International LIT Symposium 2026

The excitement among immunotherapy experts was clearly evident in the Donausaal at the “Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte” in Regensburg: Some findings were marveled at, while others prompted lively discussions.  During the conference, leading international experts presented and discussed cutting-edge science and innovative treatment approaches. While genetic immune cell reprogramming has been largely confined to the laboratory, new methods now enable it to be performed directly in the human body – an important step towards broadly applicable and affordable therapies based on gene-engineered immune cells.

Keynotes were held by Carl H. June (“Updates with CAR T cells”), Michel W. Sadelain (“Beyond the prototypes: new CAR models and new runways”), George Coukos (“Building personalized T-cell therapy for solid tumors”) as well as Shimon Sakaguchi (“Regulatory T Cells for Immune Tolerance: Their Roles in Autoimmunity and Tumor immunity”).

Shimon Sakaguchi, who was awarded with the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine together with Mary E. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell for their groundbreaking discoveries related to peripheral immune tolerance, also participated in ImmunTalk – Science You Can Talk About. In this format, residents of Regensburg were invited to ask questions and learn more about the work of the Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy, whose motto, ‘Cells built to cure’, reflects the vision of the LIT to generate new therapies based on synthetic immunology and synthetic biology

Despite major scientific successes in recent years, many fundamental questions remain, and key aspects of basic research still need to be investigated. The program of the LIT symposium therefore covered a broad range of challenges, from discovery to translation and clinical application. Research topics covered in vivo gene engineering, synthetic cells, and artificial protein design as well as the most innovative approaches in engineering T-cell fitness, on-target inducible payloads, and CAR T cells as novel therapeutics in autoimmune disorders.

Further details and research results were discussed in a poster session with lightning talks and during a social event with joint dinner in a pleasant atmosphere.

Leading experts who presented their latest research findings at the symposium were – in alphabetical order:

• Christine Brown – Beckman Research Institute City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA – USA
• Yvonne Y. Chen – University of California, Los Angeles, CA – USA
• George Coukos – Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, New York, NY – USA
• Justin Eyquem – University of California, San Francisco, CA – USA
• Markus Feuerer – Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy, Regensburg – Germany
• Katie Galloway – Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA – USA
• Luca Gattinoni – Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy, Regensburg – Germany
• Roman Jerala – National Institute of Chemistry, Ljubljana – Slovenia
• Carl H. June – University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA – USA
• Sebastian Kobold – LMU Klinikum München, Munich – Germany
• Gerhard Krönke – Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin – Germany
• Marcela Maus – Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute, Boston, MA – USA
• Leonardo Morsut – University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA – USA
• Dominik Niopek – Heidelberg University, Heidelberg – Germany
• Sai Reddy – ETH Zürich Zurich – Switzerland
• Michel W. Sadelain – Columbia University, New York, NY – USA
• Shimon Sakaguchi – Osaka University, Osaka – Japan
• Leo Scheller – Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy, Regensburg – Germany
• Petra Schwille – Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried – Germany

Please find here our official flyer with more infos about the symposium’s program in detail!