Beneficial Microbes and International Symbiosis
Society Joint Conference

Madison, Wisconsin | July 19 – 23, 2026

The 2026 Conference on Beneficial Microbes will be co-organized with the International Symbiosis Society. The conference will provide a forum for the exchange of the latest conceptual and technological developments in the fast-moving field of beneficial host-microbe interactions. By bringing together US and international researchers across multiple disciplines (microbiology, immunology, developmental biology, neurobiology, physiology, nutrition, genomics, ecology, systems biology, evolutionary biology and clinical science), the conference will continue its 20-year tradition to examine the central role of microbes across biology. We encourage established and new investigators and trainees to attend the meeting and submit abstracts for oral and poster presentations. Most talks will be selected from abstract submissions! We look forward to seeing you in Madison, Wisconsin.

2026 Keynote Speakers

Colleen M. Cavanaugh
Harvard University

Jonathan A. Eisen
University of California, Davis

Topics and Session Chairs

Topics	Session Chair
One Health and Beneficial Microbes	Jack Gilbert
Microbe-Host Interaction at the Molecular Scale I	John Rawls
Microbe-Host Interactions at the Molecular Scale II	Amelia Lindsey
Microbe-host interactions at the Ecological scale	Julia Oh
Microbe-Host Interactions at the Ecological Scale II	Laura Katz
Microbe-host interactions at the evolutionary scale	Maggie Sogin
New Approaches to Study Microbe-Host Crosstalk	Kaura Knoll

Conference Co-Chairs

Federico Rey
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Rosie Alegado
University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa

Planning Committee 2026

Elizabeth Johnson, Cornell University
Kevin Kohl, University of Pittsburg
Kathy Paige Lemon, Baylor College of Medicine
Irene Newton, Indiana University (ISS)

David Clarke, University College Cork
Kat Milligan-McClellan, University of Connecticut
Buck Samuel, Baylor College of Medicine
Elizabeth Heath-Heckman, Michigan State University (ISS)

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