Registration
Info
Day 1 FRIDAY, 13th November 2026
14:30-15:00 Arrival & registration
15:00 – 16:00 Early Career Investigators
Chairs: Giulia Germana, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland; Shaohan Wang, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Germany
15:00 - 15:15 Holly Adams, Monash University, Australia, KLF3 restrains DN2 thymocyte proliferation to allow proper T cell development
15:15 - 15:30 Chanil Valasarajan, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Germany, Title to be announced
15:30 - 15:45 Rosa Kim, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Germany, The role of KLF15 on adipokine regulation
15:45 - 17:30 Coffee break
17:30-18:45 Opening session and keynote lecture
Chairs: Laura Zelarayán, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Germany; Ceshi Chen, Kunming Medical University, China
Raul Urrutia, Mayo Clinic Arizona, USA, Pioneer Roles of Krüppel-like Factors: Chromatin rewiring in development, Physiology and disease
19:30 Opening Dinner
Day 2 SATURDAY, 14th November 2026
08:30–09:00 Registration & coffee
09:00–10:40 – Session 1: Transcriptional cues from pluripotency to regeneration
Chairs: Thomas Körtl, Universitätsklinikum Gießen & Marburg, Germany; Kate Quinlan, UNSW Sydney, Australia
09:00-9:25 Agnieszka Bialkowska, Stony Brook University, USA, To have (not to have) KLFs - the gut road to the regeneration
09:25-9:50 Ralf Jauch, Hong Kong, China, Structure-based engineering of the pioneer factor KLF4 enables new routes for pluripotency induction
9:50-10:15 Kazu Kikuchi, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Japan, Induction of adult cardiomyocyte renewal by modulating KLF1 pathways
10:15:10:40 Sven Reischauer, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Germany, FOXO-dependent transcriptional networks in cardiac regeneration
10:40 –11:00 Coffee break
11:00-12:40 – Session 2: Blood and Immune cells
Chairs: Jonathan Katz, University of Pennsylvania, USA; Stephen Jameson, University of Minnesota, USA
11:00-11:25 Talk from Kate Quinlan, UNSW Sydney, Australia
11:25-11:50 Talk from Merlin Crossley, UNSW Sydney, Australia
11:50-12:15 Talk from James Bieker, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, USA
12:15-12:40 Jan Frayne and Ivan Ferrer-Vicens, University of Bristol, UK, Genome-wide reprogramming by E325K-KLF1 defines the molecular basis of CDAIV
12:40 –14:00 Group photo and Lunch break
14:00 –15:40 – Session 3: Immune cells crosstalk
Chairs: Baotong Zhang, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen China; Giulia Germana, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
14:00 - 14:25 Stephen Jameson, University of Minnesota, USA, Role of KLFs in regulation of T cell differentiation and migration
14:25 - 14:50 Daniel Lacorazza, Baylor College of Medicine, USA, KLF4: A Molecular Switch in Immune Cell Identity and Function
14:50 - 15:15 Andrew Perkins, Monash University, Australia, KLF3/8/12 incoherent feedback networks in T cell exhaustion
15:15 – 15:30 Coffee break
15:30 - 16:45 Translational Session
Chairs: Katrin Streckfuß-Bömeke, University of Würzburg, Germany; Norbert Weissmann, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Germany
15:30 - 15:55 Samuel Sossalla, Kerckhoff Heart Research Institute in association with Justus Liebig, University Giessen, University Hospital Giessen and Marburg, Making Science for patients
15:55 - 16:20 Johnny Kim, TRON – Translational Oncology at the University Medical Centre of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Translational Applications of Partial Cellular Reprogramming: From Genetics to mRNA-Based Interventions
16:20 - 16:45 Toru Suzuki, University of Leicester, UK, Title to be announced
17:00 Departure to Castle Rauischolzhausen - Inauguration of the international society for KLF research, with reception and dinner
Day 3 SUNDAY 15th, November 2026
08:30–10:10 – Session 4: Cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases
Chairs: Christoph Maack, University hospital Würzburg, Germany; Natascha Sommer, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Germany
08:30 - 08:55 Mario Pavez-Giani, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Germany, KLF15 and mitochondrial homeostasis
08:55 - 09:20 Konstantinos Drosatos, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, USA, Cardiomyocyte KLF5: A Master Switch Driving the Expanding Landscape of Cardiotoxicity
09:20 -9:45 Adam Wende, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA, Linking PTMs and KLF/SP regulation in the heart
9:45 -10:10 Soni Savai Pullamsetti, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Germany, FOXO signaling in vardiopulmonary remodeling and chronic lung disease
10:10 - 10:30 Coffee break
10:30–12:10 – Session 5: Cellular adaptation-I
Chairs: Boudewijn Burgering, University medical center Utrecht, Netherlands; Chanil Valasarajan, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Germany
10:30 - 10:55 Raffaele Frazzi, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale — IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, Italy, Quantitative and specific assessment of KLF4 epigenetic regulation
10:55 - 11:20 Ichiro Manabe, Chiba University, Japan, Innate immune memory in heart failure
