EMBO Workshop Shigella:from biology to prevention
April 20-24, 2026
Paris, France
The programme is intended to be a book-ended meeting where the keynotes and first session are designed to give an overview of what we know about the molecular and infection biology of Shigella, the burden and distribution of disease across settings, and the diversity of the pathogen; effectively outlining the challenge and the state of play for the community. The middle sessions of infection models, molecular mechanisms, and pathology and immunology will then give an overview of the knowledge and tools we have available to study and emphasize key knowledge gaps in our understanding of Shigella, while highlighting fundamental discoveries that improve our understanding of microbiology and cellular biology. And finally, the closing session on vaccines and therapeutics and policy panel discussion will set the direction for future work and highlight the remaining research challenges for the development of tools to control the disease. This interchange between basic and applied research is also structured to ensure that participants are incentivized to attend the entire programme.
Monday, April 20, 2026
| Registration / Welcome |
| 12.30 pm-2.00 pm
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| Opening address by the Organization committee |
| 2.00 pm-2.30 pm
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| Opening keynote |
| 2.30 pm-3.30 pm
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2.30 pm |
Perspectives from decades of research into shigellosis nations
Philippe Sansonetti
Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
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| Keynote lecture |
| 3.30 pm-4.30 pm
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3.30 pm |
The global burden of shigellosis
Karen Kotloff
University of Maryland, Baltimore, United States
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| Welcome drinks |
| 4.30 pm-6.00 pm
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Tuesday, April 21, 2026
| Session 1: SHIGELLOSIS BURDEN IN 2026 |
| 09.00 am-12.45 pm
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09.00 am |
Shigellosis in lower to middle income nations: focus on clinical presentation and management
Firdausi Qadri
icddr,b, Dahka, Bangladesh
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09.25 am |
3 x selected abstracts (10m + 2 min)
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10.00 am |
Epidemiology and AMR of Shigella from the Enterics for Global Health (EFGH) study
Patricia Pavlinac
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States
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10.25 am |
Coffee break/networking
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10.55 am |
2 x selected abstracts (10m + 2 min)
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11.20 am |
The disease burden of shigellosis across India, and globally
Tintu Varghese
Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
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11.45 am |
2 x selected abstracts
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12.10 pm |
Gastrointestinal microbiome profiles associated with shigellosis in children
Jane Juma
Center for Vaccine Development, Bamako, Mali
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12.35 pm |
Committee remarks - Reminder of arrangements for social activities
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| Session 2: MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGYAND AMR EMERGENCE |
| 2.00 pm-5.25 pm
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2.00 pm |
Shigellosis genomic epidemiology in high income nations: sex and travel
Claire Jenkins1, Kate Baker2
1United Kingdom Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom 2University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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2.25 pm |
2 x selected from abstracts
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2.50 pm |
Genomic population structure of S. flexneri 6
David Rasko
University of Maryland School of Dentistry, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
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3.15 pm |
Coffee Break/Networking
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4.00 pm |
Shigellosis in Latin America
Cecilia Toro
Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
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4.25 pm |
4 x selected abstracts
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5.15 pm |
Closing remarks
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Wednesday, April 22, 2026
| Session 3: INFECTION MODELS |
| 09.00 am-12.50 pm
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09.00 am |
Using gastrointestinal signals and organoids to model the human environment and study Shigella
Christina Faherty
Uniformed Services University of the Health Science, Bethesda, Maryland, United States
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09.25 am |
2 x selected abstracts
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09.50 am |
Insights into Shigella pathogenesis and immunity from the NAIP-NLRC4 deficient mouse model
Russell Vance
UC Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States
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10.15 am |
2 x selected abstracts
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10.40 am |
Coffee break/networking
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11.20 am |
Large scale Shigella infection of gut epithelial organoids
Michael Sellin
Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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11.45 am |
2 x selected abstracts
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12.10 pm |
Development and utilizationof the Shigella controlled human infection model
Chad Porter
Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
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12.35 pm |
8 x odd number poster flash talks
