Announcements

Conference: Nutrients 2026—Clinical Nutrition: From Research to Practice
Date: 22–24 October 2026
Website: https://sciforum.net/event/Nutrients2026

We cordially invite you to attend this event organized by MDPI’s Nutrients (ISSN: 2072-6643, impact factor: 5.0, CiteScore: 9.1). It will take place from 22 to 24 October 2026 at UAB Casa Convalescencia, Barcelona, Spain.

Conference Chairs:

• Prof. Dr. Maria Luz Fernandez, University of Connecticut, USA;
• Prof. Dr. Lluis Serra Majem, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain;
• Dr. Francisco Jose Perez Cano, University of Barcelona, Spain.

The topics of interest:
S1. Personalized nutrition based on diet–gene interactions;
S2. Innovations in clinical nutrition;
S3. Novel dietary recommendations for specific chronic diseases;
S4. Understanding the role of microbiota in clinical practice;
S5. The potential role of AI in clinical practice;
S6. Lifestyle and prevention of chronic diseases.

Plenary speaker announcement:
We are honoured to have Dr. Carlo La Vechia, from the University of Milan (“La Statale”), Italy, as Nutrients 2026 Plenary Speaker for Session 6: Lifestyle and prevention of chronic diseases.

Other renowned researchers from internationally prestigious universities and institutes, including Yale School of Public Health, University of Connecticut, Qatar University, Icahn Medical School of Mount Sinai, and many more, are contributing with us as keynote speakers and scientific committee members.

To view all contributing researchers, please click the following links:
https://sciforum.net/event/Nutrients2026?section=#event_chairs .

Academic supporters:
Nutrients 2026 is currently supported by and partnered with esteemed universities, institutes, and societies.

To view all supporting organizations and partners, please click on the following links:
https://sciforum.net/event/Nutrients2026?section=#sup_org.

Important dates:
Deadline for abstract submissions: 24 June 2026;
Notification of acceptance: 20 July 2026;
Deadline for early bird registration: 24 July 2026;
Deadline for covering author registration: 24 July 2026.

Guide for authors:
To submit your abstract, please click on the following link: https://sciforum.net/user/submission/create/1496.

To register for the event, please click on the following link: https://sciforum.net/event/Nutrients2026?section=#registration.

For details regarding abstract submission, poster and slide submission, and publication opportunities, you may refer to the “Instructions for Authors” section below: https://sciforum.net/event/Nutrients2026?section=#instructions.

For any enquiries regarding the event, please contact nutrients2026@mdpi.com.

We look forward to seeing you at Nutrients 2026.

Conference: 5th MMCS: New Trends in Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery
Date: 14–17 May 2026, Beijing Time
Conference website: https://sciforum.net/event/MMCS2026

This conference is organized by the MDPI journal Molecules (ISSN: 1420-3049, IF: 4.6, and CiteScore: 8.6) and will take place in Beijing, China, from 14 to 17 May 2026 (Beijing time).

Conference Chairs:

• Prof. Dr. Xiaoguang Lei, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, China;
• Prof. Dr. Diego Muñoz-Torrero, Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, and Institute of Biomedicine (IBUB), University of Barcelona, Spain.

Topics of interest:
S1. Chemical biology for drug discovery;
S2. AI for drug discovery;
S3. New proximity-based drug modalities;
S4. Natural products in drug discovery;
S5. Biocatalysis for natural product and drug synthesis;
S6. Drug discovery targeting GPCRs and ion channels;
S7. DNA-encoded libraries in drug discovery;
S8. Medicinal chemistry tales.

Important dates:
Deadline for abstract submission: 13 March 2026;
Abstract acceptance notification: 27 March 2026;
Early bird registration deadline: 3 April 2026;
Covering author registration deadline: 3 April 2026;
Registration deadline: 14 May 2026.

Guide for authors:
To submit your abstract, please visit the following link: https://sciforum.net/user/submission/create/1319.

