20th Key Symposium 2026 on mRNA vaccines

The aim of the symposium is to review recent developments in the use of mRNA as a delivery platform for vaccines and therapeutics. The meeting will cover technical improvements of the platform, ongoing applications, mechanistic insights, and provide an outlook of future possibilities.

Organizers/Scientific committee
Karin Loré, Robert Seder and Gunilla Karlsson Hedestam

The symposium is sponsored by the Journal of Internal Medicine (JIM) and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Registration

Delegates travelling to Stockholm for the 20th Key Symposium on mRNA vaccines are expected to arrange and pay for their own travel and hotel reservations. Lunch and coffee during the symposium will be covered for all delegates. Registration is on a ”first-come first-served basis”.

If you register for this symposium, you are expected to attend all days.

Please register here>

For questions about registration, contact registration@allaboutmeetings.se.

Programme in pdf>

Programme

MONDAY JUNE 15, 2026

Beijersalen, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (KVA)

09:00
Welcome
Gunilla Karlsson Hedestam

09:05-10:30
Session 1. History and outlook of mRNA vaccines
Chair: Gunilla Karlsson Hedestam

(35 min presentation + 5 min discussion per speaker)

Barney Graham, Morehouse School of Medicine, USA
“mRNA Vaccine Development: From Pandemic Response to the Future of Vaccinology”

Uğur Şahin, BioNTech, Germany
“Immunity and Potential Afforded by Therapeutic Cancer mRNA Vaccines”

10:30-11:00
Coffee

11:00-12:30
Session 2. Delivery and scalability
Chair: Dan Sheward

(25 min presentation + 5 min discussion per speaker)

Pieter Cullis, University of British Columbia, Canada
“The Impact of the Development of Lipid Nanoparticles in mRNA Vaccines”

Zoltán Kis, University of Sheffeld, UK
“Intensified, Continuous and Digitalised Production of High-Quality mRNA Medicines at Low Cost”

Petro Terblanche, Afrigen, South Africa
”Made in Africa mRNA vaccines”

12:30-13:30
Lunch

13:30- 15:00
Session 3. mRNA vaccines for infections – part 1
Chair: Pia Dosenovic

(25 min presentation + 5 min discussion per speaker)

William Schief, Moderna/Scripps Research, USA
“Advances towards an mRNA vaccine to HIV-1”

Scott Hensley, University of Pennsylvania, USA
mRNA vaccines against influenza virus infection

Adam Wheatley, University of Melbourne, Australia
“Pros and cons of mRNA vaccines against seasonal influenza virus”

15:00-15:30
Coffee

15:30–17.00
Session 4. Exploring optimal Immunogenicity by mRNA vaccines
Chair: Holger Kanzler

(25 min presentation + 5 min discussion per speaker)

Eva Bartok, University of Bonn, Germany
“Innate Sensing of mRNA Vaccines”

Norbert Pardi, University of Pennsylvania, USA
“Advances in mRNA Vaccine Formulations for Improved Immunogenicity”

Karin Loré, Karolinska Intitutet, Sweden
“Immune mechanisms of mRNA vaccines”

18:00
Dinner on boat Blidösund for invited guests. By invitation only.

TUESDAY JUNE 16, 2026

09:00-10:30
Session 5. mRNA vaccines for infections – part 2
Chair: Christopher Sundling

(25 min presentation + 5 min discussion per speaker)

Robert Seder, Vaccine Research Center, USA
“Approaches to mRNA Vaccines for Tuberculosis”

Neil King, University of Washington, USA
“mRNA-Launched Nanoparticles”

Marco Cavaleri, European Medicines Agency, EMA, The Netherlands
“Regulatory considerations for mRNA vaccines”

10:30-11:00
Coffee

11:00-12:00
Session 6. mRNA modailties against cancer
Chair: Stephan Mielke

(25 min presentation + 5 min discussion per speaker)

Vinod Balachandran, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, USA
“Development of an mRNA Based Pancreatic Cancer Vaccine”

Mirco Friedrich, DKFZ Heidelberg, Germany
“Use of mRNA-based strategies for immune modulation”

12:00-13:30
LUNCH

13:30-14.30
Session 7. Technical improvements of the mRNA platform
Chair: Gerald McInerney

(25 min presentation + 5 min discussion per speaker)

Georg Seelig, University of Washington, USA
“Optimizing 5’UTRs for mRNA-delivered gene editing using deep learning”

Xiao Wang, MIT/Broad Institute, USA
“Optimizing the mRNA platform to enhance translation”

14:30-15:30
Session 8. Safety considerations in mRNA vaccination
Chair: Ben Murrell

(25 min presentation + 5 min discussion per speaker)

Lindsey Baden, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, USA
“Long-term safety and effectiveness of mRNA vaccination”

Jonny Peters, Cape Town, South Africa
”Urticaria following COVID-19 mRNA vaccines”

15:30-16:00
Coffee

16:00–17:30
Session 9. Future outlook for mRNA vaccines
Chair: Robert Seder

(25 min presentation + 5 min discussion per speaker)

Jean-Francois Toussaint, mRNA Center of Excellence, Sanofi, France
“Innovation to Drive Sustainable Growth in mRNA Vaccines”

Igor Smolenov, Arcturus Therapeutics, Inc, USA
“Opportunities and Challenges for Self-Amplifying RNA”

Mikael Dolsten, Pfizer and Lund University
“Future opportunities for mRNA vaccines”

18.00
Drinks then Dinner at KVA for invited guests. By invitation only.

WEDNESDAY JUNE 17, 2026

09:00-10:00
Session 10. Delivery of therapeutic antibodies by mRNA
Chair: Barney Graham

(25 min presentation + 5 min discussion per speaker)

Özlem Türeci, BioNTech, Germany
“mRNA therapeutics encoding antibodies”

Laura Walker, Moderna, USA
”mRNA as a delivery platform for antibodies”

10:00-11:00
Coffee

11:00-12:30
Session 11. Consideration for translation of mRNA vaccines
Chair: Karin Loré

(25 min presentation + 5 min discussion per speaker)

Michel Nussenzweig, Rockefeller University, USA
“Exploring and Utilizing Antibody Specificities in mRNA Vaccination”

Gunilla Karlsson Hedestam, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
“Role of population immunogenetics for vaccine responses”

Jerome Kim, International Vaccine Institute (IVI), South Korea
“Pandemic Preparedness: Getting it “Better” the Next Time”

12:30-12:40
Wrap-up and meeting closure (Karin Loré/ Bob Seder)

12:40-13:30
Grab and go lunch.

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Kontakt: Peter Brandén
E-post: program@kva.se