The Bioinformatics in Bergen Conference (BiB) will gather researchers to exchange ideas, encourage collaborations and present cutting-edge research.
The Conference will take place at Solstrand Hotel on 4-5 May 2026. The conference will start early on Monday 4 May and finish with lunch on Tuesday 5 May.
Keynote speakers:
Professor Ville Mustonen, University of Helsinki, Finland
Title: Eco-evolutionary control of cell populations
Research Scientist Macha Nikolski, CNRS, Bordeaux Bioinformatics Center & LaBRI, France
Title: From bulk to spatial metabolomics: bioinformatic methods with applications to glioblastoma
Hervé Minoux, Head of AI for Large Molecule Research, Sanofi, Paris
Title: Improving Drug Discovery success with a little help from an AI friend
registration
Registration is now closed.
The registration fee for the conference will be 1000 NOK
Presentations/posters
All PhDs and postdocs are required to give a presentation or poster. In addition, there should be at least one presentation/poster from each research group. Engineers and other non-academic staff are also more than welcome to show us what you do. Abstract template can be found here: BIB_abstract_template
Send abstracts in an email to CBU administrative coordinator – deadline was 1 April
Send slides in an email to CBU administrative coordinator – deadline was 29 April
Format for the talks: The talks should be ten minutes long, followed by a two minute question session.
Poster format: A0 in portrait format
Abstracts for the oral presentations can be downloaded here
All abstracts in one file can be downloaded here
Program
| 4 May | |
| 8.00 | Coach departure from Høyteknologisenteret to Solstrand |
| Welcome | |
| 9.00 – 9.15 | Welcome and Meeting overview: Nathalie Reuter/Pål M Gunnestad |
| Session 1. Main talk and oral presentations – Chair: Soroush | |
| 9.15 – 10.00 | Keynote speaker: Macha Nikolski, From bulk to spatial metabolomics: bioinformatic methods with applications to glioblastoma |
| 10.00 – 10.15 | Coffee break. |
| 10.15 – 11.35 | Oral presentation session 1
Michelle Verstraaten: Using haplogroup assignment to quality control mitochondrial DNA imputation in the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) Priyanka Mehra: Sex/Gender stratified analysis of hemoglobin concentration and its correlates in India using the National Family Health Survey Nicolas Fragoso Bargas: Performance of adult versus child-based height polygenic scores for prediction of height, IGF1 and IGF2 across childhood Kira Höffler: Epigenetic Age Acceleration in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Case-Control Differences and Effects of Psychotherapy Mahmoud Moqadam: Conserved gating mechanism regulated by membrane phospholipid in STARD lipid transfer |
| Session 2. Poster session | |
| 11.35 – 12.30 | Poster session |
| 12.30 – 13.30 | Lunch |
| Session 3. Oral presentations, main talk and panel discussion | |
| 13.30 – 14.10 | Oral presentation session 2
Bram Danneels: Convergent gene loss in the chemical defensome of marine mammals Øystein Monsen: Regulatory dynamics in Nematostella vectensis during starvation and refeeding Franziska Görtler: Advances in cellular deconvolution |
| 14.10 – 14:55 | Keynote speaker: Ville Mustonen, Eco-evolutionary control of cell populations |
| 14.55 – 15:10 | Coffee break. |
| 15.10 – 15.55 | Panel discussion – Chair: Iain Johnston
Topic: AI in Bioinformatics — Responsibility, Understanding, and Limits |
| 15.55 – 17.00 | Oral presentation session 3 – Chair Franziska
Abdelhamid Mohamed Aboulnaga: Targeting RNA: A Structure-Guided Approach Towards New Antibiotics Soroush Mehrpou: Combining mechanistic modelling with biobank data to assess the effect of pharmacological osteoporosis therapy in women with or without HRT Sean Bankier: Gene regulatory network-based integration of plasma proteomics and tissue gene expression in coronary artery disease Marcel Kwiatkowski: Functional Tracer Proteo-Metabolomics: Unraveling the Regulatory Networks Linking Metabolism and Protein Modifications Michael Dondrup: A Relic at Risk – Kveik and the Strife to Resolve the Genetic Ancestry of Norwegian Intangible Cultural Heritage |
| 17.00 – 19.00 | Free time: swimming pool, spa, outdoor swim, beach |
| 19.00 – 21.00 | Dinner |
| 21:00 – | Quiz |
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| 5 May | |
| 7.00 – 9. 00 | Breakfast |
| Session 4. Main talk and oral presentation- Chair: Kenneth | |
