ABC 2026 Summer Symposium

June 22 – 23, 2026

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Abstract & Poster Session

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Registration

Registration Pricing

Trainee (Grad Student, Postdoc, Fellow): $50
Faculty: $75
Patient Partner: $50
Industry: $150

Registration has now closed, see you at the symposium!

June 22: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.

OpenClose

8:30 – 9:45 a.m.

Exhibitor and poster setup

Jack Poole Hall

9 – 9:45 a.m.

Coffee, tea, & morning pastries

Jack Poole Hall

9:45 – 10 a.m.

Welcome address & land acknowledgement: ABC Lead Dr. Marc Horwitz

Jack Poole Hall

10 – 11 a.m.

SESSION #1:

Session Chair: Maria Tokuyama

Bedside to bench and back

* KEYNOTE SPEAKER * Tim Behrens, AKIIWAN BIO
- Talk Title: “From Bedside to Biomarkers to Biotech: Four Decades of Chasing Autoimmunity”
Patient partner keynote: Sharon Roman
- Talk Title: “A Journey of Words: Bridging Gaps for Clinicians, Researchers and Patients”

Jack Poole Hall

11 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.

Lunch: 11 – 11:45 a.m.
Trainee round table: 11 – 11:30 a.m.
Poster session #1: 11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.

Jack Poole Hall

1 – 2:15 p.m.

SESSION #2:

Session Chair: Laura Evgin

Immunological re-set after immunotherapy

Megan Levings, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute
- Talk Title: “Tregs on drugs: combination therapies to induce tolerance“
Scott Wenderfer, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute
- Talk Title: “The critical need and emerging therapies for lupus nephritis“
Selected abstract speakers:
- Tatiana Lau, PhD candidate, Tokuyama lab: “Defining the immunological features of CD19 CAR T cell therapy in MRL/lpr mice”
- Kevin Salim, PhD candidate, Levings lab: “Differentiation of human CD4 regulatory T cells from pluripotent stem cells”

Jack Poole Hall

2:15 – 3 p.m.

SESSION #3:

Session Chair: Trainee Working Group

Health equity considerations in research

Ninan Abraham, University of British Columbia
- Talk Title: “Health Equity in Action: Disrupting the Status Quo“
Q&A and discussion

Jack Poole Hall

3 – 3:30 p.m.

Coffee Break

Jack Poole Hall

3:30 – 4:30 p.m.

SESSION #4:

Session Chair: Kelly Brown

Novel Biomarkers

Cate Speake, Benaroya Research Institute
- Talk Title: “Mapping immune heterogeneity to understand health and disease”
Selected abstract speakers
- Luisa Soares, PhD candidate, Tsai lab: “Maternal factors modulate offspring gut immune homeostasis to mitigate diabetes development”
- Seyed Dakhili, Postdoc/RA, Bromme lab: “Protease-Driven Peptide and Hapten Ligation: A Pathway to Autoimmunity”

Jack Poole Hall

4:45 – 5:45 p.m.

Working groups:
- Group #1: Science Communications
  - Where: Graham Lee Innovation Centre (Lower Level)
- Group #2: Cellular and Immunotherapies for Autoimmune disease
  - Where: Bill & Risa Levine Classroom (2nd floor)
- Group #3: Common Biomarkers across Autoimmune diseases
  - Where: Polygon Homes Classroom (2nd floor)
- Group #4: B cells as common drivers of Autoimmune diseases
  - Where: Lower Level 112
- Group #5: Working Together – on common ethics, consent and data sharing
  - Where: Lower Level 111
- Group #6: Environmental etiologies of Autoimmune diseases
  - Where: Lower Level 103

view working group interest document

6 – 7 p.m.

Dinner

Jack Poole Hall

7 – 9 p.m.

Reception

Jack Poole Hall

June 23: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

OpenClose

8:30 – 9:45 a.m.

Exhibitor and poster setup

Jack Poole Hall

9 – 9:45 a.m.

Coffee & tea

Jack Poole Hall

9:45 – 10 a.m.

Opening remarks: ABC Lead Dr. Marc Horwitz

Jack Poole Hall

10 – 11 a.m.

SESSION #5:

Session Chair: Lisa Osborne

Targeted therapies and mechanisms of action

* KEYNOTE SPEAKER* Jennifer Gommerman, University of Toronto
- Talk Title: “B cell-directed therapies and MS: Dissecting mechanisms of action”
Patient partner keynote: Marilyn Lenzen
- Talk Title: Being on a DMT – there is more than just getting the treatment

Jack Poole Hall

11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Lunch: 11 – 11:30 a.m.
Poster session #2: 11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Jack Poole Hall

12:30 – 1:30 p.m.

Working Groups:
- Group #1: Building Meaningful Partnerships with Patients
  - Where: Graham Lee Innovation Centre (Lower Level)
- Group #2: TBD
  - Where: Bill & Risa Levine Classroom (2nd floor)
- Group #3: Common Biomarkers across Autoimmune diseases
  - Where: Polygon Homes Classroom (2nd floor)
- Group #4: B cells as common drivers of Autoimmune diseases
  - Where: Lower Level 112
- Group #5: Developing pre-clinical models of autoimmune disease
  - Where: Lower Level 111
- Group #6: Environmental etiologies of Autoimmune diseases
  - Where: Lower Level 103

View Working Group Interest Document

1:45 – 2:45 p.m.

SESSION #6:

Session Chair: May Choi

Voices that Matter: Patient-Reported Outcomes

Sarah Donkers, University of Saskatchewan
- Talk Title: “Restoring Function and Redefining Care: Applying Neurorehabilitation Research to MS”
Patient partner panel discussion – Patient Reported Outcomes:
- Moderator: Eileen Davidson (Arthritis Society)
- Title: “Considerations of living with autoimmunity across diseases“

Jack Poole Hall

2:45 – 3 p.m.

Coffee break

Jack Poole Hall

3 – 4 p.m.

SESSION #7:

Session Chair: Marc Horwitz

Viral etiologies of autoimmune diseases

Tobias Lanz, Stanford University
- Talk Title: “Molecular Mechanisms connecting Epstein Barr Virus and Autoimmunity”
Trainee talks from abstract submissions:
- Erin Goldberg, PhD candidate, Horwitz lab: “Latent viral infection pushes microglia toward a more inflammatory and disease associated phenotype in a novel model of multiple sclerosis”
- Leah Hohman, Postdoc, Osborne lab: “The aging gut as a driver of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis”