Clinic meets Biology
West German Lymphoma Symposium
May 21–23, 2026 | Essen (Germany)
Day 1 | Thursday, May 21, 2026
Afternoon Sessions
from 12:30 PM
Registration and Networking
1:45 PM
Opening and welcome
Scientific committee
2:00 – 4:05 PM SESSION 1
Epigenetic rewiring in aggressive lymphoma
Chair:
Christian Reinhardt, University Hospital Essen (GER)
2:00
DnA-methylation based classification of lymphomas: A tool to come?
Reiner Siebert, Ulm University Hospital (GER)
2:25
Genetic Signatures in Large β-Cell Lymphoma … and their clinical implications.
Björn Chapuy, Charité University Medicine, Berlin (GER)
2:50
Epigenetic regulation of lymphoma cell states
Michael R. Green, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston (USA)
3:15
How the immune system becomes malignant reveals novel therapeutic vulnerabilities
Ari M. Melnick, Josep Carreras Leukaemia (Spain)
3:40
Decoding malignant B cell plasticity in aggressive lymphomas
Sandrine Roulland, CIML-Centre d’Immunologie, Marseille-Luminy (FR)
4:05 – 4:30 PM
Break
Evening Sessions
4:30 – 7:00 PM SESSION 2
Harnessing the immune system for lymphoma therapy – I
Chairs:
Georg Lenz, University Hospital Münster (GER)
Bastian von Tresckow, University Hospital Essen (GER)
4:30
Targeting Oncogenic Chromatin Remodeling in Lymphoma
Darko Barisic, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York (USA)
4:55
Reprogramming the lymphoma immune microenvironment for therapy
Wendy Béguelin, Langone Health NYU, New York (USA)
5:20
Cytokine-associated Immune Remodeling in
Follicular Lymphoma Transformation
Erin M. Parry, Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston (USA)
5:45
Therapeutic targeting the lymphoma micro environment to improve CAR T-cell response in aggressive B-cell lymphoma
Roland Ullrich, University Hospital, Cologne (GER)
6:10
The biology of high-risk B-cell malignancies
Thomas Oellerich, University Medical Center, Frankfurt (GER)
6:35
Mechanisms of immune evasion in molecular subtypes of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma BA
Margaret Shipp, Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Boston (USA)
7:00
Get-together
Day 2 | Friday, May 22, 2026
Morning Sessions
9:00 – 11:05 AM SESSION 3
Harnessing the immune system for lymphoma therapy – II
Chairs:
Peter Borchmann, University Hospital Cologne (GER)
Ralf Küppers, University Hospital Essen (GER)
9:00
Recent developments in T-cell engaging antibodies for the treatment of B-cell lymphomas
Martin Hutchings, University of Copenhagen (DK)
9:25
B cell lymphoma development in the thymic niche
Christian Steidl, Centre for Lymphoid Cancer, Vancouver (CAN)
9:50
Primary analysis of the GHSG Pembro-CORe trial
Bastian von Tresckow, University Hospital Essen (GER)
10:15
Harnessing functional genomic screens to elucidate DLBCL biology
Sebastian Scheich, University Hospital Frankfurt (GER)
10:40
Novel mouse models of DLBCL
Christian Reinhardt, University Hospital Essen (GER)
11:05 – 11:30 AM
Break
11:30 AM – 1:35 PM SESSION 4
Towards chemo-free treatment of lymphoma
Chairs: Stefan Alig, University Hospital Essen (GER), Sascha Dietrich, University Hospital Düsseldorf (GER)
11:30
Progress Made, Obstacles Remaining: anti-PD1 First-Line
Treatment of cHL
Paul Bröckelmann, University Hospital of Cologne (GER)
11:55
Towards improved outcomes for p53 mutant blood cancers
Gemma Kelly, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI), Melbourne (AUS)
12:20
Protogenomics and Precision Medicine
James Phelan, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda (USA)
12:45
Targeted Therapy Approaches in Aggressive B-cell Lymphoma
Mark Roschewski, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda (USA)
1:10
Frontline DLBCL Therapy in 2036: Chaos of Choice?
Jason Westin, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer, Center Houston (USA)
1:35 – 2:45 PM
Break
Afternoon Sessions
2:00 – 5:00 PM Forum für Studienassistenz
This forum runs alongside the afternoon sessions!
