Plenary Speakers

Elke Deuerling is Professor and Chair of Molecular Microbiology at the University of Konstanz, Germany. Her research elucidates the molecular principles of protein biogenesis and proteostasis, focusing on how nascent polypeptides emerging from the ribosome are accurately folded, modified, and targeted in order to maintain proteome integrity. She has made seminal contributions to our understanding of the ribosome-associated network of chaperones and biogenesis factors, particularly the nascent polypeptide–associated complex (NAC). Deuerling identified a previously unrecognized layer of co-translational regulation at the ribosomal exit site, demonstrating that NAC functions as a central organizer of early protein biogenesis. NAC acts as a selective gatekeeper sensing features of emerging nascent chains and modulating their access to competing ribosome-associated factors, including enzymes, chaperones and targeting factors. By coordinating the timely and substrate-specific recruitment of these biogenesis factors, NAC directs nascent polypeptides into the correct folding and targeting pathways. This prevents misfolding and ensures the efficient and accurate maturation of proteins. Her work establishes a conceptual framework for co-translational proteostasis and reveals evolutionarily conserved strategies that safeguard proteome integrity and cellular health. She also led the Collaborative Research Centre CRC 969 on proteostasis for 12 years, playing a central role in introducing and consolidating the concept of proteostasis in Germany. Her contributions have been widely recognized, including her election to EMBO in 2023 and the award of the Walter Neupert Medal in 2024 for outstanding achievements in molecular biology.

Johanna Ivaska is currently an Academy Professor, and she is also Professor of Molecular Cell Biology at Turku Bioscience Center at the University of Turku in Finland. Her main research interests relate to the biological role of integrins in signaling, mechanosensing and cancer progression. She directs a Research Council of Finland Center of Excellence of Biological Barrier Mechanics and Disease and ERC Advanced Grant project BorderControl focusing on cancer dissemination. She was nominated as an EMBO member in 2015 and EMBO Council member in 2023. After obtaining her PhD at the University of Turku in 2000 she did a post-doc in the laboratory of Peter Parker in CR-UK London Research Institute. She moved to VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland to establish her research group “Cell adhesion and cancer” in 2003 and in 2013 moved to her current position in University of Turku. In 2014 she was a Visiting Professor at Institute Curie in Paris, and in 2022-2024 she was an Affiliate Professor at University of Glasgow and CR-UK Beatson Institute for Cancer Research.