DC2026 PROGRAM

DC2026 β€” Scientific Program
Key:
Invited Speaker (>20 min)
Short Talk (15 min)
Flash Talk & Poster (5 min)
Keynote

18th International Symposium on Dendritic Cells

11–14 October 2026  Β·  Kona Kai Resort, San Diego  Β·  All times in Pacific Standard Time (PST)

This program is subject to change. Please check back for updates.

Sunday, 11 October

Opening day Β· Registration, Inaugural Keynote & Plenary 1

πŸ“‹ 1:00 PM – 7:00 PM Registration Open
🎀 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM Welcome Remarks
3:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Inaugural Keynote Speaker
Keynote
1 talk
3:30 PM
Chromatin-mediated control of dendritic cell function
Boris Reizis
Keynote Β· 60 min
β˜• 4:30 PM – 5:00 PM Coffee/Tea Break & Networking
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Plenary 1: DC Development, Lineage Specification & Transcriptional Control
Plenary
5 talks
5:00 PM
Mechanism of WDFY4-dependent cross-presentation in cDC1
Kenneth Murphy
Invited Speaker
5:25 PM
Blurring the Line: A Hybrid Mononuclear Phagocyte Population Across Tissues
Florent Ginhoux
Invited Speaker
5:50 PM
The transcription factor regulating tumor-associated macrophages in pancreatic cancer
Tomohiko Tamura
Invited Speaker
6:15 PM
Promoter-dependent IRF8 induction governs subset-specific cDC2 reprogramming during infection with intracellular pathogens
Daisuke Kurotaki
Short Talk
6:30 PM
Infection-specific regulation of cDC2poiesis shapes dendritic cell subset responses
Kyle T. Cunningham
Short Talk
πŸ₯‚ 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM Welcome Reception

Monday, 12 October

Plenary 2 & 3 Β· Parallel Symposia A & B Β· Ralph Steinman Legacy Symposium

πŸ“‹ 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM Registration Open
8:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Plenary 2: DC Functional Heterogeneity: Subsets, Identity & Function
Plenary
6 talks
8:00 AM
Surveillance of intestinal antigens by functionally diverse antigen-presenting cells
Dan Littman
Invited Speaker
8:25 AM
Thetis cells: Defining the Ontogeny and Function of a Novel APC Lineage
Chrysothemis Brown
Invited Speaker
8:50 AM
Rethinking Immaturity: Signals Shaping Dendritic Cell Function in Early Life
Barbara Schraml
Invited Speaker
9:15 AM
Epigenetic Heterogeneity in Dendritic Cell Subsets Underlies Immune Response Variation
Mya Gough
Flash Talk
9:20 AM
Thymic myeloid cell heterogeneity reveals a novel population of perivascular transitional dendritic cells with antigen sampling capacity
Matous Voboril
Flash Talk
9:25 AM
Defining the factors governing intratumoral cDC1-CD8 T cell clusters
Maria Parra Reyes
Flash Talk
β˜• 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM Coffee/Tea Break & Networking
10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Plenary 3: Tissue Surveillance, Migration & Immune Coordination
Plenary
7 talks
10:30 AM
Pathways of homeostatic dendritic cell maturation
Sophie Janssens
Invited Speaker
10:55 AM
Environment Patrolling by colonic Dendritic Cells
Ana-Maria Lennon-Dumenil
Invited Speaker
11:20 AM
Stromal regulation of dendritic cell and macrophage homeostasis
Shannon Turley
Invited Speaker
11:45 AM
Neuronal control of dendritic cell migration drives sex-biased skin immunity
Konrad KnΓΆpper
Short Talk
12:00 PM
Influence of cancer cell mechanical properties on dendritic cell sentinel function
Yazmina Quintana Perez
Flash Talk
12:05 PM
Macrophage nibbling without killing: a novel endosomal route for CD8 T cell priming
Amy C Fan
Flash Talk
12:10 PM
Chemokine-Driven Spatial Niches Regulate Distinct APC-T cell Neighbourhoods within the Human Lymph Node
Marcus Ooi
Flash Talk
🍽️ 12:30 PM – 2:30 PM Lunch & Poster Session 1
2:30 PM – 4:00 PM
Parallel Symposium A: DC Biology, Technologies & Therapeutic Opportunities
Parallel A
2:30 PM
The role of plasmacytoid dendritic cells in anti-viral immunity and in homeostasis
Elena Tomasello
Invited Speaker
2:55 PM
Using mRNA-LNP technology to manipulate conventional dendritic cell biology
Justine Mintern
Short Talk
3:10 PM
The tumor-sentinel lymph node immuno-migratome reveals CCR7⁺ dendritic cells drive response to sequenced immunoradiotherapy
Robert Saddawi-Konefka
Short Talk
3:25 PM
Fine-Tuned Help: Orchestrating Dendritic Cell-T Cell Crosstalk in Antitumor Immunity
Eynav Klechevsky
Short Talk
3:40 PM
Single-cell spatial transcriptomics of fixed, paraffin-embedded biopsies links dendritic cell-enriched gut-associated lymphoid aggregates to an archetype of vedolizumab non-response
Alexis J Combes
Flash Talk
3:45 PM
Revisiting Dendritic Cells in Autoimmunity
Juan Villar Vesga
Flash Talk
3:50 PM
Large Scale Production of Human Conventional Type I Dendritic Cells for Cancer Immunotherapy
Sreekumar Balan
Flash Talk
2:30 PM – 4:00 PM
Parallel Symposium B: DC Metabolism & Cellular Programming of Function & Fate
Parallel B
2:30 PM
Connecting DC metabolism and function
David Sancho
Invited Speaker
2:55 PM
Conventional dendritic cells exhibit tissue-specific characteristics that are regulated by mitochondrial metabolism
Stefanie K Wculek
Short Talk
3:10 PM
O-GlcNAcylation regulates dendritic cell transcriptional stability
Jose A Villadangos
Short Talk
3:25 PM
IL-21 as a central driver of immunosenescence: linking pulmonary dysfunction and neurodegeneration
Anshu Agrawal
Short Talk
3:40 PM
Dying cell-derived polyamines modulate dendritic cell phagocytosis and adaptive priming
Chang Y Moon
Flash Talk
3:50 PM
Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Inhibition Activates Mito-calcium/mtROS/IL-12 Axis in Dendritic Cells to Promote Tumor Suppression
Mridula Prakash Menon
Flash Talk
β˜• 4:30 PM – 5:00 PM Coffee/Tea Break & Networking
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Ralph Steinman Legacy Symposium: Foundational Discoveries that Shaped the Field
Legacy Symposium
4 talks
5:00 PM
Dendritic Cells: the first 30 years with Ralph Steinman
Jacques Banchereau
Invited Speaker
5:20 PM
Title coming soon
Ira Mellman
Invited Speaker
5:40 PM
Ralph Steinman's legacy in dendritic cell targeting and the balance between tolerance and protective immunity
Laura Bonifaz
Invited Speaker
6:00 PM
Transcription factor Etv3 controls the tolerogenic function of dendritic cells
Nicholas M Adams
Short Talk

