The EU-LIFE Scientific Workshop organized by the translational research working group of the EU-LIFE institutes took place from May 12-13, 2016 at CeMM in Vienna. Following successful meetings on “Biology of Cancer” (2014, CRG) and “Epigenetics and Disease” (2015, BRIC), this year’s topic was on "Inflammation and Immunity in Health and Disease". Three sessions explored autoimmunity, T-cells in cancer immunology, and innate pathways in cancer immunology.

The meeting format of “tandem talks” had been pioneered in the previous scientific meetings: Two speakers are exploring one topic or closely related concepts from two different perspectives. Typically, one of the researchers presents the more fundamental aspects of his or her research topic, while the other – often a clinician – highlights the translational initiatives. As a sign of the success in fostering interaction between researchers from different EU LIFE institutions, one of the tandems this year came from two different institutions (CRG/MDC). We were particularly committed to giving young researchers at the pre- and post-doc level a platform to present their projects. Therefore, up to four participants per institution had the opportunity to present a poster or were selected for a short speed talk in front of the entire audience.

The aims of the scientific meeting of the EU LIFE translational working group was to raise awareness of the EU-LIFE alliance and of ongoing projects at other EU-LIFE institutions, foster collaborations between institutions, and seed ideas for joint projects and grant applications. To enable these, there was ample networking opportunity between the sessions and at the conference dinner in the Natural History Museum, where also the poster session took place.

One day ahead of the scientific meeting the EU-LIFE Directors and the strategy working group of the 13 EU-LIFE institutes had their yearly EU-LIFE Strategy Meeting to reflect on specific topics of common interest and to define joint activities and goals for the upcoming year. The EU-LIFE mission is to foster excellence and to strengthen scientific collaborations within and outside the alliance, to influence research policy in life sciences, and to share knowledge and best practices.

CeMM is very grateful to its EU-LIFE partners and friends for visiting the institute, and for many stimulating and lively discussions, which provide us again with new ideas and motivation. We would especially like to thank Jo Bury, Director of VIB and the current EU-LIFE Chair, and Marta Agostinho, our EU-LIFE Manager, for doing an excellent job!