SAVE THE DATE!

Dear friends and colleagues,

It is our great pleasure to invite you to the International Symposium on Perinatal and Early Life Immunity from 9th to 12th April 2025 in Freiburg, Germany.

We look forward to welcoming leading scientists from around the world to explore and challenge the most recent discoveries in early immune development – in particular, how the fetal immune system prepares for and adapts to the transition from intrauterine to postnatal life and the enduring effects on cellular immunity and associated organ functions.

Questions for discussion include:

• How does the preprogrammed development, supported by endogenous cues, steer innate immune cell differentiation, adaptation to tissue structures, and immunity to infection?
• How does the birth transition impact on tissue immune architecture, including its topology?
• How do postnatal cues such as the microbiota and metabolic changes guide innate immune cell differentiation and function at immunological niches?

We are especially interested in cultivating discussions on translational aspects of immune development to highlight how improved understanding of underlying mechanisms could lead to innovations in diagnosis, prediction and therapy.

Overall, we hope to make the symposium a memorable experience by combining talks from internationally renowned scientists and early career researchers in expert lectures, highlight talks and an interactive poster night. We particularly want to foster lively interdisciplinary discussion on original findings, which may lead to new hypotheses in this dynamic research area. Moreover, we aim to connect researchers on a personal level to promote new scientific networks.

The venue for the event is the "Historisches Kaufhaus", a Renaissance town palace in the heart of Freiburg's historic old city, which is itself the gateway to Germany's famous Black Forest region.

We very much hope that you will join us for what promises to be a scientifically and personally inspiring meeting. Further details, including how to submit an abstract and how to register, will be posted here soon. In the meantime, please save the date!

Yours,
Philipp Henneke
For the Organizing Committee