3rd International Conference on Biomolecules

Next-Generation Natural Products Discovery for the Bioeconomy

Nancy, France - September 16–18, 2026

📢 Registration remains open until the conference
submit your abstract for a poster presentation at any time up until the conference date

Scientific Program

Conference Program

Day 1 – Wednesday ,September 16, 2026

Morning

10:30 – 12:00

Registration

12:00 – 13:30

Lunch Break

Afternoon

13:30 – 13:45 *Welcome and Introductory Remarks*

🕒13:45–17:15 | Session 1 – Plants as Sources of New Active Molecules - chaired by Mélanie Rouhier

13:45-14:15

◆ Keynote Lecture: Natural products from plants you normally disregard - or even do not see

🎤Keynote Speaker: Henrik Toft Simonsen 📍Université Jean Monnet, Saint-Étienne, France
14:15-14:30

Short lecture : Molecular evolutionary basis behind the functional diversity of the UbiA aromatic prenyltransferase family in citrus

🎤Tamara Klett 📍RISH Kyoto University, Japan
14:30-14:45

Short lecture : Genome-wide identification and in silico analysis of GSTs reveals hormone mediated stress response in saffron

🎤Bano Muqaddas 📍University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
14:45 – 16:15

🔴Coffee Break & Poster Session

16:15-16:45

◆ Keynote Lecture: From Marchantia polymorpha to biosynthetic innovations: what basal land plants teach us about chemical evolution

🎤Keynote Speaker: Masaharu Mizutani 📍Kobe University, Japan
16:45 – 17:00

Short lecture : Tale of two clades: the shared biosynthesis of cyclic diterpenoids between trees and peatland mosses.

🎤Chad Kristian Papenfuhs 📍ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
17:00 – 17:15

Short lecture: Bryophytes as sources of new bioactive molecules

🎤Raissa Volpatto-Marquès 📍Université de Lorraine, France
17:15

🔴Poster Session

Evening

18:00 – 20:00

Free Visit & Free Public Conference on biomolecules at the Muséum-Aquarium de Nancy (City Centre)

Muséum-Aquarium de Nancy 📍34 Rue Sainte-Catherine, 54000 Nancy

Day 2 – Thursday, September 17, 2026

Morning

🕒09:00 – 11:15 | Session 2 – Microorganisms as Biomolecule Providers - Chaired by Cyril Bontemps

09:00 – 09:30

◆ Keynote Lecture: Natural products biodiscovery from the ocean microbiome: the benefits of combining approaches

🎤Keynote Speaker: Olivier Grovel 📍Nantes Université & ISOMER, France
09:30 – 09:45

Short lecture: Exploring the diversity of 2,5-diketopiperazine scaffolds produced  by a new subfamily of cyclodipeptide synthases

🎤Celine Aubry 📍Institute of Integrative Biology of the Cell, France
09:45 – 10:00

Short lecture: Rerouting the actinorhodin biosynthetic pathway toward the production of flavokermesic acid in Streptomyces sp.

🎤Delphine Noel 📍Université de Lorraine, France
10:00 – 10:30

🔴 Coffee Break & Poster Session

10:30 – 11:00

◆ Keynote Lecture: When phenotypes get unusual: new opportunities in natural product discovery?

🎤Keynote Speaker: Sébastien Rigali 📍Université de Liège, Belgium
11:00 – 11:15

Short lecture: Identification and characterisation of novel macrolide compounds

🎤Duong Thi Thuy Nguyen 📍The University of Warwick, UK
11:15

🔴 Poster Session

Afternoon

12:00 – 13:30

Lunch Break

🕒13:30–16:00 | Session 3 – Breakthrough Methods in Biomolecule Discovery - Chaired by Frédéric Borges

13:30 – 14:00

◆ Keynote Lecture: Beyond the Obvious – Rethinking Genome Mining Strategies for Natural Product Discovery

🎤Keynote Speaker: Joleen Masschelein 📍KU Leuven & VIB-KU Leuven Center for Microbiology, Belgium
14:00 – 14:15

Short lecture: Activation of GPR18 by cannabinoids to target inflammation: first insights into CBD–GPR18 interactions in macrophages

🎤Nathalie Mercier📍 Université de Lorraine, France
14:15-14:30

Short lecture: Development of a correlative imaging method to map molecular and biological actors in the rhizosphere of model trees

🎤Marceau Levasseur 📍INRAE, France
14:30 – 15:00

🔴 Coffee Break & Poster Session

15:00– 15:30

◆ Keynote Lecture: Metabolomics and the dark metabolome: from detection to functional insight

🎤Keynote Speaker: Gianfranco Diretto 📍ENEA, Rome, Italy
15:30-15:45

Short lecture: Trapped ion mobility – High resolution mass spectrometry for discovery of bioactive natural products: case study of Streptomyces

🎤Aya Fakih 📍Université de Lorraine, France
15:45-16:00

Short lecture: Identification of the first pteropodine 10-hydroxylase reveals a missing step in spirooxindole biosynthesis in Hamelia patens

🎤Anna Luisa Lopez Vazquez 📍Biomolécules et Biotechnologies Végétales, EA2106, Université de Tours, France

🕒16:15 – 17:45 | Industrial Research Session - Chaired by Frédéric Bourgaud

16:15 – 16:45

◆ Industrial Keynote: Veterinary parasite control market: a giant with feet of clay

🎤Michael Donabedian - Vétoquinol, France
16:45 – 17:00

Short lecture: Nanocrystallisation and chemical cross-linking: towards thermostable and recyclable crystal-based biocatalysts for industry

🎤Anna Bonnardel 📍Institut de Biologie structurale, France
17:00 – 17:15

Short lecture: Dark&Strong project: High melanization of dark septate endophytes, an advantageous trait for plant colonization and stress tolerance

🎤Damien Blaudez📍Université de Lorraine, France
17:15 – 17:30

Short lecture: Fungal production of laccases on upcycled plant-based by-products for natural cosmetic colorant extraction

🎤Lionel Muniglia 📍Université de Lorraine, France
17:30 – 17:45

Short lecture: Storage-induced multiscale changes in plant-based powders: Linking matrix stability to functional properties

🎤Laura Gailly 📍Université de Lorraine, France

Evening

19:30 – 22:00

Gala Dinner at Restaurant Grand Café Foy📍Place Stanislas, Nancy

22:00 – 22:30

Public Light & Sound Show at📍Place Stanislas, Nancy

Day 3 – Friday, September 18, 2026

Morning

🕒09:00 – 11:00 | Session 4 – Artificial Intelligence & Biomolecules - Chaired by Kira Weissman

09:00 – 09:30

◆ Keynote Lecture: Deep learning for data-driven exploration of natural product-inspired chemical space

🎤Keynote Speaker: Guénaël Cabanes📍Université de Lorraine , France
09:30 – 09:45

Short lecture: A structure guided machine learning box scanning method reveals local residue patterns associated with ketosynthase substrate specificity

🎤Rime Walieddine 📍Université de Lorraine, France
09:45 – 10:00

Short lecture: Tailoring Enzyme-guided Expansion of Natural Product Biosynthetic Space

🎤Sandra Panczyk 📍Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany
10:00 – 10:30

🔴 Coffee Break & Poster Session

10:30 – 11:00

◆ Keynote Lecture: Metagenomes as biomolecule reservoirs: big-data strategies to reveal biosynthetic diversity

🎤Keynote Speaker: Nadine Ziemert 📍University of Tübingen, Germany
11:00– 11:15

Closing Remarks

11:15– 13:00

Farewell Lunch

Organizers