Close to 600 scientists descended on Ghent for EMDS2023@VIB last week during three days of cutting-edge science in the fields of macrophages and dendritic cells. Kenneth Murphy, Meriam Merad, Ido Amit, and Christopher Glass were just a few of the leading scientists who presented their unpublished data.
The program also offered junior researcher plenty of opportunities to present their research. The plenary sessions included 10 selected talks and 15 poster pitches. It was great to see so many lively discussions in the hallways, which were packed with 300 posters. Each afternoon a biotech company (Vizgen, Miltenyi Biotec, and 10x Genomics) showcased their latest technologies and products during a workshop.
Charlotte Scott (OC member and speaker): It’s been a really great meeting. You can see it from the turnout and the standard of all the talks. I was so nervous this morning to stand on this stage and follow everybody who presented before. There is so much participation and so many posters, I don't think we could've asked for it to be any better.
Martin Guilliams (OC member and speaker): And I think it's like positive pressure, everyone is showing unpublished data and super cool stuff, so then yesterday we discussed we're going all in, we have to show everything. It was super cool.
Christopher Glass (Speaker): One surprise is how big it is. This is a meeting on a very specific aspect of immunology and there are close to 600 people here. So I wasn't expecting that! One of the problems of a big meeting is that it's hard to interact with people, but with this meeting, I could just bounce off people, which has been very good.
At the end of this article, you can find the full video interviews with Charlotte, Martin, and Christopher. You can find a photo album of the meeting by clicking here.
Impressions of the conference reporters
During the conference, three dedicated VIB Conference reporters, all with expertise in the field, brought the event to life on social media. Tommaso Scolaro, Kathryn Waller, and Marie Laviron ensured that attendees and those following remotely had access to real-time updates. Here are some of their insightful observations:
Tommaso Scolaro:
I was impressed by several speakers, including all the co-organizers, who in their own way gave me new ideas. Miriam Merad excelled in elucidating dendritic cell migration and function, shedding light on the pivotal role of cholesterol during the acquisition of their mregDC program. Bart Lambrecht, with SPAM, unveiled a new cutting-edge tool to specifically deplete alveolar macrophages. Martin Guilliams and Charlotte Scott introduced me to the field of Kupffer cells (KCs) and the liver. I was particularly impressed by the in vivo CRISPR screening and the spatial technology of Martin Guilliams that hopefully will pave the way to a deeper knowledge of cell-cell interaction between KCs, hepatic stellate cells, endothelial cells and hepatocytes in health and disease. On the other hand, the new insights on lipid-associated macrophages (LAM) and LAM-like KCs are needed for future perspectives in handling liver inflammation and its resolution.
Finally, I want to mention the new concept of Max Krummel and Maria-Casanova Acebes concerning tumor-associated macrophages. Krummel pointed out how the paradigm M1/M2 is now absolutely obsolete and we need to move forward. Acebes propesed the topic of circadian immunology in a clear and captivating way.
Following these intense three days, I was really enthusiastic to go back home and think about future experiments and projects based on the new insights, looking forward to the next edition of EMDS to be again together with such inspiring scientists in a collaborative environment.
Kathryn Waller:
The EMDS 2023, hosted by the VIB, was one of the most impressive conferences I have ever been to, the lineup was insane! The top names in the field all attended and it was an incredibly open conference with the most unpublished data being presented that I have ever seen at such an event. It was so interesting to see similarities in cell phenotypes across different tissues and disease presented by different groups. On top of that the conversations generated in the breakout sessions and poster sessions were very lively with collaborations forming in every corner. The data, unsurprisingly, was of incredibly high caliber and there were opportunities for PhDs and postdocs to give poster pitches, selected talks and poster presentations. In addition, junior researchers were encouraged to ask questions, with questions from senior members halted initially, something I have not seen before at such a big conference.
It’s not easy to pick my favourite moments because I honestly learnt something from each talk. One of the talks that really stood out for me was Paul Kubes. Having seen him talk a few times before, my expectations were high and he did not disappoint. As usual he shared some amazing intravital microscopy, some of which was done on a 1 day old mouse! He also made me think more about the physical properties of the liver, particularly how widening of vessels and reduced elasticity during inflammation will likely stress the cells and alter their properties.
For me, another inspiring talk was that of Shalin Naik. He is a very captivating speaker so again my expectations were high and met. His work on clonal expansion has made me question all previous studies on haematopoiesis, incredibly pioneering work by his lab!
At the end of the three days, I have new ideas to apply to my own work, a better understanding of the field and I’ve made friends and collaborations, what else could you ask for from a conference?! Truly an incredible experience.
Marie Laviron:
The EMDS 2023 was a fantastisc conference! The lineup of speakers was super impressive for the all macrophage/DC aficionado, and the quality of every talk just confirmed the excellence of this year’s EMDS. I thought it was also a great opportunities to discuss with these top names from the field, and I really appreciated the efforts most of them made to walk around to see the posters and discuss with PhD students and postdocs who were presenting such high-quality work. I had great interactions with people from the field from all over the world, and it really gave me new perspectives from my project.
There were many very inspiring talk, and I think a lot of people agreed with that. One that stuck with me was Ana-Maria Lennon-Duménil presenting her works on physical confinement of DCs and how this impact their future behavior. This was so different and yet a crucial parameter for all our cells our interest that have to go through so many deformation in our tissues.
I had three intense days of exciting science. I feel grateful that I had the chance to meet so many inspiring people.
The added value of attending a conference
We asked Christopher Glass and Charlotte Scott what role conferences play in their scientific careers:
I was sitting next to Ken Murphy during the last session. And he told me a whole bunch of things that were super interesting and important that I would not have gotten in a Zoom-based conference. The ability to just get together and speak to people and to be able to dynamically interact is so important. This meeting is certainly fulfilling my expectations for that.
Charlotte added:
They play an absolutely crucial role. You’re coming to these meetings, and you’re seeing the unpublished data and getting new ideas. There are about 4 or 5 people I want to set up collaborations with. And that doesn’t happen from just reading the paper. So I think being here and having these interactions is where the magic happens.
We couldn’t agree more and eagerly anticipate the next edition, with high hopes for even more groundbreaking discoveries and inspiring collaborations. See you at a future VIB Conference!
