Models of Lung Disease 2026

Conference / June 18, 2026 - June 19, 2026

Models of Lung Disease 2026

We invite you to join us for the 24th edition!

As in previous years, Models of Lung Disesase will feature cutting-edge research, inspiring lectures, plenty of opportunities for discussion, and will offer you the chance to present your work in our poster session. What makes this conference special is not just the science — it is the community. Year after year, lung researchers come together at Fraunhofer ITEM to exchange ideas and discuss the challenges. This year marks our 24^th edition. We would be pleased to welcoming you there!

Models of Lung Disease at a glance

Session topics:

Novel strategies to combat lung infection
Inhalative biopharmaceuticals against chronic lung diseases
Alternatives to animal testing
Inhalation toxicology in translational lung disease research
Understanding and fighting fibrosis

On top of that:

Poster session
Best Abstracts Awards session

Find out more in our program.

Abstract submission

Abstract submission is closed.

Best Abstract Awards: The program will feature a Best Abstract Awards session, offering selected poster authors the opportunity to present their work in a short oral presentation.

For details, please see below.

From left to right: Division Director Prof. Armin Braun and scientist Dr. Valerie Schröder - Preclinical Pharmacology and Toxicology

For more than 20 years, Prof. Armin Braun has been organizing Models of Lung Disease. In 2026, he is joined by Dr. Valerie Schröder who coordinates the scientific program.

Nice to know

CME/ÄKN credit points - Continued medical education program accredited by ÄKN: Models of Lung Disease is worth 13 points.
Guided tours: We are offering guided tours to give you insights into Fraunhofer ITEM. Registration for the tours is possible on-site.

Event details

Program

Click here to read the program.

Registration

Online registration via the ticketing platform Fienta

General terms and conditions / data protection information:

Our Data Protection Information for this registration process (pdf-file)
Our general terms and conditions of events
Please also refer to Fienta's privacy policy and terms of service.

Costs

Early-bird registration until May 29, 2026:
- Participant from academia: 400 EUR
- Participant from industry: 500 EUR

Late registration from May 30, 2026:
- Participant from academia: 450 EUR
- Participant from industry: 550 EUR

For DZL members: Please contact lung.ws@item.fraunhofer.de by May 29, 2026, regarding your registration.

Fees include the registration for Models of Lung Disease 2026, coffee breaks, lunch snacks and on June 18 dinner.

Location

CRC Hannover - Clinical Research Center Hannover
Feodor-Lynen-Straße 15
30625 Hannover

Date

June 18, 2026 - June 19, 2026

Language

English

Poster session and exhibition

Would you like to present your research in our poster exhibition and session? If so, we would be pleased to receive your abstract! The poster exhibition will be open throughout the entire event. The poster session will provide authors and participants the opportunity for face-to-face discussions.

How to submit?

Please send your abstract to lung-workshop@item.fraunhofer.de by May 15, 2026. Notifications will be sent out until May 27. All poster abstracts will be published in the printed seminar program.

Please note: Presenters are not registered automatically.

Requirements for abstracts

Language: English
length: 250 - max. 350 words of text
Abstract title: Please capitalize the first word only (except for names)
Author information:last name, first letter of the first name without period (Draftname, A), affiliation, city, country.
In case of several affiliations, please mark them with numbers:

Firstauthor F¹, Secondauthor S¹
¹Affiliation One, city, country
²Affiliation Two, city, country

Please exclude: further personal contact information, hyperlinks, pictures

Requirements for posters

Maximum size: 1.15 meters (width) by 1.45 meters (height)
Format: portrait (landscape is only possible, if the poster width does not exceed 1.15 meters)
Language: English

Session Best Abstract Awards

Authors submitting an abstract for a poster presentation may be selected to give a short talk (10 min. presentation, 5 min. discussion) in this session. These talks are limited in number and are selected among all interested presenters by our Scientific Committee.

To apply for the Best Abstract Awards session, please tick the corresponding box when registering. Contributions to this session are in addition to poster presentations. Posters with oral presentation will not be eligible for a poster award, but will be separately awarded.

Poster Award

The best posters presented will be selected on-site to receive an award.
Posters included in the Best Abstract Award session will not be eligible for a poster award.

Additional information

Upon your arrival, please contact the registration desk to find out where to pin up your poster. Please mount your poster before the start of the seminar lectures.
Posters must be collected at the end of this event. The organizers reserve the right to remove and destroy posters that are not collected in time.

