Past scientific meetings organized by Marta Bally and lab members
~ Biological Surfaces and Interfaces: The Mechanistic View ~
June 30 – July 5 2019, Sant Feliu de Guixols, Spain
Organizers:
- Marta Bally, Umeå University, Sweden
- Ilya Reviakine, University of Washington – Seattle , USA
- Delphine Gourdon, University of Ottawa, Canada
- Chris Lorenz, Kings College, UK
About the meeting: The need to better understand the nature of the interactions between biological and non-biological interfaces for various biomedical applications has stimulated the development of an interdisciplinary community working on biointerfaces. The Biological Surfaces and Interfaces series of meetings have, for more than a decade, served as the venue for ideas exchange, mentorship, and inspiration for the young generation of scientists working at the frontiers of this field. The 2019 workshop builds on this tradition. Its focus is on the mechanisms underlying the behavior of interfaces between biological systems and non-biological materials, interfaces within biological systems of varying levels of complexity, and the utilization of these principles in tissue engineering, clinical practice and more. The workshop consists of six sessions with invited and contributed talks by established and young researchers: Materials in Biological Milieu, Lipid Interfaces, Biological Membranes, Carbohydrate Interfaces, Cells and Tissue Interfaces, and Organs-on-Chips. Across the sessions, there is an underlying common theme of cellular and biomaterial in blood and cardiovascular system. Poster sessions and an informal setting provide ample time for discussions.
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~ Tethered Membranes: Fundamentals and Applications (TETHMEM) ~
August 29 – September 1 2019, Bonn, Germany
Organizers:
- Claudia Steinem, Georg-August-Universität, Germany
- Marta Bally, Umeå University, Sweden
- Fredrik Höök, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
About the meeting: Supported and tethered lipid bilayers have emerged as one of the most popular mimics of the cell membrane. While initially serving as model systems in research aimed at gaining fundamental insights about biophysical and physicochemical properties of cellular membranes, they have in recent years gained increasing acceptance in the context of studying complex biological processes as well as in various pharmaceutical and diagnostic applications. The aim of the TETHMEM WE-Heraeus seminar is to provide an exchange platform for scientists of various backgrounds and career levels working with lipid assemblies as cell membrane mimics. To exploit the full potential of these lipid membranes, we will discuss the latest progress in the production and characterization ofthese complex molecular architectureswith current state-of-the-art and newly developed biophysical techniques. This will be followed by a survey of potential applications in fundamental biology, but also in diagnostics and drug discovery. Accordingly, we expect participants from a variety of fields including physics, chemistry, biology, biotechnology and medical science to gather around a common interest. The seminar will provide a comprehensive overview of the different aspects of this steadily growing field. Leading international experts will review the present status of supported and tethered membranes as well as their applications in keynote and invited talks. Ample time will be devoted to exchange and discussion, providing the opportunity for established and young researchers to maintain and create new connections, thereby cementing the TETHMEM community. Participants are invited to present their current research in poster sessions. Poster flashes will be given.
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~ Physical and Computational Tools in Biology Symposium ~
September 2023, Umeå, Sweden
Organizers:
- Fouzia Bano, Umeå University, Sweden
- Dario Conca, Umeå University, Sweden
About the meeting: With this symposium, we brought together researchers from different institutes in Sweden, with the majority participation from Umeå. With invited speakers from national and international institutes, we provided our attendees with the opportunity to get familiarized with advanced interdisciplinary methods, from biophysics to computation, which are now frequently used in combination with traditional biological tools at the forefront of medical and biological research. Through their participation, attendants learned about techniques or applications that we hope had improved the quality of their current research. Moreover, this symposium was an excellent opportunity for doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows for both vertical and horizontal networking. They had the opportunity to interact with experts in their respective fields, presented their research (talks and poster), and engaged in discussions with peers. In addition, we also highlighted state-of-the-art facilities that Umeå University has to offer to conduct high-quality research in life sciences.
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~ Viral Vectors and Virus-Like Particles Symposium: from design to clinical application ~
September 2024, Umeå, Sweden
Organizers:
- Tessy Hick, Umeå University, Sweden
- Malgorzata Graul, Umeå University, Sweden
About the meeting: This symposium was a great opportunity for both well-established scientists and students to broaden their knowledge in the field of virus-derived platforms. 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. Furthermore, it gave the possibility to meet well established scientists form several institutions and helped young researchers to build scientific collaborations.
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~ EMBO/FEBS lecture course on Physical Virology: across length scales ~
June 1 – 6, 2025, Sant Feliu de Guixols, Spain
Organizers:
- Marta Bally, Umeå University, Sweden
- Pedro de Pablo, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
- Susan Daniel, Cornell University, USA
- Ekaterina Selivanovitch, Cornell University, USA
About the meeting: Our preparedness against viral diseases and our ability to exploit viral structures to advance technology, both require multidisciplinary collaborations. In this context, physics-oriented approaches and the study of viral infection from the standpoint of a physicist with emerging biophysical tools, provide critical insights to the field of virology. The field of physical virology contributes to a new transdisciplinary paradigm that scrutinizes the very mechanisms that determine the assembly, stability and disassembly of viruses that are key to understand the interplay of structure, property and function. Beyond the intrinsic biological interest, this understanding facilitates the development of virus-inspired materials for technological applications. The EMBO|FEBS Lecture Course “Physical Virology: across length scales” aims at gathering researchers from various scientific disciplines with a common interest in viruses and at inspiring a new generation of transdisciplinary virus-oriented scientists. The program will address fundamental aspects of infection across the length scales from a multidisciplinary vantage point. It will further highlight promising methodological developments for the field of physical virology before addressing applied aspects of virology (virus-inspired materials, therapeutics and diagnostics).
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