2:45 – 4:30 PM SESSION 5
At the interface between biological and chemical engineering
Chairs:
Ralf Küppers, University Hospital Essen (GER)
Christian Reinhardt, University Hospital Essen (GER)
2:45
New targets and technologies for CAR-T cells in lymphoma
Michael Hudecek, University Hospital Würzburg (GER)
3:10
Same but different: on the role of B cells in cellular therapies
Sebastian Kobold, LMU Klinikum, Munich (GER)
3:35
Development of PROTACs as new Pharmaco logical Modalities for the Treatment of Cancer
Stefan Knapp, Goethe-University Frankfurt (GER)
4:00
Linking elongation Factors and Lysine Acetyltransferases to Cancer Cell Death using Chemically Induced Proximity
Roman Sarott, Max-Planck-Institute for Medical Research, Heidelberg (GER)
4:30 – 6:30 PM POSTER PRESENTATION
The poster presentation is divided into 4 poster walks. Per poster:
introduction/presentation 5 minutes + 5 minutes discussion. The two best poster presentations will be honored with a poster prize, during the closing ceremony.
PO_A1 to PO_A11
Chair: Sascha Dietrich, University Hospital Duesseldorf (GER)
PO-A1
DDX3X and DDX3Y dosage imbalance drives sex bias in Burkitt lymphoma.
K. Helian,
University of Cambridge, Cambridge Stem Cell Institute & Department of Haematology, Cambridge (GB)
PO-A2
Cell clones containing BCOR frameshift mutations in the first coding exons of the gene retain BCOR protein expression
Y. Yozbatiran,
Institute of Human Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Cancer Genetics, Poznań (PL)
PO-A3
NFDI4Immuno: A shared database for immunology research data
A. Kadam,
Uniklinikum Essen, Institute of Cell Biology, Essen (GER)
This poster will not be presented or displayed at the venue!
PO-A4
Functional role of AKT isoforms in Hodgkin Lymphoma
M. Marra,
University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf, Institute of Biochemistry and Signal Transduction, Hamburg (GER)
This poster will not be presented at the venue!
PO-A5
Establishing a scalable manufacturing process for genetically modified γδ T cells for preclinical research
S. Nickel,
University Hospital Essen, Department of Hematology and Stem Cell Transplantation, West German Cancer Center and German Cancer consortium (DKTK partner site Essen), University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen (GER)
PO-A6
Shift towards a more naive phenotype of the T-cell compartment in patients with aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma undergoing high-dose methotrexate therapy
V. C. Ridder,
Department of Hematology and Stem Cell Transplantation, West German Cancer Center and German Cancer consortium (DKTK partner site Essen), University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia (GER)
PO-A7
Biomarker analysis to unravel mechanisms of resistance to glofitamab monotherapy in large B cell lymphoma
A. Bottos,
F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Basel (CH)
PO-A8
Mechanisms of humoral immune dysfunction in the Eµ-TCL1 adoptive transfer mouse model of chronic lymphocytic leukemia
A. Beyer,
University Hospital Essen, Department of Hematology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia (GER)
PO-A9
NR4A1 Loss Drives Immune Checkpoint Upregulation and CD8⁺ T Cell Dysfunction in Aggressive Lymphoma
A. Deutsch,
Medical University of Graz, Division of Hematology, Graz, Steiermark (AT)
PO-A10
Deciphering the Pathomechanisms of HIV-Associated Lymphomas
V. Berg,
University Hospital Essen, Institute of Cell Biology (Tumor Research), Essen (GER)
PO-A11
Immunosurveillance of premalignant germinal center B cells
L. Zhang,
The Francis Crick Institute, London and Babraham Institute, Cambridge (GB)
PO_B1 to PO_B11
Chair: Bastian von Tresckow, University Hospital Essen (GER)
PO-B1
High-throughput, functional profiling of every DLBCL hotspot mutation in human germinal centre B cells
J. Mateos-Jaimez,
University of Cambridge, Department of Haematology, Cambridge (GB)
PO-B2
IGH enhancer RNAs – new players in B cell lymphoma
A. Kompaniiets,
Institute of Human Genetics Polish Academy of Sciences, Molecular Pathology, Poznań (PL)
PO-B3
Mechanisms of humoral immune dysfunction in CLL
M. M. Elbert,
University Medicine Essen, Institute of Cell Biology (Cancer Research),, Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia (GER)
PO-B4
Mechanisms of immune evasion in aggressive B cell lymphomas
C. Brombach,
German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Adaptive Immunity and Lymphoma, Heidelberg and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Molecular Genetics, Heidelberg (GER)
PO-B5
Hyperthermia increases ferroptosis susceptibility of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
M. Franke,
University Hospital Münster, Department of Medicine A, Hematology, Oncology and Pneumology, Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia (GER)
PO-B6
T-Cell Exhaustion and Myeloid Rewiring During Murine CLL Progression Uncovered by High-Dimensional Spectral Cytometry
H. Briesch,
German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Immune Modulation in Cancer, Heidelberg and Heidelberg University, Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg (GER)
PO-B7
An extended ex vivo HSC expansion platform enables rapid, multiplex in vivo functional genomics for lymphoma
H. Bilboe,
University of Cambridge, Department of Haematology, Cambridge (GB)
PO-B8
Identification and characterization of somatic mutations in ZC3H12A in ABC DLBCL
F. Eberstadt,
Helmholtz Munich, SAT – AG Krappmann, Munich, Bavaria (GER)
