🎉 The #BALR2025 early career competition went to Juma El Awaisi from University of Birmingham 🎉 The postgraduate competition went to Bethany Sawyer from @brisunipress.bsky.social 🎉 mid-career competition went to Polina Yarova from @newcastleuni.bsky.social Congratulations! 2/2

#BALR2025 is over, and here are the winners of the competitions: Poster competition 🎉 Mads Rossanese from @ucl.ac.uk 🎉 Katherine Ronchetti from The Children’s hospital for Wales 🎉 Sasha-Gaye Richards from @uniofnottingham.bsky.social Congratulations all! 1/2

#BALR2025 organiser Renata Jurkowska doing closing remarks and thank yous to everyone who helped, organised and sponsored.

#BALR2025 is coming to a close. We are going out with a bang with lung regeneration superstar Prof Tata from Duke University.

And to close off the last session at #BALR2025 Ellen Jenkins from Uni of Birmingham is presenting on The impact of HIF-1 pathway activation on alveolar macrophage immunometabolism: implications for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

And now presenting ‘Leupaxin Orchestrates Proliferation and Myofibroblast Transition in Human Lung Fibroblasts’ is Petar Popov from @cardiffuni, at #BALR2025

And after PCLSs, we’re now onto epithelial-mesenchymal-endothelial organoids with Dr Anna Krasnodembskaya from Queen’s University Belfast, now at #BALR2025.

Now for modelling lung development, repair and disease at #BALR2025, Dr Charlotte Dean from @imperialnhli.bsky.social who is going to present on her PCLS models to study lung injury and repair.

Last but not least for the mid-career competition at #BALR2025 Dr Bettina Schock from Queen’s University Belfast, presenting on ‘Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived fibroblasts reveal differences between Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) and SSc-IL.

The next contestant at #BALR2025 is Dr Polina Yarova from @newcastleuni.bsky.social presenting on ‘Calcium-sensing receptor integrates polyamine metabolism with inflammatory and fibrotic responses in bleomycin-induced lung injury.

The mid-career competition has kicked off on day 3 of #BALR2025 with @drmanuplate.bsky.social talking on the involvement of mTORC1 in defining the transcriptional identity of the CTHRC1+ fibroblasts.

Day 2 Keynote talk at #BALR2025 is by Alex Zhavoronkov , from In Silico Medicine speaking online directly from HK (where it’s 1am! 😴) on AI-assisted drug discovery.

Wrapping up this ‘Interactions at play’ section is @julieworrell.bsky.social from @uofglasgow.bsky.social and @ucddublin.bsky.social on how the interaction between immunomodulatory fibroblasts and T-cells in regulate lung damage responses in viral and fibrotic lung injury.

Telling us about ‘Metabolic reprogramming in fibrotic lung diseases’ is Dr Brinnie Selvarajah from @ucl.ac.uk Reapiratory at #BALR2025.

‘Intranasal vaccines against respiratory viruses’ by Dr Carly Bliss from @cardiffunilib.bsky.social at #BALR2025.

Closing this session at #BALR2025 is Poojitha Rajasekear from @uniofnottingham.bsky.social on investigating cell-free DNA methylation in asthma.

Closing this session at #BALR2025 is Dr Timothy Hinks from @ox.ac.uk talking about Single cell and spatial studies in Asthma.

Next up at #BALR2025 Prof Luis Mur on metabolomics.

Another fantastic session is underway at #BALR2025 on ‘New kids on the block, leveraging new omics technologies for the discovery of new biomarkers and drug targets.’ First up is @alisonejohn.bsky.social from @imperialnhli.bsky.social on spatial transcriptomics.

Last but not least for the #BALR2025 postgraduate competition is Bethany Sawyer from @bristoluni.bsky.social

The second contestant in the #BALR2025 postgraduate competition is Darius Pease from @cardiffunilib.bsky.social

First up in the postgraduate competition at #BALR2025 is Kun Zheng from @unisouthampton.bsky.social

BALR President Prof Liz Sapey is now introducing the #BALR2025 postgraduate competition. In her message she highlighted the quality of all abstracts submitted. Good luck to the three finalists!

