Agenda - Gastrointestinal Tract XXII: Molecular and Cellular Advances Towards Discovery and Treatment

All times are in local time.

Senior Invited speakers (20 min talk + 5 min Q&A)

Junior invited presentations (12 min talk + 3 min Q&A) // Short talks (8 min talk + 2 min Q&A)

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

Sunday Dinner and Sunday Reception will take place in Primrose, Level L

Breakfasts, Lunches and Dinners are served for registered attendees in Ballroom 2&3, Level L1

Monday and Tuesday evenings networking will take place in SeventyOne Lounge, Level L2

Wednesday evening karaoke will take place in Primrose, Level L

General Sessions are taking place in Ballroom 1, Level L1

Poster receptions will take place in Ballroom 2&3, Level L1

Monday Recruitment event will take place in Magpie, Level L1

16:00–20:00 Name Badge Pick-up is outside Ballroom 1 Level L1 everyday

17:00--18:45 Dinner

18:45 Session 1: Targeting Epithelial Barrier Repair in IBD
Chairs: Richard DiPaolo, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO; Theresa Pizarro, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH; Michael Kattah, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; Laurianne Van Landeghem, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

18:45--19:00 Chairs' Welcome and Opening of the Conference
19:00--20:00 Keynote presentation: Microbial regulation of vitamin A flux in gut immunity, Lora Hooper, Department of Immunology, UT Southwestern, TX

20:00--12:00 Evening Reception

07:00–14:30 Name Badge Pick-up

06:30–08:00 Breakfast

07:00--08:00 Meet-the-experts: “Navigating grant application process in 2026”

Chair: Theresa Pizarro, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Panelists:
Michele Battle, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Mark Frey, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
John Kao, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI

08:00 Session 2: Neurobiology of the gut
Chairs: Brian Gulbransen, Michigan State University; Michelle Southard-Smith, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

08:00--08:25 Impact of environmental pollution on gut health, Marlene Hao, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
08:25--08:50 Enteric glia as signal conditioners in enteric neurocircuits in health and disease, Brian Gulbransen, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
08:50--09:15 Human pluripotent stem cells to study peripheral neuropathies, Faranak Fattahi, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
09:15--09:30 Enteric neurons orchestrate intestinal immunity and epithelial defense, Hailong Zhang, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC

09:30--10:15 Coffee Break

10:15--10:40 Molecular and environmental regulation of enteric glia plasticity, Werend Boesmans, Hasselt University, Belgium and Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands
10:40--10:55 A gut signal controlling food reward and obesity, Laura Rupprecht, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
10:55--11:05 Short Talk 1: Sox10 mutation alters the neurogenic gene regulatory network during Enteric Nervous System development, Michelle Southard-Smith, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
11:05--11:15 Short Talk 2: Hormonal tuning of gut sensory signaling, Archana Venkataraman, University of California, San Francisco, CA
11:15--11:25 Short Talk 3: Maladaptive Piezo1 mechanotransduction drives smooth muscle aging and gut dysmotility, Vikram Joshi, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
11:25--12:00 Flash Talks for Poster Session #1

1-3 slides max and 3 min/speaker (no q&a)

Maple Adkins-Threats, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
Megan Liou, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Elyse Wood, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Liqing Huang, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Olaide Abiona, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
Pavitha Parathan, Olivia Newton John Cancer Research Institute, Heidelberg, VIC, Australia
Kaylynn Vidmar, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
Courtney Rivet-Noor, Duke University, Durham, NC
Enkai Li, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Joana de Barros Martins, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, NY
Steeve Boulant, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

12:00--13:00 Lunch

13:00--16:00 Free Time and Workshops

13:00--14:00 Panel Discussion: “Partnering with industry as an academic”

Chairs: Richard DiPaolo, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO; Michael Kattah, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

Panelists:
Jason Goldsmith, Nestlé
Randy Longman, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY
Bill Faubion, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ
Scott Magness, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

14:00--15:00 Panel Discussion: “Foundations: Opportunities for research funding at all levels of training and faculty positions”

Chair: Theresa Pizarro, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Panelists:
Nick Tomeo, American Gastroenterological Association (AGA)
Laura Wilson, Kenneth Rainin Foundation
Theresa Pizarro, Crohn's & Colitis Foundation

15:00--16:00P Recruitment event

16:00--18:00 Poster Session #1 Neurobiology of the Gut + Mucosal Immunology

Reception

18:00--19:00 Dinner

19:00 Session 3: Mucosal Immunology
Chairs: Bill Faubion, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ; Wendy Goodman, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

