Day 1: Sunday, October 1, 2023

SESSION 1: From discovery, clinical challenges to elimination

Keynote lecture: From yellow fever, to hepatitis C, and back

Charles Rice - Laboratory of Virology and Infectious Disease, The Rockefeller University

Keynote lecture: HCV Elimination: Where there’s a will there’s a way

Susanna Naggie - Duke University School of Medicine, USA

Keynote lecture: Hepatitis C elimination: from a Nobel Prize to a Nobel cause

John Ward - Taskforce for Global Health, Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination, USA

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Day 2: Monday, October 2, 2023

SESSION 2: Innate immunity and virus-host interaction

Keynote lecture: New insights into flavivirus – host cell interactions: a tale of proteins and lipids

Ralf Bartenschlager - Department of Infectious Diseases, Molecular Virology CIID, Heidelberg University and Virus-associated carcinogenesis German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, Germany

Plenary talk: Calling the shots: micro(RNA)-management of HCV infection

Selena Sagan - Department of Microbiology & Immunology University of British Columbia and departments of Microbiology & Immunology and Biochemistry McGill University, Canada

Abstract talks

A TLR3-based directed evolution approach identifies an HCV NS3 helicase point mutation specifically affecting (-) strand synthesis

Philipp Ralfs - Heidelberg University, Germany

HCV p7-mediated inhibition of signal peptide peptidase (SPP) promotes HCV assembly by facilitating Core localization to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and Core-E1 interaction

Ming-Jhan Wu - Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, USA

Identification of phosphorylation sites on viral and host proteins regulating west nile virus replication

Holly Ramage - Thomas Jefferson University, USA

Mutations in the ISDR dramatically increase Hepatitis C Virus replication leading to direct viral pathogenesis

Paul Rothhaar - Heidelberg University, Germany

How a virus builds a house: Host factors influencing viral replication organelle formation during flavivirus infection

Jonathan Owen - Emory University, USA

5-minute pitch talks

Identification of hepatitis E virus restriction factors by utilizing arrayed human and porcine ISG screens

Volker Kinast - Carl Von Ossietzky University, Germany

NS5A oligomerization-dependent membrane remodeling activity correlates with HCV replicative fitness and is a direct and common target of different NS5A inhibitors

Sameh Lofti Abdalla - University of Texas Medical Branch, USA

PLA2G4C induced by HCV infection is involved in the accumulation of lipid droplets via the inhibition of lipolysis

Masahiko Ito - Department of Virology and Parasitology, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Japan

To Switch or Not to Switch: The Dilemma HCV Phases

Manolya Sag - University of British Columbia, Canada

Genetic and molecular characterization of species-specific receptor transport protein 4 (RTP4)-mediated HCV repression

Michael Schwoerer - Princeton University, USA

Regulation of protein kinase R by hepatitis C virus nonstructural protein 5A

Carla Gallardo - Department of Biomedical Sciences, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada

What do HCV Core and NS5A partners in crime tell us about hepatocyte deregulations? Interacting host factors and enriched pathways identified in an infection system

Angeliki Anna Beka - Institut Pasteur, France

SESSION 3: Developing next generation vaccines

Keynote lecture: Serological signatures of protection and pathology to Flaviviruses

Galit Alter - Moderna, USA and Harvard University, USA

Plenary talk: Integrated organ immunity

Bali Pulendran - Stanford University, USA

Abstract talks

Design and non-viral delivery of live attenuated virus vaccine to prevent chronic hepacivirus (HCV-like virus) infection

Amit Kapoor - Department of Pediatrics The Ohio State University College of Medicine Center for Vaccines and Immunity, USA and Nationwide Children’s, USA

Preclinical evaluation of T and B cell targeting DNA/ MVA-based HCV vaccine candidates in mice and rhesus macaques

Rama Amara - Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory Vaccine Center, Emory National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, USA

Domain stabilization and comparison of secreted versus membrane-bound forms of HCV E1E2 vaccine candidates

Thomas Fuerst - Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, USA

Structural and biochemical studies of flaviviruses in complex with antibodies and attachment factors

Richard Kuhn - Purdue University, USA

Lipid/mRNA HCV E1E2 vaccines elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies and the requirement of transmembrane domains

John Law - Li Ka Shing Applied Virology Institute, Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

5-minute pitch talks

Extensive C→U transition biases in the genomes of HCV and other mammalian RNA viruses Evidence of host-mediated editing of viral RNA?