Presentations are followed by reflections on Ralph Steinman's training and mentorship legacy from Bei Wang, Diana Dudziak, Shannon Turley, BjΓΆrn Clausen, Juliana Idoyaga & Shin-ichiro Fujii.

🍽️ 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM Dinner on Your Own

Tuesday, 13 October

Plenary 4 & 5 Β· Parallel Symposia C & D Β· Trainee Session Β· Conference Dinner

πŸ“‹ 7:00 AM – 5:30 PM Registration Open
8:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Plenary 4: DCs in Skin Immunity: Function, Communication & Adaptation
Plenary
7 talks
8:00 AM
What Makes a Dendritic Cell? Lessons from Langerhans Cells
Clare Bennett
Invited Speaker
8:25 AM
Commensal-DC interactions reinforce early life tolerance at the skin barrier
Tiffany Scharschmidt
Invited Speaker
8:50 AM
How tissues sustain resident T cell immunity
Laura Mackay
Invited Speaker
9:15 AM
Sequential priming by distinct dendritic cell subsets shapes effector CD4 T cell fate
Yosuke Kumamoto
Short Talk
9:30 AM
Distinct dendritic cell subsets drive sequential T cell priming phases
Enrico Dotta
Flash Talk
9:35 AM
Langerhans cells fine-tune axonal guidance of nociceptor neurons in health and disease
Yonatan Ganor
Flash Talk
9:40 AM
Characterization of type-2 dendritic cell populations in skin
Olivier Lamiable
Flash Talk
β˜• 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM Coffee/Tea Break & Networking
10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Plenary 5: DCs in Mucosal Immunity, Homeostasis & Host Defense
Plenary
7 talks
10:30 AM
Unravelling Dendritic cell-CD4+ T cell crosstalk in the inflamed mucosa of Crohn’s disease patients
William Agace
Invited Speaker
10:55 AM
Distinct antigen-presenting cells instruct divergent microbiota-specific T cell fates in the intestinal immune system
Daniel Mucida
Invited Speaker
11:20 AM
A subset of DC specialized in tolerance induction
Marco Colonna
Invited Speaker
11:45 AM
Dysbiosis-induced expansion of AXL-positive inflammatory type 3 dendritic cells triggers pre-clinical autoimmunity
Roxane Tussiwand
Short Talk
12:00 PM
STAT1 signalling shapes the function of type 2 conventional dendritic cells in lungs of weanling mice
Kaushikk Ravi Rengarajan
Flash Talk
12:05 PM
RORΞ³t+ Dendritic Cells are a distinct lymphoid-derived lineage
Patrick Fernandes Rodrigues
Flash Talk
12:10 PM
GM-CSF and specific type 2 cytokines induce CD103+ and CD301b+ cell states in cDC1s and cDC2s
Diana Dudziak
Flash Talk
🍽️ 12:30 PM – 2:30 PM Lunch & Poster Session 2
2:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Parallel Symposium C: DCs in Infection & Host Defense
Parallel C
2:30 PM
Cellular Stress Meets Immunity: IRE1-Dependent Programming of Dendritic Cell Function
Fabiola Osorio
Invited Speaker
2:55 PM
Plasmacytoid dendritic cell adaptations upon viral infection: heterogeneity, functional loss and fate conversion
Carolina Chiale
Short Talk
3:10 PM
Dendritic Cell Diversity During Blood Stage of Murine Malaria
Fernando B Sulczewski
Short Talk
3:25 PM
Defining the role of human anogenital antigen-presenting cells in HIV transmission
Andrew N Harman
Short Talk
3:40 PM
Inflammatory signals during viral infection and sepsis impact dendritic cell development
Regine J. Dress
Flash Talk
3:45 PM
Deciphering the mechanisms underlying human plasmacytoid dendritic cell function and exhaustion
Dina Zangwill
Flash Talk
3:50 PM
Functional heterogeneity of splenic DC2 subsets during acute LCMV infection driven by subset identity
Dimitrios Starfas
Flash Talk
2:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Parallel Symposium D: DCs in Tolerance, Allergy, Autoimmunity & Chronic Inflammation
Parallel D
2:30 PM
Signaling through erythropoietin receptors on cDC1s promotes immune tolerance
Edgar Engleman
Invited Speaker
2:55 PM
Pleiotropic IL-10 can drive opposite effects in dendritic cells following MHC-II restricted, antigen-specific tolerogenic immunotherapy
Rebecca Leylek
Short Talk
3:10 PM
SIRPΞ± regulates homeostatic maturation of Notch2-dependent cDC2 and development of autoimmunity
Yasuyuki Saito
Short Talk
3:25 PM
Dissecting IL-10 signaling in myeloid antigen-presenting cells during colorectal tumor development
BjΓΆrn E. Clausen
Short Talk
3:40 PM
Oxidized mitochondrial DNA drives pDC-dependent Tfh differentiation in autoimmunity
Hongxu Xian
Flash Talk
3:45 PM
Spatially organised IFNΞ³-instructed dendritic cell niches sustain human chronic inflammation
Andreas Schlitzer
Flash Talk
3:50 PM
Reprogramming suppression: CD40-activated dendritic cells drive Treg-to-effector conversion
Vivien I Maltez
Flash Talk
β˜• 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM Coffee & Trainee Session (Meet the Editor)
πŸŒ… 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM Free Afternoon
πŸŽ‰ 7:00 PM – 10:30 PM End of Conference Networking Dinner

