Final programme

19 October 2026 (Monday)

11:30–15:00 Registration

Satellite session: Workshop on Artificial Intelligence in Epigenetic and Gene Regulation Research

Chair: Damir Baranasic

12:20–13:20  Marko Toplak – AI in Research I. Workflows and visual analytics for data science

13:20–14:00 Altuna Akalin – AI in Research III. AI tools in genomics data analysis

14:00–15:00 Welcome snacks

Session 1: Epigenetics and Development

Chair: Ferenc Müller

15:00–15:15 Célia Martinez-Jimenez, Lóránt Székvölgyi – Opening remarks

15:15–15:40 Julie Ahringer – Innate immune stress pathway activation underlies heterochromatin dysfunction pathology

15:40–15:55 Andreas Magg – Control of developmental gene expression by synthetic regulatory domains

15:55–16:10 Lila Allou – Temporal loss of En1 during limb development causes distinct phenotypes

16:10–16:50 Coffee break

16:50–17:40 Brad Cairns – Keynote Lecture - RHOX12L counteracts the TRIM28-SETDB1 repressive complex to activate embryonic retrotransposons

18:00– Welcome dinner

20 October 2026 (Tuesday)

Session 2: Early life Programming

Chair: Julie Ahringer 

09:00–09:25 Aydan Bulut-Karslioglu – Nuclear mTOR synergies with Polycomb at developmental gene promoters

09:25–09:40 Damir Baranasic – Cave adaptation begins in the egg: maternal onset of promoter-level regulatory divergence in Astyanax mexicanus

09:40–09:55 Heidi Lempradl – Linking maternal nutritional state to early developmental programming

09:55–10:10 Marlet Morales-Franco – Dual profiling of DNA modifications with enhancer features during the exit of naive pluripotency

10:10–10:35 Petra Hajkova – The erasure and maintenance of epigenetic memory in the germline context

10:35–11:00 Coffee break

Session 3: Epigenetics and RNA

Chair: Lóránt Székvölgyi (FEBS presentations) / Lila Allou 

11:00–11:10 Marek Figlerowicz – FEBS Representative(s): All about FEBS

11:10–11:20 Maria Berruezo Llacuna – FEBS Press Lecture

11:20–11:45 Piero Carninci – Genome regulation by non-coding transcription

11:45–12:00 Mattias Jonasson – Enhancer activity emerges from the interplay of sequence and genomic context

12:00–12:15 Dane Vassiliadis – SF3B3/B5 form a metazoan U2 snRNP transcription module that coordinates RNA Pol II elongation

12:15–12:30 Tatiana Soboleva – A histone variant–directed nuclear pathway for histone mRNA decay

12:30–12:35 Group photo in the Lobby

12:35–13:30 Lunch break (lunch with speakers)

13:30–13:55 Michaela Frye – The EMBO Keynote Lecture - Targeting RNA modifications in cancer

13:55–14:20 Poster flash talks, odd-numbered posters (8 x 3 min)

o   13:55–Kate Everly – Novel imprinting control regions on chromosome 20 are associated with sustained childhood obesity

o   13:58– Madelín Pérez Armas – Maternal Fructose Reprograms Glucocorticoid Control of the m6A Epitranscriptomics Regulating Lipid Metabolism

o   14:01–Chathura Suraweera – How a Histone Variant Bridges RNA Processing and Chromatin Architecture

o   14:04– Agnes Lee Chen Ong – ZNF638 bridges heterochromatin and RNA processing at passenger retroelements

o   14:07– Raymond Blind – IPMK regulates HDAC3 activity and histone H4 acetylation

o   14:10– Luisa Di Stefano – Targeted ablation of the large – LSD1 specific – CoREST isoform in Drosophila results in infertility and transposable elements derepression

o   14:13– Melanie Eckersley-Maslin – Dynamic H3K27me3 at bivalent chromatin domains shapes clonal phenotypes in breast cancer

o   14:16– Tae-Young Roh – Epigenetic Rewiring of Transcriptional Regulatory Circuits via Dynamic Chromatin Remodeling in Cancer

14:20–15:20 Poster Session 1 (odd-numbered posters)

15:20–15:50 Coffee break / Poster Session continues

Session 4: Transcription and Chromatin Architecture

Chair: Bas van Steensel

15:50–16:15 Denes Hnisz – Transcriptional condensates in health and disease

16:15–16:30 Phan Mikie – Conservation of the regulatory code across divergent genomes

