Tentative program | Time zone: (Eastern Time USA)
Day 1 | Wednesday, September 9, 2026
09:00-09:10 Welcome and Introduction to ESKAPE 2026
Session I
Session Chair: TBA…
09:10-09:40 Jeffrey Freiberg, MD, PhD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, TN, USA
Understanding antibiotic treatment failure and the response to salvage therapy in MRSA bacteremia
09:40-10:10 Silva Holtfreter, PhD, University of Greifswald, Germany
Of Mice and Microbes: Employing mouse-adapted S. aureus strains for murine infection models
10:10-10:40 Mariya Goncheva, PhD, University of Victoria, Canada
Partners in pathogenesis: interactions between respiratory viruses and Staphylococcus aureus in lung infections
10:40-11:10 Shaun R. Brinsmade, PhD, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
Staphylococcus aureus methylbutyryl-CoA synthetase MbcS mediates Enterococcus faecalis metabolite salvaging and supports membrane biogenesis during polymicrobial interaction
11:10-11:20 Break
Session II
Session Chair: TBA…
11:20-11:50 Karine Dufresne, PhD, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
The many faces of vaginal Staphylococcus aureus: navigating the continuum from carriage to disease
11:50-12:20 Bettina Löffler, PhD, University Hospital Jena, Germany
Staphylococci are important pathogens to cause periprosthetic joint infections (PJI) – the underlying pathomechanisms
12:20-12:50 Juliane Bubeck-Wardenburg, MD, PhD, WashU Medicine, MO, USA
TBA
12:50-13:20 Choon Kim, PhD, University of Notre Dame, IN, USA
Restoring susceptibility to β-lactam antibiotics in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
13:20-13:30 Break
Session III
Session Chair: TBA…
13:30-14:00 Wilmara Salgado Pabón, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
Beyond superantigenicity: Novel pathogenic mechanisms of Staphylococcus aureus super antigens
14:00-14:30 M. Brittany Johnson, PhD, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, NC, USA
Enhancing protective antibacterial responses of bone cells during staphylococcal osteomyelitis
14:30-15:00 Tania Wong, PhD, Rutgers NJ Medical School, NJ, USA
Ketogenic diet promotes neutrophil-mediated clearance of Klebsiella pneumoniae
15:00 Day 1 Concluding Remarks
Day 2 | Thursday, September 10, 2026
09:00-09:10 Day 2 Opening Remarks
Session IV
Session Chair: TBA…
09:10-09:40 Seána Duggan, PhD, University of Exeter, United Kingdom
S. aureus mixed biofilms: the microbiology of cooperation
09:40-10:10 Jérôme Josse, PhD, Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, France
Intraosteoblastic Staphylococcus aureus and antibiotic tolerance
10:10-10:40 Jonathan Batchelder, PhD, UConn Health, CT, USA
Nutrient availability and DNA repair after fluoroquinolone treatment influence S. aureus survival
10:40-11:10 Jennifer N. Walker, PhD, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, TX, USA
S. aureus adaptation during long-term colonization of urinary catheters impacts pathogenic potential
11:10-11:20 Break
Session V
Session Chair: TBA…
11:20-11:50 Philippe Bouloc, PhD, Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, France
Staphylococcal post-transcriptional regulation in response to metals, ROS, and antibiotics
11:50-12:20 Stefano Marzi, PhD, IBMC/CNRS, France
Translational control of virulence and adaptation in Staphylococcus aureus: roles of uORFs, RNA chaperones and RNA modifications
12:20-12:50 Jeffrey M. Boyd, PhD, Rutgers University, NJ, USA
Regulating Fe ion homeostasis in Staphylococcus aureus
12:50-13:20 Wenqi Yu, PhD, University of South Florida, FL, USA
Coordination of cell envelope assembly during Staphylococcus aureus cell cycle
13:20-13:30 Break
Session VI
Session Chair: TBA…
13:30-14:00 Rebecca Corrigan, PhD, University College Dublin, Ireland
The stringent response promotes Staphylococcus aureus survival in the nares by controlling GTP homeostasis and carbon metabolism
14:00-14:30 Jeffrey L. Bose, PhD, University of Kansas Medical Center, KS, USA
The Staphylococcus aureus YjbH/Spx system contributes to virulence
14:30-15:00 Yinduo Ji, PhD, University of Minnesota, MN, USA
New insights into the role of the putative CbiO transporter in the pathogenesis of Staphylococcus aureus
Day 3 | Friday, September 11, 2026
Session VII
09:00-09:10 Day 3 Opening Remarks
Session Chair: TBA
09:10-09:40 David A. Rosen, MD, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine, MO, USA
Klebsiella pneumoniae neonatal sepsis: murine modeling and therapeutic testing
09:40-10:10 Haris Antypas, PhD, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
At the host-biofilm interface: Defining persistence and immune evasion strategies of Enterococcus faecalis biofilms
10:10-10:40 Jose A Lemos, PhD, University of Florida, FL, USA
Trace metal warfare in enterococcal pathogenesis
10:40-11:10 Lionel Rigottier-Gois, PhD, INRAE, France
Harnessing the gut microbiome recovery to outcompete vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus
11:10-11:20 Break
Session VIII
Session Chair: TBA
11:20-11:50 Hanne Ingmer, PhD, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Modulators of phage susceptibility in Staphylococcus aureus
11:50-12:20 Isabelle Caldelari, PhD, University of Strasbourg, France
Role of sRNAs and their machineries in virulence of Staphylococcus aureus
12:20-12:50 Karl M. Thompson, PhD, Howard University, Washington, DC, USA
TBA
12:50-13:00 Break
Session IX
Session Chair: TBA
13:00-13:30 Shafiul Azam, PhD, University of Chicago, IL, USA
EzrA, a spectrin-like protein, coordinates cell division and envelope biogenesis in Staphylococcus aureus
14:00-14:30 Heather B. Miller, PhD, High Point University, NC, USA
Comparative transcriptomic analysis among MRSA strains reveals a brominated carbazole disrupts translation and biosynthesis of cell walls, amino acids, and nucleotides to potentiate oxacillin
14:00-14:30 Seth Wayne Dickey, PhD, University of Maryland, MD, USA
TBA