Dear Colleagues - Dear Students - Dear Friends

We are delighted to invite you and the members of your institution to the 34th Ernst Klenk Symposium 2018 on "Epigenetics: Basic principles and clinical applications" taking place on Oct. 04 - 06, 2018 at the Medical Campus in Cologne and organized by the Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC).

This year’s Klenk symposium targets at epigenetic mechanisms and possible clinical applications.

Epigenetics regulates everything beyond genetics, e.g. chromatin structure, DNA and histone modifications and non-coding (nc)RNA regulations. Epigenetically modified chromatin components influence the phenotypic appearance of the genetic material by adding another level of complexity to the genetic code and become thereby responsible for the uniqueness of individual cells.

Epigenetic factors control cellular functions that determine how and when certain genes are turned on and off. A deregulation of these events can lead to disease, and only a tight control of the crucial mechanisms ensures a smooth and accurate cell homeostasis.

Still open questions in regard to causes and consequences of epigenetic regulations in normal condition and disease makes the field one of the most interesting, diverse and fastest developing scientific areas at present. Any disturbances may lead to a deviation from normal, physiological processes and result in systemic or chronic diseases such as cancer or rheumatoid arthritis.

First drugs that specifically target the epigenome have been approved for clinical use (e.g. azacitidine for myelodysplastic syndrome) and many more are already in clinical trials. However, due to their broad range of efficacy, by-pass effects are common, limiting again their efficiency. Thus, understanding these mechanisms as they extend into nearly all biochemical and clinical disciplines, will provide a rational for translational epigenetics.

We have attempted to broadly cover the most well-studied aspects of epigenetics: The understanding of epigenetic mechanisms, their involvement in developmental programs, their misdirection during diseases and their potential use for therapeutic intervention all are prerequisite for modern molecular medicine. With the „Klenk Symposium on Epigenetics“ we envision to bring newest knowledge of epigenetic regulation together with basic principles and clinical implications with the hope to boost translational epigenetic research.

The Klenk Symposium 2018 will bring together an outstanding and diverse group of scientists at the forefront of epigenetics who will share and discuss the latest advances in the following sessions:

• Session I: Nuclear architecture and chromatin remodeling
  Gerald R Crabtree - Stanford, US– Patrick Cramer - Göttingen, DE – Leonid A. Mirny - Cambridge, US – Ana Pombo - Berlin, DE – Amos Tanay - Rehovot, IL – Xiaoliang Sunney Xie - Cambridge, US
  
  
• Session II: Phase separation in transcriptional regulation

  Gary H Karpen- Berkeley, US–Steven L McKnight - Dallas, US – Richard A Young - Cambridge, US
  
  
• Session III: Transcriptional and posttranscriptional control

  Asifa Akhtar - Freiburg, DE – Susan M Gasser - Basel, CH –Chuan He- Chicago, US– Steven Henikoff - Seattle, US–Danny Reinberg - New York, US – Elena Maria Torres-Padilla - Munich, DE
  
  
• Session IV: Epigenetic strategies for therapeutic intervention
  Suzanne J Baker- Memphis, US– Alejandro Vaquero - Barcelona, ES – Peter A Jones - Grand Rapids, US – Stefan Knapp - Frankfurt, DE –Christopher R Vakoc - Cold Spring Harbor, US
  
  
• Session V: Regulation of development and disease
  Denis Duboule - Lausanne, CH –Alexander Meissner - Berlin, DE –Stefan Mundlos - Berlin, DE–Christoph Plass - Heidelberg, DE – Anjana Rao- La Jolla, US – Wolf Reik - Cambridge, UK 

We are honored to announce that Prof. Dr. Roland Schüle (Medical Center - University Freiburg  - Freiburg, DE) and Prof. Dr. Yang Shi (Harvard Medical School, Boston's Children Hospital - Boston, US) have accepted our invitation to be the honorary guest speakers of the Ernst Klenk Lecture (Oct. 04 & 05, 2018 at 5/6 p.m.) and to act as scientific coordinators.

The annual Klenk Symposium is a special biomedical science meeting at the University of Cologne that attracts national and international scientists, physicians and particularly students. The meeting is named in honor of Prof. Ernst Klenk - an outstanding German lipid-biochemist, who headed the Institute for Physiological Chemistry at the Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, from 1936 to 1965.

Since its foundation the participation in the meeting is free of charge. Due to organizational reasons, free online registration is required: Klenk 2018 registration

Thus, we are thankful for the support provided by the following industrial companies: Miltenyi Biotec, Bio-Rad, PHCbi, ACTIVE MOTIF, Analytik Jena, PerkinElmer, Proteintech, Charles River, Covaris, LMS Consult, Promega, EWALD Innovationstechnik.

We are expecting a highly interactive meeting sparked by the panel of internationally renowned speakers, who will discuss their latest research developments with an audience of scientists and physicians.

We are looking forward to welcoming you and members of your institution.

Sincerely yours

Prof. Dr. Dr. Michal-Ruth Schweiger - Prof. Dr. Reinhard Büttner
Chairs - Cologne Klenk Symposium Committee 2018