Program

The conference will begin on the afternoon of Saturday, 13 June 2026, and will conclude with a farewell party on the evening of Tuesday, 16 June. We will make every effort to encourage speakers to remain for the full duration of the meeting to foster meaningful interactions, particularly with junior attendees.

Saturday 13 June 2026 

12:00 – 17:00Arrival of participants
17:00 – 17:10Opening remarks (Dominik Filipp)
SESSION 1Chair: Václav Hořejší
17:10 – 17:30Retrospective
Juraj Ivanyi / Georg Wick: From an idea to a tradition: the story of the TATRA Conference
17:30 – 18:30Opening keynote lecture
Steffen Jung (Rehovot): Probing the monocyte-to-macrophage axis in health and disease
18:30 – 19:15Rising star 2026
Thomas Krausgruber (Vienna): Contribution of non-hematopoietic cells to tissue immune responses during infection
19:15 – 19:30Making the most of your afternoon: Excursions and individual leisure options
(Jan Dobeš)
19:30 – 20:30Dinner
20:30 – 24:00Welcome party + South Moravian wine tasting guided by a wine expert at 20:30

Sunday 14 June 2026

SESSION 2Chair: Ondřej Štepánek
08:45 – 09:30Peter Dráber (Lausanne): Regulation of TNF-induced cell death
09:30 – 10:15Gerhard Krönke (Berlin): Resetting autoimmunity in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases  
10:15 – 10:30Coffee break
SESSION 3Chair: Dominik Filipp
EMBO session: Central tolerance 
10:30 – 11:15Ludger Klein (Munich): Following aire into uncharted territory: from central tolerance to natural antibodies
11:15 – 12:00Matouš Vobořil (Prague): Thymflammation: a novel concept of central immune tolerance
12:00 – 12:10Group photo
12:10 – 13:00Lunch
13:00 – 16:00Afternoon trip and/or individual program
SESSION 4Chair: Anna Ohradanova-Repic
16:00 – 16:45Rita Carsetti (Rome): Systemic and mucosal immunity: separate roles and integration strategies
16:45 – 17:00Sponsor presentation: Waters Biosciences (Formerly BD Biosciences; CZ)
17:00 – 17:15Coffee break
SESSION 5Chair: Michaela Fehringer and Katarína Repiská
Dedicated yEFIS session
17:15 – 19:30Alena Kašpárková (Technical University of Ostrava, Writing Support Centre, Czech Republic): Academic writing workshop for early-career researchers

Effective introductions in research and review papers
This workshop explores the structure of effective introductions, argument development in literature reviews, formulation of research questions, signaling of novelty and significance, and best practices for referring to sources. The session emphasizes how to highlight research impact through a clear narrative structure, logical flow, and an appropriate level of detail.

Individual consultations
On 15 June 2026, Dr. Kašpárková will be available for one-on-one sessions with junior participants to further discuss workshop topics and address questions beyond the scope of the main lecture.
19:30 – 20:30Dinner
20:30 – 22:30Social event hosted by yEFIS for conference participants

Monday 15 June 2026

SESSION 6 Chair: Vladimir Leksa
08:45 – 09:30Carolyn King (Basel): What are B cells doing during tuberculosis and does it matter?
09:30 – 10:15Ondřej Štěpánek (Prague): Functional diversity of T cells
10:15 – 10:30Coffee break
SESSION 7Chair: Jitka Fučíková
10:30 – 11:15Sarah Dimeloe (Birmingham): Metabolic control of T cell function
11:15 – 12:00Kilian Schober (Erlangen): Understanding and engineering human antigen-specific T cell immunity
12:00 – 13:00Lunch
13:00 – 16:00Afternoon trip and/or individual program
SESSION 8Chair: Hannes Stockinger
16:00 – 16:15Sponsor presentation presentation: BIOHEM (SK/CZ)
Selected oral presentations – Part 1 (based on submitted abstracts)
16:15 – 16:30Dimitra Kerdidani: Regulatory T cell signatures predict response to immune checkpoint inhibitors and uncover metabolic programs shaping Treg function
16:30 – 16:45Caitlyn Myers: Peripheral cGAS–STING-mediated inflamm-aging drives neurodegeneration
16:45 – 17:00Osamah Al-Rubaye: Targeting the catalytic activity of HDAC1 in T-cells protects mice against experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis
17:00 – 17:15Veronika Cimermanová: Primed for residency: A novel systemic memory CD8⁺ T cell subset emerges post-respiratory infection
17:15 – 17:30 Anna Ohradanova-Repic: Unravelling SARS-CoV-2 Immune Evasion: Virion-Associated Host Proteins Expand Viral Tropism and Subvert Innate Immunity
17:30 – 17:45Coffee break
Selected oral presentations – Part 2 (based on submitted abstracts)
17:45 – 18:00Michael Hiltensperger: Deciphering human epitope-specific T cell responses in tonsils
18:00 – 18:15Jan Věcek: Development and diversity of RORγt+ eTACs
18:15 – 18:30Monika Homolya: A20: A checkpoint regulator in KRAS-driven lung adenocarcinoma
18:30 – 19:00David Machač: Safeguarding early-life microbiota: The role of stem-like Sca-1⁺ RORγt⁺ Tregs
19:00 – 19:15Katarína Repiská: Monitoring of low affinity allergen-specific IgG antibodies during allergen immunotherapy
19:15 – 20:15Dinner
20:15 – 22:15Poster session (with crisps, cookies and beverages)

Tuesday 16 June 2026

SESSION 9Chair: Jakub Abramson
08:45 – 09:30Naama Geva-Zatorsky (Haife): Functional plasticity in microbiota-host interactions
09:30 – 10:15Jan Dobeš (Prague): Regulation of adaptive immune responses by non-classical antigen presenting cells
10:15 – 10:30Coffee break
SESSION 10Chair: Peter Draber
10:30 – 11:15Joan Yuan (Lund): Early-life origin of B cells in the adult immune system
11:15 – 12:00Bojan Polić (Rijeka): The role of IFNγ in systemic adaptations to a viral infection
12:00 – 13:00Lunch
13:00 – 16:15Afternoon trip and/or individual program
SESSION 11Chair: Wilfried Ellmeier
16:15 – 17:00Jitka Palich Fučíková (Prague): The clinical relevance of tertiary lymphoid structures in ovarian cancer
17:00 – 17:45Christina Zielinski (Cambridge/Munich): To die or to kill – T cell cytotoxicity revisited
17:45 – 18:00Coffee break
SESSION 12Chair: Jan Dobeš
18:00 – 19:00Closing keynote lecture
Jakub Abramson (Rehovot): From promiscuous gene expression to thymic mimetic cells
19:00 – 19:30Closing remarks (Dominik Filipp)
19:30 – 24:00Dinner and farewell party

Wednesday 17 June 2026

06:00 – 11:00Departure