2 Table of Contents Words of Welcome 3 Contact Information 8 Committees 9 About EFIS 11 Awards 12 EFIS Awards 13 Waived Registration Fee Grants 15 Congress Information 16 Information for Speakers and Poster Presenters 18 Program at a Glance 19 Scientific Program 24 Keynote and Plenary Lectures 28 Scientific Program by Day 31 Industry Sponsored Symposia, Sponsoring and Exhibition 82 Acknowledgements 84 Company Descriptions 86 Industry Sponsored Sessions 89 Exhibition Information 92 Virtual Social Program 93 Science Communication Workshops & Performance 93 6th European Congress of Immunology, September 1-4, 2021 3 Words of Welcome Welcome by the Congress President Dear Fellow Immunologists and Colleagues, On behalf of the Turkish Society of Immunology (TSI), the Immunological Society of Serbia (ISoS) and the European Federation of Immunological Societies (EFIS) we sincerely welcome you to the th6 European Congress of Immunology (ECI 2021) which will be held virtually from Istanbul between September 1-4, 2021. We hope that all of you and your loved ones are in good health and keeping yourselves safe and sound from the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sadly, we were obliged to transform this triennial world-renowned immunology congress from a face-to- face meeting to a fully virtual format. The motto of the 6th ECI is “Opening Doors to the World of Immunology”. Anatolia has been the grassroots of many civilizations and Istanbul has stood for centuries as the main door connecting the Asian continent to Europe. We have been the proud gatekeepers of these major civilizations over centuries and are honored to nurture and preserve these World heritage sites. The 6th ECI covers all fields of modern immunology and the program outline of ECI 2021 has been specifically designed with the ‘Opening Doors to the World of Immunology” concept in mind. Throughout establishing the scientific and social program, people from immunological societies all over Europe and the rest of the world have passionately collaborated and we are appreciative of all parties’ efforts. We have much enjoyed the truly international contributions while constructing an attractive program for ECI 2021. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, our Organizing Committee had to adapt the program to a fully virtual format that guarantees an event covering full spectrum of immunology-related basic and applied research with exceptional keynote and plenary sessions that feature two Nobel Laureates and a panel of internationally renowned top-notched scientists. The ECI 2021 scientific program stages more than 550 speakers from 60 countries in 106 sessions over the course of 3.5 busy days. In the opening day, two Nobel Laurates will share their lifelong scientific experiences in their opening keynote lectures. The program also offers 2 more keynote and 4 stellar plenary lectures. Sixty top-notch scientists will get the chance to share their groundbreaking research in the main scientific sessions. Fifteen immunological societies in 13 joint sessions will host 48 presentations. Several COVID-19 sessions will cover vaccine development and regulation as well as the clinical status of the pandemic. We have initiated for the first time a special session dedicated to young EFIS members. An exciting session not to be missed that was completely organized by our young immunologist fellows. Among 1535 abstracts submitted to the congress, a total of 1416 were selected by the Scientific Program Committee to be presented. This includes 339 oral presentations distributed to 49 workshop sessions and highest rated 24 abstracts that were nominated for four Bright Sparks sessions. 6th European Congress of Immunology, September 1-4, 2021 4 The poster sessions will be on show throughout the entire congress period and best poster candidates will be shortlisted and awarded as the best poster winners during the closing ceremony. The four-track scientific program aims to connect basic immunological research to clinical applications and highlight emerging fields in immunology and related medical fields. In industry sponsored sessions, companies will showcase technology platforms that “open doors” for cutting edge immunology research. Among several activities, one of the unique entertainments we have selected to offer to you is the live performance on science communication. We are certain that this unique social activity will be one of the highlights of the conference. While there were several challenges due to COVID-19 and besides much unanticipated hurdles, we sincerely enjoyed the making of the ECI 2021. We appreciate all your efforts to join our meeting and to take part in the international exchange of scientific discussions and ideas. We hope that you will enjoy ECI 2021! With