To register for the event, please visit the following link: https://sciforum.net/event/MMCS2026?section=#registration.

For more information, you may refer to the following link: https://sciforum.net/event/MMCS2026.

For any inquiries regarding the event, please contact mmcs2026@mdpi.com.

We look forward to seeing you at the 5th MMCS: New Trends in Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery.

Conference: Nutrients 2026—Clinical Nutrition: From Research to Practice
Date: 22–24 October 2026, CEST, Barcelona, Spain
Website: https://sciforum.net/event/Nutrients2026

We cordially invite you to attend this event organized by MDPI’s Nutrients (ISSN: 2072-6643, impact factor: 5.0, CiteScore: 9.1). It will take place on 22 to 24 October 2026, CEST, in Barcelona, Spain.

Conference Chairs:

• Prof. Dr. Maria Luz Fernandez, University of Connecticut, USA;
• Prof. Dr. Lluis Serra Majem, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.

The Topics of Interest:

S1. Personalized nutrition based on diet–gene interactions;
S2. Innovations in clinical nutrition;
S3. Novel dietary recommendations for specific chronic diseases;
S4. Understanding the role of microbiota in clinical practice;
S5. The potential role of AI in clinical practice;
S6. Lifestyle and prevention of chronic diseases.

Important Dates

Deadline for abstract submissions: 24 June 2026;
Notification of acceptance: 20 July 2026;
Deadline for early bird registration: 24 July 2026;
Deadline for covering author registration: 24 July 2026.

Guide for Authors

To submit your abstract, please click on the following link: https://sciforum.net/user/submission/create/1496.

To register for the event, please click on the following link: https://sciforum.net/event/Nutrients2026?section=#registration.

For details regarding abstract submission, poster and slide submission, and publication opportunities, you may refer to the “Instructions for Authors” section below: https://sciforum.net/event/Nutrients2026?section=#instructions.

For any enquiries regarding the event, please contact nutrients2026@mdpi.com.

We look forward to seeing you at Nutrients 2026.

Conference: Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2026 (AAIC)
Date: 12−15 July 2026
Place: London, UK
Conference website: https://aaic.alz.org/

We are pleased to announce that MDPI will be participating as an exhibitor at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2026 (AAIC), which will be held from 12 to 15 July 2026 in London, UK.

The Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) is the largest international meeting dedicated to advancing dementia science and clinical practice. Each year, AAIC convenes researchers, clinicians, and dementia professionals from all career stages to share breaking research discoveries and clinical practice education that will lead to improvements in diagnosis, risk reduction, and treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. From basic science to dementia care, every aspect of the field’s growing knowledge of dementia is incorporated into this world-class conference.

As part of our commitment to supporting high-quality research in these fields, MDPI is proud to sponsor the event through the participation of the following journals:

• Life;
• Healthcare;
• Biomedicines;
• Journal of Market Access & Health Policy (JMAHP);
• International Journal of Translational Medicine;
• Neurology International;
• Journal of Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease;
• Geriatrics;
• Journal of Clinical Medicine;
• Psychiatry International;
• Journal of Personalized Medicine;
• Therapeutics;
• NeuroSci;
• Pathophysiology;
• Sclerosis.

Our editorial team will be available on-site and would be delighted to meet with attendees. If you are attending the conference, feel free to stop by our booth to learn more about our open access publishing opportunities, ongoing Special Issues, and how we support researchers in advancing their work.

We look forward to meeting you in London!

Prof. Dr. Jiayin Yao is one of the authors of the Editor’s Choice Article entitled “An Analysis of the Effectiveness and Safety of Upadacitinib in the Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Multicenter Real-World Study” published in Biomedicines (ISSN: 2227-9059).

Prof. Jiayin Yao, PhD, is currently an Associate Chief Physician in the Department of Gastroenterology and a Master’s Supervisor at the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University. She also serves as a standing committee member and secretary of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) branch of the Guangdong Precision Medicine Application Association. Her clinical work and research have always focused on precision treatment and personalized management of IBD.

