Wednesday, 4th June Lancefield International Symposium for Streptococci and Streptococcal Diseases 2025

Keynote Speakers: 

A/Prof Nikki Moreland - University of Auckland, New Zealand
Prof Natkunam Ketheesan - University of New England, Australia

• Laboratory models to investigate post-streptococcal immune complications - Natkunam Ketheesan
• How much is too much? Deciphering exaggerated immune responses in acute rheumatic fever - Nikki Moreland
• Understanding and Differentiating Group A Streptococcal Sequelae: From Rheumatic Fever to Neuropsychiatric Disorders - Chandra Menendez
• Growing evidence for Group A Streptococcus skin infections as a cause of acute rheumatic fever - Michael Baker
• Implementation and Impact of a Novel Rheumatic Heart Disease Screening Program in Uganda: Results from the ADUNU Program  - Scott Wirth
• Rheumatic heart disease burden in Malawian children presenting to Queen Elizabeth central hospital in Blantyre, Malawi - Yamikani Chimalizeni
• Autoantigen biomarker discovery for acute rheumatic fever: Application of protein fragment bead arrays to cohort studies in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia - Lauren Carlton

• Transmission dynamics of Group A Streptococcus in primary school-aged children's classrooms, households and environment in The Gambia - Edward Monk
• Predictors of nasopharyngeal pneumococcal carriage in children <5 years living in rural and urban Nepal following the introduction of PCV10 vaccination - Sanjeev Bijukchhe
• Evaluating the epidemiology of severe cellulitis and household risk of secondary iGAS infection in England: 2015-2022 - Eleanor Blakey
• The impact of PCV formulation switch from PCV10 to PCV13 and schedule changes from 3p+0 to 2p+1 on the burden of pneumococcal meningitis in Mozambique - Aquino Albino Nhantumbo
• Distinguishing genetic features of Group B Streptococcus infection in neonates and adults - Dorota Jamrozy
• Discovering genes involved in aerosol transmission of Streptococcus pyogenes using Transposon Directed Insertion-site Sequencing (TraDIS) - Maria Papangeli

Keynote Speaker: 

Prof Michael Federle - University of Illinois, United States

• A quorum-sensing system of Group A Streptococcus that inhibits innate inflammatory signaling and blocks production of a bacterial pigment - Michael Federle
• How Streptococcus agalactiae subverts intoxication by zinc or copper - Matthew J. Sullivan
• Characterisation of a Novel Group B Streptococcus Factor involved in Oxidative Stress Resistance - Kelvin GK Goh
• Fluoroquinolone-resistant group B Streptococcus is associated with a serotype V ST19 sublineage frequently detected among semen samples in Brazil - Tatiana Pinto
• Group A Streptococcus associated with recurrent tonsillitis form antibiotic-resistant intracellular communities - Jua Iwasaki
• The serotype 2 capsule of Streptococcus suis facilitates zoonotic infections through interaction with Siglecs - Jaime Brizuela Gabaldon
• Heterogeneous expression of the type VII secretion system in Streptococcus agalactiae - Victoria Gerber

Keynote Speaker: 

Dr Alma Fulurija - Australian Strep A Vaccine Initiative, Australia

• Community Engagement in Accelerating Strep A Vaccine Development: The Australian Strep A Vaccine Initiative Experience - Alma Fulurija
• Development of the Rheumatic Fever Care Coordination System (RFCCS) for Aotearoa New Zealand - Catherine Jackson
• Cost of school screening for rheumatic heart disease and cost comparison of alternative strategies for confirmatory echocardiography in Uganda - Joselyn Rwebembera
• The power of co-interpretation: reflections and learnings from an end-to-end partnership with remote Australian communities to tackle Strep A impetigo - Hannah Thomas
• Strep Throat Assessment and Rapid Treatment (START) a novel approach to ARF prevention in remote Australian Indigenous communities - Asha Bowen
• The veituberi approach  transforming RHD through patient leaderhip and lived experience - Erini EK Kala
• Pacific adaptation of Tools for Implementing rheumatic heart disease control Programs (TIPs) - Jessica N Daw

Keynote Speaker: 

Prof Allan Saul - Burnet Institute, Australia

• Immunization with Group A Carbohydrate (GAC) and the Induction of Crossreactive Autoantibodies - Allan Saul
• Mechanisms of germinal centre control in modulating cross-reactive antibody responses - Deborah Burnett
• N-Acetyl-Glucosamine reactive B cells maturate in mucosa-associated germinal centers - Rodney King
• Sugar-Coated or Protein-Packed? How antigen type shapes the B cell response against Streptococcus pyogenes in humans - Danika L Hill
• A Preliminary Study of Heart and Brain Autoreactivity after Group A Streptococcal Carbohydrate Antigen Immunization in Rabbits  - Madeleine W Cunningham
• Decoding neutrophil-bacterial interactions: a cross-omics exploration of the neutrophil response to M1T1 and M1UK Group A Streptococcus - Jarrad Pritchard
• Frontline immunity against Streptococcus pyogenes by human Langerhans cells - Lorenzo G De la Parra Soto

Keynote Speaker: 

Dr Theresa Lamagni - UK Health Security Agency, UK

• Unravelling the temporal and geographic strain dynamics of invasive group A streptococci in Australia - Mark Davies
• Whole genome sequencing reveals the genetic divergence of the emm1-2 genotype prevalent in India from the globally prevalent emm1, supporting its classification as a distinct genotype - Vivek Sagar
• Population Genomics of Macrolide Resistance in Group A Streptococci - Debra E Bessen
• Contemporary clinical characteristics and presentation of arf globally - Omeir Aziz
• Atypical Epidemiological Trends and Clinical Outcomes of Rheumatic Heart Disease in Timor-Leste - Juliana dos Santos Sarmento