11:20 - 11:45 Ignacio Pérez de Castro, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Spain, Exploring the role of KLF15 in laminopathies: the case of LMNA-associated congenital muscular dystrophy
11:45 - 12:10 Eric Schoger, Heidelberg University, Germany, CRISPR/dCas9VPR-mediated activation of KLF15 promotes cardiomyocyte maturation
12:10 - 13:30 Lunch break
13:30–15:10 – Session 6: Gender-specific and gastrointestinal tumor diseases
Chairs: Gwen Lomberk, Mayo Clinic Arizona, USA; Raffaele Frazzi, AUSL - IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, Italy
13:30- 13:55 Ceshi Chen, Kunming Medical University, China, Targeting KLF5 to treat basal-like breast cancer
13:55 - 14:20 Baotong Zhang, Southern University of Science and Technology, School of Medicine, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, The role of KLF5 and its acetylation in the prostate cancer microenvironment
14:20- 14:45 Jonathan Katz, University of Pennsylvania, USA, KLF5 in esophageal keratinocyte injury response, migration and transformation
11:45 - 15:10 Xin Wang, National clinical research center for cancer, chinese academy of medical sciences and Peking union medical college, Beijing, China, AF9-KLF2 gene regulatory circuit links histone acetylation to metabolic reprogramming and breast cancer progression
15:10 - 15:30 Coffee break
15:30–16:45 – Session 7: Vascular Biology
Chairs: Adam Wende, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA; Soni Savai Pullamsetti, Justus-Liebig-Univeristät Gießen, Germany
15:30 - 15:55 Laura Priesmeier, Medical University Center Goettingen, Germany, Non-Cell-Autonomous Effects of KLF15 in Vascular Cells
15:55 - 16:20 Mukesh Jain, Brown University, USA, KLFs and the Endothelium
16:20 – 16:45 Johannes Backs, Heidelberg University, Germany, Cardiomyocyte-endothelial cross-talk in cardiometabolic diseases
16:45 - 17:45 Closing Keynote
Chairs: Gwen Lomberk, Mayo clinic Arizona, USA; Konstantinos Drosatos, University of cincinnati college of medicine, USA
18:00 – 19:00 Closing Keynote
Chairs: Gwen Lomberk, Mayo Clinic Arizona, USA; Konstantinos Drosatos, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, USA
Keynote: Saptarsi Haldar, USA, Title to be announced
19:00 Conference dinner at AuLac
Day 4 MONDAY 16th, November 2026
09:00 – 10:00 Business meeting / KLF/SP community: Presentation of the KLF Society and the next conference
10:00 – 11:15 – Session 8: Epigenetics and post-transcriptional control
Chairs: Jan Frayne, University of Bristol, UK; Siyuan Xia, Southern university of science and technology, China
10:00 - 10:25 Federica Accornero, Brown University, USA, Post-transcriptional regulation of cardiac physiology
10:25 - 10:50 Bin Zheng, Hebei medical university, China, The role of KLF4-mediated RNA regulation in aneurysm and its molecular mechanisms
10:50 - 11:15 Yinhua Chen, Kunming medical university, China, Discovery and development of antitumor drug candidates targeting key targets involved in transcriptional regulation
11:15 - 11:40 Tobias Jakobi, The university of Arizona, USA, Interconnecting wet lab research and computational research
11:40 - 11:55 Coffee break
11:55 – 13:30 – Session 9: Cellular adaptation-II
Chair: Agnieszka Bialkowaska, Stony Brook University, USA; Ichiro Manabe, Chiba University, Japan
11:55 - 12:20 Dewei Jiang, Kunming medical university, China, Interplay between KLF5 and epigenetic regulation in breast cancer
12:20 - 12:45 Shirin Doroudgar, The university of Arizona, USA, Tittle to be announced
12:45 - 13:10 Boudewijn Burgering, University medical center Utrecht, Netherlands, FOXO at the crossroads of cellular stress adaptation
13:10 - 13:30 Siyuan Xia, Southern university of science and technology, China, Zinc promotes glycolytic reprogramming by regulating PKM2 dimerization and nuclear localization
13:30 Closing remarks, Conference adjourns, Lunch boxes pick-up and Departure
For detailed information regarding the program, hotel, transport etc, please contact the local organizing committee:
Behnoush Parviz behnoush.parviz@innere.med.uni-giessen.de
Mario Pavez-Giani mario.pavez-giani@uni-giessen.de
Shaohan Wang shaohan.wang@uni-giessen.de
Maria Ignatew maria.ignatew@ext.uni-giessen.de
Event location
Alten ChirurgieKlinikstraße 29
35392 Giessen
Deutschland
Coordinates (lat, long):
50.580467, 8.67714
Show mapRoute planner
Notes
Best Western Plus Hotel Steinsgarten
Hein-Heckroth-Straße 20, 35390 Gießen
Tel: +49 (0)641-38990
https://share.google/v7ejhDZnWMu7lANUk
Medizinische Lehrzentrum (MLZ) der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (JLU)
Klinikstraße 29, 35392 Gießen
https://share.google/FDlpspJYVV2kT6O7l
How to reach Gießen by public transportation:
From Frankfurt Internation Airport to Frankfurt Central:
S9 in direction of Hanau Hauptbahnhof/S8 in direction of Offenbach (Main)-Offenbach Ost Ostbahnhof to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof
From Frankurt Central, RB41 in direction Gießen/RE30 in direction Kassel/RB37 in direction Gießen/RE99 in direction Siegen and alight at Gießen
For planning the trip with Deutsche Bahn, we recommend using the Deutsche Bahn website:
Please share arrival information in advance with us and local transportation is arranged by the conference committee.
