 24, 2026 - Program
9.15 - 10.30 a.m.
Meeting of the CMMC Executive Board
(only for members of the EC Board)
Location: Seminar Room, MTI-Lecture Hall (Venue of the CMMC Annual Retreat)
10.30 - 11.00 a.m.
Reception with Registration
For Poster Presenters: please collect your poster board number and display your poster on the designated board.
11.00 - 11.15 a.m.
Welcome Address - CMMC Annual Retreat 2026
Esther von Stebut -Vice Dean of Science and Transfer, Faculty of Medicine
Stanislav Kopriva - Vice Dean of Research, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
Thomas Benzing -Chair of the CMMC
Introduction to the scientific program by the organizers
Emma Fenech • Antonia Howaldt • Julian Nüchel • Valentina Piano • Anne Wolf
11.15 - 12.45 p.m.
Short Talk Session I - CMMC Research Area A
Mechanisms of Tumor Development: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Control of Cell Proliferation and Tissue Invasion
Chairs: Hajar Maleki - Institute of Inorganic and Materials Chemistry and tba
Tissue-specific consequences of FH loss – A 02
Désirée Schatton| Christian Frezza
Institute for Metabolomics in Ageing
Title pending – A 06 (TP)
Peter Kreuzaler2 and Elisa Motori2
1Institute for Metabolomics in Ageing and 2Institute of Biochemistry (MNF)
Coffee Break
Title pending – A 07
Henning Walczak
Institute of Biochemistry I
Title pending – CAP 30
Orsolya Leidecker
Institute of Genetics
From Code to Cure (?): Genome Engineering in T Cells – CAP 36
Hyatt Balke-Want
Dept. I of Internal Medicine
12.45 - 2.00 p.m.
Lunch Break and Biotech Exhibition
2.00 - 3.00 p.m.
Flash Talk Session I (odd poster numbers)
Chair: Emma Fenech - Institute of Biochemistry I and tba
3.00 - 3.15 p.m.
CMMC Information
3.15 - 5.00 p.m.
Poster Session I (odd numbers) and Biotech Exhibition
with Coffee and Cake
5.00 - 5.45 p.m.
CMMC Lecture I
Life versus Death’ Decision during C. elegans Development: The Role of Unequal Mitochondrial Segregation
Barbara Conradt
Dept. of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, UK
Chair: Valentina Piano - Institute of Human Genetics
from 5.45 p.m.
CMMC Get-Together and Biotech Exhibition
February 25, 2026 - Program
9.00 - 10.15 a.m.
Short Talk Session II - CMMC Research Areas B
Principles of Immunity, Inflammation and Infection
Chairs: Simona Schlereth and Anne Wolf - Dept. of Ophthalmology
Nanocarriers for Precision Drug Delivery – B 05 (TP)
Sanjay Mathur1 and Michael Hallek2 | Shaista Ilyas1 - Alexander vom Stein2
1Institute of Inorganic and Materials Chemistry and 2Dept. I for Internal Medicine
Title pending – B 06
Christoph Neumann-Haefelin |Julia Lang-Meli
Dept. of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Title pending – B 09
Hans A. Schloeßer
Dept. of General, Visceral, Thoracic and Transplantation Surgery
Synergistic Antibody Targeting of gH/gL Enables Robust Neutralization and Suppresses HCMV Escape – B 10
Matthias Zehner
Institute of Virology
Title pending – CAP 29
Christina Ising
CECAD
10.15 - 10.45 a.m.
CMMC Report
Thomas Benzing - Director of the CMMC
10.45 - 11.00 a.m.
Coffee Break and Biotech Exhibition
11.00 - 11.45 a.m.
CMMC Lecture II
Title pending
Mads Gyrd-Hansen
Dept. of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, DK
Chair: Emma Fenech - Center for Biochemistry and tba
11.45 - 12.45 p.m.
Flash Talk Session II
Chairs: Valentina Piano - Institute of Human Genetics and tba
12.45 - 1.15 p.m.
Lunch Break and Biotech Exhibition
1.15 - 2.45 p.m.
Poster Session II (even numbers) and Biotech Exhibition
2.45 - 3.45 p.m.
Short Talk Session III - CMMC Research Area C
Molecular Mechanisms and Metabolic Control of Tissue Degeneration and Regeneration
Chairs: Julian Nüchel1 and Christina Ising2 - 1Center for Biochemistry and 2CECAD
Title pending – C 05 (TP)
Jane Reznick1 and Sabine Eming2
1CECAD and 2Dept. of Dermatology
Title pending – C 06
Graziana Gatto
Dept. for Neurology
Title pending – C 10
Elena Irene Rugarli
Institute for Genetics
Implications for YAP Signaling in Kidney Disease – C 01 (TP)
Yingu Sun1 | Malte Gather1 | and Thomas Benzing2
1Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry, MNF and 2Dept. II of Internal Medicine a
3.45 - 4.00 p.m.
Awarding the Flash Talk and Poster Prizes and Final Discussion
Venue
MTI - Lecture Hall of the Medical Faculty (Biochemistry)
Joseph-Stelzmann Str. 52 (Building 44b)
50937 Cologne
Registration - CMMC Annual Retreat 2026
The participation in the CMMC Annual Retreat is free. The CMMC will finance the CMMC Annual Retreat 2026 from central CMMC accounts.
Please note that your registration is a binding commitment, and we kindly request that you consider this when registering.
Please contact the CMMC Office for any questions: zmmk-office[at]uni-koeln.de
Program
The program is updated regularly.
We gratefully acknowledge the support by our industrial partners
10x Genomis • Novogene • peptides&elephants • Proteintech • QIAGEN • Singleron
The sponsoring (€ 450,- per company) is used for event related expenses; e.g. travel of the keynote speakers, conference handouts and event management.