Wednesday, 14 October

Plenary 6 & 7 Β· Translational Roundtable Β· Closing Keynote & Awards

πŸ“‹ 7:00 AM – 4:00 PM Registration Open
8:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Plenary 6: DCs in Cancer Immunity & Therapy
Plenary
6 talks
8:00 AM
CCR7+ activated dendritic cells: defining the state that drives cancer immunity
Santiago Zelenay
Invited Speaker
8:25 AM
On the Nature of Antigen Uptake and Presentation in the TME
Max Krummel
Invited Speaker
8:50 AM
The exceptionalism of the cDC1 lineage and its central role in tumor immunity
Miriam Merad
Invited Speaker
9:15 AM
Dissecting hierarchical dendritic cell–T cell interactions in tumour immunity using in vivo enzymatic labelling
Aleksey Chudnovskiy
Short Talk
9:30 AM
Context-Dependent DC2 States in Human Cancer
Kristen Radford
Short Talk
9:45 AM
Regulation of anti-cancer immunity by a natural killer cell – dendritic cell innate immune axis
Kevin C Barry
Short Talk
β˜• 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM Coffee/Tea Break & Networking
10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Plenary 7: Translating DC Biology into Therapies: Vaccines & Beyond
Plenary
5 talks
10:30 AM
Next-gen DC1 immunotherapy: Making the theoretical possible
Shalin Naik
Invited Speaker
10:55 AM
Inducing lymphoid niches across cancers by tumor-to-dendritic cell reprogramming
Filipe Pereira
Invited Speaker
11:20 AM
Tim-3–Targeted Vaccines Overcome Tumor Immunosuppression and Reduce cDC1 Dependence to Elicit Potent Anti-Tumor Immunity
Aimin Jiang
Short Talk
11:35 AM
Spatiotemporal Coordination of NK Cells and CTLs Drives Remodeling of Poorly T Cell–Infiltrated Tumor Microenvironments
Shin-ichiro Fujii
Short Talk
11:50 AM
CAR-DC1: A novel next-generation dendritic cell therapy for targeting solid tumours
Shengbo Zhang
Flash Talk
🍽️ 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM Lunch
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Translational Roundtable: From DC Biology to Therapeutics
Roundtable
1:30 PM
Panel discussion: Bridging fundamental dendritic cell biology to clinical therapeutic application
Panellists TBA
Invited Session
2:30 PM – 3:30 PM
Closing Keynote
Keynote
1 talk
2:30 PM
Title coming soon
Virginia Pascual
Keynote Β· 60 min
πŸ† 3:30 PM – 4:00 PM Awards & Closing Ceremony