Swiss Drosophila Meeting 2026
Monday June 29 2026
University of Geneva, Faculty of Sciences
The annual Swiss Drosophila Meeting is the sole yearly gathering for the Swiss research community focusing on the genetic model organism Drosophila melanogaster. This tradition, started half a century ago, has seen basic research in Drosophila propel advancements in various life sciences, including genetics, molecular biology, cell biology, developmental biology, evolutionary genetics, immunology, and neuroscience.
Keynote Speakers
Program Schedule
Download PDF Version| Time | Activity | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 09:15 | Arrival, welcome coffee | - |
| 09:50 | Opening remarks | - |
| 10:00 | A Cell Death-Based Screen to Uncover Toll Pathway Components in Immunity and Tissue Toxicity | Kenan Krakovic (Lemaitre Lab) |
| 10:15 | Long-Distance Relationships: A Love Story Across the Genome | Jenisha Khadka (Gambetta Lab) |
| 10:30 | Object manipulation and affordance learning in Drosophila | Matthias Durrieu (Ramdya Lab) |
| 10:45 | Neuronal control of Female Copulation Song | Valeria Panariello (von Philipsborn Lab) |
| 11:00 - 11:30 | Coffee Break | - |
| 11:30 - 12:15 | iGE3 keynote lecture: Solving conflict in the brain | Prof. Carolina Rezaval |
| 12:15 - 14:15 | Lunch and poster session | - |
| 14:15 | A neuroendocrine pathway regulating Sex Peptide replenishment after mating | Ryo Hoshino (von Philipsborn Lab) |
| 14:30 | Silence is golden: Silent synapses shape motor function | Samuel W. Vernon (McCabe Lab) |
| 14:45 | Investigating the differential vulnerability of dopaminergic neurons in Drosophila melanogaster | Emma Pottié (Nagoshi Lab) |
| 15:00 | Unc13A drives bidirectional presynaptic homeostasis during sleep loss and recovery | Jiwon Jeong (Müller Lab) |
| 15:15 | Tarsal bristle mechanosensors mediate active tactile sensing and obstacle detection in Drosophila | Guy Elisha (Ramdya Lab) |
| 15:30 - 16:15 | Coffee Break and Posters | - |
| 16:15 | From neural circuits to behavior: Sweeteners reshape feeding in Drosophila | Enisa Aruçi (Musso Lab) |
| 16:30 | Comparative analysis of internal sugar sensing | Matteo Bruzzone (Auer Lab) |
| 16:45 | An extreme ecological specialist uses a host toxin for female-biased fitness benefits | Divyansh Mittal (Benton Lab) |
| 17:00 | When Microbe Taste Primes Innate Immunity | Léo SILLON (Musso Lab) |
| 17:15 - 18:00 | Walter Gerhring keynote lecture: Lipid droplets trap cell death regulators and delay cell death execution | Prof. Bertrand Mollereau |
| 18:00 - 18:30 | Talk and Poster Awards - Closing remarks | - |
| 18:30 | Dinner | - |
Posters
| # | Poster Title | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Induction of macrophage differentiation in embryonic cells by hormonal, bacterial and physiological stress in CRISPR-cas9 Wnt insertional mutant | Sarah Crawford (Crawford lab) |
| 2 | Balancing opposing memories: Circuit mechanisms of flexibility in Drosophila | Ana Ricciuti Aboy (Felsenberg lab) |
| 3 | Unc13A links synaptic homeostasis with sleep homeostasis | Jiwon Jeong (Felsenberg lab) |
| 4 | A closed-loop virtual reality approach to study context-dependent memory in Drosophila | Dennis Goldschmidt (Müllér lab) |
| 5 | NMN accumulation caused by compromised dNmnat activity leads to dSarm-dependent neurodegeneration | Sanjana Vasanth (Neukomm lab) |
| 6 | A LAT1-like transporter in Drosophila larval glia plays a key role in brain development and in the neuroblast niche | Julie Ebert (Grosjean lab) |
| 7 | Nup133 Orchaestrates Nuclear Pore Integrity and Notch-Dependent Development in Drosophila | Nikita Sharma (Mishra lab) |
| 8 | Exploring ribosome heterogeneity from the perspective of RNA modifications | Maria Guillen Angel (Roignant lab) |
| 9 | High-resolution structure of the Drosophila large 60S subunit ribosome | Frédéric Murisier (Roignant lab) |
| 10 | Abdominal-B regulates the male seminal fluid transferome, including new female fecundity factors required for sex peptide-sperm binding | Kathrin Steck (von Philipsborn lab) |
| 11 | The role of a Toll receptor in sleep homeostasis | Carolin Kring (Kempf lab) |
| 12 | Sleep homeostasis at the single neuron level | Diana Shevchuk (Kempf lab) |
| 13 | Linking cellular energy to the control of sleep | Jessica Eira (Kempf lab) |
| 14 | From ecological volatiles to anesthesia: uncovering genetic determinants of anesthesia sensitivity in Drosophila | Venkatesh Pal Mahadevan (Benton lab) |
| 15 | A sensory mechanism of temporal niche partitioning in Drosophila sechellia | Asfa Sabrin Borbora (Benton lab) |
| 16 | TBA | Oyundari Amartuvshin (Hsu lab) |
Venue Info
University of Geneva, Building Sciences II/III
Quai Ernest-Ansermet 30
1205 Genève, Switzerland
The meeting will take place at the University of Geneva, located in the heart of the city and easily accessible by public transport.
Our Partners & Sponsors
This meeting is made possible through the generous support of our sponsors.
