Final Agenda

All times are in Eastern Time (ET).

Invited speakers (25 min talk + 5 min Q&A)  //  Short talks (12 min talk + 3 min Q&A)

"Short Talk Abstracts" will be chosen from submissions and will be announced after the abstract deadline. 

Sunday, January 11, 2026

16:00–21:00 - Conference Registration and Name Badge Pick-up

17:00–17:10 - Welcome and Introduction to the Keynote
Session Chairs: Priya Banerjee, University of Buffalo, SUNY, and Diana Mitrea, DeMix Solutions, LLC

17:10–18:00 - Keynote Speaker 1 & Opening Scientific Session:  "RNA encodes information across scales in cells" - Amy Gladfelter, Duke  University

18:00–19:30 - Dinner

19:30–21:00 - Scientific Session 1: Physical Principles and Molecular Language of Condensates                                                                    Session Chair: Priya Banerjee, University of Buffalo, SUNY, and Diana Mitrea, DeMix Solutions, LLC

  • 19:30–20:00 - "Towards improved coarse-grained models for simulations of condensates" - Kresten Lindorff-Larsen, University of Copenhagen,                        Denmark
  • 20:00–20:30 - "Condensate effects on protein conformational equilibria" - Julie Forman-Kay, Hospital for Sick Children and University of Toronto,                    Canada
  • 20:30–20:45 - "Role of ubiquitin-binding shutle protein phase transitions in protein quality control" - Carlos Castenada, Syracuse University
  • 20:45–21:00 - "Decoding sequence-function relationships using molecular grammars of IDRs" - Kiersten Ruff, Washington University in St. Louis

21:00–22:00 - Welcome Reception and Social Hour

Monday, January 12, 2026

07:00–12:15 - Registration

07:30–08:30 - Breakfast

08:30–10:15 - Session 2: Condensates as Regulators of Cellular Signaling
Session Chair: Kresten Lindorff-Larsen, University of Copenhagen, and Kristin Meyer, Yale University

  • 08:30–09:00 - "The emerging view of plenty of room at the bottom" - Rohit Pappu, Washington University in St. Louis
  • 09:00–09:30 - "Asymmetric cells position the metaphase spindle wrt the future plane of cell cleavage" - Jackie Vogel, McGill University, Canada
  • 09:30–10:00 - "Temperature sensing in plants" - Lucia Strader, Duke University
  • 10:00–10:15 - "Assembling a mesh-like network underpins the double-stranded (ds) DNA-dependent activation and gel-like condensate                                formation of cGAS" - Jungsan Sohn, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

10:15–10:45 - Coffee Break

10:45–12:15 - Session 3: RNA-Driven Phase Transitions in Biomolecular Condensates                                                                                            Session Chair: Amy Gladfelter, Duke University, and Drago Milovanovic, Charité - Berlin University of Medicine

  • 10:45–11:15 - "LLPS of HNRNKPK-Xist in X chromosome inactivation" - Pilong Li, Tsinghua University
  • 11:15–11:45 - "Towards accurate coarse-grained simulations of RNA and RNA/protein phases separation" - Jianhan Chen, University of                                Massachusetts Amherst
  • 11:45–12:00 - "Poly(ADP-ribose) as a dynamic regulator of biomolecular condensates in cellular stress and signaling" - Anthony K.L. Leung, Johns                         Hopkins University
  • 12:00–12:15 - "Detection of RNA interactomes using an RNA-stabilized biotin ligase" - Jiahui (Chris) Wu, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

12:15–13:30 - Lunch

13:30–14:30 - Career Development Workshop and Panel Discussion: Blueprints for Scientific Growth: Academic vs. Industry Career Pathways
Panel Composition: Diana Mitrea (moderator), Andrey Shaw, Xavier Salvatella, Richard Young, Keren Lasker, Richard Kriwacki and Mike Rosen

  • This session gives trainees a realistic, nuanced understanding of different scientific career paths. Early-career researchers often struggle to compare academic and industry trajectories, especially in rapidly evolving fields such as biomolecular condensates. This panel brings together academic faculty at different stages as well as scientists from industry to discuss decision points, expectations, work culture, scientific freedom, stability, mentorship, and long-term growth.

14:45–16:15 - Session 4: Physical Principles and Molecular Language of Condensates II: Emergent Properties                                                  Session Chair: Rohit Pappu, Washington University in St. Louis, and Francesca Di Nuzio, Institut Pasteur

  • 14:45–15:15 - "Heterotypic buffering in condensates suppresses amyloid fibril formation" - Tanja Mittag, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
  • 15:15–15:45 - "Molecular drivers of condensate aging: desolvation, sticker dynamics, and structural domains" - Davit Potoyan, Iowa State                               University
  • 15:45–16:00 - "Heterogeneous aging of RNA condensate" - Hung Nguyen, University of Buffalo, SUNY
  • 16:00–16:15 - "Seeing the forest and the trees: the filamentous ultrastructure of the popz condensate is required for its cellular function" - Keren Lasker, The Scripps Research Institute

16:15–16:30 - Lightning Talks
"Role of polyelectrolyte domains in intracellular biomolecular condensate formation and coalescence" - Soojin Cho, Yonsei University
"Nanometer condensate organization in live cells derived from partitioning measurements" - S. Thomas Hennigan, Baylor College of Medicine
"Bioelectricity and liquid-liquid phase separation: Stress granule formation corresponds with changes in cellular membrane potential" - Michael Patrick Hughes, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
"Luminidependens is a multi-level molecular memory platform" - Jayde J. Johnson, Syracuse University
"Microphase and macrophase separation of proteins with RNA recognition motifs" - Vicky Liu, Washington University in St. Louis

16:30–18:30 - Poster Session 1

18:30–20:00 - Dinner

Tuesday, January 13, 2026

07:30–12:30 - Registration

07:30–08:30 - Breakfast

08:30–10:15 - Session 5: Phase Separation in Nuclear Organization
Session Chair: Cigall Kadoch, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Harvard Medical School, and Lorraine Leon, University of Central Florida

  • 08:30–09:00 - "Multi-scale structure of chromatin condensates" - Mike Rosen, University of Texas Southwestern, US
  • 09:00–09:30 - "Biomolecular condensates orchestrate HIV post-nuclear entry and shape the fate of viral replication" - Francesca Di Nunzio,                             Institut Pasteur, France
  • 09:30–10:00 - "Super-resolution imaging of transcription in living cells" - Ibrahim Cissé, Max Plank Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics,                         Germany
  • 10:00–10:15 - "Single molecule dynamics of endogenous constituents and their IDRs inside endogenous transcription condensates" - Jan-Hendrik                     Spille, University of Illinois - Chicago

10:15–10:45 - Coffee Break

10:45–12:15 - Session 6: Condensates in Neurodegeneration                                                                                                                  Session Chair: Tanja Mittag, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and Jackie Vogel, McGill University

  • 10:45–11:15 - "Biomolecular condensates: molecular insights and implications for disease" - Simon Alberti, Technische Universität Dresden,                             Germany
  • 11:15–11:45 - "Phase separation in synaptic homeostasis and disease" - Dragomir Milovanovic, Berlin University of Medicine, Germany
  • 11:45–12:00 - "Mechanisms of formation and composition of mutant prion protein aggregates and condensates" - Sandra Encalada, The                               Scripps Research Institute
  • 12:00–12:15 - "Biomolecular condensates can enhance pathological RNA clustering" - Tharun Mahendran, State University of New York - Buffalo

12:15–12:30 - Lightning Talks
"The struggle over stress granules during alphavirus infection" - Jared Bard, Texas A&M University
"Determining the roles of intrinsically disordered regions in mediating FOXG1 phase separation, chromatin binding, and nuclear assemblies" - Joseph Basalla, State University of New York at Buffalo
"Adaptive energetic tuning of nucleolar phase seperation regulates RNA transport" - Erik Bergstrom, Baylor College of Medicine
"Biochemical isolation of RNA polymerase II condensates reveals nucleic acid constituents" - Jelena Bogdanovic, University of Chicago
"γ-Tubulin-mediated regulation +TIP body behavior" - Yiran Fan, McGill University
"Heterotypic buffering via biomolecular condensates suppresses protein fibril formation" - Xinrui Gui, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
"Transient poly(ADP-ribose) triggers FUS condensation hysteresis via a prion-like mechanism" - Hongrui Liu, Johns Hopkins University
"En electrostatic repulsion model of centromere organisation" - Maria Julia Maristany, University of Cambridge
"The molecular chaperone BRICHOS regulates Tau protein phase separation and inhibits aggregation and toxicity" - Cecilia Mörman, Karolinska Institutet
"Coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations of RNA partitioning into protein condensates" - Ikki Yasuda, Keio University

12:30–13:30 - Lunch

13:30–14:30 - Career Development Panel 2: The Art of Bold Ideas: Risk, Resilience and Scientific Impact in Challenging Times
Panel Composition: Jianhan Chen (moderator), Tanja Mittag, Rosana Collepardo-Guevara, Paul C. Tang, Pilong Li, Yifan Dai, Joshua Riback

  • A candid, high-impact conversation about how scientists navigate uncertainty: rejected grants, difficult experiments, failed hypotheses, hostile reviews, job searches, and shifting research climates. Panelists share formative experiences that required resilience and how those moments seeded their breakthroughs. 

