Welcome
This is the online registration and submisson site for the 49th GfG Symposium „Epigenetics & Chromatin”
To register as a participant, please choose "Register as attendee". During the registration process you have to create an account. With this account you can login later, using the login box on the left side, to check your documents (invoice & ticket), edit your abstract or to change your personal data.
Symposium Overview
Date: 24. – 26. September 2025
Location: Justus-Liebig-University in Giessen, Germany
Venue: Lecture Room C 5b in Chemical Building, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 19, 35392 Giessen, Germany
Epigenetics is the study of (heritable) changes in gene expression that do not involve alterations to the underlying DNA sequence. These changes are often influenced by environmental factors, lifestyle, and developmental stages.
Central to epigenetic regulation is chromatin, the complex of DNA and proteins such as histones within the nucleus of cells. Modifications to chromatin structure, including the addition or removal of chemical tags, can turn genes "on" or "off" without changing the genetic code itself. These mechanisms are critical for processes like cell differentiation, aging, and disease development.
This GfG Symposium explores the cutting-edge research in epigenetics and chromatin biology, offering insights into how these molecular processes shape epigenetic landscapes affecting health, disease, and the future of personalized medicine.
Deadlines:
Abstract Submission: 15. July 2025
Registration: 15. August 2025
Preliminary Programme
Day 1 (Wednesday September 24th, 2025)
| 13:00 | Registration |
| 14:00 | Opening Ceremony |
| 14:10 |
Plenary Session I: Chromatin Organization Chair: Sigurd Braun |
| 14:10 |
Talk 1: Argyris Papantonis “Senescent cell co-opt CTCF and nuclear speckle component to sustain their splicing program” |
| 14:40 |
Talk 2: Ana Pombo “Chromatin regulation mechanisms at the onset of drug addiction” |
| 15:10 | Short Talk 1: TBA; selected from abstracts |
| 15:25 |
Coffee Break & Visit of Industrial Exhibition |
| 16:00 | Poster Flash Talks (A-K) |
| 16:50 | Talk 3: Philipp Korber “Order through disorder – functional determinants of an intrinsically disordered region in the yeast insulator Abf1” |
| 17:20 | Max-Delbrück-Lecture (open for public; hybrid): Peter B. Becker “Male-specific lethality in flies: From phenomenon to mechanism” |
| 18:30 | Reception |
| 20:00 | End of Day 1 |
Day 2 (Thursday September 25th, 2025)
| 09:00 |
Plenary Session II: Chromatin & Cell Functions Chair: Axel Imhof |
| 09:00 |
Talk 4: Valentin Flury “Maintaining chromatin across cell division: Lessons learned from DNA replication” |
| 09:30 | Short Talk 2: TBA; selected from abstracts |
| 09:45 |
Talk 5: Alexander Brehm “The interplay of chromatin regulators and multi- |
| 10:15 |
Talk 6: Sigurd Braun “A regulatory hub for silent chromatin and gene repression” |
| 10:45 | Coffee Break & Visit of Industrial Exhibition |
| 11:15 | Poster Flash Talks (L-Z) |
| 12:00 |
Plenary Session III: Histone Variants Chair: Fides Zenk |
| 12:00 | Short Talk 3: TBA; selected from abstracts |
| 12:15 |
Talk 7: Ann Ehrenhofer-Murray ”Regulation of centromere function by PTMs on CENP-A in yeast” |
| 12:45 | Lunch & Poster presentations (A-K) |
| 14:30 | Short Talk 4: TBA; selected from abstracts |
| 14:45 |
Talk 8: Patrick Heun “Less is more – the minimalistic fruit fly centromere” |
| 15:15 |
Talk 9: Sylvia Erhardt “Locus-specific protein profiling identifies the bromodomain inhibitor JQ1 as a molecular glue targeting centromeres” |
| 15:45 | Short Talk 5: TBA; selected from abstracts |
| 15:55 | Break & Visit of Industrial Exhibition |
| 16:30 |
Plenary Session IV: Chemical Modifications of Chromatin Chair: Alexander Brehm |
| 16:30 |
Talk 10: Rodrigo Villasenor “Reading the silent mark: Discovery of a novel family of DNA-methylation dependent readers in transcriptional regulation” |
| 17:00 |
Talk 11: Axel Imhof “The role of RNA in centromere structure and function” |
| 17:30 | Short Talk 7: TBA; selected from abstracts |
| 17:45 | Short Talk 8: TBA; selected from abstracts |
| 18:00 | End of Day 2 |
| 19:00 | Speakers Dinner |
Day 3 (Friday September 26th, 2025)
| 09:00 |
Plenary Session V: Chromatin in Health & Disease Chair: Patrick Heun |
| 09:00 |
Talk 12: Sandra Schick “BAF chromatin remodellers in development and disease” |
| 09:30 | Short Talk 9: TBA; selected from abstracts |
| 09:45 |
Talk 13: Fides Zenk “Single-cell epigenomic reconstruction of developmental trajectories from pluripotency in human brain organoids” |
| 10:15 | Break & Visit of Industrial Exhibition |
| 10:45 | Short Talk 10: TBA; selected from abstracts |
| 11:00 |
Talk 13: Marcus Buschbeck “Non-metabolic functions of macrodomain-containing histone variants in cancer” |
|
11:30 |
GfG Members Meeting (hybrid) |
|
12:00 |
Lunch & Poster presentations (L-Z) |
| 13:30 | Talk of Elizabeth-Gateff Prize 2025 Winner: TBA |
| 14:30 | Prize for Best Poster/ShortTalk and Conclusions |
| 15:00 | End of Symposium |
Sponsors
Organizers:
Sandra B. Hake
Institute for Genetics, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Germany
Sigurd Braun
Institute for Genetics, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Germany
Alexander Brehm
Institute for Molecular Biology and Tumor Research, Philipps-University Marburg, Germany
Patrick Heun
Department of Biology, Technical University Darmstadt, Germany
Fides Zenk
EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland