CONFERENCE REPORT
8th International Symposium on Antimicrobial Peptides, Marseille, France, June 5-7 2024
The 8th edition of AMP2024 which was held in Marseille (France) from 5 to 7 June 2024, was a resounding success, bringing together 87 participants from 22 countries in academia and industry. Indeed, the international participants agreed that the quality of the presentations by the invited speakers, as well as the oral presentations and posters selected from submitted abstracts, was impressive. The conference was marked by outstanding opening and closing lectures from Cesar de la Fuente (Pennsylvania University) and Octavio Franco (Catholic University of Brasilia), respectively. In addition, 6 high-level keynote lectures completed the list of invited speakers, including Charles Bevins (UC Davis), Svetlana Dubiley (Toulouse Biotech Institute), Anna Zaidman-Rémy (INSA-Lyon), Eugene Chang (Chicago University), Ines Neundorf (University of Cologne) and Peter Mergaert (Paris-Saclay University). The program was rounded off by 30 oral presentations from national and international selected speakers, from young to senior scientists. Six prizes were awarded for the best oral communications, the best posters and best flash talks selected among the posters. The conferences covered the five main themes in the field, namely: mechanisms of antimicrobial activities and bacterial resistance, interplays between antimicrobial peptides and immune modulation, interplays between antimicrobial peptides and microbiome, AMP in ecology and evolution, and finally discovery, biosynthesis pathways and bioengineering of novel AMPs.
Many colleagues report that new collaborations and interactions emerged from AMP2024. This meeting also allowed the preparation of the next meeting (AMP2026) that will be organized in Besançon by our colleagues Katy Jeannot and Vincent Humblot (Centre National des Résistances, CNRS, Besançon University).
The chair Dr. Michael Lafond on behalf of the organizing committee.