PO-B9
Poster Presentation changed:
Genome-wide In vivo CRISPR Screens to Uncover Regulators of CAR-T Cell Antitumor Activity in DLBCL
G. Saavedra
Department of Hematology and Stem Cell Transplantation, University Hospital Essen (GER)
In search of lost ORFs: high confidence map of noncanonical Open Reading Frames in lymphoid cells
J. A. Krupka,
University of Cambridge, Department of Haematology, Cambridge and University of Cambridge, Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge (GB)
PO-B10
Circulating Tumor DNA Reveals Lymphoma-Associated Mutations Long Before Clinical Diagnosis
N. Veltmaat,
University Medical Center Groningen, Hematology, Groningen and University Medical Center Groningen, Lymphoma Research Groningen, Groningen (NL)
PO-B11
In vivo production of bispecific antibodies against hematological malignancies
Y. Yang,
University of Cologne, Department I of Internal Medicine, Center for Integrated Oncology Aachen Bonn Cologne
Duesseldorf, Cologne (GER)
PO_C1 to PO_C11
Chair: Stefan Alig, University Hospital Essen (GER)
PO-C1
Defining Functional Subgroups and Novel Oncogenic Addictions in Burkitt Lymphoma via Genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 Screening
A. K.P. Götze,
Justus-Liebig University, Institute for Pathology, Gießen (GER)
PO-C2
Elucidation of transcriptomic tumor cell heterogeneity and microenvironment in classic Hodgkin lymphoma
F. Schramm,
University medicine Essen, Institute for Cellbiology (Tumor Research), Essen (GER)
PO-C3
Prognostic Value of the Glasgow Prognostic Score in a Slovene Cohort of Patients with Nodal T-Follicular Helper Cell Lymphoma
G. Gašljević,
Institute of Oncology Ljubljana, Department of Pathology, Ljubljana and University of Maribor, Faculty of Medicine, Maribor (SLO)
PO-C4
Rituximab-induced liquid biopsy signatures inform on cellular and microenvironmental contexts in B-cell lymphoma patients
K. Clemm von Hohenberg,
German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Heidelberg, Junior Clinical Cooperation Unit Translational Lymphoma Research, Mannheim and University Medicine Mannheim, Departmant of Hematology / Oncology, Mannheim (GER)
PO-C5
Niche eviction via CD49d targeting sensitises BM-tropic DLBCL to CD3×CD20 bispecifics.
N. Aubert,
DKFZ, B060 Molecular Genetics, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg (GER)
PO-C6
B Cell Differentiation in the Germinal Centre Reaction
A.-K. Schnormeier,
University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute of Cell Biology (Tumour Research), Essen (GER)
PO-C7
The Clinico-Genomic Lymphoma Dataset Explorer (CLYDE): A Comparative Analysis of High-Throughput DNA Sequencing Datasets of Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma
J. Zhou,
University Hospital Essen, Dept of Hematology and Stem Cell Transplantation,West German Cancer Center, NCT-West, Essen and University Hospital Essen, Institute for AI in Medicine (IKIM), Essen (GER)
PO-C8
Zonation mapping of the neuro-immune tumor crosstalk in primary central nervous system lymphoma via spatial transcriptomics
Q. Shi,
Universitätsklinikum Essen, Hematology and Stem Cell Transplantation, West German Cancer Center, Essen and Universitätsklinikum Essen, Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, Essen (GER)
PO-C9
Single-nucleus RNA-sequencing of central nervous system lymphoma (CNSL)
Y. Su,
University Hospital Essen, Department of Hematology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia and University Hospital Essen, Institute for AI in Medicine, Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia (GER)
PO-C10
Exploring NR4A1-associated transcriptional programs in lymphoma at single-cell resolution
A. Zupo,
Medical University of Graz, Department of Hematology, Graz, Steiermark (AT)
PO-C11
Loss of ETV6 enhances lymphomagenesis in a murine model of diffuse large B cell lymphoma in a cell-of-origin dependent manner
S. Höfmann,
University Hospital Essen, Department of Hematology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia (GER)
PO_D1 to PO_D11
Chair: Ralf Küppers, University Hospital Essen (GER)
PO-D1
Generation of Faithful Autochthonous Mouse Models of Mantle Cell Lymphoma
N. A. Mönig,
Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, Mechanisms of DNA Repair, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia and University of Cologne, Department I of Internal Medicine, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia (GB)
PO-D2
Linear ubiquitin is critical for transformation and immune evasion of diffuse largeB-cell lymphoma
D. Bonasera,
Uniklinik, University of Cologne, Institute of Biochemistry I and CECAD Cluster of Excellence, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia (GER)
PO-D3
Genetic lesions in nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma and T cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma identified by whole genome sequencing
S. Hartmann,
University Hospital Essen, Institute for Pathology, Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia (GER)
PO-D4
Targeting MCT1 to Overcome Immunometabolic Resistance in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma
A. Lütz,
University of Cologne, Department I of Internal Medicin, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne (GER)
PO-D5
IRF2BP2: A novel tumor suppressor in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
A. Tabatabai,
University Hospital Essen, Essen (GER)
PO-D6
Optimising Base Editing to Identify Novel Translated Microproteins in B Cell Lymphoma.