Positions are open on the BALR committee, if U R at #BALR2025 & interested chat to us! Open positions + who 2 talk 2: - Chair @chrisscotton.bsky.social - Treasurer @amandatatler.bsky.social - Comms @drmanuplate.bsky.social - Publications @meretelong.bsky.social - Post doc rep Brinnie Selvarajah

The second #BALR2025 poster session is in full swing!

And another round of flash talks at #BALR2025, to get excitement up before the poster session.

And Angela Liu from Queen’s university Belfast presenting her summer student project at #BALR2025, with a Pulmonary Fibrosis Northern Ireland funded studentship. If you are an undergraduate or medical student consider applying, next round launched in early ‘26, watch this space!

Now for some more summer student talks at #BALR2025, Darren Chow from Queen’s University Belfast and funded by Pulmonary Fibrosis Northern Ireland.

And to conclude this session at #BALR2025, @johnwholloway.bsky.social from @unisouthampton.bsky.social talking about ‘Legacies of tobacco smoke: epigenetics and early life environment in the origin of respiratory diseases.

Next up at #BALR2025 @drrachclifford.bsky.social from @uniofnottingham.bsky.social cell-type and sex-specific epigenetics in IPF.

Now at #BALR2025 BALR’s very own and fantastic conference organiser Renata Jurkowska on Epigenomics regulations in COPD. If by now you are wondering why you are not here, I told you so!

Last but not least for the first session of day two at #BALR2025 is Catherine McMullan from @uniofleicester.bsky.social presenting on Exploring the effect of PKN2 knockdown on IPF.

And now at #BALR2025 Dr Catherine Hogan from @cardiffunilib.bsky.social on deregulated cell extrusion in KRAS-driven disease in the lung epithelium.

Day two of #BALR2025 is underway with talk from genetic epidemiology superstar Prof Louise Wain on Genetics or lung fibrosis - promises and challenges.

The first poster session at #BALR2025 is buzzing!

And now 1min flash talks at #BALR2025! It’s like speed-dating but with science, so more fun!

And next up at #BALR2025 Phoebe Ross from @cardiffunilib.bsky.social We are so proud to see the fantastic work done by BALR summer students, showing the value of a flagship initiative, only possible thanks to our co-funders @actionpfcharity.bsky.social, Breathing Matters & Pulmonary Fibrosis NI.

The next two talks at #BALR2025 are from BALR summer students. As a BALR summer student you get funding attend a conference and present your data. First up is Theodore Smith, from University of Birmingham with a studentship funded by @actionpfcharity.bsky.social

Last but not least for the #BALR2025 early career researchers competition is Juma El-Awaisi from @unibirmingham.bsky.social

Next up for the early career researcher competition at #BALR2025 is Rebecca Hull from @dundeeuni.bsky.social.

The early career researcher competition is kicking off at #BALR2025 with Bin Liu from @imperialnhli.bsky.social.

Discussion point from the panel discussion at #BALR2025: • about 60% of people in the room work in pulmonary fibrosis, why? • do we have good models and which disease has the best models and why? • how do we improve sharing or tissue and resources?

Engaging discussion with the expert panel: @amandatatler.bsky.social, @profjdchalmers.bsky.social, @chrisscotton.bsky.social, Prof Sir a Peter Barnes, Dr Renata Jurkowska and Prof Sailesh Kotecha.

Prof Sailesh Kotesha from @cardiffunilib.bsky.social, giving an overview on new horizons in Prematurity associated lung disease at #BALR2025

A positive outlook from @amandatatler.bsky.social on the bright horizon in fibrotic lung disease treatments at #BALR2025

BALR’s very own @amandatatler.bsky.social now on New Horizons in Fibrotic Lung Disease. (Also an expert on being on the BALR committee, if you are thinking of applying to one of the open positions talk to her or any of the other BALR committee members at #BALR2025 )

@profjdchalmers.bsky.social takes us to a new anti-inflammatory era of Bronchiectasis treatments at #BALR2025

Next up at #BALR2025 @profjdchalmers.bsky.social on New Horizons in Bronchiectasis.

Treating cell senescence as a common pathway to multimorbidity of the elderly, to prolong healthspan and impact multiple age-related conditions simultaneously. #BALR2025

Prof Sir Peter Barnes giving the keynote talk at #BALR2025. If you are not here, I bet regret is starting to kick in.