Organized in coordination between the University of Geneva Faculty of Medicine and the Geneva University Hospitals, Switzerland. Preliminary program as of 13.03.2025
Monday, April 7th 2025
8.00 Registration Sponsors
9:00 Registration Participants
10.00 Welcome Note
Organizers of the symposium
Antoine Geissbühler, Dean of the Medical Faculty, University of Geneva
Opening lectures (Keynote)
Chairs : Arnaud Didierlaurent, Isabella Eckerle
10.15 The current landscape of emerging viruses: WHO’s perspective
Maria van Kerkhove, WHO, Switzerland
10.55 The current landscape of new vaccines and vaccine innovation
Melanie Saville, PATH, United- Kingdom
Swiss Initatives for Pandemic Preparedness
Chairs: Laurent Kaiser, Pauline Vetter
11:40 The Swiss Network for Infectious Diseases Dynamics (SNIDDY)
Christian Althaus, University of Bern, Switzerland
11.50 Pandemic preparedness in Switzerland
Parham Sendi, Federal Office of Public Health, Switzerland
12.00 The Center for Pathogen Bioinformatics
Aitana Neves, Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Switzerland
12.10 Pathoplexus: an open-source database for sharing viral pathogen genomic data
Cornelius Roemer, University of Basel, Switzerland
12.20 Epidemiological surveillance of acute respiratory viral infections at Geneva University Hospitals: Insights and Innovations
Marie-Céline Zanella Terrier and Rebecca Grant, University Hospitals of Geneva, Switzerland
12.30 The Swiss national program for the surveillance of swine influenza A viruses in pigs and humans
Julia Lechmann, University of Zurich, Switzerland
12.40 - 14.00 Lunch break
Session I: Arboviruses – in EuropE and on a global scale
Chairs: Gilles Eperon, Camille Escadafal
14.00 Clinical primer Arboviruses – in Europe and on a global scale
Pauline Vetter, University Hospitals of Geneva, Switzerland
14.10 Mosquito surveillance and vector competence in Switzerland
Eva Veronesi, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI), Switzerland
