Schedule
(Updated as of September 22, 2026)
Important notes:
| 1. | This Focused Program will be held in face-to-face mode. |
| 2. | Unauthorized recording of any session is prohibited. |
| 3. | Please obtain the consent from the speaker concerned for any adaptation/sharing of his/her presentation materials. |
| Should you have further enquiries, please feel free to contact the secretariat by email at ias2026mt@ust.hk. | |
Venue: Kaisa Group Lecture Theater (IAS LT), G/F, Lo Ka Chung Building, Lee Shau Kee Campus, HKUST
October 25, 2026 (Sun)
Time
Event
| 08:20 - 08:50 |
Registration |
|
| 08:50 - 09:00 |
Opening Remarks Guojun BU (HKUST) |
|
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Session I: Lipid and Lipoprotein Trafficking in Metabolic Regulation and Disease Session Chair: Binbin DING, Guangzhou National Laboratory; Co-Chair: Xiao WANG, Peking University |
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| 09:00 - 09:45 |
Keynote Lecture: Lipid Control of Membrane Dynamics in Health and Disease: From Membrane Repair to Synapse Function Volker HAUCKE (Free University of Berlin) |
|
| 09:45 - 10:10 |
The Phase of Fat: Mechanisms of Membrane Trafficking to Lipid Droplets Tobias WALTHER (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center) |
|
| 10:10 - 10:35 |
Peroxisome-derived Ether Lipids Regulate Lysosomal Function Ming LI (University of Michigan) |
|
| 10:35 - 10:50 |
Structural & Functional Studies of HsPQLC1: A PQ-Loop Scramblase Involved in Endosome Biogenesis Jieqiong GAO (HKUST) |
|
| 10:50 - 11:10 |
Group Photo and Coffee Break |
|
| 11:10 - 11:35 |
ApoE in Lipid Transport and Alzheimer’s Disease Guojun BU (HKUST) |
|
| 11:35 - 12:00 |
How (We Think) Bridge-like Proteins in the VPS13 Family Transfer Bulk Lipid Karin REINISCH (Yale University) |
|
| 12:00 - 12:25 |
A Conserved ER Protein Prevents Lipotoxicity by Stimulating Glycerol-3-Phosphate Acyltransferase GPAT4 in Glycerolipid Synthesis Ho Yi MAK (HKUST) |
|
| 12:25 - 14:00 |
Lunch Break and Poster Session |
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Session II: Autophagy and Organelle Biogenesis and Function Session Chair: Pengli ZHENG, Peking University; Co-Chair: Fang XU, Guangzhou Medical University |
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| 14:00 - 14:45 |
Keynote Lecture: Dynamic Ca2+ Signals Drive Autophagosome Formation Hong ZHANG (Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences) |
|
| 14:45 - 15:10 |
A Conserved Herpesvirus Tegument Protein ORF42 is Involved in Secondary Envelopment of Viral Particles Hongyu DENG (Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences) |
|
| 15:10 - 15:35 |
Structure and Function of the Tubular ER Junjie HU (Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences) |
|
| 15:35 - 15:50 |
Neural-Specific Autophagy Regulation Yan ZHAO (Southern University of Science and Technology) |
|
| 15:50 - 16:10 |
Coffee Break |
|
| 16:10 - 16:35 |
Talk title to be confirmed Li YU (Tsinghua University) |
|
| 16:35 - 17:00 |
Mitochondrial Contribution to Peroxisome Proteome Min ZHUANG (ShanghaiTech University) |
|
| 17:00 - 17:25 |
Non-canonical Autophagosome: An Emerging Regulatory Hub for the cGAS-STING Pathway Yueguang RONG (University of Macau) |
|
| 17:25 - 17:50 |
Multifaceted Roles of the ATG8 Protein Family in Plant Autophagy Xiaohong ZHUANG (The Chinese University of Hong Kong) |
|
| 17:50 - 18:30 |
Flash Talks and Poster Session |
|
| 18:30 - 20:30 |
Dinner (By invitation; Location: UniQue, HKUST Conference Lodge) |
|
October 26, 2026 (Mon)
Time
Event
|
Session III: Endocytosis and Lysosomal Functions Session Chair: Tao NI, The University of Hong Kong; Co-Chair: Nan LIU, The University of Hong Kong |
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| 09:00 - 09:45 |
Keynote Lecture: Molecular Insights into Lysosomal Biogenesis and Stress Response Christian UNGERMANN (Osnabrück University) |
|
| 09:45 - 10:10 |
The Lysosome in Nutrient Sensing and Cellular Growth Control Roberto ZONCU (University of California, Berkeley) |
|
| 10:10 - 10:35 |
Lysosome Homeostasis in Neurodegenerative Diseases Yihong YE (Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing) |
|
| 10:35 - 10:50 |
Regulation of Lysosomal Homeostasis in the Endocytic Pathway Huaqing CAI (Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences) |
|
| 10:50 - 11:05 |
Coffee Break |
|
| 11:05 - 11:30 |
