Day 2: Tuesday, October 6, 2026
8:30 REGISTRATION
SESSION - MUCOLYTICS AND RHEOLOGY
Chair: Marina Pigaleva09:00 Live cell rheometer links mucus rheology to cilia activity
Prof. Gerald Fuller | Stanford University, USA
09:45 Mucus plugging in asthma: molecular and cellular insights
Prof. Maude Liégeois | Université de Liège, BE
10:30 Magnetic Microwire Rheology: Theory and Data Analysis
Merten Strehlau (A01) | Technische Universität Berlin
10:50 COFFEE BREAK
SESSION – MUCIN FUNCTION AND HYDROGEL CHARACTERIZATION
Chair: Kevin Pagel11:20 Regulation of mucus barrier function
Prof. Dave Thornton | The University of Manchester, UK
12:05 Interaction of Mucus and Metals – How Metalloglycobiology Shapes the Mucus Composition
Prof. Maria Maares | Universität Potsdam, D
12:25 PEG-induced collapse of mucin-inspired polymers during gelation revealed by EPR spectroscopy
Dr. Marina Pigaleva (Z01) | Freie Universität Berlin
12:45 LUNCH BUFFET
SESSION – MUCUS BARRIER FUNCTION
Chair: Daniel Lauster13:45 Mucus and Biofilms as Biological Barriers to Anti-infective Drug Delivery
Prof. Claus-Michael Lehr | Universität des Saarlandes & Helmholtz-Institut für Pharmazeutische Forschung Saarland, D
14:30 Integrative computational analysis to study the interplay between mucus, infection and inflammation in cystic fibrosis
Dr. Laura Schaupp (B05) | Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
14:50 Motion of Salmonella Typhimurium in Bulk, Hydrogels, and Mucus
Prof. Stephan Block (B03) | Freie Universität Berlin
15:15 COFFEE BREAK
SESSION – HYDROGELS FOR CELL CULTURE AND FUNCTION
Chair: Rainer Haag15:45 Recreating the Living Tumor Biointerface: Dynamic Hydrogels, 3D Bioprinting, and Precision Nanomedicine
Prof. Ronit Satchi-Fainaro, Tel Aviv University, ISR
16:30 The structure of a natural human mucin
Dr. Gaël Vos (C01) | Freie Universität Berlin
16:50 Finding the Sweet Spot: Identifying an Alveolar Biomarker Target
Dr. Karen Hoffmann (C03) | Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
17:10 Decoding protein glycosylation using ion mobility-mass spectrometry
Dr. Leïla Bechtella | Université Evry Paris-Saclay, F
17:30 POSTER PRIZES & CLOSING REMARKS
Prof. Rainer Haag | Freie Universität Berlin