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
The 20th Key Symposium on mRNA vaccines is now fully booked.
For questions about registration, contact registration@allaboutmeetings.se.
Programme
SUNDAY JUNE 14, 2026
17.30-19.30
Welcome reception. By inivitation only.
MONDAY JUNE 15, 2026
Beijersalen, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (KVA)
09:00
Welcome
Gunilla Karlsson Hedestam
09:05-10:15
Session 1. History and outlook of mRNA vaccines
Chair: Stephan Mielke
(35 min presentation + 5 min discussion)
Uğur Şahin, Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology, Germany
“Immunity and Potential Afforded by Therapeutic Cancer mRNA Vaccines”
(25 min presentation + 5 min discussion)
Neil King, University of Washington, USA
“Protein Design for mRNA Vaccines”
10:15-10:45
Coffee
10:45-12:15
Session 2. Delivery and scalability
Chair: Dan Sheward
(25 min presentation + 5 min discussion per speaker)
Pieter Cullis, University of British Columbia, Canada
“Vaccines by Accident: The Story of the COVID-19 LNP 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”
12:15-13:30
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
“Lipid nanoparticles for mRNA vaccine delivery”
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
“Correlates and Mechanisms for BCG Mediated Protection in Non-Human Primates: Lessons for Developing mRNA Vaccines”
Barney Graham, Morehouse School of Medicine, USA
“mRNA Vaccine Development: From Pandemic Response to the Future of Vaccinology”
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 vaccines against cancer and improvements of the platform
Chair: Gabriel Pedersen
(25 min presentation + 5 min discussion per speaker)
Vinod Balachandran, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, USA
“Development of an mRNA Based Pancreatic Cancer Vaccine”
Xiao Wang, MIT/Broad Institute, USA
“Expanding the alphabet and topology of therapeutic mRNAs”
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
“Design of Cell Type-Specific mRNA Stability from microRNA Expression Data”
Mirco Friedrich, DKFZ Heidelberg, Germany
“Use of mRNA-based strategies for immune modulation”
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 Peter, 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)
Igor Smolenov, Arcturus Therapeutics, Inc, USA
“What have we learned from the sa-mRNA vaccine platform?”
Peter Berglund, HDT bio, USA
“RNA delivery formulations: Alternatives to LNP for Improved Safety and T-cell Immunogenicity”
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
09:00-10:30
Session 10. Delivery of therapeutic antibodies by mRNA
Chair: Barney Graham
(25 min presentation + 5 min discussion per speaker)
Özlem Türeci, Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology, Germany
“mRNA therapeutics encoding antibodies”
Laura Walker, Moderna, USA
”mRNA as a delivery platform for antibodies”
Michel Nussenzweig, Rockefeller University, USA
“Orthogonal Approaches to Vaccination by Gene Editing”
10:30-11:00
Coffee
11:00-12:30
Session 11. Consideration for translation of mRNA vaccines
Chair: Karin Loré
(25 min presentation + 5 min discussion per speaker)
Jean-Francois Toussaint, mRNA Center of Excellence, Sanofi, France
“Innovation to Drive Sustainable Growth in mRNA Vaccines”
Gunilla Karlsson Hedestam, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
“Understanding immunogenetics in global populations”
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