When: 3–4 November 2026
(Optional activities and add-ons on 3 November morning and 5 November)
Where: LINXS, The Loop, Rydbergs torg 4, 224 84, Lund, Sweden
Registration & Fees: Registration will open in August.
There will be a registration fee according to career level and affiliation. Please note that the fees are excluding 25% VAT:
PhD students/postdocs: 650 SEK
Academic: 1000 SEK
Commercial entity: 1800 SEK
The fee includes all coffee breaks, one lunch on 4 November, and the conference dinner (plus lunch on 3 November for participants joining the MAX IV or ESS visits).
Participants from commercial entities will be offered the opportunity to present a poster or roll-up and distribute materials.
Travel & Stay: Lund is well connected to Copenhagen Airport (Kastrup), with frequent direct train connections to Lund Central Station. From there, the tram runs through the city to its final stop “ESS”, located directly outside The Loop building.
Central Lund offers a range of hotels, all conveniently connected to LINXS by tram. Hotels closer to the venue include Motel L Lund and Elite Hotel Ideon.
For detailed directions, please see How to get to LINXS.
Sponsors: We acknowledge gratefully financial support by the LTH profile area Engineering Health (https://www.lth.se/english/research/engineering-health/ )
About
The LINXS theme Pandemics and Alertness (PandA) will hold its first Symposium – Knowing and Fighting the Virus – at LINXS on the 3rd and 4th of November 2026. The Symposium will start in the afternoon of the 3rd and include a full-day on the 4th.
In the morning of the 3rd, before the Symposium, there will be a possibility for interested participants to visit either the MAX IV laboratory or the European Spallation Source (please note there is a limited number of participants allowed on each visit and you will have to sign up for a visit with the registration to the Symposium).
Each session will be a mix of a keynote lecture, shorter talks invited by the work packages and presentations selected from submitted abstracts. We encourage you to submit abstracts both for oral presentations and posters during the registration period.
A poster session with mingle will be organized on the 3rd November, before the conference dinner.
Work Packages
WP1 Understanding the virus
Understanding the virus will use its session to deepen our understanding of how viruses invade and replicate within cells and cause disease and how the immune system counteracts them, with a focus on how structural biology can contribute to this understanding.
WP2 Fighting the virus
Fighting the virus will in its session exemplify/discuss how users and infrastructures can use their complementary competences as well as neutrons, X-rays, and electrons to advance our ability to address pandemic disease.
WP3 Complementary and enabling technologies
Complementary and enabling technologies will in its session highlight how complementary methods to X-ray and neutron-based approaches can advance our understanding of viral lifecycles, virus–host interactions, and translational applications such as diagnostics, therapeutics, and prevention strategies.
Additional event - 5th of November
“PandA Data Clinic on Multimodal Data Analysis and Integration” will be held on 5 November. Participation is free of charge and requires separate registration. For more information see here.
Programme
Day 1: Tuesday 3 November
09:30–12:00 Visit to ESS. Meet at the ESS reception at 09:30
09:00–12:00 Visit to MAX IV. Meet at the MAX IV reception at 10:00
12:00–13:00 Lunch for MAX IV and ESS visitors at LINXS/The Loop
13:00–13:30 Registration
13:30–13:45 Welcome
Wolfgang Knecht, Lund University
Session 1: WP1 session
Chair: Eva Friebertshäuser, Marburg University
13:45–14:30 Keynote: The many lives of antimicrobial and virulence peptide amyloids
Meytal Landau, DESY
WP invited talks
14:30–14:50 How HIV-2 protein structures have revealed their functions?
Sarah Rowland-Jones, Oxford University
14:50–15:10 Virus interactions at the cell surface and in the glycocalyx: forces, kinetics and diffusion
Marta Bally, Umeå University
15:10–15:40 Coffee break
15:40–16:00 Extracellular vesicles in body fluids as innate defence against virus transmission
Janis Müller, Marburg University
Talks selected from submitted abstracts
16:00–16:20 To be or not to be (phosphorylated): How host factors control filoviral RNA synthesis
Nadine Biedenkopf, Lund University
16:20–16:40 The Lund University Virus Centre
Joakim Esbjörnsson, Lund University
16:40–17:00 Nanobody-Drug Conjugates Targeting the Host Cell Protease Furin for Antiviral Therapy
Konstantin Bloch, Marburg University
17:00–19:00 Posters and mingle
LINXS and the corridor outside (3rd floor)
19:00 Conference dinner
The Loop
Day 2: Wednesday 4 November
Session 2: WP2 session
Chair: Mats Ohlin, Lund University
09:00–09:45 Keynote: Engineering mRNA Lipid Nanoparticles: From Structure to Performance and Manufacturability
Marianna Yanez-Arteta, AstraZeneca
WP invited talks
09:45–10:05 The Pandemic Laboratory Preparedness program now and in the future
Jessica Alm, Karolinska Institutet
Talks selected from submitted abstracts
10:05–10:25 Inhibiting Host Cell Proteases: A Strategy for Antiviral Drug Development
