College of Medicine
University of Nebraska Medical Center
University of Nebraska Medical Center

2026 Antimicrobial Peptide Conference

Antimicrobial Peptides: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow II

Registration is open for the second antimicrobial peptide conference, a free, one-day Zoom event on Oct. 19. The conference includes presentations from leading figures in antimicrobial peptide research from around the world.

Click here to register

 

Schedule

Welcoming remarks: 8 am, Dr. Joseph Khoury, professor and chair of the UNMC Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology

Session I: Discovery, design and applications of AMPs

  • 8:15 to 8:45 am, TBA
  • 8:45 to 9:15 am, Colin Hill (University College Cork, Ireland), Bacterial lantibiotics as antibiotics?
  • 9:15 to 9:45 am, Maria Luisa Mangoni (Universita La Sapienza, Italy), European amphibian AMPs: Discovery and applications
  • 9:45 to 10:15 am, Karin Thevissen (Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, Belgium), Plant defensins: Discovery and applications

Morning break: 10:15 to 10:30 am

Session II: History of antimicrobial peptide discovery

  • 10:30 to 11 am, Michael Zasloff (Georgetown University, USA), My discovery of magainins and their translational research experiences
  • 11 to 11:30 am, Tomas Ganz (University of California Los Angeles, USA), The discovery of human alpha-defensins
  • 11:30 am to noon, Chuck Bevins (University of California Davis, USA), Human defensins and its role in microbiota
  • Noon to 12:30 pm, Robert Hancock (University of British Columbia, Canada), Host defense peptides: My perspective

Lunch break: 12:30 to 1 pm

Session III: AI prediction of antimicrobial peptides

  • 1 to 1:30 pm, Octavio Luiz Franco (Universidade Catolica Dom Bosco, Brazil), In silico discovery of antimicrobial peptides
  • 1:30 to 2 pm, Monique van Hoek (George Mason University, USA), Peptide sensing and phenotypic escape: D-GATR-3, GraRS and Trailing Susceptibility in MRSA
  • 2 to 2:30 pm, Cesa de la Fuente (University of Pennsylvania, USA), Accelerating antibiotic discovery with AI
  • 2:30 to 3 pm, Inanc Birol (University of British Columbia, Canada), Deep learning prediction of antimicrobial peptides

Afternoon break: 3 to 3:15 pm

Session IV: Peptide drugs for challenging diseases

  • 3:15 to 3:45 pm, Michael E. Selsted (University of Southern California, USA), Theta-defensins from mammals
  • 3:45 to 4:15 pm, William Shafer (Emory University, USA), Gonorrhea, AMPs and decreased susceptibility mechanisms impacting clinically used antibiotics
  • 4:15 to 4:45 pm, Hicks Leslie (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA), MS discovery of natural AMPs
  • 4:45 to 5:15 pm, David Craik (The University of Queensland, Australia), Discovery of cyclotides as peptide therapeutics

Closing remarks: 5:15 pm