| 9.00 – 09.45 | Keynote speaker: Hervé Minoux, Improving Drug Discovery success with a little help from an AI friend |
| 09.45 – 10:15 | Oral presentation session 4
Manish Prakash Victor: Antimicrobial resistance in the marine environment: Sources, Fate and the need for surveillance Anna-Kristina Oma: Population pharmacokinetics supports pembrolizumab de-escalation while meeting target exposure in advanced non-small cell lung cancer Robert Franz Wild:In Silico predictions of ERa affinity for environmental risk assessment |
| 10:15-11.00 | Poster session (submit your votes) |
| 11.00 – 11:15 | Submit vote – check out |
| 11:15 – 11:30 | Best poster, best presentation prize distribution and closing |
| 11:30 – 12:30 | Photo session followed by scenic walk |
| 12.30 – 13.30 | Lunch |
| 13.40 | Coach departure to Bergen |
Posters
| Adelle | Altnurme | Binding of environmental contaminants to the Atlantic cod estrogen receptor alpha: using molecular modeling to predict affinity |
| Alberto | Memè | Prospective validation of AI-based scoring functions in a real virtual screening campaign |
| Alexander | Wolf | Comparative Assessment of the Utility of de novo Drug Design Tools for the Exploration of Uncharted Chemical Space |
| Carla | Fernandes | Genomics Core Facility: Powering research through High Throughput Sequencing |
| Dennis | Völkl | Advances in cellular deconvolution |
| Fynn | Wolf | Mathematical modelling of actin polymerization in biological condensates |
| Hanan | Gharayba | Alchemical Free-Energy Calculations Enable Affinity Prediction of PPAR-PFAS Systems |
| Henrique | Chapola | Characterizing Exercise-Induced Metabolomic Changes in ME/CFS Using Bayesian Random Intercept Models |
| Jakub | Vasicek | Haplotype‑Aware Proteomics to Investigate Regional Differences in Prevalence of Type 1 Diabetes in Norway |
| Jessica | Renz | Predicting Antibiotic Resistance to Slow Down its Development |
| Julius | Svistunas | NMR-validated MD Simulation Characterization of Polyunsaturated Lipid Bilayer |
| Kenneth | Valerio Aguilar | TPP-Analyst: A comprehensive and user-friendly tool for the analysis of thermal proteome profiling data |
| Leticia | Spindola | From Metabolomic Traits to Health Outcomes: A Polygenic Score and PheWAS Approach |
| Linda | Sgorbini | Acyl chains selectivity of Lipid Transfer Proteins (with L. Poirson) |
| Lisa | Skroblin | Dynamical Modelling of hormonal Control of Blood Glucose Modelling the Effects of Oestradiol on Glucose Metabolism Across the Menstrual Cycle |
| Lisa | Poirson | Acyl chains selectivity of Lipid Transfer Proteins (with L. Sgorbini) |
| Lise | Dimitrijevic | Study and adaptation of the YLZ model describing interactions between oriented particles,using mathematical tools, and numerical simulations with the LAMMPS software |
| Lorenzo | Pedroni | Computational insights into emerging mycotoxin–driven perturbation of heme homeostasis in Atlantic salmon |
| Marta | Menta Czinkoczky | A Genetic Epidemiology Approach to Maternal Symptoms in Early Pregnancy |
| Miguel Angel | Juarez Garzon | Molecular Profiling of Pediatric Diabetes: Proteomic Determinants of Data‑Driven Clusters |
| Nick Alexander | Sartison | Using multiplexed proteo-metabo-fluxomics to study stress-induced changes in hub molecules and protein modifications |
| Nolan | Bruyat | Temporary inconvenience or early warning signs? A new take on maternal symptoms in early pregnancy and their consequences |
| Nora | Mehwald | Site-specific Histone Acetylation Dynamics under Arsenite Stress |
| Ovidiu | Todoran | Fragment-based Drug Discovery To Find Novel FMN Riboswitch Ligands |
| Synne | Geithus | A COMPARATIVE TRANSCRIPTOMIC MAP OF NEURODEGENERATIVE PARKINSONISMS REVEALS SHARED AND DISEASE-SPECIFIC SIGNATURES |
| Synnøve | Yndestad | From Genotypes to Haplogroups in MoBa; Quality Control of YChromosome Data to Improve Haplogroup Resolution in Norwegian Ancestry Analysis |
| Thomas | Stevenson | Integrated RCP‑Seq and Polysome Analyses Illuminate the Translational Landscape of Cellular Senescence |
| Tobias | Rindfleisch | On the Road to the Molecular Microscope for Intrinsically Disordered Proteins |
Accommodation & Venue
Bergen is a coastal city surrounded by fjords and mountains, known for its rich history and cultural scene. Despite frequent rainfall, it offers stunning natural beauty and access to scenic landscapes.
BiB takes care of room bookings and payments at the Solstrand Hotel. All participants will be accommodated in double or single rooms.
