Meeting report of the 8th Annual Nordic Autophagy Society conference near Stockholm, Sweden!
“Science and Sauna at Sånga-Säby”
Sept 17th-19th 2025
The Nordic Autophagy Society held its 8th annual conference in Sånga-Säby at the shores of Lake Malaren near Stockholm, Sweden in September 2025.
The picturesque surroundings and the wonderful atmosphere at Sånga gave the perfect backdrop for three days of high-class science, stimulating academic exchange, networking, and even some sauna – with an optional jump into Lake Malaren afterwards for the bravest.
Overall, 46 scientists attended the 8th Annual NAS conference, disseminating their science in 2 poster sessions, and 14 short talks over 7 sessions that aimed to predominantly give young researchers a chance to present their novel, cutting-edge research results. The program was rounded out by 4 keynote lectures, given by Professor Richard Youle (NIH, USA), Professor Joern Djengel (University of Fribourg, Switzerland), Professor Anu Kauppinen (University of Eastern Finland, Finland) and Professor Katja Simon (Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany). As every year, the science presented at the NAS conference was original and innovative and provided the perfect jump-off point for exciting discussions of new theories and new networking opportunities.
With great joy, NAS could hand out 3 Best Poster and 2 Best Speaker Awards to outstanding young scientists also this year. The Best Speaker Awards were awarded to Karoline Olga Khelet (Denmark) and Christopher Reiter (Germany). Many thanks to Cells, who sponsored the Best Speaker Awards with 300€ each. The Best Poster Awards, sponsored by Autophagy and Autophagy Reports with 100€ each, were awarded to Valgerður Hjaltalin (Iceland), Lovisa Johansson (Sweden), and Elena Sofie Cao (Norway). Congratulations to these outstanding young researchers who shared their valuable contributions at the 8th Annual NAS conference.
Delicious conference dinners and social activities like the optional evening sauna or a fun and informative “Tipsrundan” – that took conference attendants on a forest walk to enjoy the fresh air and answer questions about Sweden – all contributed to the relaxed atmosphere that marks all NAS meetings. Making them an important staple in the scientific calendar of all autophagy researchers in (Northern) Europe.
The organizing committee of the 8th Annual NAS conference, Professor Daniel Hofius and Professor Per Nilsson did an outstanding job to bring this year’s NAS conference together. With the help of NAS chair Professor Nikolai Engedal, the NAS board, the NAS social media team (Simona Maria Migliano and Natalie Jayne Kurganovs), the NAS web team (Rubén Gomez-Sanchez and Maria Hytti) and the NAS sponsorship team (Ruby Gupta Blixt and Karolina Spustova), NAS had another great conference. Thanks go out to everyone who helped bring this event together at Sånga-Säby this year, and, of course, to our generous supporters.
