Save the Date
Protein Folding Conference
From Molecules to Disease — an international conference on Protein Folding, Misfolding, and Proteostasis, marking the official launch of a new Swedish Research Council–funded initiative.
Invitation
Join us at
Karolinska Institute
We are pleased to invite you to the international conference "Protein Folding Conference: From Molecules to Disease", March 11–13 in Aula Medica, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm. This meeting marks the launch of our Swedish Research Council–funded initiative to measure and predict protein folding dynamics at single-molecule resolution. The conference is free of charge.
01 / 03
Impressions
Pictures from the Conference
Artistic Impression
Artistic Impressions
Visual interpretations of protein folding and molecular dynamics, drawn by Jacopo Sacquegno.
Programme Overview
Three Days of Science
Day 1
11 March 2026
Day 2
12 March 2026
The Team
Meet the Organizers
Full Programme
Detailed Schedule
08:30–08:50
Registration & Coffee
08:50–09:00
Foreword
Professor Giovanni Volpe
Session 1 · International Collaboration and Engagement with Strategic Partners
09:00–09:05
Welcome
Professor Mats J. Olsson
Head of Clinical Neurosciences Department, Karolinska Institute, Sweden
09:05–09:10
Italian Embassy
Ambassador Michele Pala
09:10–09:15
Japanese Embassy
Ambassador Hideaki Mizukoshi
09:15–09:20
Spanish Embassy
Ambassador Luis Manuel Cuesta Civís
09:20–09:25
Introduction
Dr Julia Fernandez Rodriguez
Centre for Cellular Imaging, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
09:25–09:55
International representative from Italy
The European Spallation Source: perspectives for life sciences
Dr Giovanna Fragneto
Scientific Director, European Spallation Source Lund, Sweden
09:55–10:25
International representative from Japan
The Method Made the Map — A small thread in a long Japan–Sweden tapestry
Professor Katsuhiko Shirahige
Visiting Professor at Karolinska Institute, and Director at the Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, Tokyo University, Japan
10:25–11:05
Coffee Break
11:05–11:35
International representative from Spain
The discovery of the neuronal forest of the brain and the impact of Alzheimer's disease
Professor Javier DeFelipe
Director of the Cajal Laboratory of Cortical Circuits, Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain
11:35–12:05
International representative from Africa
Unravelling autophagy dysfunction and mitochondrial quality control in neurodegeneration
Professor Ben Loos
Chair the Department of Physiological Sciences, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
12:05–12:10
Importance of protein folding
Professor Martin Bergö
Vice President, Karolinska Institute
12:10–13:40
Lunch Break
Session 2 · Living and Non-Living Models
13:40–13:45
Introduction
Dr Sviatlana Shashkova
University of Gothenburg, Sweden
13:45–14:15
Collapse of protein homeostasis during cellular aging as driver of degenerative protein aggregation disease
Professor Harm Kampinga
University of Groningen, The Netherlands
14:15–14:45
The metacaspase of yeast; protease or co-chaperone, or both?
