We are delighted to present you this year´s keynote speakers, all world-class scientists who have accepted our invitation to present their groundbreaking work in glycoscience at Glycobasque 8.
“Carbohydrate foldamers and assemblies“
Max Planck Institute of colloids and interfaces, Potsdam (Germany)
Biosketch
Martina Delbianco studied chemistry at the University of Milan (Italy). She then moved to Durham University (UK) to pursuit a PhD under the supervision of Prof. David Parker working on emissive Eu(III) complexes. During her post doc, she explored the chemistry of carbohydrates and became familiar with automated synthesis in the group of Prof. Peter Seeberger at the Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces, MPIKG (Germany). Since 2018, Martina is the group leader of the Carbohydrate Materials at the MPIKG, supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the ERC starting grant. Her group employs synthetic oligosaccharides as probes to study polysaccharides’ structure and their tendency to self-assemble into supramolecular materials.
“Functions of Sialoglycans and Siglecs on lymphocytes“
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, Erlangen (Germany)
Biosketch
Prof. Dr. Lars Nitschke is Professor of Genetics at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, where he has led research in immunogenetics since 2004. He earned his doctorate under Nobel Laureate Prof. Georges Köhler at the Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology in Freiburg, with a thesis on IgD-deficient mice. Following postdoctoral research at the same institute, he served as a group leader at the University of Würzburg, where he also completed his habilitation in Molecular Immunology. He is a member of the German Society of Immunology since 1994 and he was speaker of the DFG-funded CRC TRR130 “B cells in Immunity and Autoimmunity” from 2013 to 2022. Since 2020, Prof. Nitschke is also member of the Academia Europeae.
“Development of next generation carbohydrate based vaccines“
Michigan State University, East Lansing (United States of America)
Biosketch
Xuefei Huang is a MSU Foundation Professor at Michigan State University. He is a full professor jointly appointed in the Departments of Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering, as well as the Chief of the Chemical Biology Division of the Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering. His main research interests are aimed at studying chemistry and biology of carbohydrates. Major focuses of his research include the synthesis of complex carbohydrates and glycoconjugates, the development of novel approaches to boost immune responses against carbohydrate antigens as potential anti-cancer and anti-microbial vaccines, as well as the integration of glyco-science with nanotechnology.
“Molecular Insights into Siglec–Glycan-Mediated Immune Regulation“
CIC bioGUNE, Derio (Spain)
Biosketch
June Ereño-Orbea obtained her BSc in Biochemistry from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) (Spain) and continued her academic journey by completing a PhD in Molecular Biology and Biomedicine (2011-2015). Then she pursued her postdoctoral research at SickKids Hospital (Canada), where she characterized the structure of B cell surface receptors with significant immunotherapeutic potential. Her work provided key insights into the interactions between immune receptors and glycans, paving the way for the development of antibody-based therapies targeting this axis.
In 2019, Dr. Ereño-Orbea joined CIC bioGUNE (Spain), where she completed a successful five-year tenure-track period as an Ikerbasque Research Fellow (2019–2024). In 2024, she was promoted to Ikerbasque Research Associate and Caixa Junior Leader and became the group leader of the Cancer Glycoimmunology Lab at CIC bioGUNE, establishing her independent research program.Her research focuses on unraveling the molecular mechanisms of antibodies and glycan-binding receptors, with a particular emphasis on Siglec glycoimmune checkpoint receptors. By leveraging integrative molecular and structural biology, as well as biophysical techniques, her work aims to elucidate the complexities of antibody-Siglec and glycan-Siglec interactions.
Sponsors
Glycobasque 8 