Program

as of June 2, 2026; subject to change without notice

Expand all Close all

Thursday, June 18, 2026

8:45	Welcome Armin Braun, Fraunhofer ITEM (Germany)
Session 1: Novel strategies to combat lung infection Chair: Franziska Dahlmann, Fraunhofer ITEM (Germany)
9:00	Novel strategies to reduce pneumonia morbidity and mortality Martin Witzenrath, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Germany)
9:30	Exploiting glycan-binding proteins as antiviral drug targets Larissa Dirr, Griffith University (Australia)
10:00	The pulmonary-metabolic axis in respiratory virus infections Gülşah Gabriel, Leibniz Institute of Virology (Germany)
10:30	Coffee
11:00	Decoding the molecular basis of severe RSV infection Thomas Pietschmann, Twincore (Germany)
11:30	From inducers to inhibitors: Exploring stimuli-specific NET formation in bronchiectasis Charline Sommer, AstraZeneca (Sweden)
12:00	Lunch snacks
Session 2: Inhalative biopharmaceuticals against chronic lung diseases Chair: Armin Braun, Fraunhofer ITEM (Germany)
13:00	Advancing inhalable RNA therapeutics for lung fibrosis Thomas Thum, RNATICS (Germany)
13:30	Safety and efficacy of endotoxin challenges in humans Jens Hohlfeld, Fraunhofer ITEM (Germany)
14:00	Coffee
Session 3: Alternatives to animal testing Chair: Katherina Sewald, Fraunhofer ITEM (Germany)
14:30	Stem cell derived AT2/1 cells as a potential in vitro model for ventilator induced lung injury Katharina Kroll, Roche (Switzerland)
15:00	Evaluating pro- and anti-inflammatory response in human (alveolar) macrophages Nico Lachmann, Hannover Medical School and Fraunhofer ITEM (Germany)
15:30	Advanced immunocompetent primary human airway models for respiratory disease modeling Samuel Constant, Epithelix Sàrl (Switzerland)
16:00	Towards animal-free lung research: progress and promise of advanced lung cell culture models Anne van der Does, Leiden University Medical Center (The Netherlands)
16:30 Poster session & coffee
Session 4: Best abstract awards Chair: Valerie Schröder, Fraunhofer ITEM (Germany)
17:30	Modelling human neutrophil migration and NETosis-mediated epithelial damage during Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection Presented by: Ramachandramouli Budida, AstraZeneca (Sweden)
17:45	Metabolic crosstalk in human AT-II–fibroblast organoids reveals transfer of fibroblast-derived lipids to epithelial cells Presented by: Lara-Jasmin Schröder, Hannover Medical School (Germany)
18:00	Efficient pulmonary delivery of nebulized lipid-modified siRNA enables antiviral activity against influenza A (H1N1) Presented by: Anna Zimmer, Hannover Medical School and Fraunhofer ITEM (Germany)
18:15	Guided tours to different non-clinical and clinical departments of Fraunhofer ITEM, e. g.: PCLS Lung function and IPL In-vitro inhalation CRC Hannover
19:00	Award to the best posters
19:15	Dinner
21:30	Summary and conclusions day 1 Armin Braun, Fraunhofer ITEM (Germany)

Friday, June 19, 2026

8:00	Guided tours to different non-clinical and clinical departments of Fraunhofer ITEM, e. g.: PCLS Lung function and IPL In-vitro inhalation CRC Hannover Pathology
Session 5: Inhalation toxicology in translational lung disease research Chair: Dorothee Winterberg, Fraunhofer ITEM (Germany)
8:45	Intratarget microdosing - a technological approach to advance pulmonary therapeutics - from ex vivo to in-human studies Kevin Dhaliwal, University of Edinburgh (Scotland)
9:15	Inhaled pharmacokinetic modulation: an integrated in vivo, ex vivo and imaging approach for powder formulation selection Alessandro Fioni, Chiesi (Italy)
9:45	Impaired replenishment of alveolar macrophages determines the fate of particle exposure triggered lung inflammation and injury Tobias Stöger, Helmholtz Munich (Germany)
10:15	Coffee
10:45	The use of human and nonclinical translational dose in respiratory drug development Matthew Reed, Coelus LLC (USA)
11:15	An excursion into lung infection: respiratory barrier immunity in bacterial pneumonia: insights from lung models Geraldine Nouailles-Kursar, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Germany)
Session 6: Understanding and fighting fibrosis Chairs: Christina Hesse, Fraunhofer ITEM and Christian Bär, Fraunhofer ITEM and Hannover Medical School (Germany)
11:45	Multimodal phenotyping of fibrotic human lung tissue: linking mechanics, molecular signatures and biomarkers in PCLS Lena Willmer, Fraunhofer ITEM (Germany)
12:15	From senescence landscapes to therapeutic targeting in the aging lung Camila Melo-Narvaez, Helmholtz Munich (Germany)
12:45	Coffee and small bites
13:15	Improving intercellular communication to counteract lung fibrosis and induce pulmonary regeneration using MC002 Luke van der Koog, MimeCure (The Netherlands)
13:45	Cells, extracellular matrix and mechanical forces in the diseased lung tissue microenvironment Janette Burgess, University Medical Center Groningen (The Netherlands)
14:15	Fibrosis-clearing macrophage cell therapy Kara Spiller, Drexel University (USA)
14:45	Summary and conclusions day 2 Armin Braun, Fraunhofer ITEM (Germany)
15:00	End