best wishes, Gunnur Deniz ECI 2021 Congress President 6th European Congress of Immunology, September 1-4, 2021 5 Welcome by the TSI President Dear Friends and Dear Colleagues, The Turkish Society of Immunology (TSI) welcomes you to the 6th European Congress of Immunology, ECI 2021. We are honored to organize ECI 2021 together with Immunological Society of Serbia (ISoS) on behalf of the European Federation of Immunological Societies (EFIS). The TSI aims to develop and maintain the highest standards in the practice and teaching of basic and clinical immunology in Turkey, and to promote collaboration between clinical immunologists and basic scientists’ nation and worldwide. Also, the TSI shares the values of EFIS and IUIS, and participates in their activities to be a global player in immunology. In line with our aims, we consider it a privilege to organize the 6th European Congress of Immunology. In these unprecedented times, as our globalized world was turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic, TSI has remained strong during this period, and its members and officers have kept working hard to prepare for the upcoming ECI 2021 undaunted by the difficulties created by the pandemic. Now, TSI is looking forward to the time when the European Immunology network can again be together to listen, discuss and exchange ideas during ECI 2021. We thank you for joining us at the 6th European Congress of Immunology to enjoy and share science together! Yours faithfully, H. Barbaros Oral President TSI 6th European Congress of Immunology, September 1-4, 2021 6 Welcome by the ISoS President Dear Colleagues and Friends, On behalf of the Immunological Society of Serbia, it is our great pleasure to welcome you to the 6th European Congress of Immunology (ECI) which is held from September 1-4, 2021. ECI 2021 is hosted by the Turkish Society of Immunology (TSI) and the Immunological Society of Serbia (ISoS), and it is a virtual meeting to ensure safety and health of the participants in the ongoing pandemic. We would like to express our gratitude and pleasure that we had the opportunity to co-organize ECI 2021 with TSI with the focus on “opening doors to the world of immunology”. The 6th ECI will cover all fields of immunology, basic and applied, and related interdisciplinary fields, and also present new discoveries in the fundamental immunology through the four-track program dedicated to ‘Cellular Immunology’, ‘Molecular Immunology’, ‘Diseases and Immune Response’ and ‘Innovative Technologies and Immunotherapies’. The scientific program includes interesting plenary sessions staged by established world-leading scientists in basic and translational immunology, symposia, oral short presentations sessions and e-poster sections in addition to joint symposia with guest societies. The state-of-the-art virtual platform will enable networking within participants and provide exposure to exciting new data from the whole immunological community. The Immunological Society of Serbia (ISoS) originates from the Yugoslav Immunological Society (YIS) founded in 1968 in Belgrade and registered in 1974. As part of YIS, ISoS carried out all the important tasks including dissemination of the scientific findings and improvement in the teaching of immunology at several universities in Serbia. In 1969, YIS was one of the ten founding members of the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS) and also contributed to the establishment of the European Federation of Immunological Societies (EFIS) in 1975. After the breakup of the country (1991), YIS was located in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) and its work was maintained through ISoS activities. In spite of the economic and political upheavals a great achievement at that time was founding the Balkan Association of Immunological Societies, which took place at the 1st Balkan Congress of Immunology BAIS in Belgrade 1995. Since 2006, the name of the Society was returned to ISoS. Members of ISoS maintain scientific excellence and organize regular scientific meetings and national symposia. Appreciating this, EFIS entrusted the organization of two EFIS/EJI meetings in Belgrade to Dr. Miodrag L. Lukic and ISoS (2004, 2008) and supported the organization of Belgrade conference Immunology at the Confluence of Multidisciplinary Research in 2019. The current number of ISoS members is 130 and it is continually expanding with the accession of young scientists. We will do our best to make the 6th ECI a most memorable scientific event. We look forward to meeting you virtually in September 2021! Sincerely, Nada Pejnovic President ISoS 6th European Congress of Immunology, September 1-4, 2021 7 Welcome by the EFIS President Dear friends and colleagues, As President of the European Federation of Immunological