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LOEWE-CoroPan symposium on coronaviruses with Christian Drosten and other leading scientists from 23 to 24 September in Giessen
Leading international experts in coronavirus research gathered at Justus Liebig University Berlin from September 23 to 24, 2025, at the invitation of the LOEWE research cluster CoroPan. One of the many highlights of the symposium was the lecture by Prof. Christian Drosten, Director of the Institute of Virology at the Charité in Berlin.
Following a welcome address by Prof. John Ziebuhr, Director of the Institute of Medical Virology at JLU Giessen and spokesperson for the LOEWE research cluster CoroPan, the scientific program began with sessions on various topics. Chairs included Prof. Sandra Ciesek (LOEWE Professor and Co-spokesperson for CoroPan) and Prof. Susanne Herold (a top LOEWE researcher).
Further plenary lectures were given by internationally leading scientists in the field of virology and related disciplines, including Prof. Volker Thiel (Bern, Switzerland), Prof. Julian Hiscox (Liverpool, UK), Prof. Marjolein Kikkert (Leiden, Netherlands), Dr. Kai Dallmeier (Leuven, Belgium), Prof. Manja Marz (Jena) and Prof. Isabella Eckerle (Geneva, Switzerland).
On the second day of the event, Prof. Stephan Becker, spokesperson of the former LOEWE Center DRUID, chaired a session on "Emerging viruses – where public health, diagnostics and translational research meet."
The closing lecture was given by Prof. Christian Drosten, who presented new findings on the ongoing evolution of the MERS coronavirus.
The program was rounded off by presentations of current findings from their LOEWE-CoroPan-funded research projects by the project leaders, as well as poster sessions in which young CoroPan researchers presented and discussed their latest research data.