Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting | Riga 2026

Active and Responsive Soft Matter: From Biological to Engineered Systems

Daily Schedule

Active and Responsive Soft Matter: From Biological to Engineered Systems Riga, Latvia July 20-24, 2026 All scientific sessions will be held in Gamma Conference Room unless otherwise noted.

Monday, July 20, 2026

13:30 – 17:00

1 st Floor Lobby

Registration & Information

Session I

Keynote Talks Chair: Paul Janmey, University of Pennsylvania, USA Guntars Kitenbergs, University of Latvia, Latvia Welcome & Opening Remarks Patricia Bassereau, Institute Curie, France Dynamics of Cytoskeletal Filaments Inside Cellular Tethers Alexander Bershadsky, National University of Singapore, Singapore Integrin Adhesion Complexes Sensing Substrate Nano-Topography

15:00 – 15:10

15:10 – 16:05

16:05 – 17:00

17:00 – 19:00

Ice Breaker & Welcome Reception

2 nd Floor Atrium

Tuesday, July 21, 2026 8:30 – 17:00

1 st Floor Lobby

Registration & Information

Session II

Funding Chair: Damien Faivre, University of Latvia, Latvia

9:00 – 9:45

Manana Sukhareva, NIH/NIBIB, USA Next-Generation Biomedical Engineering: Opportunities and Challenges Janne Salo, European Research Council, Belgium European Research Council: Funding for Frontier Research

9:45 – 10:30

10:30 – 11:00

Coffee Break

Delta/Omega Room

Session III

Membrane and Interphases Chair: Guy Genin, Washington University in St. Louis, USA Alison Patteson, Syracuse University, USA Unraveling the Role of Vimentin in Cell Migration

11:00 – 11:30

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