Infection, Immunity & Microbionts Special Interest Group (SIG)

Date: Thursday 16th – Friday 17th April 2026

Venue: Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath

Join our Infection, Immunity & Microbionts Special Interest Group for a two-day conference at the Milner Centre for Evolution, Bath.

Abstract submissions for oral and poster presentations are welcome from all research areas across the broad themes covered by the SIG (infection, immunity, microbiomes and symbionts). In addition, we plan a specific session focusing on functional consequences of insect immune interactions. Note that for this meeting we are happy to invite contributions from those who consider these topics within non-insect invertebrates, provided the research is relevant to insect systems.

Day 1: Symbionts and Microbiomes

Day 2: Pathogens and Immunity

There will be a conference dinner on the evening of Thursday 16 April, available at an additional cost. More information to follow…

Registration will be open shortly!

Keynote speakers

Ann Tate, Vanderbilt University, Tennessee, USA

Dr. Tate is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, USA. Her research investigates reciprocal ecological and evolutionary feedbacks between hosts and parasites. She uses a combination of theoretical approaches and experiments in insect model systems to understand how molecular details influence variation in population-level processes. Current areas of investigation include the evolution of pleiotropy in immune signaling networks, the role of co-infection in structuring ecological interactions across biological scales, and the evolution of stage-structured immunity across modes of metamorphosis.

Before moving to Vanderbilt she was a USDA NIFA postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Houston, USA, mentored by Tim Cooper. She completed my Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University (advised by Andrea L. Graham), and received her B.S. from Rice University, USA.

Stuart Reynolds, Emeritus Professor of Biology at the University of Bath

Born in Yorkshire but growing up in Lancashire, Stuart studied at Cambridge and did his PhD there too, working in the laboratory of Simon Maddrell on the stretchiness of insect cuticle. After a postdoc at Bristol with Charles Neville, he was lucky enough to win a Harkness Fellowship that took him to Seattle, USA, where he worked on the control of moulting with his heroes Jim Truman and Lynn Riddiford.

Returning to the UK in 1977 he took up a lectureship at Bath, where he has been ever since, working on all sorts of insect-related research problems, but especially the antagonistic co-evolutionary interactions between insects and their specialist pathogens.

Now retired, he is currently pottering about thinking about the evolution of metamorphosis and the evolution of host and vector ranges in parasites. He comments that he has always been interested in too many things at once and doesn’t see why he should stop now. He has been a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society since 1974 and organized a number of meetings for the Society including the memorable 2014 European Congress of Entomology at York. He was RES President in 2010-2012. He lives in rural Somerset, where he lives in a crumbling old house and likes gardening very much.  

Call for abstracts

Abstract submissions for oral and poster presentations are welcome from all research areas across the broad themes covered by the SIG (infection, immunity, microbiomes and symbionts). In addition, we plan a specific session focusing on functional consequences of insect immune interactions. Note that for this meeting we are happy to invite contributions from those who consider these topics within non-insect invertebrates, provided the research is relevant to insect systems.

The deadline for submissions is Friday 6th March (5pm). Please note that all presenters must also register to attend the event.

Sponsorship

We would love to hear from companies who wish to support this event through an exhibition stand or sponsorship opportunity. Please see details of packages available below, or contact fran.fleming@royensoc.co.uk if you have any queries.