E. G. Whittle,
Univeristy of Cambridge, Department of Haematology, Cambridge (GB)
PO-D7
Comprehensive analysis of bridging to CAR T-cell therapy in large B-cell lymphoma with conventional treatment or CD3xCD20 bispecific antibodies
H. K. Zieger,
Department of Hematology and Stem Cell Transplantation, West German Cancer Center and German Cancer consortium (DKTK partner site Essen), University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen (GER)
PO-D8
Building a Genomic Meta-Cohort of 1,029 Primary CNS Lymphoma: Age-Associated Mutational Patterns from 27 Harmonized Cohorts
M. Tembrink,
University Hospital Essen, Department of Hematology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia and University Hospital Essen, Institute for AI in Medicine (IKIM), Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia (GER)
PO-D9
Genomic landscape of pediatric and adolescent Hodgkin lymphoma
M. Dörrbecker,
Justus Liebig University Giessen, Biomedical Informatics and Systems Medicine Science Unit for Basic and Clinical Medicine, Giessen (GER)
PO-D10
Targeting Wnt/β-Catenin–PI3K/AKT Crosstalk: Insight into lineage restricted B cell Oncogenic Co-operation
S. Kumar,
UNIVERSITÄTSMEDIZIN der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Institute for Molecular Medicine, Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate (GER)
Day 3 | Saturday, May 23, 2026
Morning Sessions
9:00 – 11:05 AM SESSION 6
Molecular characterization
and dynamic disease monitoring in lymphoma
Chairs:
Ari M. Melnick, Josep Carreras Leukaemia (Spain)
Sandrine Roulland, CIML-Centre d’Immunologie, Marseille-Luminy (FR)
9:00
Minimally Invasive Technologies for Profiling Lymphomas and Their Microenvironment
Ash A. Alizadeh, Stanford University / Stanford Comprehensive Cancer Center (USA)
9:25
Molecularly Defined Classic Hodgkin Lymphoma Subtypes
Stefan Alig, University Hospital Essen (GER)
9:50
Molecular characterization and liquid biomarker strategies in primary CnS lymphoma
Florian Scherer, University of Freiburg (GER)
10:15 – 10:25
Short talk I
Bypassing Heterogeneity: Targeting a Lineage-Specific Dependency in Germinal Centre–Derived B-Cell Lymphoma
R. A. Jackson,
University of Cambridge, Haematology, Cambridge (GB)
10:30 – 10:40
Short talk II
Relapse-founding progenitor cells in follicular lymphoma
O. Atkins,
The Francis Crick Institute, London (GB)
10:40
Developing multi-agent therapies targeting oncogenic pathways in aggressive lymphomas
Louis Staudt, National Cancer Institute Bethesda (USA)
11:05 – 11:35 PM
Break
Morning Sessions
11:35 AM – 2:30 PM SESSION 7
Molecular decoding of lymphomagenesis
Chairs:
Christian Reinhardt, University Hospital Essen (GER)
Margaret Shipp, Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center Boston (USA)
11:35
Mouse models of mantle cell lymphoma
Ron Jachimowicz, University Hospital Cologne (GER)
12:00
Mechanisms of germinal center B cell competition and CNS infiltration in DLBCL
Coraline Mlynarczyk, Cancer Center Yale University, School of Medicine / New Haven (USA)
12:25
Molecular characterisation and heterogeneity of follicular lymphoma transformation
Jessica Okosun, Queen Mary University of London (UK)
12:50
Genetics-driven epigenetic Deregulation in B cell lymphomas
Laura Pasqualucci, Columbia University New York (USA)
1:15
Deciphering the Genomics of Aggressive Lymphoma
Daniel Hodson, University of Cambridge (UK)
1:40
The Roads Less Traveled: extra-Follicular Pathways in DLBCL Development
Benedikt Pelzer, University Hospital Essen (GER)
2:05
Mouse models of genetically-driven DLBCL immune states and immunotherapy outcomes
José Ángel Martínez Climent, University of Navarra (ESP)
2:30 PM
Closing remarks
Farewell and Goodbye