Torsten Steinmetzer, Marburg University
10:25–10:55 Coffee break
10:55–11:15 Structure-guided discovery and optimization of Sudan virus VP40 inhibitors with broad anti-filovirus activity
Anke Werner, Marburg University
11:15–11:50 Podium discussion: What are the current challenges for virological research at X-ray or neutron facilities
Marta Bally (Umeå University), Marianna Yanez-Arteta (AstraZeneca), Meytal Landau (DESY), Philip Ullmann (Uppsala University)
Moderators: Marjolein Thunnissen, MAX IV, and Joakim Esbjörnsson, Lund University
12:00–13:00 Lunch
The Loop
Session 3: WP3 session
Chair: Lotta Happonen, Lund University
13:00–13:45 Keynote: Investigating mechanisms of Influenza virus replication and assembly
Jonathan Grimes, Oxford University
WP invited talks
13:45–14:05 Smart data-driven microscopy to capture infection mechanisms
Pontus Nordenfelt, Lund University
14:05–14:25 From virus particles to infected cells: insights from cryo-EM and cryo-ET of diatom viruses
Anna Munke, Lund University
14:25–14:55 Coffee break
14:55–15:15 Structural proteomics uncovering virus-host protein interactions
Simon Ekström, Lund University
Talks selected from submitted abstracts
15:15–15:35 Synthetic cell membranes for viral detection and study
Tiba Al-Dujaili, Malmö University
15:35–15:55 A growth-optimized fragment library applied to the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of dengue virus serotype 3
Philip Ullmann, Uppsala University
16:00–16:15 Closure and goodbye
Wolfgang Knecht, Lund University
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Keynote speakers
◆ Jonathan Grimes (Professor of Structural Virology & Head of Oxford Particle Imaging Centre, University of Oxford),
“Investigating mechanisms of Influenza virus replication and assembly” (https://www.strubi.ox.ac.uk/team/jonathan-grimes)
◆ Meytal Landau (Lead Scientist at Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Professor (W3) at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB), Hamburg, Germany),
“The many lives of antimicrobial and virulence peptide amyloids” (https://landau-lab.de/hamburg/)
◆ Marianna Yanez-Arteta (Senior Director, Advanced Drug Delivery, Pharmaceutical Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden),
“Engineering mRNA Lipid Nanoparticles: From Structure to Performance and Manufacturability” (https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianna-yanez-arteta-07a03759/)
Work package invited speakers
◆ Marta Bally (Professor, Deputy Director of the Umeå Center for Microbial Research, Umea University),
“Virus interactions at the cell surface and in the glycocalyx: forces, kinetics and diffusion” (https://www.linxs.se/people-panda/marta-bally)
◆ Simon Ekström (Head of Unit, Structural Proteomics, SciLifeLab & BioMS, Lund University Node, Lund University)
“Structural proteomics uncovering virus-host protein interactions” (https://www.linxs.se/people-panda/simon-ekstrm)
◆ Anna Munke (Associate Senior Lecturer, Division of Biochemistry and Structural Biology, Department of Chemistry, Lund University)
“From virus particles to infected cells: insights from cryo-EM and cryo-ET of diatom viruses” (https://www.linxs.se/people-panda/anna-munke)
◆ Janis Müller (Professor, Institute of Virology, Marburg University)
"Extracellular vesicles in body fluids as innate defence against virus transmission" (https://www.linxs.se/people-panda/janis-mller)
◆ Sarah Rowland-Jones (Professor of Immunology, University of Oxford)
“How HIV-2 protein structures have revealed their functions?” (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-rowland-jones-47725a17/)
◆ Jessica Alm (Scientific Lead Pandemic Laboratory Preparedness, Karolinska Institutet)
“The Pandemic Laboratory Preparedness program now and in the future”
◆ Pontus Nordenfelt (Senior Lecturer, Division of Infection Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences, Medical Faculty, Lund University)
“Smart data-driven microscopy to capture infection mechanisms”
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◆ Wolfgang Knecht
Pandemics and Alertness Core Group leader and deputy‑leader of WG1 (Understanding the virus), WG2 (Fighting the virus) and WG3 (Complementary and enabling techniques)
Lund Protein Production Platform (LP3) & Protein Production Sweden (PPS), Department of Biology, Lund University◆ Eva Friebertshäuser
Pandemics and Alertness Leader WG1 (Understanding the virus)
Institute of Virology, Philipps‑University Marburg, Germany◆ Mats Ohlin
Pandemics and Alertness Leader WG2 (Fighting the virus)
Dept. of Immunotechnology & SciLifeLab Drug Discovery and Development Platform, Lund University◆ Lotta Happonen
Pandemics and Alertness Leader WG3 (Complementary and enabling techniques)
SciLifeLab & Faculty of Medicine, Lund University◆ Joakim Esbjörnsson
Pandemics and Alertness Core Group member
Lund University Virus Centre, Lund University◆ Marjolein Thunnissen
Pandemics and Alertness Core Group member
MAX IV Laboratory, Lund University
Contact:
For questions regarding the content of the conference, please contact
Wolfgang Knecht, wolfgang.knecht@biol.lu.se
For practical questions about LINXS and the venue, please contact josefin.martell@linxs.lu.se
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