The Institute of Infection, Inflammation and Immunity in Children is excited to announce our 2026 Symposia: ‘From Little Kids to Big Data’. The Symposia will investigate how early life interactions with our microbial neighbors can contribute to important pediatric chronic diseases, such as asthma and food allergy. We have invited a spectacular group of speakers covering a broad variety of topics from microbiology, immunology and mucosal biology that we are certain will be relevant to both UPMC Children’s Hospital researchers and to the greater Pittsburgh science community.

Attendees will have the opportunity to network with the speakers and other potential collaborators. We encourage researchers to submit abstracts to be selected to give a poster presentation. A select group of abstracts will be selected to give ‘elevator pitch’ presentations. We strongly encourage participants to attend in person, though a virtual option will be available. All presenters must attend the symposium in person. The event will include lunch and networking reception/poster session. A detailed schedule will be released closer to the symposium date. 

Symposium Abstract Submission due Wednesday, March 18, 2026 at 11:59pm.

Researchers may submit abstracts to be selected for poster session presentation. All abstracts should be uploaded on the submission form as a Word Document. Abstracts should not exceed 1-page. All presenters must attend the symposium in person. You may be selected to give a 3-minute elevator pitch prior to the poster session.

For symposium FAQs and more information on abstract submission, please review the information on the i4Kids website. If you have any questions, please contact us at i4Kids@pitt.edu.