Decoding Microproteins - From Basic Biology to Biotechnological Innovations

NobelSymposium1Generated using AINobel Symposia

14th of September to 16th of September, 2026

Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

The Nobel Symposium will showcase the latest discoveries and technologies driving this rapidly expanding field of microproteins. In the symposium, we will explore how microproteins are identified and studied, their evolutionary and functional roles, and their emerging potential as disease markers and therapeutic targets. Bringing together experts across disciplines and career stages, the meeting aims to spark new ideas and collaborations, and accelerate innovation in microprotein research.

Programme

Day 1: Monday 14/09/2026

8:45-9:00 Opening by Stephan Wenkel

Session 1

Chair: Stephan Wenkel

9:00-9:30 Gisela Storz (NIH, United Stated)

“Mechanisms of microprotein action”

9:30-10:00 Julie Aspden (University of Leeds, United Kingdom)

“What features contribute to translational preference of microprotein encoding transcripts”

10:00-10:30 Anne Lopes (Université Paris-Saclay, France)

“Emergence of microproteins and de novo genes from noncoding DNA”

10:30-11:00 Break 

Session 2

Chair: Iker Valle Aramburu

11:00-11:30 Brendan Miller (Salk Institute for Biological Studies, United States)

“Microproteins Hiding in Plain Sight: From Dark Proteome to Functional Biology”

11:30-12:00 Claire McWhite (The University of Arizona, United States)

“Alternative proteoforms and proteoform-dependent assemblies in humans and plants”

12:00-12:30 Cynthia Sharma (University of Würzburg, Germany)

"Small proteins in stress response and virulence of pathogenic Epsilonproteobacteria"

12:30-13:30 Lunch + Poster Session

Session 3

Chair: Mar Albà

13:30-14:00 Ami S. Bhatt (Stanford Medical School, United States)

“A New Molecular Vocabulary for Host-Microbe Communication”

14:00-15:00 John Prensner (University of Michigan Medical School, United States)

“Next steps for the detection and characterization of the cancer dark proteome”

14:30-15:00 Klára Hlouchová (Charles University, Czech Republic)

"Learning from random sequence space"

15:00-16:00 Coffee + Poster Session

Session 4

Chair: Amelie Stein

16:00-16:30 Juan Pablo Couso (Centro Andaluz de Biologia del Desarrollo, Spain)

"Enhanced translation of small ORFs provides resilience to stress"

16:30-17:00 Arne Elofsson (Stockholm University, Sweden)

"Towards a complete human interaction map"

17:00-17:30 Matthias Mann (Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Germany)

“MS-scan modes and algorithms to explore the deep and dark proteome”

18:30 Arrival to Bildmuseet 

Dinner following the visit at Bildmuseet 

Download the programme (PDF)

Invited speakers

  • Ami S. Bhatt — Stanford University, USA
  • Alan Saghatelian — Salk Institute for Biological Studies, USA
  • Amelie Stein — University of Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Anne Lopes — I2BC, Université Paris‑Saclay, France
  • Anne‑Ruxandra Carvunis — University of Pittsburgh, USA
  • Arne Elofsson — Stockholm University, Sweden
  • Cynthia Sharma — University of Würzburg, Germany
  • Claire McWhite — University of Arizona, USA
  • Cyril Zipfel — University of Zurich, Switzerland
  • Dek Woolfson — University of Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Erich Bornberg‑Bauer — University of Münster, Germany
  • Gisela Storz — National Institutes of Health (NICHD), USA
  • Jean‑Philippe Combier — Université Toulouse III / CNRS (LRSV), France
  • Jennifer Zanet — Université Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier, France
  • John Prensner — University of Michigan Medical School, USA
  • José Luis Riechmann — Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), Spain
  • Juan Pablo Couso — Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Spain
  • Julie Aspden — University of Leeds, UK
  • Klára Hlouchová — Charles University, Czech Republic
  • Lena Ho — Duke‑NUS Medical School, Singapore
  • Maria Abad — Altos Labs, USA
  • Mar Albà — Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM), Spain
  • Matthias Mann — Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Germany
  • Michal Bassani‑Sternberg — Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Switzerland
  • Nikos Vakirlis — Pasteur Institute of Greece, Greece
  • Norbert Hübner — Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC Berlin), Germany
  • Owen Rackham — University of Southampton, UK
  • Patrick Bryant — SciLifeLab / Stockholm University, Sweden
  • Petra van Damme — Ghent University, Belgium
  • Sarah Slavoff — Yale University, USA
  • Sebastiaan van Heesch — Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Netherlands
  • Simon Elsässer — University of Freiburg, Germany
  • Sonia Chothani — Duke‑NUS Medical School, Singapore
  • Thomas F. Martinez — University of California, Irvine, USA
  • Valerie Tornini — University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA
  • Ylva Ivarsson — Uppsala University, Sweden

Local Organizers

  • Stephan Wenkel, UPSC, Umeå University, Sweden
  • Iker Valle Aramburu, MIMS, Umeå University, Sweden

Scientific Organizing Committee

  • Amelie Stein, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Mar Alba, IMIM Barcelona, Spain
  • Simon Elsässer, University of Freiburg, Germany

Local Organizing Team

  • Anup Kuman Ram
  • Divyanshu Awasthi
  • Fabio Zaccarini
  • Giacomo Matera
  • Huanying Niu
  • Jose Antonio Flores Gonzalez
  • Kiana Farhanchi
  • Long Tran Thien
  • Naveen Shankar
  • Rytis Stakaitis
  • Thu Hien Nguyen

Interested in joining?

If you are interested in joining this event, please contact the main organizer, Stephan Wenkel at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..