Professor Thomas Nyström
University of Gothenburg, Sweden
14:45–15:05
Using the zebrafish as an in vivo model to explore cellular and network effects of protein (mis)folding
Dr Petronella Kettunen
University of Gothenburg, Sweden
15:05–15:25
Tipping Points in Lipid–Protein Co-Assembly and protein conformation
Professor Emma Sparr
Lund University, Sweden
15:25–16:05
Coffee Break
Session 3 · Instrumentation
16:05–16:10
Introduction
Dr Juliette Griffié
Stockholm University, Sweden
16:10–16:40
Following folding of a two-domain protein using single molecule FRET
Professor Don Lamb
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany
16:40–17:10
Developing single molecule biophysics technology to explore the role of molecular twist in protein unfolding
Professor Mark Leake
University of York, United Kingdom
17:10–17:30
From sequence to function: Bridging single-molecule kinetics and molecular diversity
Professor Sebastian Deindl
Uppsala University, Sweden
17:30–18:05
Poster flash talks
18:05–20:00
Poster Session & Finger Food
08:30–09:00
Registration & Coffee
09:00–09:05
Professor Robert Harris
Academic Vice-President of Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Session 4 · Simulations and Proteins — Chair: Dr Simon Olsson
09:05–09:10
Introduction
Dr Simon Olsson
Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
09:10–09:40
Flow-Induced Crystallisation of Silk Proteins
Dr Charley Schaefer
University of Leeds, United Kingdom
09:40–10:10
Predicting conformational ensembles and free energies needs human and not just artificial intelligence
Professor Pratyush Tiwary
University of Maryland, USA
10:10–10:40
Accelerating Biology Innovation with NVIDIA BioNeMo
Dr Brianda Lopez Santini
NVIDIA
10:40–11:10
Coffee Break
11:10–12:30
Networking
12:30–13:50
Lunch Break
Session 5 · Clinical Methods and Translation
13:50–13:55
Introduction
Dr Joana B. Pereira
Karolinska Institute, Sweden
13:55–14:25
Consequences of protein aggregation in patients
Dr Betty Tijms
Amsterdam University Medical Center, The Netherlands
14:25–14:55
Proteomics-based patient stratification in neurodegenerative disorders
Dr Anna Månberg
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SciLifeLab, Sweden
14:55–15:25
Biomarkers in ALS: current perspectives and future directions
Professor Nicola Ticozzi
IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Italy
15:25–16:00
Coffee Break
Session 6 · Experimental Technologies
16:00–16:05
Introduction
Professor Fredrik Westerlund
Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
16:05–16:35
Can we understand how proteins fold? A single-molecule force spectroscopy study
Professor Carlos Bustamante
University of California, Berkeley, USA
16:35–17:05
Using single-molecule optical tweezers to study transmembrane transport proteins
Dr Kasia Tych
University of Groningen, The Netherlands
17:05–17:35
TBA
Professor Matthias Rief
Technical University of Munich, Germany
17:35–18:05
Dissecting Protein Folding on the Ribosome with Optical Tweezers
Professor Christian Kaiser
Utrecht University, The Netherlands
08:30–08:50
Registration & Coffee
Activities Running in Parallel · 08:50–11:50
08:50–11:50
The Mystery Protein: A Detective Quest
08:50–11:50
Welcome to the Protein World with Virtual Reality
08:50–11:50
Protein Art Crafts
08:50–11:50
Unfolding Proteins with Optical Tweezers
08:50–11:50
Discover Quantum Computing
Presentations and Q&A
10:00–10:30
Presentation of the "Protein Folding in Real Time" Initiative
Professor Giovanni Volpe
University of Gothenburg, Sweden
10:30–11:00
Our Future Is Quantum: What Quantum Computing Is and Why It Matters for Your Career
Anna K Lindegren
IBM Quantum Ambassador & AI Customer Success Engineer
11:50–12:50
Lunch Break
Session 7 · Computing Meets Experiments — Chair: Dr Agnese Callegari
12:50–12:55
Introduction
Dr Agnese Callegari
University of Gothenburg, Sweden
12:55–13:25
What is next? Quantum computing for studying proteins and medicines
Anna Kazakova Lindegren
IBM Quantum Ambassador
Harry Munroe
IBM Quantum Ambassador, Health Care and Life Science Guild Leader
13:25–13:40
(Time-resolved) X-ray methods for the Life Sciences at MAX IV
Dr Cecilia Casadei
MAXIV
13:40–14:10
Modeling Conformational Transitions in Ion Channels
Professor Erik Lindahl
Stockholm University, Sweden
14:10–14:40
Coffee Break
Session 8 · Humanities
14:40–15:10
The place of the humanities and social sciences in research excellence
Dr Karl Palmås
Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
15:10–15:40
Data-driven predictive approaches for exploring futures
Dr Pontus Strimling
Institute for Futures Studies, Sweden
15:40–16:10
Seeing with and through images: Epistemic and aesthetic approaches to scientific visualization
Dr Tobias Olofsson
Lund University, Sweden
16:10–16:20
Chalmers–Lund Academic Forum: Connecting Natural Science with the Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Professor Fredrik Höök
Chalmers University of Technology
Farewell
16:20–16:35
Announcement of Poster Prize Winners
Professor Giovanni Volpe
16:35–16:50
Artistic Output Presentation
Jacopo Sacquegno
16:50–17:00
Concluding Remarks
Professor Giovanni Volpe
17:00–18:00
Coffee & Networking