We interviewed Prof. Dr. Jiayin Yao about her current research and future directions:

1. Congratulations on your published paper. Could you please briefly introduce the main research content of the paper?

Thank you very much. This is a multicenter, real-world study that primarily explores the efficacy and safety of Upadacitinib, a novel oral small-molecule drug, in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. We collaborated with several clinical sub-centers to collect and analyze data from a large number of IBD patients receiving Upadacitinib in real-world clinical settings. The study not only evaluated the drug’s clinical performance during the induction and maintenance phases but also meticulously recorded and analyzed safety events occurring within a complex patient population.

2. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your current research?

I am a clinician and researcher deeply rooted in the field of gastroenterology. Beyond my daily clinical practice, I lead my team in conducting various basic and clinical research projects. Currently, my main research direction focuses on clinical and translational research in IBD, particularly exploring personalized application strategies for innovative drugs (like small-molecule targeted therapies) in the real world through multicenter collaboration.

3. Would you mind sharing what inspired your research?

The inspiration for this study came directly from our clinical practice. Although the treatment options for IBD have expanded significantly in recent years, we still encounter refractory patients in our outpatient clinics who respond poorly or lose response to existing biologics. Upadacitinib has shown great potential in clinical trials, but how does it perform in the complex and variable “real-world” population? Long-term efficacy and safety data were still limited. As frontline clinicians, we urgently needed real-world evidence based on a broad local population to guide our clinical decision-making. That was the original intention behind initiating this multicenter study.

4. What was the biggest challenge you faced while writing this paper, and how did you overcome it?

The biggest challenge was the standardized collection and quality control of multicenter real-world data. Real-world clinical data is often not as highly structured as in randomized controlled trials, and data recording habits vary across different centers. To overcome this, as the lead investigator, I drafted a detailed cooperation agreement and maintained high-frequency communication with the teams at each sub-center. We standardized follow-up criteria and data entry protocols, and clearly defined task distributions, thereby ensuring the reliability and scientific rigor of the final data.

5. How did feedback during your research influence your direction?

During the early stages and throughout the research process, our team had multiple in-depth discussions internally and with experts from other centers. Initially, we might have focused more on evaluating single efficacy indicators. However, feedback from peer experts, along with trends noticed by my graduate students during early data processing, suggested subtle differences in drug responses among different patient subtypes. This feedback prompted us to adjust our direction in a timely manner, refine our subgroup analyses, and incorporate highly prioritized real-world metrics, such as improvements in patients’ quality of life, into our core evaluation system.

6. What role did you play in your research team, and how did teamwork affect the paper’s outcome?

In this project, I primarily served as the Principal Investigator, responsible for designing the overall research framework, coordinating among the multiple centers, overseeing data analysis, and orchestrating the writing of the manuscript. The success of this research is entirely the result of teamwork. From the macro-level guidance of senior professors, to the rigorous case entry by colleagues at various sub-centers, to the hard work of my graduate students (such as Wu Hongzhen) in literature review and data processing, every contribution was indispensable. Teamwork allowed us to pool the advantageous resources of different centers, greatly enhancing the representativeness and academic value of the study.

7. Why did you choose the Biomedicines journal as a platform for publishing your work, and how was your experience?

We chose Biomedicines because of its excellent academic reputation in the biomedical field, and its focus aligns perfectly with our clinical translation research on novel targeted therapies. Our publishing experience was exceptionally smooth. We were fortunate that our multicenter real-world study design caught the editor’s attention. Moreover, the reviewers provided highly professional and constructive feedback, which not only helped us further polish the quality of the paper but also made the entire review and publication process highly efficient.

