OCTOBER 8
8:00-9:00 | Registration, coffee and networking
9:00-10:00 | Ziedona Hall
Opening Plenary Session and Keynote Speakers – Day 1
Chair: Valts Ābols CEO, Children’s University hospital, Latvia
Opening remarks: Hosams Abu Meri Minister of Health of the Republic of Latvia
Opening remarks: Valts Ābols CEO, Children’s University hospital, Latvia
Opening remarks: Tālis Juhna Rector of Riga Technical University, Latvia
Opening remarks: John Tully Chair of the Board, MikroTik President of AmCham Latvia, LCOF Founder, Latvia
Keynote talk: Mailo Grühn, Germany
Talk: Patient’s story
Keynote talk: Kjetil Tasken Head of the Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, Norway
Talk: From Precision Medicine Research to Patient Care: Turning Innovation into Clinical Impact
10:00-10:30 | Coffee break
SCIENTIFIC SESSION
10:30-12:00 | Ziedona Hall
Functional Precision medicine
Chair: Inese Cakstina-Dzerve, Caroline Heckamn
Speaker: Sigrid Skånland Project group leader, Oslo university hospital, Norway
Talk: In vitro strategies to predict treatment outcomes in chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Speaker: Brinton Seashore-Ludlow Senior Research Specialist Karolinska Institute, Scientific Director Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden, SciLifeLab, Sweden
Talk:Beyond Viability: Advanced Disease Models for Functional Discovery in Ovarian Cancer and Beyond
Speaker: Eglė Žalytė Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Institute of Biosciences, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Lithuania
Talk: From Tumor to Treatment: Functional Drug Screening in Patient-Derived Endometrial Cancer Models
STAKEHOLDER SESSION
10:30-12:00 | Room A
Biobanking
Chair: Vita Rovīte
Speaker: Andrea Wutte Head of Quality Management, BBMRI-ERIC, Austria
Speaker: Aiga Balode Deputy State Secretary, The Ministry for Health of the Republic of Latvia
Talk: Biobanks as essential part of health data ecosystem
Speaker: Vita Rovīte, Senior Researcher/ Group Leader, Vice Dean for Research, Faculty of Medicine and Life sciences. University of Latvia
PEDIATRICS – PMPC SESSION
10:30-12:00 | Room B
Rapid molecular diagnostics
Chair: Lennart Kester, Egija Berga-Švītiņa
Speaker: Lennart Kester Associate group leader, Princess Máxima Center, The Netherlands
Talk: Rapid molecular diagnostics: From classification to genomic profiling
Speaker: Skarphedinn Halldorsson Oslo University Hospital, Norway
Talk: The long and the short: Whole-genome sequencing for rapid diagnostics of CNS tumors
Speaker: Areeba Patel Research Scientist Hopp Children`s Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), German Cancer Research Center Heidelberg (DKFZ), Germany
Talk: AI enables prediction of CNS tumour methylation subtypes from H&E slides
Speaker: Isabelle Thiffault Director of Translational Genetics – Clinical lab., Children’s Mercy Research Institute, Genomic Medicine Center, Professor The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), School of Medicine, USA
Talk: Clinical Long-Read Sequencing: Single Test Simplifying Rare Disease Diagnosis
12:00-13:00 | Lunch
SCIENTIFIC SESSION
13:00-14:30 | Ziedona Hall
Cancer Genetics and Precision Medicine
Chair: Elīna Sīviņa, Martin Zoche
Speaker: Martin Zoche Director Molecular Tumor Profiling, Department of Pathology and Molecular Pathology, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
Talk: The Science of Precision
Speaker: Jurgita Skiecevičienė Head, Laboratory of Clinical and Molecular Gastroenterology, Institute for Digestive Research, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania
