The 3rd edition of the Fusion Conference “Epithelial Mesenchymal Interactions in Lung Development and Fibrosis” was held in Malta between Oct 4-7, 2024. This meeting gathered close to 90 expert researchers including many senior and junior investigators, and trainees. During this conference, we discussed recent findings in cellular heterogeneity and tissue dynamics in the lung, debated about the implication of developmental pathways in lung injury and repair, recently proposed mechanisms of progressive lung fibrosis and mechanisms of repair in lung disease with a major focus on the role of disease-relevant/associated cell states. We also understood the effect of aging and environmental cues on the development of lung disease, reviewed strategies to promote regeneration and tissue repair in lung injury, and learnt about innovative models and technologies for the study of tissue fibrosis and repair. Thus, we reached our major goal which was to better understand lung development, repair, and disease; and to characterize epithelial-mesenchymal interactions that maintain lung homeostasis and orchestrate repair and regeneration to have a deeper insight in lung pathogenesis and find solutions for lung disease.

The conference venue provided a relaxing and conducive environment that highly contributed to promote an interactive and dynamic atmosphere for the discussion of novel discoveries that we hope it accelerates pulmonary research and contribute to the development of efficient treatments for lung disease, as a result of fruitful collaboration established at this meeting. The feedback received from the participants was very positive highlighting the inspiring talks and conversations with the speakers. There was enough time for discussion and active interaction, also with the youngest researchers presenting posters that could receive feedback from the experts. Overall, the conference was very productive, and we hope to have the possibility to organize a 4th edition. The Fusion team played an essential role and provided invaluable administrative and logistical support and facilitated every step of the process. The team maintained avery professional and friendly communication throughout the process.
 

We have exceeded our contracted room block at the conference hotel (Hilton Malta). Due to this, there may be some surcharges to our advertised prices relating to this conference. Please contact Felicity Harrap for further information. 

Once you have registered and paid your deposit for this conference, your place is not confirmed until approved by the conference chairs. Please allow 14 working days for approval which is sent in the form of an email from Fusion Conferences. Within this 14 working day period and thereafter, our usual Terms and Conditions will apply unless your registration is declined. In this case, we will issue a full refund. If you have any questions, please contact Jack.

Lung development is governed by epithelial-mesenchymal interactions. These pathways are recapitulated during injury and repair. This conference will focus on understanding key processes underlying lung development, injury and repair in the context of age, environment and species, with the hope of better understanding disease development and to discover novel therapeutic approaches.
 

We will highlight critical issues on lung epithelial biology such as stem cells and regenerative medicine, while expanding sessions to encompass themes such as single cell analytical approaches, cell-cell communication, dissect the biological distinctions mesenchymal proliferation as a repair mechanism and fibrosis; present the impact of new tools in single cell analysis on understanding lung development, repair, and disease; and characterize epithelial-mesenchymal interrelationships that maintain lung homeostasis and orchestrate repair and regeneration. The entire program has been designed to achieve a better understanding of the key clinical research issues and how they relate to basic mechanistic investigation.

Key Sessions

• Keynote and Emerging Topics
• Novel models and technologies to study pulmonary fibrosis
• Mechanisms of repair in lung disease
• Pathways regulating Lung Development and dysregulated/activated in lung fibrosis
• Aging, Fibrosis and degenerative lung diseases
• Environmental impact on lung diseases
• Mechanotransduction In Lung Development and Fibrosis
• Aging and Lung Fibrosis

Confirmed Keynote Speaker

Mark Krasnow (Stanford University)
INJURY-INDUCED ACTIVATION OF AN AUTOCRINE MITOGEN FOR NEUROENDOCRINE STEM CELLS  

