PedResp Group at the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases conference in Bologna
The first week of June took several group members to Bologna, Italy, for the 2026 Annual Meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID). It was a busy and enjoyable week filled with science, discussions, new ideas, catching up with collaborators, and some nice Italian food.
The conference started with the ESPID Research Masterclass, where Lesego Rantho and Geert van Weelden participated as selected trainees. A special moment came when Geert received the award for Best Presentation, a fantastic recognition of his work.
During the main conference, several PedResp members shared their research.
On Wednesday, our group leader Lilly Verhagen delivered an invited plenary lecture entitled “Climate variability and paediatric respiratory infections: from pathogen exposure to immune vulnerability“, discussing how environmental and climatic factors may influence respiratory infections and immune responses in children.
That same day, Myrthe Reiche presented PAGE project findings during a Poster Discussion session. Her presentation, “Mucosal polyreactive antibodies in saliva of Dutch children: associations with demographic factors and respiratory infections“, explored the role of mucosal immunity in childhood respiratory conditions.
On Thursday, Geert van Weelden presented results from the PRISM project: “IgA-associated cytokine signatures and chronic systemic inflammation in paediatric recurrent respiratory tract infections“. His findings provide new insights into the immunological mechanisms underlying recurrent respiratory infections in children.
Sam Engels contributed with a poster showing results of the Approach study.
On Friday morning, Marieke van der Zalm, principal investigator in South Africa, participated as an expert in the session “Challenges and Innovations in Paediatric TB”, sharing her expertise and perspectives on one of the world’s most important paediatric infectious diseases.
The week concluded with the always popular QuizID competition, hosted by Lilly Verhagen, where infectious diseases knowledge meets music, movies, teamwork and a healthy dose of competitiveness.
Beyond the scientific programme, the conference also provided a wonderful opportunity to bring together PedResp group members and collaborators for a group dinner in the heart of Bologna.
We are proud to see so many members and collaborators of the PedResp group contributing to the programme in different ways. Congratulations to everyone involved, and we are already looking forward to ESPID 2027 in Berlin!