Talk: Molecular twins – organoids as tools for personalized healthcare
Speaker: Andris Veiss Interventional Radiologist, Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital, Latvia
Talk: Developing and testing an Al-based tool for acute ischemic stroke detection in non-enhanced CT (NECT)
Speaker: Hans V. Westerhoff Professor of Systems Biology, Amsterdam Institute for Molecules, Medicines and Systems, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Talk: (H)AI, Systems Biology, and Precision Medicine
STAKEHOLDER SESSION
13:00-14:30 | Room A
Precision medicine coalition meeting (in Latvian)
Moderator: Samanta Brūvere
Panelists
Sanita Janka VM
Vadims Beļuns RAKUS
Agrita Kiopa RSU
Valts Ābols BKUS
Roberts Melbārdis PM koalīcija
Dagne Grāvele LLMB
Dace Kārkle NIRI
Juris Gaiķis LDVC
Linda Gailīte LCĢA
Vladislava Meirāne SIFFA
Maija Kāle LIAA
Alise Krūmiņa AmCham
Marta Augucēviča LRSA
Alinta Hegmane LOA
Olga Valcina Onkoalianse
PEDIATRICS – PMPC SESSION
13:00-14:30 | Room B
Rare diseases
Chair: Madara Auzenbaha, Lina Jankaskaite
Speaker: Kristīne Rasnača Chair, Latvian Society of Neonatology; Lecturer, Department of Pediatrics, Rīga Stradiņš University, Latvia
Talk: Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis reveals focal epigenetic dysregulation in small-for-gestational-age placentas and its potential links to rare syndromes
Speaker: Liuda Brogiene, Lithuanian University Of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania
Talk: Chronic Pain in Rare Diseases: The Role of Precision Medicine
Speaker: Vladimirs Krutovs Neurologist, Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital, Latvia
Talk: Improving the Patient Journey in Myasthenia Gravis: From Diagnosis to Long-Term Care
Speaker: Lina Jankauskaite, Lithuanian University Of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania
Talk: Counting the stripes: turning rare disease data into personalized care
14:20-14:30 | Room B
Partner presentation
14:30-15:00 | Coffee break
SCIENTIFIC SESSION
15:00-16:30 | Ziedona Hall
Cancer screening and prevention
Chair: Mārcis Leja, Tony Hsiu-Hsi Chen
Speaker: Paolo Giorgi Rossi Reggio Emilia Local Health Authority and Research Hospital
Talk: Personalized screening in EuCanScreen
Speaker: Tony Hsiu-Hsi Chen Distinguished Professor Institute of Health Data Analytics and Statistics, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Talk: Metaverse-Enabled AI Precision Cancer Screening
Speaker: Maiju Pankakoski The Cancer Society of Finland
Talk: The role of data harmonization within EuCanScreen
Speaker: Yi-Chia Lee College of Medicine National Taiwan University
Talk: Evaluating the Cost-Effectiveness of FIT and H. pylori stool antigen Co-Testing Using an Analytic Decision Model
STAKEHOLDER SESSION
15:00-15:30 | Room A
MoU
15:30-16:30 | Room A
STAKEHOLDER SESSION
The Impact of Digitalisation on the Role and Rights of Patients in Research (in Latvian)
Moderator: Marta Augucēviča
Panelists
PEDIATRICS – PMPC SESSION
15:00-16:30 | Room B
CAR-T therapies
Chair: Mirjam Blattner-Johnson, Una Riekstiņa
Speaker: Domas Vaitiekus Associate Professor at The Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania
Talk: CAR-T therapy. Not only in malignant hematology
Speaker: Ain Kaare Tartu University Hospital, Estonia
Talk: CAR-T. Estonian way
Speaker: Michiel Haasjes Cell Therapy Specialist, Princess Máxima Center for pediatric oncology, The Netherlands
Talk: Update on the Cell and Gene Therapy Unit: Two Years Later
Speaker: Tanel Mahlakõiv Icosagen Cell Factory, Estonia
Talk: From Clinical CD19 CAR-T to CLDN6: Creating a Translational Pathway for Next-Generation Cell Therapies