16:30–16:55 Christa Buecker – Building to understand: Enhancer-Promoter Communication in the Context of Regulatory Landscapes

16:55–17:20 Marieke Oudelaar –  EMBO Young Investigator Talk - Enhancer function in the context of 3D chromatin structures

17:20–17:35 Tomás Marques – Beyond Boundaries: Establishing the Functional Hierarchy of Enhancer-Promoter Wiring

17:35–18:05 László Tora – Lifetime Achievement Award Lecture (Epigenetics Section of the Hungarian Biochemical Society)

18:15– Social at Cactus Juice (optional, individual expenses)

21 October 2026 (Wednesday)

Session 5: Epigenetics in Physiology and Disease I.

Chair: Jorge Ferrer 

09:00–09:25 Andrew Pospisilik – Epigenetic robustness and the triggering of alternative disease states

09:25–09:40 Tamás Arányi – DNMT3A and DNMT3B regulate the maturation of sexually dimorphic liver gene expression

09:40–09:55 Lucie van Leeuwen – Exploring tissue-specific heterochromatin dynamics in ageing fruit flies

09:55–10:10 Yung Shing Tsang – IDH mutation disrupts telomere maintenance, repetitive-element heterochromatin and neural lineage commitment in mouse embryonic stem cells

10:10–10:25 Lee Wong – Disruption of an H3.3 Serine 31 Phosphorylation Switch Rewires Heterochromatin and Enforces Developmental Arrest in Diffuse Midline Glioma

10:25–10:50 Renata Jurkowska – From omics to targets – epigenetic regulation of human lung repair  

10:50–11:15 Coffee break

Session 6: Epigenetics in Physiology and Disease II.

Chair: Celia Martinez-Jimenez / co-chair TBA 

11:15–11:40 Jorge Ferrer – Regulatory noncoding mutations in early-onset diabetes

11:40–11:55 Yitzhak Reizel – Transcription Factor-Guided DNA Demethylation Reveals Latent FOXA2 Regulatory Networks and the Limits of Epigenetic Editing

11:55–12:10 Sándor Spisák – MBKE Epigenetic Prize Lecture: Therapy-induced senescence is a transient drug resistance mechanism in breast cancer

12:10–12:25 Gábor Pápai – Insight into the mechanism and vulnerability from the structure of endogenous human non-canonical BAF bound to nucleosome

12:25–12:50 Poster flash talks, even-numbered posters (8 x 3 min)

o   12:25– Benjámin Baráth – Distinct transcriptional and epigenomic programs define Hofbauer cells in term placenta

o   12:28– Gil Golan – Decoding Enhancer-Mediated Transcriptional Regulation in Neonatal Gonadotrope Differentiation Using Single-Cell Multiomics

o   12:31– Hadar Parnas – A Dual-Arm Metabolic-Epigenetic Mechanism Links Intermittent Fasting to NRF2-Dependent Genome Protection

o   12:34– Béla Molnár – Investigation of the molecular biological effects of folic acid and S-Adenosylmethionine treatment in colorectal cancer cell lines

o   12:37– Fábio Ferreira – From non-coding DNA to pancreatic function: combining mutagenesis, reporter assays, and machine learning to predict the impact of enhancer variants in type 2 diabetes

o   12:40– Tomasz Obrębski – Impact of clinically relevant types of TET2 mutation on the regulation of gene expression and the immune response in macrophages

o   12:43– Paulina Urbanaviciute – Mapping cell type-specific histone acetylation landscapes in the Alzheimer's disease brain

o   12:46– Alice Zoli – Multimodal Silencing of HIV-1 Transcription by Human KRAB-Zinc Finger Proteins

12:50–13:15 Jannat Ijaz – Inactive X chromosome DNA methylation erosion with age in human dermal fibroblasts

13:15–14:15 Lunch break (lunch with speakers)

14:15–15:45 Poster Session 2 (even-numbered posters)

15:45–20:00 Free time

20:00– Gala dinner & Danube river cruise

22 October 2026 (Thursday)

Session 7: Epigenetics and Cell Fate

Chair: Andrew Pospisilik

09:00–09:25 Celia Martinez-Jimenez – Mapping Cell State and Metabolic Ageing in the Liver

09:25–09:40 Jan Huertas – The pioneer transcription factor Oct4 alters chromatin packing

