PROGRAM
The scientific program will include invited speakers, selected oral presentations based on submitted abstracts, and a panel discussion focused on current challenges in the field. In addition, the program will feature presentations by early-career researchers from the BiocatCodeExpander consortium.
Chair: Stela Galušić
12:30 – 14:00 Registration
14:00 – 14:10 Conference welcome
14:10 – 14:55 Ryan Mehl (Oregon State University, USA), The chemical limits of labeling proteins using genetic code expansion.
14:55 – 15:15 Seino Jongkees (VU Amsterdam,NL), Genetic code expansion in mRNA display.
15:15 – 15:35 Maolin Guo (University of Massachusetts, USA), Novel non-canonical fluorescent amino acids and genetic code expansion enable protein imaging in live-cells.
15:35 –16:00 Coffee break
16:00 – 17:35 BiocatCodeExpander presents I
Short presentations by early-career researchers from the BiocatCodeExpander consortium
17:30 – 19:30 Welcome reception
19:30 Closing of Day 1
Day 1 – Monday, 29 June 2026
Chair: María Emilia Iglesias Moncayo
09:00 – 09:45 Gerard Roelfes (University of Groningen, NL), Designer enzymes featuring non-canonical amino acids as catalytic residue
09:45 – 10:05 Gustavo Fuertes (Czech Academy of Sciences, CZ), Expanding the protein engineering toolbox with a dual-function, chemically reactive and Raman-active non-canonical amino acid.
10:05 – 10:25 Reuben Leveson-Gower (Delft University of Technology, NL), ncAAs tune Old Yellow Enzyme reactivity and selectivity.
10:25 – 10:50 Coffee break
10:50 – 11:10 Valeria Poggetti (University of Groningen, NL), Enabling nucleophilic catalysis in thiophenol-based designer enzymes.
11:10 – 11:30 Bart Brouwer (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, NL), Novel protein scaffolds and catalytic residues for artificial enzyme design.
11:30 – 12:15 Alexandria Deliz Liang (University of Zurich, CH), Expanding the genetic code with histidine-like non-canonical amino acids
12:20 – 14:20 Lunch & Poster session
14:25 – 15:10 Birgit Wiltschi (ACIB, BOKU University, AT), New Horizons in Protein Engineering: Genetic Code Expansion with Non-Canonical Amino Acids
15:10 - 15:45 BiocatCodeExpander presents II
Short presentations by early-career researchers from the BiocatCodeExpander consortium.
15:45 - 16:30 Kathrin Lang (ETH Zurich, CH), Reprogramming the genetic code to study and control protein function.
18:00 Conference dinner - Capital Kitchen, Weesperplein 4B, 1018XA Amsterdam
Day 2 – TUESDAY, 30 June 2026
Chair: Lauren María Quintero Moreno
09:00 – 09:45 Aditya Kunjapur (University of Delaware, USA), New strategies and applications for non-standard amino acid biosynthesis.
09:45 – 10:05 Filip Z. Ilievski (Yale University, USA), Adaptive lab evolution of a fully genomically re-coded strain for single-molecule tracking.
10:05 - 10:25 Nikolaj Koch (University of Basel, CH), Deep mutational scanning of a psychrophilic pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase.
10:25 – 10:55 Coffee break
10:55– 11:40 Zhi Zhou (Jiangnan University, CN), Integrating the biosynthesis and genetic incorporation of noncanonical amino acids for enzyme design and catalysis.
11:40 – 12:25 Ned Budisa (University of Manitoba, CA), Novel approaches to genetic code expansion: genomic integration and semi-autonomous ncAA production.
12:25 – 12:40 Poster awards & Conference closing
12:40 – Lunch & departure
Day 3 – WEDNESDAY, 1 JULY 2026