Speaker: Mailo Grühn Patient’s story, Germany
OCTOBER 9
8:30-9:00 | Registration, coffee and networking
9:00-10:00 | Ziedona Hall
Opening Plenary Session and Keynote Speakers – Day 2
Chair: Agrita Kiopa Vice-Rector for Research at Riga Stradins University, Latvia
Opening remarks: Ivars Ījabs Member of the European Parliament, Renew Europe Group
Opening remarks: Ilze Indriksone Minister for Education and Sciencethe Republic of Latvia
Opening remarks: Jurģis Miezainis Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Economics of the Republic of Latvia
Opening remarks: Egita Aizsalniece-Ibema Head of the Latvian Office for Innovation and Technology in Brussels, LIAA
Opening remarks: Jānis Kloviņš Acting Director of the Kleisti Research Centre, National Institute of Research and Innovation (NIRI), Latvia
Keynote Talk: Richard Rosenquist Brandell Professor and Senior Physician in Clinical Genetics, Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital. Director of Genomic Medicin Sweden
Talk: Genomic Medicine Sweden: Advancing precision medicine at the national level
Keynote Talk: Helge Lubenow CEO, Heidelberg Epignostix, Germany
Opening remarks: Robert Fine Executive Director IVRHA – International Virtual Reality and Healthcare Association
10:00-10:30 | Coffee break
SCIENTIFIC SESSION
10:30-12:00 | Ziedona Hall
Cardiogenetics
Chair: Linda Gailīte, Irina Griķe
Speaker: Mary N. Sheppard Head of Department of Cardiovascular Pathology, City St George’s University of London, UK
Talk: Inherited cardiac conditions diagnosed at autopsy and genetic testing
Speaker: Ewa Sieliwonczyk Medical Geneticist, University Hospital of Antwerp (UZA), Belgium
Talk: Personalised penetrance and outcome prediction in inherited cardiomyopathy with AI-ECG
Speaker: Irina Griķe Cardiologist, Latvian Cardiology center, Pauls Stradins Clinical University hospital, Scientific Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Riga Stradins university, Latvia
Talk: The Genetic Landscape of Atrial Fibrillation: Toward Precision Cardiology
Speaker: Axel Verstrael Patient story, Belgium
Talk: Sudden death meets cardiogenetics: the plot twist. A patient journey through discovery, uncertainty and human connection
STAKEHOLDER SESSION
10:30-12:00 | Room A
Innovations panel
Moderator:Andris K. Bērziņš
Panelists
Helge Lubenow CEO, Heidelberg Epignostix, Germany
Giedrius Gasiunas CEO, Caszyme, Lithuania
Gatis Mozolevskis CEO & Co-founder, Cellbox Lab
10:30-12:00 | Room C
Health Data for Research and Innovation (In Latvian)
Moderator: Kaspars Grosu
Panelists
Aiga Balode Deputy State Secretary, The Ministry for Health of the Republic of Latvia
Vita Rovīte, Senior Researcher/ Group Leader, Vice Dean for Research, Faculty of Medicine and Life sciences. University of Latvia
Dzintars Mozgis Deputy Director for Public Health and Prevention, Centre for Disease Prevention and Control of Latvia (SPKC)
Eduards Ritums Senior Project Manager, Smart Specialisation Area – Biomedicine, Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals, Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA)
Juris Bārzdiņš Leading Researcher and Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Latvia
Lauris Vidzis Healthcare executive and managing partner, longevity catalyst
SCIENTIFIC SESSION
10:30-12:00 | Room B
One health approach
Chair: Jānis Kloviņš, Robin Guevarra
Speaker: Maido Remm University of Tartu, Estonia
Talk: Pathogen identification and AMR profiling from cell-free DNA in sepsis patients
Speaker: Valerie Diane Valeriano Researcher in Microbiology & Microbiome Science, Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