14.35 Recent arbovirus circulation in France - Lessons for research, preparedness and response to arboviral emergence
Xavier de Lamballerie, CNR Arbovirus, Marseille, France
15.00 Vaccines against Arboviruses
Anna Durbin, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH), USA
15.25 Molecular Epidemiology of the Ongoing Oropouche Virus Outbreak: Viral Evolution and Ecological Drivers
Felipe Gomes Naveca, Fiocruz, Brazilian Ministry of Health, Brazil
15.50 - 16.15 Coffee break
Session II: Enteroviruses
Chairs: Manuel Schibler, Manel Essaidi-Laiziosi
16.15 Clinical Primer : A fatal case of disseminated enterovirus infection
Arnaud L'Huillier, University Hospitals of Geneva, Switzerland
16.25 Enteroviruses - harmless fellow passengers or next disease X?
Heli Harvala, University of Turku, Finland
16.50 Enteroviruses evolution and diversity
Emma Hodcroft, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Switzerland
Session III: Hot topic
Chairs: Alexandra Calmy
17.15 Global health in crisis, and then what?
Karl Blanchet, Geneva Centre for Humanitarian Studies, UNIGE, Switzerland
17.40 Mini-Break
Evening Lectures (Keynote)
Chairs : Pauline Vetter, Christiane Eberhardt
18.00 Welcome Note
Robert Mardini, Director of the University Hospitals of Geneva, Switzerland
18.10 Lessons learned on Evidence Generation from Small Outbreaks
Jakob Cramer, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), United-Kingdom
18.50 There will be no warning for the next pandemic
Justin Lessler, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, USA
Social Program
19.30 Apero
Tuesday , April 8th 2025
8.00 - 9.00 Registration
Session I: Influenza viruses
Chairs: Ana Rita Goncalves, Benjamin Meyer
9.00 Clinical primer: A Curious Case of Swine Influenza A Virus in Switzerland
Ronald Dijkman, University of Bern, Switzerland
9.10 Influenza Vaccines: Progress and Challenges
Kanta Subbarao, Laval University, Canada
9.35 How innate immunity drives influenza-vaccine induced responses: implications for mRNA-based and H5-targeted vaccines
Robbert Van der Most, VaxxCellence, Belgium
10.00 Prepandemic vaccines for H5N1
Rory de Vries, Erasmus Medical Centre, The Netherlands
10.25 - 11.00 Coffee Break
Session II: Poxviruses
Chairs: Andrew Azman, Helene Buvelot
11.00 Clinical primer : A case of mpox reinfection
Stefano Musumeci, University Hospitals of Geneva, Switzerland
11.10 Emergence of Mpox in the Post-Smallpox Era
Placide Mbala, National Institute of Biomedical Research, Democratic Republic of Congo
11.35 MPX Clinical Trials : Unraveling a Complex Journey
Alexandra Calmy, University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland
12.00 Mpox vaccines from research to public health use
Kari Johansen, The Public Health Agency, Sweden
12.25 Mpox : the return of Smallpox ?
Laurent Kaiser, University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland
12.50 -14.00 Lunch Break
Session III: Coronaviruses
Chairs: Natacha Madelon, Olha Puhach
14.00 Adaptive immune responses are larger and functionally preserved in a COVID-19 hypervaccinated individual
Kilian Schober, University Hospital Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
14.15 Viral Evolution and Scientific Leadership in the Global South
Tulio de Oliveira, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
14.40 Dissecting human immunity to a MERS vaccine candidate
Marylyn Addo, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
15.05 Towards a pan-sarbecovirus vaccine to protect against SARS-CoV-2 variants and animal sarbecoviruses without updating
Pamela Bjorkman, California Institute of Technology, USA
15.30 -16.00 Coffee Break
Session IV: Animal vaccination and the One Health Approach
Chairs: Marylin Addo, Geraldine Blanchard-Rohner
16.00 Preparing for arboviruses in a changing delta
Marion Koopmans, Erasmus Medical Centre, The Netherlands
16.25 Zoonotic Influenza Viruses: Pandemic risks and One-Health Perspectives
Martin Beer, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Germany
16.50 Animal Vaccination and One Health Approach
Joris Vandeputte, IABS/VacciM, Belgium
17.15 Prospects and approaches for hunting viral spillovers: Nipah virus in Bangladesh as a case study
Emily Gurley, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH), USA
17:40 Mini Break
Evening Lecture (Keynote)
Chairs: Isabella Eckerle, Arnaud Didierlaurent
18.00 Emerging viruses & vaccination in times of humanitarian crisis
Jerome Singh, University of Toronto, Canada
Social Program
19.15 Conference dinner
Wednesday, April 9th 2025
8.00 - 9.00 Registration
Session I: Marburg Virus Diseases
Chairs: Frédérique Jacquerioz, Michael Bel
09.00 Clinical Primer : update on Marburg outbreaks
Frédérique Jacquerioz, University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland
09.10 Marburg outbreak Rwanda
Eric Seruyange, University of Rwanda, Rwanda
09.35 Treatment trials for Marburg virus
Amanda Rojek, University of Oxford, United-Kingdom
10.00 Genomic and Transmission Dynamics of the 2024 Marburg Virus Outbreak in Rwanda
Raissa Muvunyi, Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Rwanda
10.25 Vaccination against Marburg
Gene G Olinger, University of Texas Medical Branch, USA
10.50 -11.15 Coffee break
Session II: Towards eradication by vaccination
Chairs: Paul-Henri Lambert et Kamel Senouci
11.15 Measles eradication, challenges and perspectives
Peter Strebel, Independant Consultant, Switzerland
11.40 Poxvirus eradication
David Heymann, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United- Kingdom
12.05 Polio eradication
12.40 Closing Remarks & Farewell
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