The 28th International Workshop on Kaposi’s Sarcoma Herpesvirus (KSHV) & Related Agents will be held from 28 June – 1 July, 2026 at CSSB Centre for Structural Systems Biology in Hamburg, Germany.

KSHV 2026 will assemble an interdisciplinary group of scientists to discuss a cancer-causing herpesvirus, driving a variety of malignancies and lymphoproliferative disorders, including Kaposi’s sarcoma, pleural effusion lymphoma, multicentric Castleman’s disease, and KSHV-inflammatory cytokine syndrome (KICS). Frequently found in patients with HIV-AIDS and other forms of immunosuppression, including treatments for organ transplant, malaria, and autoimmune diseases, most of these virus-associated malignancies are likely to involve complex genetic predispositions and/or high-risk environmental co-factors. New and better therapies are needed for treating and preventing these virus-associated malignancies.

The major focus of the KSHV meeting is the biology of oncogenic herpesviruses and associated human diseases, with specific emphasis on viral pathogenesis, viral latency and reactivation, viral gene expression and replication, host responses to infection, epidemiology, vaccine development, therapeutic intervention, clinical and translational research.

In addition to KSHV, studies related to herpesvirus saimiri (HVS), murine herpesvirus-68 (MHV-68), and rhesus rhadinovirus (RRV) will be presented. The 28th International Workshop on Kaposi’s Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus and Related Agents will build on research conducted on KSHV since the discovery of this virus in 1994, to engage clinicians and researchers in diverse populations and geographies.

Investigators of all career levels are encouraged to submit abstracts for oral or poster presentation by the 16th of March, Abstract Submission Deadline. Several Travel Awards will be available to qualifying trainees (graduate students, postdocs and pre-doctoral study technicians working in academic or government labs), application is through the online Abstract Submission form.

After holding the annual KSHV workshops for over a quarter century since the discovery of this cancer virus, substantial progress has been made on the biology of Kaposi’s sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV), diseases associated with its infection, the treatment, and the disease pathogenesis. 

This 28th iteration of the International KSHV Conference series will be held 28 June – 1 July, 2026 at the CSSB Centre for Structural Systems Biology in Hamburg, Germany, and will continue to serve as the premier forum for the exchange of new developments in the field of KSHV, which is the etiological agent of the AIDS defining malignancy, Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS). Researchers in the KSHV field have held 27 previous annual conferences, typically attended by 100-184 participants, and up to 444 participants when held jointly with the EBV Association.

Local Organizing Committee

Jennifer Totonchy, PhD, Associate Professor, Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies, School of Pharmacy, Chapman University, Irvine, USA
Jennifer Totonchy, PhD, Associate Professor, Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies, School of Pharmacy, Chapman University, Irvine, USA
Yoshihiro Izumiya, DVM, PhD, Professor, Department of Dermatology, UC Davis School of Medicine, University of California Davis, USA
Subhash C. Verma, PhD, Professor, Microbiology and Immunology, University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, Reno, USA
Subhash C. Verma, PhD, Professor, Microbiology and Immunology, University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, Reno, USA

Scientific Advisory Committee

  • Ethel Cesarman, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, USA
  • Jennifer Corcoran, University of Calgary, Canada
  • Lu Dai, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, USA
  • Blossom Damania, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, USA
  • Hongyu Deng, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
  • Dirk Dittmer, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, USA
  • Britt Glaunsinger, University of California Berkeley, USA
  • Eva Gottwein, Northwestern University, Chicago, USA
  • Adam Grundhoff, Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology, Germany
  • John Karijolich, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, USA
  • Kenneth M. Kaye, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
  • Laurie Krug, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, NIH, USA
  • Michael Lagunoff, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
  • Ke Lan, Wuhan University, China
  • Myung-Shin Lee, Eulji University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
  • Zhe Ma, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
  • Mark Manzano, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, USA
  • Mandy Muller, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA
  • Javier Gordon Ogembo, City of Hope, Duarte, USA
  • Päivi Ojala, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • Bernadett Papp, University of Florida College of Dentistry, USA
  • Rolf Renne, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
  • Erle S. Robertson, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
  • Thomas Schulz, Institute of Virology, Hannover Medical School, Germany
  • Meir Shamay, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
  • Neelam Sharma-Walia, Rosalind Franklin University, North Chicago, USA
  • Zsolt Toth, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
  • Linda van Dyk, University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine, Aurora, USA
  • Tadashi Watanabe, Ryukyu University, Japan
  • Scott W. Wong, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, USA
  • Charles Wood, LSU Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, USA
  • Ting-Ting Wu, University of California Los Angeles, USA
  • Robert Yarchoan, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, USA
  • Joseph Ziegelbauer, HIV and AIDS Malignancy Branch, National Cancer Center, USA

Session Moderators:

  • Amy (Pei-Ching) Chang, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Blossom Damania, UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, United States
  • Hongyu Deng, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
  • Dirk Dittmer, UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, United States
  • Pinghui Feng, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States
  • John Karijolich, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, United States
  • Kenneth Kaye, BWH, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
  • Laurie Krug, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, United States
  • Michael Lagunoff, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, United States
  • Qiming Liang, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
  • Zhe Ma, University of Florida, Gainesville, United States
  • Päivi Ojala, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • Zhiqiang Qin, University of Arkansas Medical Sciences, Little Rock, United States
  • Rolf Renne, University of Florida, Gainesville, United States
  • Meir Shamay, Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Safed, Israel
  • Marina Tuyishime, Duke University, Durham, United States
  • Scott Wong, Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton, United States
  • Charles Wood, LSU Health – New Orleans, New Orleans, United States
  • Ting-Ting Wu, UCLA, Los Angeles, United States
  • Yan Yuan, Shandong University, Jinan, China
  • Jun Zhao, Cleveland Clinic Florida Research and Innovation Center, Port St Lucie, United States
  • Joseph Ziegelbauer, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, United States
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