More than 100 enthusiastic herpesvirus researchers from 33 institutions and six countries participated at the 16th Mini Herpesvirus Workshop, held for the first time at the MHH on September 29, 2023. This annual meeting was organized by Prof. Depledge and Prof. Viejo-Borbolla from the MHH Institute of Virology.
The scientific program, centered around virus-host interactions, gene expression and replication, latency and pathogenesis, included presentations from 35 participants – many of them young researchers. In addition, Dr. Hannah Burgess from the University of Surrey, UK, and Dr. Jia Zhu, Fred Hutch Cancer Centre & University of Washington, USA, each gave a plenary talk and then spent considerable time interacting with other participants. Together with the poster presentations and associated introductory talks, a broad spectrum of herpesvirus biology was represented. A social evening at TWINCORE rounded off this workshop.
“Overall, the meeting was a great success and we were able to gain valuable experience and network. Several new collaborations have originated from this meeting and I was pleased to see that the work presented by the many MHH herpesvirus labs was well received,” said Prof. Depledge.
“I really enjoyed the scientific presentations and discussions and the opportunity to meet again with known colleagues, and to get to know new ones. This workshop was a clear indication that the research on herpesviruses is very alive in Germany and elsewhere”, adds Prof. Viejo-Borbolla. “We would like to thank the sponsors, including the Research Unit DEEP-DV and RESIST for their support. A special thank you is also owed to the many PhD students, postdocs, and research technicians who volunteered their time to make the conference run smoothly.”
The photo shows (from left to right): Prof. Viejo-Borbolla, Dr. Jia Zhu, Dr. Hannah Burgess and Prof. Depledge.