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| Committee remarks |
| 12.50 pm-1.55 pm
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| Session 4: MOLECULAR MECHANISMS - SHIGELLA VIRULENCE |
| 2.00 pm-4.35 pm
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2.00 pm |
Interferon: Tug of War between Host and Pathogen
Charlotte Odendall
King's College, London, United Kingdom
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2.25 pm |
2 x selected from abstracts
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2.50 pm |
The Structure and Function of Shigella Effectors
Neal Alto
University of Texas, Dallas, Texas, United States
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3.15 pm |
Coffee Break/Networking
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3.45 pm |
Dynamics of Shigella virulence and AMR plasmids
Christoph Tang
University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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4.10 pm |
2 x selected from abstracts
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| Poster session/Beers (Odd numbers) |
| 4.35 pm-6.30 pm
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| Social event |
| 6.30 pm-10.00 pm
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Thursday, April 23, 2026
| Session 5: MOLECULAR MECHANISMS - CELL BIOLOGY |
| 09.00 am-12.40 pm
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09.25 am |
2 x selected from abstracts
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09.50 am |
Leveraging synthetic biology to advance our understanding of the intracytosolic armor of Shigella
Cammie Lesser
Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
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10.15 am |
2 x selected from abstracts
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10.40 am |
Coffee break/networking
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11.10 am |
The molecular basis of vacuolar rupture by Shigella
Jost Enninga
Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
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11.35 am |
2 x selected from abstracts
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12.00 pm |
Shigella: a master regulatorof the inflammatory signal extracellular ATP
Andrea Puhar
Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Ireland
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12.25 pm |
8 x even number poster flash talks
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| Session 6: IMMUNE DYNAMICS - BASIC RESEARCH |
| 2.00 pm-3.15 pm
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2.00 pm |
How Shigella escapes from cell-autonomous immunity
Felix Randow
University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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2.25 pm |
Shigella suppression of host proinflammatory responses
Feng Shao
National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, China
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2.50 pm |
2 x selected from abstracts
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| Poster session/Coffee break (Even numbers) |
| 3.15 pm-5.15 pm
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| Visit of the Museum followed by a dinner at the Museum restaurant (timing to be confirmed) |
| 6.00 pm-10.00 pm
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Friday, April 24, 2026
| Session 7: IMMUNE DYNAMICS - SEROEPIDEMIOLOGY |
| 09.00 am-12.20 pm
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09.00 am |
Hyperendemic shigellosis in Israel: immunological insights into disease transmission
Dani Cohen
Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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09.25 am |
2 x selected from abstracts
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09.50 am |
Age-dependent acquisition of IgG antibodies to Shigella serotypes: implications for infant vaccination
Melissa Kapulu
University of Oxford, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kilifi, Kenya
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10.15 am |
2 x selected from abstracts
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10.40 am |
Coffee break/networking
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11.20 am |
Serologic Responses to Shigella in the EFGH Study: Implications for diagnosis, immunity, and vaccine development
James Platts-Mills
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
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11.45 am |
3 x selected from abstracts
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| Prize awards - Best poster prize |
| 12.20 pm-12.30 pm
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| Session 8: DEFEATING SHIGELLA - VACCINE AND THERAPEUTIC DEVELOPMENT |
| 2.00 pm-4.35 pm
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2.00 pm |
Novel natural antimicrobials for fighting shigellosis
Shushmita Bhattacharya
ICMR - National Institute for Research in Bacterial Infections, Kolkata, India
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2.25 pm |
Human monoclonal antibodies against Shigella, for therapy and vaccine acceleration
Claudia Sala
Fondazione Biotecnolopo di Siena, Siena, Italy
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2.50 pm |
Coffee break/networking
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3.10 pm |
Shigella vaccine development history, pipeline and overview
Duncan Steele
Gates, Washington, United States
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3.35 pm |
5 x selected from abstracts
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| Policy panel discussion |
| 4.35 pm-5.30 pm
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4.35 pm |
Directions of travel for Shigella therapeutics and global management with representatives from
WHO (Robert Kaminski or Birgitte Giersing TBC), Gates (Duncan Steele), PATH (William Hausdorff)
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| Closing remarks and prize awards - Best talk prize |
| 5.30 pm-5.45 pm
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