Bilbao, Spain
2026 Vallee Summer Symposium
Between June 12 and 16, an international community of scientists convened at the historical Hotel Carlton in Bilbao, Spain, for three days of discovery, dialogue, and celebration. The 2026 Vallee Summer Symposium brought together Vallee Visiting Professors (VVPs), Vallee Scholars, and invited guests for a program that showcased the latest research in the biomedical sciences. Friday evening’s welcome reception beneath the stained-glass ceiling of the hotel’s La Cristalera salon, set the tone for a weekend defined by lively exchange and scientific camaraderie.
CHECK OUT THE PHOTO GALLERY TO THE LEFT!
In his welcoming remarks on the Saturday morning, Foundation President Peter Howley remembered Dr S James Adelstein, who died in January at age 97 and who is sorely missed. His long career started as Bert Vallee’s first PhD student at Harvard Medical School and ended as President of the Vallee Foundation. Jim led the Board from 2010, when Bert Vallee died, to 2015 and set the course for the future of the Vallee Foundation. We are all grateful for his stewardship.
The first session, chaired by Wade Harper, highlighted major advances in cellular regulation and infectious disease. Talks – see the program below – included Ivan Dikic’s exploration of ubiquitin and autophagy networks, Pascale Cossart’s work tracing the path from Listeria to phage therapy, and presentations by Cristina Gonzalez Aguilera, Lu Wei, and Jeff Gordon on chromatin plasticity, neuronal imaging, and microbiome directed therapeutics respectively. Flash talks from the newest Vallee Scholars — David Bauer, Aude Bernheim, Akankshi Munjal, James Nuñez, and Elizabeth Pollina — added rapid fire insight into emerging research directions.
The afternoon offered time to visit the city. Despite a heatwave, most delegates took advantage of the three well-informed guides who led walking tours of the Old Town and a boat ride along the Nervion River and came away with some fascinating insights into the history and culture of Bilbao. That evening, the outgoing Vallee Scholars (appointed in 2022) received their presentation plates, handmade for the Foundation by a small glass workshop in Brewster, MA.
Sunday’s morning session, chaired by Carla Shatz, featured talks from three VVPs and one Vallee Scholar: Carlos Bustamante on ribosomal energetics; Gary Ruvkun on RNA editing; Gina Turrigiano on homeostatic tuning in neural networks; and Mackenzie Mathis on AI based behavioral modeling. The session also included flash talks from five Vallee Scholars – Stephanie Ellis, Irma Querques, Benjamin Ryskeldi-Falcon, Andela Šarić, and Peter Sudmant – which showcased their work in cell biology, structural biology, and computational neuroscience.
That afternoon, session chair Eva Nogales introduced talks on mechanobiology, innate immunity, choanoflagellate biology, and mitosis, from 2022 Vallee Scholar Shigeki Watanabe, and VVPs Hao Wu, Nicole King, and Andrea Musacchio.
Bilbao began as a small medieval town on the Nervion River and grew wealthy through shipbuilding and steel, a prosperity still visible in its grand 19th-century boulevards. When heavy industry collapsed in the 1980s, the city faced unemployment, unrest, and a surge in Basque separatist activity. Its transformation began in the 1990s with an ambitious regeneration plan. Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum, opened in 1997, became the centerpiece, joined by Norman Foster’s elegant subway system and striking new architecture along the river. Together, these projects reshaped Bilbao into the walkable, vibrant, and culturally rich city it is today. Late on Sunday afternoon, participants visited the Guggenheim to experience its extraordinary architecture and exhibitions, then crossed the street to The Artist Hotel for a splendid rooftop dinner overlooking the museum — a memorable finale to the symposium.
Throughout the meeting, the Vallee Foundation’s mission — to foster collaboration, support rising scientific leaders, and celebrate transformative biomedical research — was evident in every session and conversation. The 2026 meeting in Bilbao continued the tradition of bringing together exceptional scientists whose work shapes the future of biomedical research.
