Retreats & Schools

After another productive year in the lab, the HBIGS community came together for our annual retreat—this time in the scenic Black Forest town of Bad Wildbad. More than 25 passionate PhD students took part in the event, eager to exchange scientific ideas, make new connections, and enjoy the peaceful surroundings.
Our retreat began on Monday afternoon at the charming Auerhahn Hotel, where we were warmly welcomed. The program kicked off with an inspiring talk by HBIGS-Alumna Dr. Franziska Hentschel, who shared her journey of becoming a young principal investigator at Heidelberg University. Her honest and engaging insights offered valuable guidance to early-career researchers navigating academic pathways. A relaxed group dinner followed, setting the stage for meaningful conversations and the start of new friendships.
Tuesday was dedicated to student presentations, featuring a series of 15-minute talks that covered a broad range of research areas—from rare diseases and plant biology to evolutionary biology and parasitology. Each talk sparked lively discussion, reflecting the diversity and depth of the projects within the HBIGS community. The prize for the best oral presentation was awarded to Ramona Walder which investigates treatment of Dilated Cardiomyopathy. Alongside the talks, students also presented their work during a poster session, showcasing an impressive range of topics. The poster prize was awarded to Alina Müller for her outstanding work on DNA-encoded library technology targeting membrane proteins.
The scientific program was further enriched by career-focused sessions. HBIGS-Alumnus Dr. Sebastian Bender shared his professional journey from academia to industry, ultimately becoming Head of Biomarkers in Oncology at Merck. His talk provided an inside look into R&D careers and was met with great interest and many questions. Later, Sandra Martini led a session on career paths after the PhD, encouraging open and honest discussion about the future steps available to young researchers.
Beyond science, the retreat also offered space for relaxation and fun. We enjoyed a guided garden tour through the Kurpark Bad Wildbad, followed by a cheerful game night on Tuesday evening. The hotel’s excellent meals and scenic setting added to the overall experience, and informal chats during coffee breaks and on the terrace allowed for meaningful peer-to-peer exchanges.
In summary, the HBIGS Retreat 2025 was a perfect blend of science, inspiration, and connection. It highlighted the value of stepping away from the lab to reflect, share, and grow—both personally and professionally. We’re already looking forward to next year’s retreat!

Report by Kim-Loreen Carlstedt

Participants

Alperen Acarı (University Hospital Mannheim), Lukas Baltes (Dept. Inf. Dis.), Paul Beltzig (University Hospital Mannheim), Kim-Loreen Carlstedt (Dept. Inf. Dis.), Dimitrios Destounis (University Hospital Heidelberg), Pablo Gonzalez Jabalera (IPMB), Manar Ewis (Dept. Inf. Dis.), Buyuan He (Dept. Inf. Dis.), Melika Katebi (University Hospital Mannheim), Anežka Kramná (Dept. Inf. Dis.),  Aiste Kudulyte (Dept. Inf. Dis.), Kamil Lalik (Dept. Inf. Dis.), Giovanni Merolla (Inst. Hum. Gen.), Alina Müller (MPImF), Maria Pereira (University Hospital Heidelberg), Laura Plutowski-Wrobel (Dept. Inf. Dis.), Lara Rohleder (Dept. Inf. Dis.), Celine Saad (University Hospital Heidelberg), Snehith Shetty (Dept. Inf. Dis.), Daniel Soto Carballo (ZMBH), Ramona Walder (University Hospital Heidelberg),  Siyi Wang (ZMBH), Anni Zhang (COS)

Impressions

“The era of human gene therapy - prospects and challenges”

Over half a decade ago, the idea of gene therapy has been conceptualized, i.e., the treatment of a human disorder with an inherent or acquired genetic component by fixing the genetic problem at its source. Historically, gene therapy was defined as the addition or replacement of a critical gene in a given cell type using a delivery vehicle or a so-called vector, such as a recombinant virus. Nowadays, following the advent of powerful technologies for gene and genome editing such as CRISPR, a broader definition of gene therapy comprises any ex vivo or in vivo attempt to treat conditions with a genetic cause by over-expressing, adding, suppressing or editing (gene, genome or epigenome) targeted nucleic acids in a patient’s cells.
The enormous power and far-ranging potential of human gene therapy has already been illustrated in thousands of successful clinical trials and is best exemplified by the FDA and/or EMA approval of numerous gene and cell therapy drugs. A representative example that is also administered at Heidelberg University Hospital is the gene therapeutic Zolgensma, which is a recombinant Adeno-associated virus (AAV) expressing a gene (SMN1) in children at the age of 0-2 that is critically involved in spinal muscular atrophy. Most recently approved additional examples include another AAV-based drug, Elevidys, for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, or the CRISPR-based drug Casgevy that is directed against sickle cell disease.
While these and abundant further examples showcase the tremendous promise of human gene therapy as a leading medicine of the future, concurrently increasing findings of severe toxicity or even fatality in treated patients also drastically highlight the need to return to the bench and design the next wave of gene therapeutics combining high efficacy with maximum safety. Clearly, this ambitious and clinically utmost relevant task requires a joint, international and interdisciplinary effort merging a wide array of expertise including but not limited to molecular and cell biology, virology, biochemistry, immunology, synthetic biology, engineering, bioinformatics, structural biology, optogenetics, modeling, AI and machine learning.