The symposium "PHAGES in Paris" will take place from October 11 to 13, 2022 at the Institut Pasteur in Paris.This is the seventh edition of an annual conference organized by the Multidisciplinary Thematic Network PHAGES.fr (https://phages.fr).

The goal of the symposium is to gather the French community involved in bacteriophage research, while at the same time welcome our international counterparts.

The themes to be addressed will provide an overview of current research and will promote scientific interactions between teams working in various and complementary fields:

• Ecology and Evolution
• Structure and Assembly
• Phage-host interaction
• Application in Therapy and Biotechnology

Oral and poster presentations will be given in English. To stimulate and diversify the exchanges we will have the pleasure to welcome four invited speakers who will give a plenary talk.

Invited speakers :

• Alexander Harms, University of Basel, Switzerland
• Anna Dragoš, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Claas Kirchhelle, University College Dublin, Ireland
• David Bikard, Institut Pasteur, France

The conference will take place at the Institut Pasteur in Paris on October 11-12-13. We will start on Tuesday 11th afternoon at 2:00 pm, and finish on Thursday 13th at 12:00 pm to allow everyone to get back home in the evening.

NB: please note that even for people who do not pay registration fee, it is mandtory to register on the payment site "Azur Colloque".

The program of presentations (or plenary lectures) by slots of 15-20 min, will be constituted on the basis of a selection of abstracts by the scientific committee. These abstracts (format example on this site) are to be submitted at the time of your registration in the Main Menu/Submit abstract tab on the left.

For those that wish to do so, you can present your posters briefly (one slide in less than a minute) in order to encourage discussion.

Important dates:

• Closure of the call for abstracts:September 8, 2022
• Publication of the final program: September 22, 2022
• Registration deadline: September 20, 2022 (maximum of 150 inscriptions total)

We look forward to welcoming you in Paris!

Organisation committee :

• Anne Chevallereau, CNRS-Institut Cochin, Paris
• Devon Conti, Institut Pasteur, Paris
• Ana Cova Rodrigues, Institut Pasteur, Paris
• Laurent Debarbieux, Institut Pasteur, Paris
• Luisa De Sordi, Sorbonne Université, Paris
• Marc Monot, Institut Pasteur, Paris
• Jorge Andre Sousa, Institut Pasteur, Paris
• Marie Touchon, CNRS-Institut Pasteur, Paris

Alexander Harms is a junior group leader at Biozentrum (University of Basel, Switzerland). His group is exploring the molecular biology of bacteriophages beyond the comfort zone of classical models and standard laboratory conditions. One major focus of this work are rare phages that can overcome the resilience of dormant, antibiotic-tolerant bacteria which might inspire new strategies to combat chronic bacterial infections.

Anna Dragoš is an assistant professor and group leader at the Department of Microbiology/Biotechnical Faculty/University of Ljubljana. Her group focuses on interactions between bacteria and temperate phages using Bacillus subtilis and SPbetavirus model system. They want to understand which phenotypic traits of the host bacterium can be controlled by phages, what are the molecular mechanisms behind, and consequences for host and phage fitness.

Claas Kirchhelle is a historian of ‘bugs and drugs'. Based at University College Dublin, he researches the history of microbes, infectious disease, and the development, marketing, and regulation of antibiotics and vaccines. As part of a Wellcome Trust University Award, he is currently writing a global history of bacteriophage typing and associated research on therapy since 1945.

David Bikard heads the Synthesis Biology team at the Institut Pasteur. His team works on the interactions between bacteria and bacteriophages and on the genetic innovation that emerges at this interface. The arms race between bacteria and phages has led to the emergence of numerous defence and counter-defence systems that his team is exploring both from a fundamental point of view and for the development of new genetic tools.