Enormous Engagement at the 12th DZL Annual Meeting in Bad Nauheim

From June 5 to 7, 2024, the 12th Annual Meeting of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL) took place at the UGMLC site in Bad Nauheim. The event impressed with a record-breaking attendance of 630 participants and showcased the largest Poster Session in DZL history. Over three days, the meeting in the spa town, set in the green Kurpark, provided numerous opportunities for knowledge exchange and presentation of significant findings across various fields of lung research, with 54 hours of working group meetings, 388 posters, 97 teaser presentations, and 15 exciting plenary lectures.

The first day of the Annual Meeting began with various pre-meetings and the inaugural meeting of the newly composed Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), which had gathered in large numbers for this special occasion, along with the DZL board. In the evening, the DZL Academy Reception took place for the 5th time, providing the DZL's Early Career Scientists with a diverse program and the opportunity for informal exchanges in a relaxed atmosphere.

During the evening event on Thursday, DZL speaker Werner Seeger announced significant changes to the DZL board. Erika von Mutius was bid farewell from the board and honored for her long-standing commitment as speaker for the DZL site CPC-M. Professor Ali Önder Yildirim, who had taken over from Professor von Mutius as speaker in March, was officially welcomed. Professor Gesine Hansen (MHH Hannover) was introduced as the new elected board member and successor to the late Professor Tobias Welte as speaker for the BREATH site.

DZL Poster Award Ceremony

A highlight of the meeting was once again the presentation of the DZL Poster Awards. For the first time, poster prizes were awarded not only in the eight disease areas and two platforms but also in the four disease-spanning working groups. All presented research works were reviewed and evaluated by an independent jury during the poster session. The poster prizes, each endowed with 500 euros, were awarded this year to:

Disease Areas/Platforms

• Tobias Trojan (Asthma and Allergies)
• Cheng-Yu Wu (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, COPD)
• Jasmin Berger, Mark-Christian Jaboreck - shared prize (Cystic Fibrosis & Bronchiectasis)
• Georgios Kiliaris (Pneumonia and Acute Lung Failure)
• Alejandro Egea-Zorrilla (Diffuse Parenchymal Lung Diseases)
• Tobias Trojan (Pulmonary Hypertension)
• Eleni Bouloukou (Regeneration & Organ Replacement)
• Julianne Susanne Funk (Lung Cancer)
• Meike Fünderich (Biobanking & Data Management Platform)
• Lin Yang (Imaging Platform)

Disease-spanning Working Groups

• Yiling Xu (Artificial Intelligence & Digital Tools)
• Siddartha Doswada, Stephanie Stephan - shared prize (Lung Environment Interaction)
• Ilona Rosenboom (Microbiome-Metagenome)
• Lena Maureen Leiber, Jamal Nabhanizadeh - shared prize (Single Cell Analysis)

The DZL Academy Publication Award was also presented again to honor outstanding works within the fellowships. The award winners are:

• Learta Pervizaj-Oruqaj (First Place)
• Stefan Hadžić (Second Place)
• Alberto Diaz-Jimenez & Maria Ramos - shared first authorship (Third Place)

On the final day of the event, plenary sessions of the various disease areas, platforms, and disease-spanning working groups were on the agenda. These sessions not only presented the latest developments in their respective fields but also provided selected junior scientists with the opportunity to present their work in highlight presentations before a large audience in the impressive setting of the historic Art Nouveau Theater. In conclusion, there were appreciative words for all participants. Werner Seeger once again emphasized the outstanding scientific quality, the cooperative spirit, and the immense, steadily growing commitment of the DZL community and especially the Early Career Scientists, which underscores the significance of these annual meetings and offers a positive outlook for the future of the DZL.

Photos: Ben Kilb