Talk: Host–Microbe Interactions through a One Health Lens: Integrating Microbial Genomics and Microbiome Function
Speaker: Robin Guevarra The National Institute of Research and Innovation (NIRI)
Talk: Antimicrobial Resistance in the Metagenomic Era: Emerging Trends for One Health Surveillance
Speaker: Jurgita Skiecevičienė Chief researcher, Director of Institute for Digestive Research, Head of Clinical and molecular gastroenterology laboratory, Lithuanian university of health sciences, Lithuania
Talk: Analysing Host-Microbiome Interactions: From the Gut Microbiome Insights to Functional Studies
12:00-13:00 | Lunch
SCIENTIFIC SESSION
13:00-14:30 | Ziedona Hall
Translational medicine
Chair: Una Riekstiņa, Giedrius Gasiunas
Speaker: Jeļizaveta Sokolovska Head of department, leading researcher, docent University of Latvia, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Department of Clinical and Personalized medicine, Latvia
Talk: From Molecular Signals to Clinical Decisions in Diabetes and Its Complications: Perspectives from Genetic, Gut, and Glycemic Biomarker Research
Speaker: Anna Veiga Director, Barcelona Stem Cell Bank, Spain
Talk: HaploiPS: a consortium for the Generation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Haplo-selected Cord Blood Samples
Speaker: Johann Gout Group Leader Mouse Genetics and Tumor, Microenvironment / Pancreatic Cancer Organoids, Institute of Molecular Oncology and Stem Cell Biology, Ulm University Hospital, Germany
Talk: Pancreatic Cancer Organoids: From Functional Drug Response to Precision Medicine
Speaker: Giedrius Gasiunas CEO, Caszyme, Lithuania
Talk: A Potent Cas12l Genome Editor for Therapeutic Applications
STAKEHOLDER SESSION
13:00-14:30 | Room A
Chair: Agnese Oļševska Rīgas Stradiņa universitātes Inovāciju centra direktore
Speaker: Inese Gribanova Vecākā inovāciju projektu vadītāja, Inovāciju un projektu nodaļa, LIAA
Speaker: Laura Kunga-Jēgere Vecākā eksperte, Starptautisko pētniecības programmu nodaļa, Latvijas Zinātnes padome (LZP)
Speaker: Egita Aizsilniece-Ibema Latvijas inovāciju un tehnoloģiju pārstāvniecības Briselē vadītāja, LIAA
Speaker: Ritvars Vestmanis Vecākais eksperts – Eiropas inovāciju ekosistēmas; Eiropas Inovāciju un tehnoloģiju institūts, Latvijas Zinātnes padome (LZP)
SCIENTIFIC SESSION
13:00-14:30 | Room B
Young researchers
Chair: Zanda Daneberga, Una Riekstiņa
Speaker: Mikk Tooming Tartu University Hospital, Estonia
Talk: Genetic Profiling of Breast and Ovarian Cancer Families in Estonia: Insights from Patients and Healthy Relatives
Speaker: Fēlikss Rūmnieks National Institute of Research and Innovation (NIRI), Latvia
Talk: Senescence, stemness, and survival: melanoma resistance and a model to study it
Speaker: Eglė Žymantaitė Vilnius University, National Cancer Institute, Lithuania
Talk: Multi-method immune phenotyping defines inflamed, excluded and desert melanoma microenvironments relevant to treatment selection
Speaker: Marija Lazovska, Riga Stradiņš University, Latvia
Talk: SPERMFREE: Seminal Plasma Cell-Free DNA Fragmentomics for Assessing Spermatogenic Function
Speaker: Samanta Pļaviņa, University of Latvia
Talk: A Multi-Omics and Clinical Data Integration Approach to Patient Stratification in Multiple Sclerosis
14:30-15:00 | Coffee break
SCIENTIFIC SESSION
15:00-16:30 | Ziedona Hall
Microbiome
Chair:Ilze Elbere
Speaker: Mathieu Almeida Academic researcher, Université Paris-Saclay, France
Talk: Gut microbiome alterations as early signatures of disease risk: insights from Parkinson’s disease and cancer
