Speakers

Dr. Hiromune Ando completed his PhD at Gifu University in 1999. After postdoctoral research at RIKEN and Gifu University in Japan, he was promoted to Assistant Professor at Gifu University in 2003. In 2008, he was concurrently appointed as an Associate Professor at the Institute for Integration of Cell-Material Sciences (Kyoto University) and Gifu University. In 2017, he was promoted to Full Professor at the Center for Highly Advanced Integration of Nano and Life Sciences (Gifu University). In 2021, he was appointed as the Vice Director of the Institute for Glyco-core Research (iGCORE) of Gifu University. His current research focus is on organic synthesis of complex glycoconjugates and chemical biology of glycan-enriched cell membrane domains. 

Dr. Ando is a Director of the Japanese Society of Carbohydrate Research (JSCR) and a Board Member of the Japan Consortium for Glycobiology & Glycotechnology (JCGG). He was awarded the JSCR Award for Young Scientist, the Incentive Award for Young Scientist from the Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, and the Encourage Award of Young Scientists from the Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology and Agrochemistry. Recently, he received the e-TCR Award 2018 from the Trends in Carbohydrate Research and the 2019 Young Investigator Award from the Journal of Carbohydrate Chemistry. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Carbohydrate Chemistry.

Dr. Chiricozzi is Associate Professor of Biochemistry at the Department of Medical Biotechnology and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, Italy. She obtained her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Milan, where her research focused on the role of sphingolipids as signaling molecules in health and disease.

Her scientific activity is centered on membrane lipid biology and neurochemistry, with particular emphasis on the neurotrophic and neuroprotective properties of ganglioside GM1 and its oligosaccharide moiety. Her work has contributed to redefining the role of ganglioside oligosaccharides in plasma membrane signaling, demonstrating their direct involvement in TrkA receptor activation, neuronal differentiation, and neuroprotection. These findings have opened new therapeutic perspectives for neurodegenerative disorders, particularly Parkinson’s disease, leading to patented inventions and translational research projects.

Dr. Chiricozzi has authored over 40 peer-reviewed publications and actively collaborates with national and international research groups. She is the Principal Investigator of several competitive research grants and leads a multidisciplinary research team focused on the development of glycan-based therapeutic strategies for neurological diseases. In parallel, she is deeply involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in medical and biotechnology programs and in the supervision of PhD students and postdoctoral fellows.

My scientific vision is to redefine how we understand virus–host interactions by uncovering the molecular features of viral engagement with host cell surface glycans. I aim to move the field beyond simplified receptor concepts toward a mechanistic and biologically relevant framework that explains viral host adaptation, antigenic evolution, and zoonotic emergence.

I am an Associate Professor in Chemical Biology & Drug Discovery at Utrecht University, where I lead an interdisciplinary research program integrating virology, glycobiology, structural biology, and chemical biology. My PhD training in virology and postdoctoral work at The Scripps Research Institute established a strong foundation in influenza virus glycoprotein biology and receptor specificity. These experiences shaped my long-term ambition to connect molecular recognition at the virus–glycan interface to viral evolution and immune escape at the organismal level.

My ERC Starting Grant enabled me to establish an independent research line that combined chemo-enzymatic glycan synthesis, glycan arrays, tissue binding assays, and structural approaches to reveal previously unrecognized principles of influenza virus receptor usage. Building on this foundation, my ERC Consolidator Grant research vision focuses on integrating receptor binding, antigenic drift, and immune pressure into a unified conceptual framework explaining influenza virus evolution across hosts and tissues. Through ERC Proof of Concept funding, I seek to translate fundamental discoveries into innovative tools and strategies that support antiviral development, vaccine design, and pandemic preparedness.

Looking ahead, my goal is to establish a globally leading research program that bridges chemistry and virology to deliver novel concepts on infectious disease research and public health.

Dr “Mandy” Lewis received her Ph.D. at the University of California San Diego where she studied the biochemical and genetic basis of capsular polysaccharide modifications in the neonatal pathogen Group B Streptococcus and was awarded the most outstanding dissertation in biology and chemistry in her graduating class. She remained at UC San Diego for postdoctoral training at the intersection of glycobiology and bacterial pathogenesis, later founding her own lab at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. At WashU, she built a research program connecting glycobiology, microbiology, and women's health. Since then, her research has been recognized by several faculty career awards and grants from the National Institutes of Health. She received tenure in the Molecular Microbiology department and was named a Distinguished Investigator at Washington University. In 2020, she returned to UC San Diego as a tenured Professor in the Department of Ob/Gyn and Reproductive Sciences. Dr Lewis became Co-Director of the Glycobiology Research and Training Center at UCSD in 2022. Her research seeks to define how members of the vaginal microbiota interact to produce features of disease in the urinary and genital systems, and in particular, how the biology of glycans may underpin these relationships.

I obtained my BSc in Biochemistry from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU, Spain) and completed my PhD in Molecular Biology and Biomedicine (2011–2015), where I developed a strong foundation in molecular and cellular biology. I subsequently pursued postdoctoral training at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids, Canada), focusing on the structural and functional characterization of B-cell surface receptors with immunotherapeutic potential.

In 2019, I joined CIC bioGUNE (Spain) as a Research Fellow and successfully completed a five-year tenure-track period (2019–2024). In 2024, I established my independent research group, the Cancer Glycoimmunology Lab. My laboratory is embedded within a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary research environment with strong expertise in structural biology, immunology, and cancer research.

My research program aims to elucidate the molecular mechanisms governing antibody and glycan-binding receptor function, with a particular focus on Siglec glycoimmune checkpoint receptors. By integrating structural biology, biophysical methods, and molecular engineering, my work dissects antibody–Siglec and glycan–Siglec interactions at atomic and mechanistic levels. This knowledge enables the rational development of next-generation therapeutic molecules, including engineered antibodies and glycan-based modulators. In parallel, my laboratory develops and characterizes antibodies targeting tumor-associated glycans, contributing directly to innovative cancer immunotherapy strategies.