8. What impact do you hope your research will have, and what key innovation do you see in your paper?

I hope this research will provide solid evidence-based support for clinicians using Upadacitinib to treat IBD, helping them optimize treatment pathways and ultimately benefiting patients. The core innovation of this paper lies in breaking through the strict enrollment limitations of traditional clinical trials. It systematically verifies the efficacy and safety of Upadacitinib in a multicenter, real-world, local population sample, providing invaluable first-hand data for the personalized use of this drug in real and complex clinical settings.

9. What do you think the future directions for your research are?

Moving forward, our team will rely on the established multicenter clinical research network to conduct long-term follow-ups on this cohort of patients, aiming to observe the drug’s long-term efficacy and any rare adverse events. Furthermore, we plan to integrate basic research to explore specific biomarkers that can predict the drug’s efficacy, further advancing precision medicine in IBD.

MDPI will attend the ISSCR 2026 Annual Meeting taking place from 8 to 11 July 2026 in Montréal, Canada.

Leaders in stem cell research and regenerative medicine gather annually for the ISSCR Annual Meeting, and you are invited to be part of it! Join nearly 3500 scientists from across the world at ISSCR 2026 for a four-day event highlighting the most important breakthroughs in the field.

MDPI is excited to participate in this prestigious event. We welcome you to visit our booth, where you will be able to have face-to-face exchanges with our representatives, learn more about our open access publishing services, and receive gifts.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Biomolecules;
• Cells;
• Biomedicines;
• Organoids;
• Current Issues in Molecular Biology;
• International Journal of Molecular Sciences;
• Methods and Protocols.

If you plan to attend this event, we encourage you to visit our booth and speak to our representatives. We are eager to meet you in person and assist you with any queries that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit the official website: https://www.isscr2026.org/.

A welcome message from the webinar Chair:

Welcome to the Young Investigator Award Webinar! I am Professor Victor M. Rivera, Department of Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, USA, and I have the great pleasure of chairing this important scientific event celebrating the Biomedicines, Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceuticals Young Investigator Award winners for the 2025 cycle. These young scientists have been selected from an outstanding and competitive group of international young investigators contending for this prestigious scientific award. The winners were all nominated by two senior scientists, received their PhD/MD degree no more than 10 years before the 31 December 2025, and produced work that was selected for being ground-breaking research and a significant contribution to the advancement of therapeutic medicines. I thank the journals Biomedicines, Pharmaceutics, and Pharmaceuticals, their editorial groups and staff, and their respective Award Committees of recognized and distinguished scholars and members of the Editorial Boards for making this possible.

The 2025 winners will receive 1000 or 2000 CHF, a recognition certificate, and a free voucher for article processing fees valid for one year. The 2025 winners for Biomedicines are Dr. Adil Rasheed and Dr. Meghna Gupta; the winner for Pharmaceutics is Dr. João Carlos Fernandes da Silva; and the winner for Pharmaceuticals is Dr. Karolina Beton-Mysur. We hope you join us for this important scientific recognition and celebration.

Date: 22 May 2026 at 5:00 p.m. CEST | 11:00 a.m. EDT
Webinar ID: 850 8375 3671
Landing page: https://sciforum.net/event/Topics-49?subscribe

Register now for free!

Program:

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar. Registrations with academic institutional email addresses will be prioritized.

Unable to attend? You can register anyway and we will let you know when the recording is available to watch.

Webinar Chair and Keynote Speakers:

• Prof. Dr. Victor M. Rivera, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA;
• Dr. Adil Rasheed, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, Augusta, USA;
• Dr. Meghna Gupta, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, USA;
• Dr. João Carlos Silva, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal;
• Dr. Karolina Beton-Mysur, Lodz University of Technology, Lodz, Poland.

A message from the webinar Chair:

Dear colleagues,
It is my pleasure to welcome you to this webinar on “Neuroinflammation: From Mechanisms to Therapeutic Approaches”. This webinar highlights recent advances in understanding the underlying mechanisms of neuroinflammation and their translation into novel therapeutic strategies. We hope that it will inspire further research and collaboration in this rapidly evolving field.