09:40–09:55 Ning Qing Liu – BAF complexes cooperate with lineage-restricted transcription factors to establish cell-state-specific regulatory programs

09:55–10:10 Laszlo Nagy – The transcription factor BACH1 couples chromatin priming and repression to enable macrophage plasticity and adaptation

10:10–10:35 Julie Soutourina – Mediator at the crossroads of transcription, chromatin organization and diseases

10:40–11:00 Coffee break

Session 8: Chromatin Structure and Function

Chair: Petra Hajkova

11:00–11:25 Bas van Steensel – Large-scale relocation of regulatory elements

11:25–11:40 Ferenc Müller – Transcription initiation site determination diversifies mRNAs for  translation and mRNA fate

11:40–11:55 Maria Julia Maristany – An electrostatic repulsion model of centromere organisation

11:55–12:10 Isabella Savin – Investigating spatiotemporal coordination of DNA replication and transcription using expansion microscopy and 3D-SIM

12:20–12:45 Geneviève Almouzni – Histone variants and their chaperones, a choreography linked to cell fate and disease

12:45–13:00 Petra Hajkova, Ferenc Mueller – Prizes & closing remarks

13:00 – Farewell snacks

Posters

P-1 Everly, Kate – Novel imprinting control regions on chromosome 20 are associated with sustained childhood obesity.

P-2 Benjámin Regő Baráth – Distinct transcriptional and epigenomic programs define Hofbauer cells in term placenta

P-3 Pérez Armas, Madelín – Maternal Fructose Reprograms Glucocorticoid Control of the m6A Epitranscriptomics Regulating Lipid Metabolism

P-4 Golan, Gil – Decoding Enhancer-Mediated Transcriptional Regulation in Neonatal Gonadotrope Differentiation Using Single-Cell Multiomics

P-5 Suraweera, Chathura – How a Histone Variant Bridges RNA Processing and Chromatin Architecture

P-6 Parnas, Hadar – A Dual-Arm Metabolic-Epigenetic Mechanism Links Intermittent Fasting to NRF2-Dependent Genome Protection

P-7 Ong, Agnes Lee Chen – ZNF638 bridges heterochromatin and RNA processing at passenger retroelements

P-8 Molnár, Béla – Investigation of the molecular biological effects of folic acid and S-Adenodylmethionine treatment in colorectal cancer cell lines

P-9 Blind, Raymond – IPMK regulates HDAC3 activity and histone H4 acetylation.

P-10 Ferreira, Fábio J. – From non-coding DNA to pancreatic function: combining mutagenesis, reporter assays, and machine learning to predict the impact of enhancer variants in type 2 diabetes

P-11 Di Stefano, Luisa – Targeted ablation of the large – LSD1 specific – CoREST isoform in Drosophila results in infertility and transposable elements derepression.

P-12 Tomasz Obrębski – Impact of clinically relevant types of TET2 mutation on the regulation of gene expression and the immune response in macrophages

P-13 Melanie Eckersley-Maslin – Dynamic H3K27me3 at bivalent chromatin domains shapes clonal phenotypes in breast cancer

P-14 Urbanaviciute, Paulina – Mapping cell type-specific histone acetylation landscapes in the Alzheimer’s disease brain

P-15 Roh, Tae-Young – Epigenetic Rewiring of Transcriptional Regulatory Circuits via Dynamic Chromatin Remodeling in Cancer

P-16 Zoli, Alice – Multimodal Silencing of HIV-1 Transcription by Human KRAB-Zinc Finger Proteins

P-17 Nánási, Péter – The relationship between superhelicity of DNA and the stability of the +1 nucleosome at promoters

P-18 Ananya Chandra – Histone H2BK108Me2 Tunes Gluconeogenic Load in Type 2 Diabetes: A Molecular Dynamics Study

P-19 Nineļa Vainšeļbauma – BRAF-mutant melanoma adaptation to vemurafenib represents a three-step process of cell fate change: from senescence/differentiation, to blastulation, and back to the initial point

P-20 Navarro Flores, Alba – Circulating microRNA Dysregulation in Psychiatric Disorders and the Role of Cognitive Impairment

P-21 Chitadze Lela – Single-cell transcriptional landscape governing visual imprinting memory: Characterization of differentially expressed lncRNAs

P-22 Fudulu, Alina – The transcriptional factor ZNF627 and its correlation with LINC01718 in cervical lesion progression

