We are happy to share that thanks to generous donations from Umeå Centre for Microbial Research (UCMR) and Faculty of Medicine, Malgorzata Graul (Bally lab) and Tessy Hick (Evander lab) were able to organize a one-day symposium. The symposium focused on the newest developments in the field of viral vectors and virus-like particles (VLPs) from design as a research tool to clinical applications in cancer treatment, gene therapy, and immunization.
The event took place was held on 12 September at Umeå University where five excellent invited speakers gathered and shared their knowledge about viral vectors and VLPs. Prof. Niklas Arnberg and Dr. Ya-Fang Mei from Umeå University presented their newest results concerning the design and clinical applications of adenovirus-based vectors. Dr. Christin Schmidt from TRON Translational Oncology, University Medical Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany, shared her experience with trans-amplifying RNA as chikungunya virus vaccine.
In the field of virus-like particles we hosted Prof. Dr. Thomas Hoenen, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute Greifswald –Insel Riems, Germany who shared his expertise on development of transcription and replication-competent virus-like particle system and its application to analyse different aspects of virus replication cycle. Finally, Dr. Giuditta De Lorenzo from AREA Science Park, Trieste, Italy who talked about pre-clinical evaluation of an engineered VLP-based vaccine candidate against ZIKV.
These excellent talks from the keynote speakers were followed by a selection of short talks from submitted abstract and posters sessions combined with lunch and fika and were well received by nearly 50 participants. The event was attended by a wide range of audience including bachelors students, PhD, postdocs, senior scientists, and PIs.
It was a full day of exciting and inspirational discussions covering the latest advances, challenges, and future directions in the field of viral vector and virus-like particle (VLP) design to improve safety and efficiency in vaccine development, along with innovative virus-derived tools for studying viral biology.
Text credit: Malgorzata Graul