Confirmed Invited Speakers

Denise Al Alam (The Lundquist Institute)
LUNG DISEASE IN TRISOMY 21
Douglas Brownfield (Mayo Clinic)
AT2 CELL EMERGENCE AND FATE REGULATION
John Engelhardt (University of Iowa)
ASSESSING LUNG INJURY AND REPAIR USING TRANSGENIC FERRET MODELS
Andreas Günther (University of Giessen)
USE OF HUMAN EX VIVO PRECISION CUT LUNG SLICES FROM IPF PATIENTS AS PROOF-OF-CONCEPT FOR EPITHELIAL PROTECTIVE AND ANTIFIBROTIC TREATMENTS
Claudia Jackubzick (Dartmouth College)
BIOLOGY OF LUNG MACROPHAGES IN HEALTH AND DISEASE
Dianhua Jiang (Cedars-Sinai, Medicine)
HER2-PHOSPHATASE IN IPF
Vladimir Kalinichenko (University of Arizona College of Medicine, Phoenix)
DEVELOPING NEW THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES FOR PERINATAL LUNG DISEASES
Naftali Kaminski (Yale School of Medicine)
STEM CELL FAILURE AND ALVEOLAR PLASTICITY IN HUMAN PULMONARY FIBROSIS
Harry Karmouty-Quintana (UT Health Houston)
SINE OCULIS HOMEOBOX 1 (SIX1) A NOVEL PRO-FIBROTIC MEDIATOR
David Lagares (Harvard University)
SENOLYTICS AND MECHANO-THERAPEUTICS: NEW THERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES TO REVERSE PROGRESSIVE FIBROSIS 
Joo-hyeon Lee (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)
STEM CELL DIFFERENTIATION IN PULMONARY FIBROSIS
Claude Jourdan Le Saux (University of California San Francisco)
REVERSAL OF TYPE 2 ALVEOLAR EPITHELIAL CELLS-DERIVED BASAL CELL METAPLASIA IN ORGANOIDS BY ENHANCED CANONICAL AND ATTENUATED NON-CANONICAL WNT SIGNALING
Mareike Lehmann (Helmholtz Center Munich/ Philipps University Marburg)
A NOVEL SASP FACTOR MEDIATES FIBROBLAST REPROGRAMMING IN SENESCENCE-ASSOCIATED PULMONARY FIBROSIS
Susan Majka (National Jewish Health)
CRITICAL ROLE FOR ADULT ENDOTHELIAL PROGENITOR CELLS IN REPAIR & REMODELING
Mitsuru Morimoto (RIKEN)
AUTOCRINE TGF-β-POSITIVE FEEDBACK IN PROFIBROTIC AT2-LINEAGE CELLS PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE IN NON-INFLAMMATORY LUNG FIBROGENESIS
Parviz Minoo (Keck School of Medicine of USC)
CONTROLLING THE SIZE OF THE EPITHELIAL & ENDOTHELIAL PROGENITOR POOLS DURING ALVEOLOGENESIS
Enid Neptune (Johns Hopkins University)
EXPLORING THE INTERFACE OF GENETIC DISORDERS AND COPD-EMPHYSEMA
Marko Nikolic (University College London)
HUMAN LUNG AND IMMUNE DEVELOPMENT IN HEALTH AND DISEASE
Jayaraj Rajagopal (Massachusetts General Hospital)
AIRWAY REGENERATION
Elizabeth Redente (National Jewish Health)
REDUCING FIBROBLAST PERSISTENCE IN PULMONARY FIBROSIS AS A MECHANISM OF RESOLUTION
Laila Roudsari (United Therapeutics)
FROM CELLS TO ORGAN: THE BUILDING BLOCKS FOR GENERATING FUNCTIONAL LUNG TISSUE
Herbert Schiller (Helmholtz Munich)
CELL CIRCUIT STATE DYNAMICS IN PULMONARY FIBROSIS
Xin Sun (UC San Diego)
CONTEXT - DEPENDENT ROLES OF MITOCHONDRIA IN LUNG
Aleksandra Tata (Duke University)
P53-TAU AXIS CONTROL ALVEOLAR STEM CELL MEDIATED LUNG REGENERATION
Matthew James Thomas (Boehringer Ingelheim)
IN VITRO MODELS OF EPITHELIUM IN PULMONARY FIBROSIS
Andrew Vaughan (University of Pennsylvania)
REGENERATION AND INFLAMMATION IN VIRAL PNEUMONIA: A BALANCING ACT
Ana Ivonne Vazquez-Armendariz (University of Bonn)
ADVANCED HUMAN AND MURINE LUNG ORGANOIDS SYSTEM FOR DISEASE MODELING
Rachel Zemans (Michigan Medicine)
TRANSITIONAL STATES IN LUNG REGENERATION AND FIBROSIS

Student Offer

Take advantage of this fantastic opportunity for students! Fully paying ‘single’ or ‘shared’ registrants can bring a student for only €990. Unfortunately, Postdocs are not eligible for this offer. Both registration packages include; accommodation for the 04, 05, 06 October 2024 (on a shared basis for students) and a food and beverage package for the conference period. Once registered, please contact Jack Peters to obtain a special registration link for your student.

Target Audience 

• Lung developmental biologists
• Stem cell researchers
• Fibrosis researchers
• Pulmonary fibrosis researchers

Educational Need

It is known that lung developmental pathways are reactivated in pulmonary fibrosis, yet few if any meetings bring lung developmental biologists and researchers studying lung fibrosis together. This meeting will provide a unique opportunity to bring these two fields together.

Funding for this conference was made possible (in part) by 1R13HL176063-01 from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention by trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Although the below programme is the most up to date version, please note it is still a draft copy and is subject to change. We will continue to upload the latest version here, and circulate a final copy to all participants in the week before the meeting.