Programme 2026

Session 1: Environment, genetics, epigenetics in DOHAD, Chair: Geula Hanin

10:00 - Kathy Niakan: Introductory remarks

10:10 - Marisa Bartolomei: Assisted reproductive technologies: Placental and fetal outcomes in a mouse model

10:40 - Rachel Freathy: Genetic links between prenatal growth and adult disease

11:10 - Selected short talks (8-minute talks)

Adam Bendall - The epigenetic enzyme Polycomb Repressive Complex 1.3/5 is critical for human blastoid expansion and development

Alexander Beristain - Low oxygen promotes extravillous trophoblast progenitor expansion but restrains maturation

Ana Nunez-Nescolarde - Simultaneous multimodal CUT&Tag to uncover epigenomic dynamics in the human placenta

Sam Schoenmakers - Placental and Systemic cfDNA Methylation in Pregnancy and Preeclampsia

Session 2: Epigenetic and molecular mechanisms of cell fate and development, Chair: Peter Rugg-Gunn

12:50 - Courtney Hanna: Epigenetic mechanisms governing placental development

13:20 - Wei Xie: Decoding the transcription circuitry in early mammalian development

13:50 - Selected poster flash talks (3-minute talks)

#3 Georgia Lea - Conserved and divergent DNA methylation features of extraembryonic tissues between human, mouse and chicken

#5 Jade Scott - The role of the BAF complex and its bromodomains in murine labyrinth trophoblast cell fate decisions

#9 Luke TG Harland - Extraembryonic mesoderm diversification as a foundation for placental vascular development

#25 Eric Alejandro Rhon Calderon - IVF-Induced Maternal Environment Drives Sex-Specific Molecular and Structural Remodelling of the F2 Placenta

#27 Anthony Klokkaris - Identifying placental DNA methylation associations with parental age at delivery

Session 3: Genomic imprinting: mechanisms, function, and evolution, Chair: Carol Edwards

15:05 - Azusa Inoue: Noncanonical genomic imprinting

15:35 - Ros John: Placental programming of maternal caregiving and offspring behaviour

16:05 - Eamonn Maher: Insights into genomic imprinting through congenital imprinting disorders: the case of Multilocus Imprinting Disturbance

16:35 – Anne and Stuart Mitchell, Tony Holland: The lived experience of Prader-Willi Syndrome and perspectives from clinical research: making sense of the PWS phenotype

Session 4: A role for repetitive elements in trophoblast and development, Chair: Ionel Sandovici

17:20 - Miguel Branco: Regulation of transposable elements in trophoblast

17:50 - Juliane Glaser: Viral-like particles from an epigenetically active retrotransposon cause developmental limb phenotypes

18:20 – Selected poster flash talks (3-minute talks)

#2 Desislava Staneva - Uncovering the role of histone modifications in early human development

#4 Ana Ferrero Micó - HAPLN3 controls trophoblast differentiation and invasiveness

#8 Jo James - Unlocking the potential of extracellular vesicle-derived DNA methylation cargos for the in-utero diagnosis of congenital heart disease

#26 Jill Witvrouwen - The role of PIEZO1 in placental and embryonic development

#28 Sanam Kavari - DNA methylation maintenance by DNMT1 is essential for trophoblast growth and EVT differentiation

Session 5: X chromosome inactivation, Chair: Irene Zorzan

9:15 - James Turner: Blueprints of life: understanding the sex chromosomes

9:45 - Claire Rougeulle: X chromosome regulation: when dose matters

10:15 - Selected short talks (8-minute talks)

Christian Alexander Belton - The molecular and phenotypic features of non-canonical imprinting

Melania Bruno - Losing control: developmental vulnerabilities driven by KRAB-zinc finger protein diversification

Romina Facchinello - XIST lncRNA is required for proper trophectoderm lineage establishment in human blastoids

Panel discussion and closing remarks

11:45 – Panel discussion: Where next for epigenetics?

Panel: Azim Surani, Anne Ferguson-Smith, Wolf Reik and chaired by Gavin Kelsey 

12:20 – Anne Ferguson-Smith, Kathy Niakan: Closing Remarks