19:00--19:25 Epithelial regulation of the host-microbiota relationship in health and disease, Theresa Alenghat, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH
19:25--19:50 Regulation of intestinal inflammation by interferons, Ivan Zanoni, Harvard Medicine School and Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA
19:50--20:15 Neighborhood patrol: Gamma-delta intraepithelial lymphocyte interactions with the intestinal mucosa, Karen Edelblum, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
20:15--20:30 The IL-33/PAI-1 axis as a driver of fibrotic remodeling in Crohn's disease-like ileitis, Stefania De Santis, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH

20:30--12:00 Networking

08:00–14:30 Name Badge Pick-up

06:30–08:00 Breakfast

07:00--08:00 Meet-the-experts: “Publishing”

Chair: Laurianne Van Landeghem, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Panelists:
Michele Battle, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Mark Frey, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Kim Barrett, University of California Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA

08:00 Session 4: Upper GI Biology
Chairs: Juanita Merchant, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ; Kathy DelGiorno, Vanderbilt School of Medicine, Nashville, TN

08:00--08:25 Refocusing on therapeutic reversal of gastric pre-cancer, Jim Goldenring, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN
08:25--08:50 Discovery of esophageal lichen planus pathogenesis: Implications for treatment, Rhonda Souza, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX
08:50--09:15 Mechanisms safeguarding gastric mucosal homeostasis in H. pylori Immuno pathogenesis, John Kao, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI
09:15--09:30 From diet to disease: How a high fat diet remodels the gastric epithelium, Amy Engevik, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC

09:30--10:15 Coffee Break and Group Photo

10:15--10:40 Adenosine-Driven Plasticity in Pancreatic Injury and Cancer, Jennifer Bailey-Lundberg, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
10:40--10:50 Short Talk 4: Endogenous Glucocorticoids Protect from Helicobacter-Induced Autoimmune Gastritis, Jon Busada, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
10:50--11:00 Short Talk 5: YAP1 Expression Drives Cell Fate Decisions in Paligenotic Progenitor Cells, Yongji Zeng, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA
11:00--11:10 Short Talk 6: A comprehensive epithelial and immune characterization of autoimmune gastritis reveals novel aspects of disease pathogenesis, Jose Saenz, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO
11:10--11:20 Short Talk 7: Processed diet–induced shifts in gut microbiome, metabolome, and host colonic transcriptome prime the intestine for heightened colitis susceptibility, Vishal Singh, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, PA
11:20--12:00 Flash Talks for Poster Session #2

1-3 slides max and 3 min/speaker (no q&a)

Ruzbeh Mosadeghi, University of California, San Francisco, CA
Wendy McKimpson, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Vered Shacham-Silverberg, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
Kevin Swift, Oregon Health and Sciences University, Portland, OR
Madison Wahlsten, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Emre Cardakli, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City, NY
Haydee Liu, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
Kendall Kanakanui, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Sydney Bracht, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Margarita Divenko, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
Challen Pretorius, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO
Amanda Ruelas, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN

12:00--13:00 Lunch

13:00--16:00 Free Time and Workshops

13:00--14:00 Panel Discussion: “Spotlight on Crohn’s Disease, hosted by the Helmsley Charitable Trust”

Opening remarks by Elena Lucchetta, Program Officer at Helmsley Charitable Trust

Panelists:

Michael Verzi, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ

Ta-Chiang Liu, Washington University, St. Louis, MO

Nick Powell, Imperial College London, London, UK

Moderated by Stephanie LeValley, Associate Program Officer at Helmsley Charitable Trust

14:00--15:00 Panel Discussion: “Navigating early career as a GI researcher”

Chair: Richard DiPaolo, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO

Panelists:
Adam Gracz, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Amy Engevik, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC;
Brooke Druliner, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
Manuel Braga-Neto, Digestive Diseases Institute of Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
Jason Mills, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA
Jim Goldenring, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN

16:00--18:00 Poster Session #2 Upper GI Biology, GI Neoplasia + Organoid & In Vitro Platforms

Reception

18:00--19:00 Dinner

19:00 Session 5: Engineering organoid models and translational in vitro platforms
Chairs: Sarah Blutt, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX; Ruzbeh Mosadeghi, University of California, San Francisco, CA

19:00--19:25 Directing iPSC-derived human intestinal organoids to a secretory fate, Robert Barrett, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
19:25--19:50 Harnessing patient derived colonic organoids to probe patient trajectories in ulcerative colitis, Nick Powell, Imperial College London, London, UK
19:50--20:05 Epigenomic Inflammatory Memory in IBD, Brooke Druliner, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
20:05--20:20 Understanding pouchitis through a novel organoid-based model of disease, Manuel Braga Neto, Digestive Diseases Institute of Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
20:20--20:30 Short Talk 8: Intestinal epithelial cells under mitochondrial stress secrete extracellular vesicles that activate intestinal fibroblasts, Arianne Theiss, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO

20:30--12:00 Networking

08:00–14:30 Name Badge Pick-up

06:30–08:00 Breakfast

07:00--08:00 Panel Discussion: “Work-life balance and resilience in academia”

Chair: Laurianne Van Landeghem, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Panelists:
Sarah Andres, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR
Lora Hooper, UT Southwestern, Dallas, TX
Michelle Southard-Smith, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Kathy DelGiorno, Vanderbilt School of Medicine, Nashville, TN
Jon Busada, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV

08:00 Session 6: Stem Cells, cellular plasticity and epithelial regeneration
Chairs: Adam Gracz, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC; Jorge Munera, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC

08:00--08:25 How to recruit and train your stem cells, Jason Mills, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
08:25--08:50 Patterning and Re-Patterning the Intestinal Epithelium, Michael Verzi, PhD, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ
08:50--09:15 Division and death dynamics: Preserving and protecting intestinal stem cell driven repair after injury, Scott Magness, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
09:15--09:25 Short Talk 9: Optimal NAD+ level is a prerequisite for secretory cell differentiation in small intestinal epithelium, Ta-Chiang Liu, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO
09:25--09:35 Short Talk 10: Intestinal PPARalpha regulation of the incretin hormone GIP, Kelli VanDussen, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH

09:35--10:10 Coffee Break

10:10--10:35 Tissue maturation and cellular plasticity in developing and regenerating adult epithelial tissues, Kim Jensen, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine and University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
10:35--10:45 Short Talk 11: TET1 safeguards lineage allocation in intestinal stem cells, Antoine Gleizes, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
10:45--11:15 Flash Talks for Poster Session #3

1-3 slides max and 3 min/speaker (no q&a)

Ying Zhu, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Mary Mitchell, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
Guoli Zhu, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Megan Tarr, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Jonathan Villanueva, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Monica Brown, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Caroline McKinney-Aguirre, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Heather McCauley, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Neil McCarthy, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Younggeon Jin, University of Maryland, College Park, MD

11:15--12:00 Business Meeting - Election of the GI Tract XXIII (2028) organizing committee

12:00--13:00 Lunch

13:00--16:00 Free Time

16:00--18:00 Poster Session #3 Stem Cells, Plasticity & Regeneration + Host and Microbial Metabolism

Reception

18:00--19:00 Dinner

19:00 Session 7: Host and microbial metabolism regulate homeostasis and treatment
Chairs: Miyeko Mana, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ; Lora Hooper, UT Southwestern, Dallas, TX

19:00--19:25 Sex differences in the human gut microbiota contribute to neuroinflammation, Peter Turnbaugh, University of California, San Francisco
19:25--19:50 Metabolic Control of Stemness and Differentiation in Intestinal Homeostasis and Tumorigenesis, Maria Rodriguez Colman, University Medical Center Utrecht
19:50--20:05 Antibiotic-induced microbiota shifts shape intraepithelial T cell responses, Luisa Cervantes-Barragan, Emory University
20:05--20:15 Short Talk 12: Carbohydrate consumption drives adaptive mutations in E. Coli increasing the risk of systemic infections, Aaron Hecht, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
20:15--20:30 Awards and announcement of the GI Tract XXIII (2028) organizing committee

20:30--12:00 Reception and Karaoke

06:30–08:00 Breakfast

08:00 Session 8: Novel Cytokines/Translational Targets
Chairs: Michael Kattah, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; James Bayrer, University of California, San Francisco, CA

08:00--08:25 Goblet cells: Guides for intestinal immunity, Rodney Newberry, Washington University, School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
08:25--08:50 Targeting TL1A and DR3: The new frontier of anti-cytokine therapy in IBD, Randy Longman, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY
08:50--09:00 Short Talk 13: Clostridioides difficile infection upregulates adherent mucins and reshapes mucosal glycans via IL-22, Mindy Engevik, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
09:00--09:10 Short Talk 14: Paneth cell-derived IL-18 regulates antimicrobial defense and protects against experimental intestinal inflammation, Zhantao Yu, University of Colorado, Denver, CO

09:10--09:30 Coffee Break

09:30--09:55 Unraveling connections: IBD genes and immune pathways, Clara Abraham, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
09:55--10:20 Vascular Inflammatory Niches Orchestrate Pathogenic Immune Crosstalk in IBD, Ronen Sumagin, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
10:20--10:30 Short Talk 15: Paneth cell necroptosis as the driver of inflammation during Crohn's disease, Brittany Miller, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
10:30--10:40 Short Talk 16: An epithelial-immune axis programs mouse intestinal stem cells during development, Miyeko Mana, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

10:40--10:45 Final Remarks and Closing of GI Tract XXII (2026) Meeting

End of Conference

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