Events
UK Cilia and Centrosome Network Spring Meeting
Date: 5 June 2026 Time: 12:00 - 18:00
Join us for the annual in-person meeting of the UK Cilia & Centrosomal Network meeting, which for 2026 will be at the University of Leeds, St James's University Hospital campus. A key theme for this year's meeting are new insights and improved diagnosis of rare recessive inherited conditions, including ciliopathies, which have been possible in our local West Yorkshire populations. A second theme is the long-standing legacy in structural biology at the Astbury Centre, University of Leeds, tracing back to Bill Astbury's pioneering work in defining alpha‑helices and beta‑sheets in proteins. Today, its researchers use world‑class facilities - including cryo‑electron microscopy, ultra‑high‑field NMR, X‑ray crystallography, and advanced biophysical tools - to investigate membrane proteins, viruses, protein folding, and molecular interactions. We will also be celebrating the 75th anniversary since Irene Manton and Bryan Clarke first described the canonical structure of cilia and flagellae at the University of Leeds.
Programme:
10.30 Registration open, poster hanging, exhibitor stands
11.30 – 12.00 Refreshments with posters and exhibitors
12.00 – 13.00 Session 1
12.00 – 12.05: Welcome and introduction to the meeting
12.05 – 12.35 keynote speaker: Helen Foster, University of Leeds "The multi-step mechanism of axoneme assembly revealed by in situ structural biology"
12.35 – 12.50: Kerry Leeson-Beevers, Chief Executive, Alström Syndrome & Ciliopathy Alliance UK "How to communicate with lay audiences: turning complex science into accessible information for all"
12.50 – 13.00 Flash talks
(1) Pablo Zurita Soler, Postdoc, Keavney lab, Imperial College London "Computational modelling of cilia coordination and swimming in trochophore ciliary bands"
(2) Vanessa Papastavrou, PhD student, Mitchison lab, University College London "Development of antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) as therapeutics to treat primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD)"
(3) Rebecca Collinson, PhD student, Tanos lab, Brunel University "Cilia regulate the crosstalk between cancer cells and associated fibroblasts in malignant pleural mesothelioma"
13.00 – 14.00 Lunch: with poster presenters and exhibitors
14.00 – 15.35 Session 2
14.00 – 14.10 Samantha Lawes, Director of research development & partnerships, Kidney Research UK
14.10 – 14:25 Victor Hernandez, Brunel University London & Axovia Therapeutics "At the right place at the right time. How to find the physiologically accurate expression and function for ciliary genes; The case of BBS1."
14:25 – 14:50 Eriomina Shahaj, postdoc, Hart lab, GOSH ICH UCL, "Restoration of cilia motility via mRNA therapy in Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia"
14:50 – 15:05 Athullya Baby, postdoc, Cicuta lab, University of Cambridge, "Investigating the Influence of Mechanical Stresses on Ciliary Dynamics Using Advanced In Vitro Airway Models"
15:05 – 15:20 Katerina Apolinova, postdoc, Wann lab, University of Southampton, "Primary cilia in the growing limb are preferentially orientated, uncoupled from centriolar position"
15:20 – 15:25 Jonathan Burden, postdoc, Godinho lab, Queen Mary University London "Centrosome amplification altered secretion drives tumour angiogenesis and TME remodelling".
15.35 – 15.45 Flash talks
(1) Becky Dewhurst, Cann lab, Durham University "Carbon dioxide regulates primary cilium function via histone H3 modification."
(2) Muyang Ren, PhD student, Mali lab, Cambridge Univeristy "Ciliophagy promotes motile cilia recycling under stress"
(3) Praveen Sudhindar, Postdoc, Sayer lab, University of Newcastle "Small molecule drug treatments for inherited kidney disease: Nephronophthisis"
15.45 – 16:15 Short break: with poster presenters and exhibitors
16:15 – 18.00 Session 3
16.15 – 16.45 keynote speaker: Fanni Gergely, University of Oxford "From scaffolds to signals: how the centrosome integrates cellular pathways"
16.45 – 17:00 Conor Fawcett, McClurg lab, University of Liverpool, "TEX12 - a link between infertility-associated meiotic proteins and ciliopathy phenotypes"
17:00 – 17:15 Tanya Whitfield, University of Sheffield, "Ionocytes and rod cells: rare cell types in the zebrafish olfactory epithelium"
17:15 – 17:30 Emma Hall, postdoc, Mill lab, University of Edinburgh "Balancing act: opposing molecular condensates calibrate centriole amplification in multiciliated cells"
17:30 - 17.45 Mark van Breugel, Queen Mary University London, "Architecture and Mechanism of the CBY/FAM92A Ciliogenesis Complex"
17:45 – 18:00 Meeting closes with announcements
Submit your abstract for poster or talks here before May 29th 2026: https://forms.gle/93u4pMMHVh4b6ZbE8
| Location: | Lecture Theatre (floor 4, 4.06), Clinical Sciences Building, St James’s University Hospital, Beckett Street, Leeds, LS9 7TF, UK | |
| Contact: | Colin Johnson | |
| Email: | medcaj@leeds.ac.uk | |
| Website: | https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1986462698405?aff=oddtdtcreator |
Updated by: Pleasantine Mill