P-23 Yildirim, İrem – The Effects of miR-640 Inhibition on Oncogenic Target Genes in Primary and Recurrent Glioblastoma Cells

P-24 Zeina Esmandar – TOP1MT rs2293925 is an enhancer-active regulatory SNP that shapes mitochondrial R-Loop dynamics

P-25 Farha, Perla – Long-read profiling of chromatin accessibility and DNA methylation in a single sequencing run for non-model plant species

P-26 AISHA AMAN – MIR149 rs2292832 and MIR499 rs3746444 Genetic Variants Associated with the Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis

P-27 Wang, Xiaoyan – Conserved Genetic Programs and Evolutionary Dynamics of Spermatogenesis in Male Fertility

P-28 Wang, Xiaoyan – Single-Cell Multi-Omic Mapping of Androgen-Deprived Human Testes Reveals Chromatin Dynamics and Niche Reprogramming

P-29 Rini Arianti – Revealing the criticial role of iron in the thermogenic gene regulation of human adipocytes

P-30 Nyikó Tünde – Epigenetic control of trichome density in tomato

P-31 Guo, Jingtao – Stage-specific activation of transposable elements functions a key regulator of meiotic entry and is coordiated by NF-Y

P-32 Jo, Ciantar – Male youth BMI is associated with the epigenetic profiles of their descendants in two generations

P-33 Testa, Eugénie – Modulation of the effects of maternal obesity on offspring hepatic health in the context of preconception maternal bariatric surgery

P-34 Nagyenyedi, Zoltán Ödön – PPM1B Attenuates Oncogenic Phenotypes by Activating Myosin Phosphatase via MYPT1Thr853 Dephosphorylation

P-35 Brotzki da Costa, Chayeen – Effects of a hypomethylating drug on earthworm segment regeneration

P-36 Bojcsuk, Dóra – CpG content contributes to tissue-resident macrophage enhancer selection

P-37 Vörösvácki Dániel – Genome wide analysis reveals increased LINE1 insertion and hypomethylation in colorectal cancer tissue samples

P-38 Rossana Putino – Establishing a Spatiotemporally Resolved Cell-Type-Specific Enhancer Atlas of the Developing Mouse Limb

P-39 Felicia Ebot Ojong – The Role of Kdm2b in Protecting Polycomb-Targeted CpG Islands from Hypermethylation in Mouse Intestinal Epithelium

P-40 Francesco, Camera – KZFP-Mediated Regulation of Transposable Elements in Acute Myeloid Leukaemia

P-41 Fontanilla, Alyssa – Transposable element activity and suppression in oocytes of cooperatively breeding rodents

P-42 Blum, Belinda – Determining the functional implications of the temporality of enhancer-promoter interactions

P-43 Rodríguez-Gómez, María – Balancing DNA Damage and Epigenetic Regulation: DDR Control Over DNA Demethylation

P-44 Yi-Yun Lin – Modulating β-Catenin Condensates Using Molecular Glues

P-45 Nikolett Szakállas – The genetic and epigenetic consequences of high-dose folic acid supplementation in patients with hyperhomocysteinemia

P-46 Vilkaitis, Giedrius – Stereoselective synthesis of functionalised AdoMet analogues for bioorthogonal labelling by halide methyltransferase

P-47 Afshan Khan – UNRAVELING THE FUNCTIONS OF DEC1/2 TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS IN DIFFERENT CELL TYPES

P-48 Manzato, Caterina – Beta-catenin condensate perturbation selectivity inhibits Wnt-high cancer models

P-49 Nikolett Szakállas – Methodological comparison of short-read and long-read sequencing methods

P-50 Mahmood MOHAMMED ALI – Exploring the Epigenetic mechanisms in Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma

P-51 Valcz, Gábor – Targeted therapy reduces horizontal gene transfer efficiency in the HT29 colorectal carcinoma model

P-52 Holczbauer, Aliz – Comparative analysis of DNA methylation profiling and epigenetic age estimation by Illumina EPIC arrays and Oxford Nanopore sequencing

P-53 Emile Danvin – A convergent molecular signature of Kabuki syndrome types 1 and 2 during neuroectoderm development reveals shared pathogenic mechanisms

P-54 Caterina Francesconi – Genetic and epigenetic determinants of polymorphic retrotransposon activation in human stem cells

P-55 Debarya Saha – Mitotic bookmarking by GATA3 preserves oncogenic transcriptional memory in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

