Membrane Protein Conference on December 1, 2026
Our next International Membrane Protein Conference will be held on Tuesday Dec. 1, 2026 from 2-5pm CET (8-11 am ET) and will feature a series of about eight 20 minute talks covering the latest findings about membrane structure and function, lipid-protein interactions as well as advances for purification and resolution of native membrane assemblies, as depicted above by data from the speakers.
Feel free to nominate a speaker with an exciting story to tell here.
We seek to explore and disseminate new concepts and tools in the field of membrane protein biology. Free student tickets are available, and registration is 20 or 30 euros for academics or industry to help cover our costs as an independent organization run by scientists for their fellow scientists. Dip in and out of this zoom meeting as needed and receive the recordings afterwards.
Membrane Protein Conference Videos and Attendees on Sept 15, 2026
14:00 CET Introductions, pose any questions, sharing of tips and tricks
Session 1 chaired by Gestél Kuyler, CEO & co-Founder, Nanosene
14:10 Salma Dienta Salsabila, PhD Student with Jungwook Kim, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, who published Structural mechanism of membrane-associated cytidine diphosphate diacylglycerol diphosphatase in Escherichia coli in Int J Biol Macromol.
14:30 Alexej Kedrov, Associate Professor, University of Düsseldorf on the substrate-induced assembly and functional mechanism of the bacterial membrane protein insertase SecYEG-YidC using nanodiscs and cryo-EM, which was published in EMBO J.
14:50 Meseret Haile, PhD Student with Chi-Min Ho, Assistant Professor of Microbiology & Immunology at Columbia University, and recently published structural basis for host membrane binding and remodeling by invading malaria parasites in Cell, having purified the native complex directly from invasion-stalled parasites on host cells for CryoEM.
15:10 Break and open discussion
Session 2 chaired by Orestes Karatzas, MSc Student, Biochemistry Dept, UofA
15:15 Bernadette Byrne, Professor in Molecular Membrane Biology, Imperial College London, focusses on eukaryotic membrane protein structure and function, with emphasis on transporters and receptors, and will give a talk on the RAMP Lipid Screen.
15:35 Shiv K. Sah Teli, Postdoctoral Researcher with Juha Huiskonen, Laboratory of Structural Biology, University of Helsinki, who published Gating Mechanism of the Human Connexin 45 Gap Junction in bioRxiv.
15:55 Break and open discussion
Session 3 chaired by Manan Upadhyaya, Researcher, Biochemistry Dept, UofA
16:00 Surbhi Dhingra, Postdoctoral Fellow with Kenton Swartz, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH, who recently published Mechanisms of ligand recognition and channel opening for P2X2 receptors in lipid nanodiscs in Science Advances.
16:20 Hayarpi Torosyan, Postdoctoral Scholar with Kliment A. Verba and Natalia Jura at University of California, San Francisco, who recently published Structures of the PI3Kα/KRas complex on lipid bilayers reveal molecular mechanisms of PI3Kα activation in Mol Cell.
16:40 Moitrayee Bhattacharyya, Associate Professor of Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Yale University, on Single molecule microscopy and cryo-EM with native nanodiscs in understanding neurodegeneration and pain.
17:00 Discussion and close
SMALP 2026:
2nd International Conference on Native Membrane Nanoparticles
Location: Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies
Dates: November 16-20, 2026
Lead Organizer: Bert Klumperman
Deadline for abstracts for talks and posters: 15 August
Early bird registration closes on 27 August
Fill out our short Conference Evaluation Form, we value your feedback.
Speaker Awards
Sponsored by Nanosene. Our previous winners:
- Alyssa Ward, PhD Student, U Tennessee Knoxville
- Kirill Nadezhdin, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
- Rhythm Shukla, University of Utrecht
- David Glück, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz
- Johanna Syrjanen, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
- Gestél Kuyler, Stellenbosch & Coventry Universities
- Elaine Bernard, graduate student, Stellenbosch U
- Evelyn Okorafor, graduate student, Miami U
- Ruby Huynh, undergraduate student, Arizona State U
- Arba Zhao, high school student at Webb High School
- Elissa Moller, PhD student, NICHD
- Claire Coupland, Postdoc, UToronto
- Frank Tucci, PhD student at Northwestern U
- Surabhi Kokane, PhD student, Stockholm U
- Mackenzie Thompson, Postdoctoral Researcher, UC Berkeley
- Yasmin Aydin, Postdoctoral Researcher, Indiana University School of Medicine
Background on SMALP
The SMALP network is an open forum initiated by the international research community. We are developing and using amphipathic copolymers as alternatives to conventional detergents, which tend to dissociate, destabilize and deactivate native membrane proteins.
A variety of amphipathic polymers such as styrene maleic acid have been found to directly and spontaneously solubilize proteins and bound lipids from membranes when activated. This provides opportunities for understanding and exploiting the structure and function of native membrane protein complexes.
As SMALP technology is relatively new, the participation of the wider community and sharing of new ideas and practices amongst researchers is the best way to ensure continued rapid development of the field.
The SMALP network offers polymers, methods and meetings to support the growing community of scientists and companies interested in the preparation of membrane nanodiscs formed by polymers including styrene maleic acid for biological research and drug discovery applications.
Register for a day of insightful talks from experts in the structural biology and functions of membrane proteins and nanodisc development, discussions with academic and industry leaders, and enjoy breakfast, lunch and coffee breaks on us.
These events are offered to bring together academic and industry experts, postdocs and students who are interested in membrane protein structural biology, lipidomics, proteomics, target discovery and biophysical analysis of bilayers and amphipathic polymers.
We welcome researchers from across academia and industry to join us in lively discussions and debate about the latest advances in native nanodiscs, membrane proteins, polymer chemistry, lipid biophysics, structural biology, and applications including drug discovery and delivery.