The 2026 AUA Postgraduate Forum in Immunobiology was held at Tsinghua University from June 22 to 24, 2026, which gathered outstanding PhD students and early-career postdoctoral researchers from 16 renowned universities and research institutions across seven Asian countries and regions, creating a high-level international platform for exchange and collaboration among emerging talents in immunological research.
This forum focused on seven core research themes: immune system regulatory mechanisms, host-pathogen interactions, immunotherapy, translational immunology, neuroimmunology, immunometabolism, and vaccine development. The three-day offline forum arranged a rich and systematic schedule of diversified academic activities, including top-tier invited lectures, keynote speeches, laboratories and core research platforms visits, student oral presentations, poster exhibition and interactive networking sessions.
During the forum, renowned international immunologists and distinguished scholars from Tsinghua University delivered cutting-edge keynote lectures during the forum, including Jason G. Cyster from the University of California, San Francisco, Tak W. Mak from the University of Toronto, Yeonseok Jung from Seoul National University, as well as Tsinghua University scholars Hai Qi, Zhihua Liu, Yan Shi and Wenwen Zeng. Their lectures covered frontier fields such as lymphoid tissue microenvironments, adaptive immune regulation, tumor immunology, neuro-immune crosstalk and inflammatory disease mechanisms, providing systematic and forward-looking academic guidance for young participants.
A total of 12 student oral presentations and dozens of academic posters covered hot topics in both basic and translational immunology and vividly demonstrated the vitality of immunological innovation across Asia. The forum’s award ceremony commended outstanding young scholars with remarkable research achievements. Daehong Kim from Seoul National University won the first prize for oral presentations; Changrong Liu from Tsinghua University secured the second prize; and Junggo Yang from Seoul National University claimed the third prize. Five Outstanding Poster Awards were granted to excellent researchers from Seoul National University, Chulalongkorn University, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, and Pohang University of Science and Technology. Their award-winning research achievements spanned immune aging, infectious immunity, antibody engineering, tumor immunotherapy and immune cell regulation, fully reflecting the solid academic foundation and innovative thinking of the new generation of Asian immunology researchers.
Centered on three core objectives — establishing a platform for displaying and critically discussing original immunobiological research, improving the comprehensive research capabilities of young academic researchers, and fostering long-term stable cooperative relations among AUA member universities, this AUA Postgraduate Academic Forum has become a vital incubator for cultivating outstanding young biomedical leaders in Asia. It continues to bring together high-level young academic talents, promote in-depth regional biomedical scientific research cooperation, and contribute to the joint construction of human community with a shared future.
Source: Institute for Immunology, Tsinghua University; Editor: Jingtong XU