In cooperation with

BREATH Hannover/German Center for Lung Research

Exhibitors - our gold sponsors

Exhibitors - gold sponsor

Link to website of Harvard Bioscience

Link to website of Epithelix

Sponsorship and exhibiting opportunities

Sponsorship benefits

Your sponsorship of Models of Lung Disease 2026 - a valuable complement to your marketing activities, driving brand awareness, engagement and networking.
Targeted audience: Meet key opinion leaders and professionals from academia and industry in the field of translational respiratory medicine.
Brand visibility: Showcase your portfolio to enhance brand recognition among our audience.
Networking opportunities: Connect with our audience in a friendly atmosphere - our breaks will be taking place in the exhibition area.
Lead generation: Attract new contacts and reach potential customers or project partners through targeted visibility.

Sponsorship offers

	Sponsor logo on event material	Complementary registration	Display of poster	Placement of sponsor promotional material	Exhibition space
	(tiered by sponsoring package)		(in dedicated exhibition area)	(e. g. flyers, notepads, lanyards, pens*)	(incl. table and display/roll-up, optional small booth)
Bronze	website and booklet	1 ticket	x	-	-
Silver	website and booklet	2 tickets	x	x	-
Gold	website and booklet + logo linked to sponsor website	3 tickets	x	x	x

*to be provided by sponsor

The exhibition space will be near the conference room.

Please contact us for more details. No offer suits you? Individual requirements are negotiable. We will be pleased to discuss your opportunities (for contact data, please see below).

Subscribe to our event news to make sure you don't miss registration deadlines or abstract submission, stay updated on our conference and be informed about upcoming editions of this event series.

Event news subscription

Find out more...

Lung research at Fraunhofer ITEM

Airway research has been a focus at Fraunhofer ITEM ever since the institute was founded. Read more about our R&D expertise here:

More information

More events and where to meet us?

Are you interested in further events in which Fraunhofer ITEM is involved in or participating? Then, please read more in our event calender.

Event calendar

Contacts

Do you wish to get additional information? Do not hesitate to contact us.

Contact Press / Media

Prof. Dr. Armin Braun

Organizer of Models of Lung Disease

Phone +49 511 5350-263

Contact Press / Media

Silvia Menezes

Seminar secretary

Phone +49 511 5350-262

Send email

Contact Press / Media

Yvonne Höbel

Seminar secretary

Phone +49 511 5350-120

Send email

Contact Press / Media

Judith Oumard

Communications and registration management

Phone +49 511 5350-135

Send email

Contact Press / Media

Dr. Sebastian Konzok

Sponsorships

Phone +49 160 927 200 20

Conference / June 18, 2026 - June 19, 2026

Models of Lung Disease 2026

Models of Lung Disease at a glance

Abstract submission

Event details

Program

Registration

Costs

Location

Language

Poster session and exhibition

How to submit?

Requirements for abstracts

Requirements for posters

Session Best Abstract Awards

Poster Award

Additional information

Program

Thursday, June 18, 2026

Friday, June 19, 2026

In cooperation with

Exhibitors - our gold sponsors

Exhibitors - gold sponsor

Sponsorship and exhibiting opportunities

Sponsorship benefits

Sponsorship offers

Sign up for news on Models of Lung Disease

Find out more...

Lung research at Fraunhofer ITEM

More events and where to meet us?

Contacts

Contact Press / Media

Prof. Dr. Armin Braun

Contact Press / Media

Silvia Menezes

Contact Press / Media

Yvonne Höbel

Contact Press / Media

Judith Oumard

Contact Press / Media

Dr. Sebastian Konzok