Speaker: Oliver Aasmets Research Fellow of Statistical Metagenomics, Institute of Genomics, Estonian Genome Center, University of Tartu, Estonia
Talk: The Estonian Microbiome Cohort: Discoveries and Future Directions
Speaker: Monta Brīvība Head of the core facility Genome Center, Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Latvia
Talk: Gut and Oral Microbiome Dynamics in Pediatric Cancer
STAKEHOLDER SESSION
15:00-16:30 | Room A
Moderator: Agnese Oļševska Rīgas Stradiņa universitātes Inovāciju centra direktore
Panelists:
Egita Aizsilniece-Ibema LIAA Latvijas inovāciju un tehnoloģiju pārstāvniecības Briselē vadītāja
Dr. Osvalds Pugovičs NIRI Teikas zinātniskā centra direktora p.i., BioPhoT platformas vadītājs
Jekaterina Romanova PrintyMed līdzdibinātāja un izpilddirektore
Roberts Rimša Cellbox Labs līdzdibinātājs un tehnoloģiju direktors
STAKEHOLDER SESSION
15:00-16:30 | Room B
Big Health & Omics Data at Scale: ELIXIR, HPC and AI Factories
Chair: Baiba Vilne
Speaker: Juha Törnroos CSC / ELIXIR Compute Platform, Finland
Talk: From ELIXIR Compute to AI Factories: Federated Cloud and HPC Services for Life Science Research
Speakers: Aadi Tegova & Arnold Leonhard Mertsin High Performance Computing Center (HPC), Institute of Computer Science, University of Tartu. Estonia
Talk: Estonia’s HPC and Trusted Research Environment Ecosystem: From SAPU to AI-Ready Research Infrastructure
Speaker: Vita Zeidenberga Director of AI and Computing Center University of Latvia
Talk: From University HPC to AI Factory Antennas: Building Latvia’s Research Computing Capacity
16:30-16:40 | Ziedona Hall
Closing plenary session
Closing remarks: Valts Abols, CEO, Children’s University hospital, Latvia
Closing remarks: Roberts Melbardis, PMNET Forum Executive director, Latvia
Satellite events
European–Taiwan Cancer Screening Conference 2026
Before the PMNET Forum, on 7 October 2026, the University of Latvia will host the European–Taiwan Cancer Screening Conference 2026 in Riga, as part of the EU co-funded Joint Action “Implementation of cancer screening programmes (EUCanScreen)”. Conference will bring together European experts and colleagues from Taiwan to exchange experience and discuss best practices in cancer screening.
Participation in the conference is free of charge. Registration is open until 25th September.
More information, including the registration link and draft agenda, can be found here: https://eucanscreen.eu/2026/07/28/european-taiwan-cancer-screening-conference-2026/
Lost in Translation? Why Biomarker Discoveries Rarely Reach Patients
Before the PMNET Forum, on 7 October 2026, EATRIS Latvia and Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) will host the seminar “Lost in Translation? Why Biomarker Discoveries Rarely Reach Patients” in Riga. The seminar will explore how promising biomarker discoveries can be translated into clinical practice, addressing scientific, clinical, regulatory and commercialisation challenges and bringing together researchers, clinicians and innovation professionals.
The seminar will be held in English and starts at 14:00 at the RSU Pharmacy Study and Research Centre.
More information, including the programme and registration, can be found here:
RSU – Lost in Translation? Why Biomarker Discoveries Rarely Reach Patients
RIS3 Biomedicīnas vadības grupas sapulce (in Latvian; by invitation only)
9. oktobris 13:00-15:30
The 8th Annual Virtual Reality and Healthcare Europe Symposium
University of Turiba
Day 2 — October 9
National Library of Latvia
The second day will take place in parallel with the Precision Medicine Network Forum.
https://healtheurope26.ivrha.org/#registration