Peter Simmonds - Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

Rationally designed attenuated HCV variants for vaccine development

Meital Gal-Tanamy - Bar-ilan University, Israel

Bispecific antibodies against hepatitis C virus E1E2 with enhanced breadth and potency in pseudoparticle and authentic virus neutralization assays

Laura Radić - University of Amsterdam, Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection prevention, Laboratory of Experimental Virology and Amsterdam institute for Infection and Immunity, Infectious diseases, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Optimization of candidate HCV vaccine antigens to enhance binding of broadly neutralizing antibody unmutated ancestors

Desiree Wright - Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Baltimore, MD 

Iterative structure-based design of a hyperstable soluble hepatitis C virus E1E2 heterodimer

Joan Capella-Pujol - Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Netherlands

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Day 3: Tuesday, October 3, 2023

SESSION 4: Flavivirus structure, function and viral life cycle

Keynote lecture: Evolution of alphavirus entry

Daved Fremont - Department of Pathology & Immunology, Washington University in Saint Louis, USA

Plenary talk: Receptor binding and entry of hepatitis C virus

Joe Marcotigiano - National Institutes of Health, USA

Abstract talks

Structure of the hepatitis C virus E1/E2 heterodimer in a homodimeric complex

Elias Honerød Augestad - Copenhagen University, Denmark

Using machine learning to map membrane fusion mechanisms across the Flaviviridae

Joe Grove - University of Glasgow Centre For Virus Research, United Kingdom

Flavivirus STAT2 antagonism and host coevolution

Matt Evans - Department of Microbiology Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA

Identifying the Molecular Determinants of Epitope Specificity in HCV

Rowena Bull - Kirby Institute, Australia

Differential T cell signaling by memory-like and severe exhausted HCV-specific CD8 T cells in chronic HCV infection revealed by highly multiplexed mass-based phosphoflow analysis

Bertram Bengsch - Clinic for Internal Medicine II, Section Translational Systems Immunology in Hepatogastroenterology,University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany

5-minute pitch talks

Neutralizing antibodies evolve to exploit vulnerable sites in HCV E2, mediating repeated, spontaneous clearance of infection

Nicole Frumento - Johns Hopkins University, USA

A new assay for the quantification of HCV E2- or E1- dependent neutralizing antibody responses in polyclonal plasma

Anne Gao - Johns Hopkins University, USA

Dengue virus serotype-specific inhibition of T cell responses is due to a single amino acid polymorphism in the envelope protein

Jack Stapleton - Iowa City VA Health Care and University of Iowa, USA

Understanding the virus-host protein-protein interaction network of the hepatitis E virus

Philip Meuleman - Laboratory of Liver Infectious Diseases Ghent University

IL-15-induced activation of liver damaging bystander CD8+ T cells is counteracted by Ca2+ signals in viral hepatitis

Eui-Cheoi Shin - Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), South Korea

A structural perspective into Hepatitis C Virus E1E2 glycoprotiens using a lentvirus-pseudoparticle approach

Shishir Poudyai - Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology, and Infectious Disease (PI4D) and Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, United States

Investigating the role of NS2A in the Zika virus

Breana Landry - Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Canada

SESSION 5: Replication systems and animal models

Keynote lecture: Breaking the species barrier of hepatitis C virus

Alexander Ploss - Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, USA

Plenary talk: Early events in the HCV life cycle

Glenn Randall - Department of Microbiology, The University of Chicago, USA

Abstract talks

Impact of HBV pre-core mutation and IFNα on hepatocyte proteome in chronically-infected primary human hepatocytes

Lefteris Michailidis - Emory University, USA

Function and therapeutic potential of cathepsin peptidases during Hepatitis E Virus infection