14:30–16:30 - Free Time

16:30–18:30 - Poster Session 2

18:30–20:00 - Dinner

Wednesday, January 14, 2026

07:30–08:30 - Breakfast

08:30–10:15 - Session 7: Emerging Technologies and Innovative Approaches
Session Chair: Richard Kriwacki, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and Anisha Shakya, University of New Mexico

  • 08:30–09:00 - "Decoding molecular plasticity in the dark proteome" - Edward Lemke, IMB Mainz, Germany
  • 09:00–09:30 - "Single FUS nanocluster pull-down" - Sua Myong, Boston Children’s Hospital
  • 09:30–10:00 - "Unphosphorylated tyrosines mediate PD1 inhibition of T cell signaling condensate formation" - Andrey Shaw, Genentech, Inc.
  • 10:00–10:15 - "Inferring cellular biochemistry from condensates morphology" - Anita Donlic, Princeton University

10:15–10:45 - Coffee Break

10:45–12:15 - Session 8: Phase Transitions in Transcriptional Control and Cancer                                                                                              Session Chair: Xavier Salvatella, IRB Barcelona, and Rebecca Glineburg, Chapman University

  • 10:45–11:15 - "Views of health and disease through the lens of cellular condensates" - Richard Young, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • 11:15–11:45 - "Fusion oncoprotein condensates in cancer" - Richard Kriwacki, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
  • 11:45–12:15 - "Probing sequence-function relationships of chromatin regulatory IDRs" - Cigall Kadoch, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

12:30–13:30 - Lunch

13:30–13:45 - Group Photo

13:45–14:15 - Business Meeting

14:15–15:45 - Session 9: Engineering Phase Transitions to Reprogram Cell Biology                                                                                        Session Chair: Simon Alberti, TU Dresden, and Bryan Gibson, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

  • 14:15–14:45 - "Non-enzymatic electrochemical functions of biomolecular condensates" - Yifan Dai, Washington University in St. Louis
  • 14:45–15:15 - "New physical biology of oncoprotein condensates: differential regulation of the transcriptome by phase separation" - Xiaokun                         Shu, University of California, San Francisco
  • 15:15–15:45 - "Understanding and engineering biomolecular condensates through simulation" - Jerelle Joseph, Princeton University

15:45–16:00 - Lightning Talks
"Molecular exclusion of transcription factors from chromatin condensates" - Job Huxford, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
"Electrochemical gradients organize nucleolar structure and function" - Avnika Pant, Washington University in St. Louis
"m6A-modified TERRA RNA drives RNA condensate formation and telomere maintenance in ALT+ neuroblastoma" - Ketan Thombare, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
"Synthetic ZFTA-fusions pinpoint disordered protein domain acquisition  as a mechanism of brain tumorigenesis" - Amir Arabzade, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
"Reprogramming biomolecular condensates via kinase-induced proximity molecules" - Sara Félix, University of Zürich
"PML bodies fluidize MAD1 condensates to  promote the degradation of overexpressed MAD1 in cancer cells" - Jasper Jeffrey, Carnegie Mellon University
"Molecular mechanisms of chromatin association and gene regulation by NUP98::LNP1 in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia" - Minjeong Jo, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
"Deciphering the regulatory functions of disordered activation domains in compartmentalization and transcription" - Douglas K. Kung, Georgetown University
"Programmable artificial RNA condensates in mammalian cells" - Shiyi Li, University of California, Los Angeles
"Synthetic biomolecular condensates as tunable microtubule assembly hubs" - Sukanya Srinivasan, State University of New York at Buffalo
"Decoding the non-random sequence grammar of prion-like domain interactions in FET fusion oncoproteins" - Anushka Supakar, University at Buffalo
"Engineering programmable RNA-driven condensates for cellular control" - Zhaolin Xue, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

16:15–17:00 - Meet the Expert and Panel Discussion on the Future of Condensate Science
Panel composition: Rohit Pappu, Mike Rosen, Ibrahim Cisse, Richard Young, Amy Gladfelter, Julie-Forman Kay, Cigall Kadoch; Moderator: Priya Banerjee

17:00–18:30 - Poster Session 3

18:30–20:00 - Dinner

Thursday, January 15, 2026

07:30–08:30 - Breakfast

08:30–10:15 - Session 10: Small Molecule Interactions and Emerging Therapeutic Approaches
Session Chair: Rosana Collepardo-Guevara, University of Cambridge, and Edward Lemke, Johannes Gutenberg University

  • 08:30–09:00 - "Targeting condensates in cancer and in neurodevelopmental and neuromuscular diseases" - Xavier Salvatella, IRB Barcelona
  • 09:00–09:30 - "Donor heart preservation for transplant: entering a new phase" - Paul C. Tang, Mayo Clinic
  • 09:30–09:45 -  "An integrated discovery platform for targeting aberrant biomolecular phase transitions in neurodegenerative disorders and                           cancer" - Will Arter, Transition Bio
  • 09:45–10:00 - "Uncovering new mechanisms of cancer drugs through RNA and condensate biology" - Sreejith Nair, Georgetown University
  • 10:00-10:15 - "Disparate leukemia mutations converge on nuclear phase-separated condensates" - Joshua Riback, Baylor College of Medicine

10:15–10:30 - Coffee Break

10:30–10:35 - Keynote Speaker Introduction
Session Chair: Rosana Collepardo-Guevara, University of Cambridge

10:35–11:25 - Keynote Speaker 2: Concluding Scientific Session: "Protein Aggregation in Condensates" - Tuomas Knowles, Cambridge University, UK

11:30–11:45 - Concluding Remarks

End of Conference