
Program - CMMC Symposium 2026
September 28, 2026 - Monday
12.45 - 1.00 p.m.
Welcome Address
Carien Niessen - Vice Rector for Research, University of Cologne
Sabine Eming - Chair - Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne
Elly Tanaka - Axel Roers - Gerald Shulman
International Scientific Coordinators
Sabine Eming - Guenter Schwarz - Jens Brüning
Local Scientific Coordinators
1.00 - 2.30 p.m.
Session 1 - Regeneration and Metabolism
Chairs: Elly Tanaka (Vienna) and Matthias Hammerschmidt (Institute for Zoology)
Metabolic Interventions in Regeneration and Cancer
Almudena Chaves Perez
Cancer Biology and Genetics Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center - New York, US
From Scar to Regeneration - Defining the Roadmap for Mammalian Spinal Cord Regeneration using Spiny Mice
Mónica M Sousa
Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde i3S - Porto, PT
Metabolic Regulation of Heart Regeneration
Ahmed I Mahmoud
Center for Cardiovascular and Muscular Diseases, Sanford Burnham Prebys - La Jolla, US
2.30 - 3.00 p.m.
Coffee Break incl. Biotech Exhibition
3.00 - 4.30 p.m.
Session 2 - Carbohydrate Metabolism and Diabetes
Chairs: Gerald Shulman (New Haven) and Carien Niessen (Dept. of Cell Biology of the Skin)
CNS-Control of Liver Metabolism
Jens Brüning
Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research & Dept. of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Preventive Medicine, University Hospital Cologne - Cologne, DE
Prediabetes Remission – An Emerging Target in Type 2 Diabetes Prevention
Arvid Sandforth
Dept. of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Charité Universitätsmedizin - Berlin, DE
The Claude Bernard Approach to Scientific Proof: The Aetiology of Type 2 Diabetes
Roy Taylor
Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University - Newcastle, UK
4.30 - 5.00 p.m.
Coffee Break incl. Biotech Exhibition
5.00 - 6.00 p.m. - Keynote Lecture I, External Scientific Coordinator
Reprogramming Fibroblasts to Make Bone
Elly Tanaka
Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) - Vienna, AT
Laudatory Introduction by Sabine Eming - Cologne, DE
6.00 - 9.00 p.m.
CMMC Poster Session and Welcome Get-Together (inkl. Finger Food and Drinks)
Selection of three posters for the Poster Awards
September 29, 2026 - Tuesday
9.00 - 10.30 a.m.
Session 3 - Redox Metabolism and Regeneration
Chairs: Guenter Schwarz (CMMC Vice Chair) and Jan Riemer (Inst. of Biochemistry, MNF)
Sulfide Signaling: From Biomolecules to Behavior
Ruma Banerjee
Dept. of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor - Michigan, US
CARS1-Mediated Supersulfidation in Skeletal Muscle
Hozumi Motohashi
Dept. of Medical Biochemistry, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University - Sendai, JP
Oxygen Sensing Bridges Amphibian and Mammalian Regeneration
Can Aztekin
The Friedrich Miescher Laboratory of the Max Planck Society - Tübingen, DE
10.30 - 11.00 a.m.
Coffee Break incl. Biotech Exhibition
11.00 - 12.30 p.m.
Session 4 - Immunity and Metabolism
Chairs: Hamid Kashkar (Inst. for Molecular Immunology) and Esther von Stebut (Dept. of Dermatology)
Young at Heart: Neoteny and Regeneration in the Naked Mole-Rat
Jane Reznick
CECAD, University of Cologne - Cologne, DE
Identification of HEV-Like Endothelial Cells and CD4+ Resident Memory T Cells in Atopic Dermatitis
Kenji Kabashima
Dept. of Dermatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University - Kyoto, JP
Persistent Arginase 1 Expression drives Enhanced Mitochondrial Function in Tissue Resident Macrophages
David E Sanin
Bloomberg-Kimmel Inst. for Cancer Immunotherapy, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine - Baltimore, US
12.30 - 2.30 p.m.
Lunch Break with Poster Presentation and Biotech Exhibition (free lunch for all participants)
2.30 - 4.00 p.m.
Session 5 - Nucleic Acid Metabolism
Chairs: Axel Roers (Heidelberg) and Henning Walczak (Institute of Biochemistry, MF)
Perils and Promise of Stemness in Adult Regeneration: What the Methylome Reveals
Ana Martin-Villalba
German Cancer Research Center - Heidelberg, DE
Genetic Insights into Nucleic Acid Immunity
Min Ae Lee-Kirsch
Dept. of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital - Dresden, DE
Immunomodulatory Microbial Metabolites in Immune-Based Therapies
Hendrik Poeck
Hematology and Medical Oncology, Dept. III of Internal Medicine - Regensburg, DE
4.00 - 4.05 p.m.
Announcement of the three CMMC Poster Prize Winners
4.05 - 4.30 p.m.
Coffee Break incl. Biotech Exhibition
4.30 - 5.30 p.m. - Keynote Lecture II, External Scientific Coordinator
Nucleic Acid Metabolism – A Driver for cGAS/STING Signaling
Axel Roers
Institute of Immunology, University Hospital Heidelberg - Heidelberg, DE
Laudatory Introduction by Guenter Schwarz - Cologne, DE
September 30, 2026 - Wednesday
9.00 - 9.30 a.m.
CMMC Symposium 2026 Poster Award
Short presentation, given by the three poster awardees
Moderated by Sabine Eming, Chair - CMMC
9.30 - 11.00 a.m.
Session 6 - Lipid and Fatty Acid Metabolism
Chairs: Thomas Benzing (Dept. II for Internal Medicine) and Michal-Ruth Schweiger (Inst. for Translational Epigenetics)
Immunometabolic and Epigenetic Mechanisms in Innate Immune Memory
Triantafyllos Chavakis
Institute for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine - TU Dresden, DE
Role of Muscle Insulin Resistance in the Development of MASLD and Cardiovascular Disease
Kitt Petersen
Dept. of Internal Medicine (Endocrinology), Yale School of Medicine - New Haven, US
Regulation of Hepatic Lipid Metabolism
Gregory Steinberg
Dept. of Medicine, McMaster University, Ontario - Hamilton, CA
11.00 - 11.30 a.m.
Coffee Break incl. Biotech Exhibition
11.30 - 12.30 p.m. - Keynote Lecture III, External Scientific Coordinator
Mitochondrial Protonophores to Treat MASLD/MASH, Obesity and Cardiometabolic Disease
Gerald Shulman
Dept. of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine - New Haven, US
Laudatory Introduction by Jens Brüning - Cologne, DE
12.30 - 12.45 p.m.
Summary, open questions, concluding remarks and farewell
Sabine Eming - Guenter Schwarz - Jens Brüning
General Information
Registration and participation in the CMMC Symposium "Metabolic Control of Tissue Regeneration and Degeneration" is free of charge! Registration is required.
If you require an official invitation letter for travel refunding or visa issues, please contact Debora Grosskopf-Kroiher - debora.grosskopf-kroiher[at]uni-koeln.de
For questions regarding childcare please contact zmmk-office[at]uni-koeln.de.