Mara Klöhn - Ruhr University Bochum, Germany

Comprehensive epitope mapping and structural studies of antibodies from an HCV elite neutralizer reveal bNAbs that bind multiple antigenic regions on the E2 glycoprotein

Andrew Flyak - Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Cornell University, USA

Concerted synergy between viral-specific IgG and CD8+ T cells is critical for clearance of an HCV-related rodent hepacivirus

John Gridley - Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University, USA

5-minute pitch talks

Phenotype and fate of liver resident CD8 T cells during acute and chronic hepacivirus infection

Piyush Dravid - Center for Vaccine & Immunity, The Abigail Wexner Research Institute and Nationwide Children’s Hospital

HCV-Specific CD4+ T-Cells are targeted by HIV-1 for infection and viral reservoir persistence

Samaa Gobran - Centre De Recherche Du Chum, Canada

Hepatitis C virus hypervariable region 1 insertions as a novel antibody evasion mechanism

Christina Holmboe Olesen - University of Copenhagen, Denmark

The role of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells in orchestrating anti-viral T and B cell responses during an acute hepacivirus infection

Fengzhi Jin - Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University, USA

Analysis of intrahepatic CD8+ T cells with different viral epitope-specificity during primary and secondary hepacivirus infection

Jarrett Lopez-Scarim - Department of Medicine, Division of Hepatology, and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, USA

Hepatitis C viral evolution after childbirth bears signatures of both CD8+ T cell and antibody pressure in women with postpartum suppression of viral replication

Christopher Phelps - Nationwide Children’s Hospital, USA

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Day 4: Wednesday, October 4, 2023

SESSION 6: Emerging and reemerging flaviviruses, vector transmission and biology

Keynote lecture: Zika virus vaccine development: Experience is not preparedness

Ted Pierson - Vaccine Research Center, National Institutes of Health, USA

Plenary talk: Flavivirus-vector interactions: How do taxonomically divergent hosts impact virus evolution?

Greg Ebel - Center for Vector-borne Infectious Diseases, Department of Microbiology Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, USA

Abstract talks

Treating dengue infections in vivo using mRNA encoded Cas13

Chiara Zurla - Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University, USA

Genetic and functional characterization of the membrane region of the pestiviral NS2 protein

Olaf Isken - University of Luebeck, Germany

A viral footprint provides clues on how dengue virus escapes the acid bubble

Jiayu Zhang - Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, USA

Two is better than one: exploring the helicase and capping interfaces between NS3 and NS5 in flavivirus infection

Quinn Abram - McGill University Sagan Lab, University of British Columbia, Canada

Update on CHIM

HCV Controlled Human Infection Model (CHIM) Trial Design

Jordan Feld - Toronto Centre for Liver Disease, Canada

SESSION 7: Correlates of protective immunity

Keynote lecture: CD8 T cell adaptation to chronic viral infection

Rafi Ahmed - Emory University, USA

Plenary talk: What is a protective CD4+ T cell response against HCV? (and can we replicate it by vaccination?)

Christopher Walker - Nationwide Children’s Hospital, USA

Abstract talks

Epigenetic scars in regulatory T cells are retained after successful treatment of chronic hepatitis C with direct-acting antivirals

So-Young Kim - Korea Advanced Institute Of Science And Technology (KAIST), South Korea

Analysis of circulating and intrahepatic CD4+ T cell response in acute resolving HCV

Heather Blasczyk - The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at NCH, USA

Memory B cell responses in chronic hepatitis C patients following direct-acting antiviral treatment

Fang Chen - Law Lab, Department of Immunology and Microbiology Scripps Research, USA

Activation of CD4 T follicular helper cells correlates with B cell expansion and neutralizing antibodies during HCV reinfection and clearance

Elsa Gomez Escobar - CRCHUM, Canada

Round table discussion

Justin Bailey - Johns Hopkins University, USA

Andrea Cox - Johns Hopkins University, USA

Thomas Fuerst - University of Maryland, USA

Mansun Law - Scripps Research Institute, USA

Kwinten Sliepen - University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

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