Stress, Rupture and Repair: Cellular Responses to Lysosomal Damage Phyllis HANSON (University of Michigan) |
|
| 11:30 - 11:55 |
Molecular Physiology of Lysosomes Haoxing XU (Zhejiang University) |
|
| 11:55 - 12:20 |
Lysosomal Homeostasis: Regulation and Function Xiaochen WANG (Southern University of Science and Technology) |
|
| 12:20 - 14:00 |
Lunch Break and Poster Session |
|
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Session IV: Therapeutics and New Perspectives of Membrane Trafficking Session Chair: Ruoxi WANG, Southern University of Science and Technology; Co-Chair: Xiao TANG, Anhui Normal University |
||
| 14:00 - 14:45 |
Keynote Lecture: Linking the ER Stress-sensing Machinery to Peroxisomal Lipid Import Peter WALTER (University of California, San Francisco) |
|
| 14:45 - 15:10 |
Comparison of Two Pathways of Interleukin-1β Secretion in Physiological Settings Liang GE (Tsinghua University) |
|
| 15:10 - 15:35 |
XunZi, an AI Biologist, Reveals Novel Disease-modifying Targets Da JIA (Sichuan University) |
|
| 15:35 - 15:50 |
Relocation of Sphingolipid Metabolism by Zika Virus Triggers Inflammatory Responses and Microcephaly Min ZHANG (Tsinghua University) |
|
| 15:50 - 16:10 |
Coffee Break |
|
| 16:10 - 16:35 |
SEL1L-HRD1 ER-Associated Degradation: From Mechanism to Physiology Ling QI (University of Virginia) |
|
| 16:35 - 17:00 |
Structure of ATAD1 Reveals a Linker-enabled Substrate Extraction Mechanism by a Membrane-bound Protein Dislocase Lan WANG (HKUST) |
|
| 17:00 - 17:15 |
Regulation of the Host Immune Response to Infection by the Cytoskeleton Network Yaming JIU (Shanghai Institute of Immunity and Infection, Chinese Academy of Sciences) |
|
| 17:15 - 17:30 |
Mechano-regulation of Cellular Organelles Congying WU (Peking University) |
|
| 17:30 - 18:20 |
Flash Talks and Poster Session |
|
| 18:30 - 20:30 |
Dinner (By invitation; Location: Hung Kee Seafood Restaurant) |
|
October 27, 2026 (Tue)
Time
Event
|
Session V: Capturing Membrane Remodeling Across Time and Space Session Chair: Baiying LI, Hong Kong Baptist University; Co-Chair: Zizhen LIANG, The Chinese University of Hong Kong |
||
| 09:00 - 09:45 |
Keynote Lecture: Biogenesis and Function of Plant Vacuole Liwen JIANG (The Chinese University of Hong Kong) |
|
| 09:45 - 10:10 |
Lysosomal Roles in Longevity Regulation Meng WANG (Howard Hughes Medical Institute) |
|
| 10:10 - 10:35 |
Too Tense to Grow: How Membrane Tension Redirects TORC1 to Trigger Cell Cycle Arrest David BANFIELD (HKUST) |
|
| 10:35 - 10:50 |
Coffee Break and Poster Session |
|
| 10:50 - 11:15 |
Multiscale Cryo-electron Tomography Reveals Molecular Mechanisms in the Eukaryotic Secretory Pathway Guilia ZANETTI (The Francis Crick Institute) |
|
| 11:15 - 11:40 |
Pushing Inward: A New Mechanism of Membrane Invagination Driven by External Force Qiangjun ZHOU (Vanderbilt University) |
|
| 11:40 - 12:05 |
Mitochondria Acidify Lysosomes Through Membrane Contact Sites Jiajie DIAO (University of Cincinnati) |
|
| 12:05 - 12:20 |
How Cells Make Membrane Proteins Haoxi WU (University of Oxford) |
|
| 12:20 - 12:35 |
Multiple Functions of Atg8 in Autophagosome Formation Zhiping XIE (Shanghai Jiao Tong University) |
|
| 12:35 - 14:00 |
Lunch Break and Poster Session |
|
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Session VI: The Secretory Pathway: Taking the Past to the Future Session Chair: Congyan ZHANG, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Co-Chair: Ziqing PENG: HKUST |
||
| 14:00 - 14:45 |
Keynote Lecture: Extracellular Vesicles and Plasma Membrane Repair Randy SCHEKMAN (University of California, Berkeley; IAS Senior Visiting Fellow) |
|
| 14:45 - 15:10 |
Golgi Structure Formation, Function, and Defects in Diseases Yanzhuang WANG (Shenzhen Bay Laboratory) |
|
| 15:10 - 15:35 |
Regulation of Microtubule Growth Initiation by Non-Canonical Protein Phosphorylation Robert Zhong QI (HKUST (GZ)) |
|
| 15:35 - 16:00 |
MBoC Early Career Awardee presentation |
|
| 16:00 - 16:20 |
Coffee Break |
|
| 16:20 - 16:45 |
Directional Membrane Traffic via Erv14/cornichon Liz MILLER (University of Dundee) |
|
| 16:45 - 17:10 |
SURFing and TURFing the Secretory Pathway Xiao-Wei CHEN (Peking University) |
|
| 17:10 - 17:35 |
Deciphering Collagen Secretion through Vesicle Proteomics Yusong GUO (HKUST) |
|
| 17:35 - 18:00 |
Poster Award / Concluding Remarks |
|
| 18:30 - 20:30 |
Dinner (By invitation; Location: Café 103) |
|