European Conference and Workshop for Young Myeloid Cell Researchers

14 - 16 September 2015 in Kraków

Myeloid cells, including dendritic cells, monocytes, macrophages and neutrophils, each exhibit broad phenotypic and functional plasticity. Since the heterogeneity of these cells is likely to play a key role in variety of diseases, a better knowledge of myeloid cell biology would benefit human health. The goal of this COST BM1404 Mye-EUNITER meeting was to facilitate the understanding of the regulatory functions of the different myeloid cell types in host physiology and pathology - including cancer, inflammatory and infectious diseases. Hosted in Poland by the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, the event brought together around 100 young and established scientists working on all these subsets of myeloid regulatory cells.

The conference was split into parallel and joint sessions, starting with a poster session for the young researchers, while the more experienced researchers met up for Working Group activities focusing on data-sharing and achieving Action goals. Further items on the agenda designed for the new-generation scientists included workshops by industrial partners on flow cytometry cell sorting (BD Germany), multicolour analysis (BD Poland) and regulatory myeloid cells phenotyping (eBioscience Austria), and round table discussions on confocal and intravital imaging of myeloid cell subsets and flow cytometry in studies of myeloid cell diversity.

On the last morning of the conference, the top five poster presenters were invited to hold 20 minute talks about their work. The winners, selected by an international panel of experts, were Janusz Ligęza (PL), Karine Serre (PT), Mateusz Tomczyk (PL), Ana Cardosa (PT) and Jonathan Matalonga (ES).

During the joint sessions participants could benefit from talks given by experts in the field. Visiting keynote speakers included Siamon Gordon (University of Oxford, UK), Frederic Geissmann (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, US), Ajay Chawla (University of California San Francisco, US), Craig N Jenne (University of Calgary, CA) and Allan Mowat (University of Glasgow, UK). Mye-EUNITER keynote speakers were Sven Brandau (University of Duisburg-Essen, DE), Gosse Adema (Radboud University Nijmegen, NL), Antonio Celada (University of Barcelona, ES) Kingston Mills (Trinity College Dublin, IE) and Elżbieta Kołaczkowska (Jagiellonian University, Kraków, PL).

“It was a great pleasure to host so many participants at the COST meeting in Krakow,” declared Jarek Baran, one of the hosts and Mye-EUNITER’s Early Stage Researcher Coordinator. “We believe that the event was a stimulating experience for all present, and that it created the grounds for valuable scientific discussions and collaborations.”

“We are pleased that the participants found this conference and workshop interesting in many aspects and are delighted to establish that it has inspired invigorating new research ideas,” added the co-host, Joanna Cichy.

Mye-EUNITER conference participants in the Jagiellonain University building, Auditorium Maximum

• Postdoc at INSERM, France
  11-03-2019
• Post-Doctoral Fellows in Immunoncology in Professor Jeffrey Pollard’s laboratory at the University of Edinburgh
  31-01-2019
• Call for a Postdoctoral Researcher in Cancer Immunity, Lisbon, PT
  18-07-2018
• Call: Postdoctoral Researcher in Immunology/Vaccinology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, SE
  17-05-2018
• Call: Post-Doc Position at CEA Fontenay-aux-Roses, FR
  23-04-2018
• 5th MC/WG Meeting and ECI Workshop Heraklion
  16-04-2018
• Mye-EUNITER ECI Workshops - A Participant Reports
  14-08-2017
• Call: PhD fellowships, San Raffaele, Milan
  04-07-2017
• Positions at Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany
  15-05-2017
• Positive Mid-Term COST Action Evaluation
  06-04-2017