12/05/2026
Save the dates: 23-24 June 2026, University Hospital Zurich, Frauenklinikstrasse 10. The 3rd SABV Symposium brings two days of the best current science on s*x as a biological variable to Zurich, and it is open to everyone working in or around biomedical research, clinical practice, drug development, and health policy.
Organized by Ivana Jaric (Institute of Laboratory Animal Science, UZH) together with the EU-SABV COST Action (CA24168), the program features 23 lectures by speakers from 14 countries. Topics span s*x differences in brain function and disease, pain, pharmacology of anticancer drugs, kidney and lung disease, mental health across the female lifespan, perimenopause, and endometriosis. Plenaries include Jeffrey Mogil (McGill) on pain, s*x and death, Tallie Z. Baram (UC Irvine) on stress, estrogen and the hippocampus, Michelle Roche (Galway) presenting the PAINDIFF recommendations for preclinical pain research, Natasha Karp (AstraZeneca) on barriers to s*x-inclusive preclinical research, and Brett McKinnon (Queensland) on endometriosis. Day two opens with the McKinsey Health Institute on the economic consequences of underinvestment in women's health.
Why this matters across disciplines:
Clinicians get the mechanistic and pharmacological basis for why standard protocols fail differently in women and men. Researchers get methodological tools to design studies that actually power for s*x. Industry gets the regulatory and translational picture from people working inside it. CAS in S*x- and Gender-Specific Medicine participants and alumni get a concentrated update on the evidence underlying the curriculum, from the groups generating it. The symposium is accredited as continuing education by the Federation of Swiss Cantonal Veterinary Officers (VSKT) for anyone running animal studies under Swiss TSchV.
Key deadlines:
Abstract submission closes Friday, 15 May 2026. Send a 250-word IMRaD abstract to [email protected]. Preliminary data are explicitly welcome. Two Novogene-sponsored poster prizes for s*x-differences omics work, €200 sequencing vouchers each.
Registration is open until 5 June 2026. CHF 129 for students, CHF 194 for postdocs and faculty, including lunches and the printed abstract book.
Full program and registration: https://sabvsymposium.org/
Bring your team. Send your students. Tell your clinical colleagues. This is the European meeting on SABV in 2026.