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SPRING SCHOOL PROGRAMME

Check the programme regularly for updates

Tue

Tuesday 8 April

15:00-16:00
Registration

16:00-18:30
Workshops (40 students per workshop)

16:00-18:30
Workshop 1: How to give a convincing speech

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Paul Charlton; Specialist expert speaker coach for international STEM professionals

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16:00-18:30
Workshop 2: How to write a scientific manuscript


Thomas Gallagher, Human Gene Therapy​

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16:00-18:30
Workshop 3: How to create a spin-off (Entrepreneurship & how to make the best out of your inventions)

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Elke Luger, National Network Office GCT Germany & BIH

Vincenzo Cerullo, University of Helsinki

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19:00-22:00
Break the Ice Dinner @ Mercure Hotel

Wed

Wednesday 9 April

09:00-09:15
Welcome Address
Alberto Auricchio (President, ESGCT)
Zoltan Ivics (President, DG&GT)
Hildegard Büning (ESGCT Education & Training)


09:15-10:15

Keynote
INV01Christopher Baum, BIH, Berlin
Developing an innovation ecosystem for gene therapy


10:15-11:00
INV02Claire Booth, University College London
The challenge of accessibility and sustainability of gene therapy medicinal products

11:00-11:30
Coffee Break

11:30-13:30
Session 1: Gene therapy tools - what you should know about viral and non-viral vectors, part I
INV03Axel Schambach, Hannover Medical School
Insights and challenges on how to design retroviral and lentiviral vectors
INV04Els Verhoeyen, EVIR, INSERM U758, Lyon; C3M, INSERM U1065, Nice
How to improve nature – the next generation of lentiviral vectors
INV05: Hildegard Büning, Hannover Medical School
Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector system – the unusual career of non-autonomous parvovirus

13:30-15:00
Lunch Break (with Meet the Expert tables)

15:00-17:00
Session 2: Gene therapy tools - what you should know about viral and non-viral vectors, part II
INV06: Anja Ehrhardt, Witten/Herdecke University
Adenovirus Vectors – a powerful tool in gene therapy and vaccine development
INV07: Melanie Galla, Hannover Medical School 
Virus like particles – retroviral particles tailored to customer’s needs
INV08: Tristan Montier, University of Brest
Strategies to improve non-viral vector mediated gene transfer

17:00-17:15
Coffee Break

17:15-19:15
Guided tour of Potsdam

19:30
Dinner and social activity

Thu

Thursday 10 April

09:00-10:00
Keynote
INV09: Alberto Auricchio, TIGEM, Naples 
AAV gene therapy from Bench to Bedside

10:00-10:30
Coffee Break

10:30-12:30
Session 3: Genome engineering & beyond – a plethora of possibilities
INV10: Zoltan Ivics, Fraunhofer IZI, Leipzig
Digging in the Dirt: How Archeogenetics and Synthetic Biology Revolutionized Gene Therapy
INV11Frank BuchholzTU Dresden
Site-specific recombinases, Swiss Army Knives in the genome engineering tool-box
INV12Claudio MussolinoUniversity of Freiburg
The basics of Designer Nucleases and CRISPR-Cas-based gene editing

12:30-14:00
Lunch Break

14:00-16:00
Session 4: Beyond conventional CRISPR-Cas strategies
INV13: Toni Cathomen, University of Freiburg
Safety first – how to detect and minimize off-target effects
INV14Angelo Lombardo, SR-Tiget, Milan
Programming gene silencing by epigenome editing.
INV15Bernhard Gentner, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Lausanne
Genetically engineered hematopoietic stem cells as weapon

16:00-16:30
Coffee Break

16:30-19:00
Session 5: Challenges in gene and cell therapy
INV16: Anne Galy, ART-TG - Inserm US35
Immune system: friend or foe in gene therapy
INV17Gloria Gonzalez-Aseguinolaza, CIMA, University of Navarra, Pamplona

Potential mechanism involved in AAV toxicity
INV18Serge Braun, AFM-Telethon
One can change the world by selling pancakes and balloons - how patient organizations change the face of gene therapy

Panel discussion
Serge Braun, Alberto Auricchio, Anne Galy, Gloria Gonzalez-Aseguinolaza, Christopher Baum, Paula Rio

19:30
Social event and dinner

Fri

Friday 11 April

09.00-11.00
Session 7: Novel approaches in fighting cancer
INV19: Dirk M. NettelbeckGerman Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg
Virotherapy of cancer – engineering viruses for tumor-targeted lysis, drug delivery and immunotherapy
INV20Manlio Fusciello, University of Helsinki
Cancer Vaccines
INV21Hinrich AbkenUniversity of Regensburg
CAR T cell therapy – from bench to bedside and back 

11.00-11.30
Coffee Break

11:30-12:50
Session 8: NK and T cells as versatile tools in gene therapy
INV22: Britta Eiz-Vesper, Hannover Medical School
Engineered T cells to fight infections
INV23: Boris Fehse, University of Hamburg
T cell approaches in anti-HIV treatment

12:50-14:00
Lunch Break

14:00-16:00
Session 9: Pre-clinical and clinical gene therapy
INV24: Nathalie Cartier, AskBio, Paris 
Gene Therapy of the CNS
INV25Stylianos Michalakis, LMU Munich
Retinal Gene Therapy
INV26: Christian Kupatt, TU Munich
Cardiovascular Gene Therapy
INV27: Paula Rio, CIEMAT / CIBERER, Madrid
Gene Therapy for Fanconi

16:15-16:30
Closing
Alberto Auricchio, Hildegard Büning & Zoltan Ivics

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