Kind regards,
Yuen Gao
Chair of the 24th Biomedicines Webinar

Date: 13 May 2026
Time: 16:00 CEST | 10:00 EDT
Website: https://sciforum.net/event/Biomedicines-24

Register now for free!

Program:

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information on how to join the webinar. Registrations with academic institutional email addresses will be prioritized.

Unable to attend? Feel free to register anyway; the session will be recorded, and we will let you know when the recording is available for viewing.

Webinar Chair and Speakers:

• Dr. Yuen Gao, Department of Radiology, Michigan State University, USA;
• Dr. Tahmineh Mokhtari, Department of Surgery, UC Davis Health, University of California, USA;
• Prof. Dr. Amedeo Amedei, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.

Relevant Call for Paper:
“Neuroinflammation: From Mechanisms to Therapeutic Approaches”
Guest Editor: Dr. Yuen Gao
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026

For more information about this webinar, please visit the following website: https://sciforum.net/event/Biomedicines-24.

If you have any questions about this event, please contact biomedicines@mdpi.com.

Biomedicines Webinar Secretariat

Conference: ASHG 2026 Annual Meeting
Organization: American Society of Human Genetics
Date: 20–24 October 2026
Place: Montréal, Canada
Booth: #1000

MDPI will attend the ASHG 2026 Annual Meeting, held in Montréal, Canada, from 20 to 24 October 2026.

The ASHG Annual Meeting is the largest human genetics and genomics meeting and exposition in the world. Held in the fall, it provides a forum for the presentation and discussion of cutting-edge science in all areas of human genetics. Highlights include invited symposia; abstract-driven plenary, platform, and poster sessions; education/trainee workshops; and career opportunities and networking events.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Genes;
• IJMS;
• Biomedicines;
• Vaccines;
• DNA;
• Epigenomes.

If you plan on attending this conference, please stop by our booth #1000 and speak with us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have.

For more information about the conference, please visit the following website: https://meetings.ashg.org/event/EVEEGOIQACFJJ/home/.

As part of its continued efforts to support impactful cancer research and foster scientific dialogue, MDPI is spotlighting head and neck cancer in this edition. Encompassing a diverse group of malignancies affecting the oral cavity, pharynx, and larynx, head and neck cancers collectively account for over 900,000 new cases and more than 400,000 deaths globally each year.

In recent years, shifting epidemiological patterns, particularly the rise of HPV-associated cancers, have introduced new challenges and opportunities in both research and clinical practice. These developments call for deeper insights into disease mechanisms, as well as more precise approaches to diagnosis, treatment, and patient stratification.

By bringing together cutting-edge research, focused Special Issues, and an expert-led webinar, MDPI journals aim to continue to facilitate knowledge exchange and highlight emerging advances in the field. These efforts play an important role in advancing innovation, improving early detection and therapeutic strategies, and ultimately enhancing outcomes for patients worldwide.

Keynote speakers
Dr. Kousik Kumar Kesh, St. Louis University, USA	Prof. Dr. Richard Yuxiong Su, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong S.A.R	Dr. Jennifer Anderson, The University of Texas, USA
Dr. Jay J. Liao, University of Washington Medical Center, USA	Prof. Dr. Wendell G. Yarbrough, University of North Carolina, USA	Dr. Joshua D. Smith, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, USA

Register for this webinar for free here!

“Enhancing Patient Outcomes in Head and Neck Cancer Radiotherapy: Integration of Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes and Artificial Intelligence-Driven Oncology Care Using Large Language Models”
by ChihYing Liao, ChinNan Chu, TingChun Lin, TzuYao Chou and MengHsiun Tsai
Cancers 2025, 17(14), 2345; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17142345

“Advancing Head and Neck Cancer Therapies: From Conventional Treatments to Emerging Strategies”
by Aleksandra Mordzińska-Rak, Ilona Telejko, Grzegorz Adamczuk, Tomasz Trombik, Andrzej Stepulak and Ewa Błaszczak
Biomedicines 2025, 13(5), 1046; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13051046

