Joint Bridging Topic workshop: "Artificial intelligence in antibodies & vaccines development"
The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has opened new opportunities for vaccine and antibody development.
To provide more insights into the transformative impact of AI on translation and product development driven activities, the Bridging Topics “Vaccines” and “Antibody-based Therapies” organized a joint Bridging Topic workshop. Participation in this workshop was open to all interested members of the DZIF as well as the extended scientific community.
Scientific organization
Prof. Dr. Florian Klein, Coordinator of the Bridging Topic “Antibody-Based Therapies”
Klaus Schwamborn, Ph.D., Coordinator of the Bridging Topic “Vaccines”
Contact
Agnieszka Mitulski
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Susanne Salomon
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Representatives from several DZIF partner sites as well as the speakers of the Bridging Topics “Antibody-based Therapies” and “Vaccines” participated in the AI workshop in Cologne.
How artificial intelligence (AI) can accelerate the development of antibodies and vaccines in the future was the focus of the workshop “Artificial Intelligence in Antibodies & Vaccines Development,” which took place on November 4–5, 2025, in Cologne. The meeting was organized by the DZIF Bridging Topics “Antibody-based Therapies” and “Vaccines” and was attended by 67 participants from research, clinical practice, industry, and government agencies.
"With this workshop, we focused specifically on artificial intelligence for the first time as part of the DZIF Bridging Topics. The great response and the intensive exchange show how important and forward-looking this topic is for our work,“ says Klaus Schwamborn, coordinator of the Bridging Topic ”Vaccines“. ”The workshop was a great success and an important stimulus for further strategic development.”
The scientific program provided insights into the latest developments in the field. The focus was on presentations on AI-supported vaccine design, new antibody strategies, pandemic preparedness, modeling approaches, and regulatory and patent law aspects. Contributions from the DZIF, international research institutions, and industry highlighted the rapid progress and potential of AI in infection research.
Two key perspectives on AI emerged from the discussions:
1. AI as a tool to assist with research, document creation, and organizational processes
2. AI as a driver of innovation in discovering and optimizing new vaccine and antibody candidates, as well as making model-based predictions
The DZIF Bridging Topics will use the findings to further promote the strategic expansion of AI competencies within the DZIF.
University Hospital Cologne
Cologne
Germany