P-56 Bartman, Joanna – Embryonic Green Light Establishes Lasting Epigenetic Priming of Hypothalamic Neuroendocrine Pathways

P-57 Marie Christou-kent – Transcription Factor-Driven Chromatin Rewiring and Histone H1-Mediated Restraint in B-cell Identity

P-58 Biotti, Jacopo – UHRF1 interprets developmental epigenetic memory to define opposite prognostic states in gastric, renal and adrenocortical cancers

P-59 Kristijonas Veličkevičius – Revealing DNMT1 inhibition through selective genome labeling in live cells

P-60 Linkner, Tamás – Examination of environmental factors affecting genetic and epigenetic integrity and stability in leukocytes

P-61 Gahurova, Lenka – De novo DNA methylation establishment in oocytes of non-model rodents

P-63 P P Adwaith – Data-driven polymer modeling reveals how scale-dependent active fluctuations shape chromatin organization

P-64 Alanoud Al-Kaabi – ATM/ATR Signaling at the Interface of Heat-Induced Transcriptional Reprogramming and Genome Surveillance

P-65 Molnár, Béla – Global DNA hypomethylation connected to decreased methyl-donor level in colorectal cancer progression

P-66 Orbán, Eszter – Syncytiotrophoblast In Vitro Differentiation Primes the Antiviral Interferon-Stimulated Gene Program and Modulates Hofbauer Cell Responses

P-67 Ehsan Pourkarimi – WARS-1 Couples Tryptophan Homeostasis to Genome Maintenance and Chromatin-Associated Transcriptional Programs

P-68 Šmon, Julija – ALTERED DNA METHYLATION IN SLOVENIAN MEN WHO DIED BY SUICIDE: FOCUS ON PROTEINOPATHY-ASSOCIATED GENES

P-69 Milostnik, Nina – Methylation of Donor-Derived Cell-Free DNA as a Biomarker of Kidney Allograft Injury

P-70 Nagy, Gergely – CpG content shapes macrophage-specific promoter and enhancer selection by lineage-determining transcription factors

P-71 Grgurina, Iris – Gene Regulatory Mechanisms Driving Microglial Phenotypes In Alzheimer’s Disease Via APOE-dependent Pathways

P-72 Lilla Kokity – Loss of core Polycomb member RYBP disrupts early patterning in mouse gastruloids

P-73 Parra Martinez Alejandra Guadalupe – HPV16 oncoproteins promote ADAM17-dependent post-translational processing of TNF-α in cervical cancer cells.

P-74 Guevara Jimenez Hugo Abraham – HPV16 E6/E7 oncogenes transfection promotes TNF-α translation and release in HPV-negative cervical cell lines

P-75 Kirsanov Kirill – Cell-based system for screening of epigenetically active compounds

P-76 Marianna Yakubovskaya – Histotype-associated differences in global DNA methylation and histone modification levels in soft-tissue sarcoma subtypes

P-77 Muazu, Muhyiddeen – Dnmt3a/Dnmt3b deficiency reshapes hepatic metabolic and stress responses to fasting/refeeding and acetaminophen injury

P-78 Varvara Maksimova – Multitarget Epigenetic Activity and Antitumor Effects of Enzastaurin and Curaxin CBL0137 in Malignancies with Aberrant Epigenetic Profiles

P-79 Spisák, Sándor – One-Carbon Metabolism Steers Epithelial State Transitions and Determines Fluoropyrimidine Sensitivity in Colorectal Cancer

P-80 Taima Alkhateep – Linking epigenetic plasticity to nuclear biomechanics: Role of H3K9 methylation in nuclear stiffness modulation

P-81 Hausz Bálint Lóránt – Analysis of spermatozoa and pre-ZGA embryo methylome from wild-type and unga knockout Zebrafish

P-82 Lion, Lona – Dynamic Chromatin Architecture in the Ageing Liver Multi-omic single-nucleus dissection of liver ageing and diet-driven acceleration in mice

P-83 Földi, Zsuzsanna – Coupling Transposon Recognition to RNA Decay and Chromatin Silencing in Drosophila

P-84 Gaudreau-Lapierre, Antoine – Multi-omics dissection of stress-induced gene repression

P-85 DIXIT, Aditya – Novel proteins regulate human heterochromatin during the cell cycle

P-86 Vízkeleti, Laura – One-Carbon Metabolism Governs Epithelial State Transition and Determines Fluoropyrimidine Sensitivity in Colorectal Cancer