“The Role of Dysphagia on Head and Neck Cancer Patients’ Quality of Life, Functional Disabilities and Psychological Distress: Outcomes of Cancer Rehabilitation from an Observational Single-Center Study”
by Špela Matko, Christina Knauseder, David Riedl, Vincent Grote, Michael J. Fischer, Samuel Moritz Vorbach, Karin Pfaller-Frank, Wilhelm Frank and Thomas Licht
Curr. Oncol. 2025, 32(4), 220; https://doi.org/10.3390/curroncol32040220

“PDLIM3 Regulates Migration and Invasion of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma via YAP–Mediated Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition”
by Fan Yang, Ying Zhou, You Zhang, Weideng Wei, Fei Huang, Dan Yang, Yixin Zhang, Ruiyang Zhang, Xiaoqiang Xia, Qianming Chen et al.
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(7), 3147; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26073147

“Inflammatory Biomarkers and Oral Health Disorders as Predictors of Head and Neck Cancer: A Retrospective Longitudinal Study”
by Amr Sayed Ghanem, Kitti Sipos, Ágnes Tóth and Attila Csaba Nagy
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(5), 2279; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26052279

“Trends in Incidence and Mortality of Head and Neck Cancer Subsites Among Elderly Patients: A Population-Based Analysis”
by Małgorzata Wierzbicka, Wioletta Pietruszewska, Adam Maciejczyk and Jarosław Markowski
Cancers 2025, 17(3), 548; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17030548

“Recurrent and Metastatic Head and Neck Cancer: Mechanisms of Treatment Failure, Treatment Paradigms, and New Horizons”
by William T. Barham, Marshall Patrick Stagg, Rula Mualla, Michael DiLeo and Sagar Kansara
Cancers 2025, 17(1), 144; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17010144

“Identification of Biomarkers for Diagnosis and Prognosis of Head and Neck Cancer: Bioinformatics Approach”
by Alexandra Fernandes and Rui Vitorino
Targets 2024, 2(4), 470-480; https://doi.org/10.3390/targets2040026

“Clinical Evidence of Methods and Timing of Proper Follow-Up for Head and Neck Cancers”
by Riccardo Gili, Simone Caprioli, Paola Lovino Camerino, Gianluca Sacco, Tommaso Ruelle, Daria Maria Filippini, Silvia Pamparino, Stefania Vecchio, Filippo Marchi, Lucia Del Mastro et al.
Onco 2024, 4(4), 275-286; https://doi.org/10.3390/onco4040020

“Artificial Intelligence in Head and Neck Cancer: Innovations, Applications, and Future Directions”
by Tuan D. Pham, Muy-Teck Teh, Domniki Chatzopoulou, Simon Holmes and Paul Coulthard
Curr. Oncol. 2024, 31(9), 5255-5290; https://doi.org/10.3390/curroncol31090389

“The Advances in Proton Therapy in Head-and-Neck Cancers” Guest Editors: Dr. Nancy Lee and Dr. Edward Christopher Dee Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2026	“Decoding and Remodeling the Suppressive Tumor Immune Microenvironment in Head and Neck Cancer” Guest Editors: Dr. Andrew G. Sikora and Dr. Jennifer L. Anderson Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2026
“The Role of Targeted Therapy in Head and Neck Cancers” Guest Editor: Dr. Rikki A.M. Brown Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026	“Molecular Targets for HPV-Related Head and Neck Cancer” Guest Editor: Dr. Joshua D. Smith Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026
“Head and Neck Cancer: From Mechanisms to Therapeutic Approaches—Advances and Challenges” Guest Editors: Dr. Barbara Verro, Dr. Carmelo Saraniti and Dr. Daniela Carlisi Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026	“Targeting Head and Neck Cancer: From Tumor Microenvironment to Therapy Resistance” Guest Editors: Prof. Dr. Ratna B. Ray and Dr. Subhayan Sur Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 November 2026