BeSHG/NVHG 2026

Annual Conference 2026

In 2026, the Dutch and Belgian societies for Human Genetics will join forces for a cross-border meeting in the heart of Rotterdam. Building on the momentum of previous meetings—this year’s focus shifts toward integration and impact: how novel technologies and insights can be responsibly and effectively implemented to improve health across the lifespan.

This joint NVHG–BESHG meeting is organized in close collaboration with VKGL and VKGN.

The scientific program will highlight:

• Archaeogenetics – what ancient DNA teaches us about human history, disease, and evolution

• Successful Aging – genetic and biological insights into exceptional longevity

• From Technology to Implementation – practical pathways for introducing new genomic and data-driven tools into healthcare

• Bridging Discovery and Care – ensuring that scientific breakthroughs translate into meaningful patient benefit

This joint NVHG–BESHG meeting brings together the “Lower Countries” in a unique collaboration for 2026, offering a vibrant platform for exchange, connection, and inspiration across our communities.

Mark your calendars for 17–18 September 2026 at De Doelen, Rotterdam.

Program (subject to change)

Thursday 17 September 2026:

09:00               Registration

10:00-10:15      Welcome – Prof.dr. Lude Franke, chairman NVHG

10:15-11:55      Plenary session 1: Emerging technologies in the field of genetics

• Hugo Snippert (Princes Maxima Center) - Understanding precancer to cancer transition in the gut

• Frank Jacobs (University of Amsterdam) - Segmental Duplications: The evolutionary trade-off between human brain evolution and vulnerability to neurodevelopmental disorders

• Rolduc winner: Ana Ignjatijević (UMCG) - Long-read sequencing as a tool for reliable detection of repeat expansions: Insights from Spinocerebellar Ataxia

• Selected abstract: Seppe Goovaerts (KU Leuven) - Revealing evolutionary and clinical dimensions of human craniofacial variation through context-aware genomic modeling

• Poster pitches (1 min/presenter):

  • Eva Niggl (Erasmus MC) - Implementing Long-Read-RNA Sequencing and Patient-Derived iNeurons to Resolve Undiagnosed Neurodevelopmental Disorders

  • Demi Gommers (UMC Utrecht) - De novo assembly of the SMN locus reveals mechanisms of SMN1 loss in spinal muscular atrophy

  • Yu Han (KU Leuven) - A comprehensive map of common, low-frequency, and rare variant heritability for 3D facial phenotypes

  • Annelot van Esbroeck (Erasmus MC) - Consensus framework to assess eligibility of genes and hereditary diseases for genetic therapy development

  • Mio Aerden (UZ Leuven) - Cell-free DNA profiling in health reveals cell type and demographic signatures

  • Caroline Medina Gomez (Erasmus MC) - Genetic determinants of trabecular bone score and their relationships with bone mineral density and fragility fractures

  • Nina Claessens (KU Leuven) - Improving Syndrome Recognition Across Diverse Populations Using Ancestry Aware 3D Facial Data Augmentation

  • Sinan Marsden (Amsterdam UMC) - Large-scale genome-wide association analyses identify novel genetic loci in congenital heart disease and provide insights into its subtype-specific genetic architecture

  • Lot Snijders Blok (Radboudumc) - A pathogenic CCG repeat expansion in CHD3 causes Snijders Blok-Campeau syndrome via epigenetic silencing

11:55-13:15      Lunch break

12:00-12:30    VKGL General Assembly – members only

13:15-14:45      Plenary session 2: Generations in Genetics

• Rosa Rademakers (VIB-UAntwerp) - The power of genetics in familial and sporadic FTLD: dissecting genetic architecture across neuropathological subtypes

• Henne Holstege (VIB-KU Leuven; Amsterdam UMC) - Decoding natural resilience against cognitive decline: what can we learn from cognitively healthy centenarians?

• NVHG Galjaard lecture 2026 - Martina Cornel (Amsterdam UMC) - DNA in public health screening programs

14:45-15:00      Break/switch rooms

15:00-16:15      Parallel session 1a: Prenatal & Reproductive Genetics

Selected abstracts

• Jasper Linthorst (Amsterdam UMC) - NIPT Beyond Aneuploidy: Integrating Polygenic Risk Scores and Cell-Free DNA Biomarkers for Early Prediction of Pregnancy Outcomes

• Ping Cao (MUMC+) - Embryos with segmental aneuploidies have comparable live birth rates to euploid embryos: machine-learning prediction in a nationwide Dutch PGT cohort

• Joanna von Berg (UMC Utrecht) - Non-Invasive Prenatal Diagnosis of monogenic diseases by an all-in-one assay

• Maryam Jansarvatan (Maastricht University) - Ethical perspectives on broadening reproductive genetic screening: a comparative focus-group study across four stakeholder groups

• Maayke de Koning (LUMC) - Taking the next step in prenatal genomic testing: from exploring diagnostic yield to maximizing clinical utility

15:00-16:15      Parallel session 1b: Functional Genomics & Disease Mechanisms

Selected abstracts

• Federico Ferraro (Erasmus MC) - MethaDory: open and local episignature classifiers trained on synthetic cases for arrays and long-read sequencing data

• Alvin Meltsov (MUMC+) - ReproFrame: a single-cell atlas framework for the human endometrium

• Marthe De Boeck (University Ghent) - Designed and pathological TDP-43 tail-shifting variants reveal a paradoxical dissociation between aggregation and neurotoxicity

• Isabella Suijker (Erasmus MC) - A genome-wide association study identifies GRHL2 as a modifier of photosensitivity in the rare metabolic disease erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP)

• Anne Hebert (University of Antwerp) - A single cell view of aortic wall dysfunction in an AngII-infusion biglycan-deficient mouse model

16:15-17:45      Break and poster viewing with presenters session 1 (odd numbers)

16:30-17:30      Sponsor pitches part 1

• Ilya Soifer, Ultima Genomics - Unleash the Power of Omics at Scale

• Anthony Rogers, Illumina - Beyond the Genome with Multiomics: Unlocking deeper biology

• Ben Liesfeld, Varvis - From genome to diagnosis: Clinical interpretation in the era of long-read sequencing

• John Filby, Geneyx - Introducing GAIA - Geneyx AI Assistant

16:30-17:30      Parallel session: Psychological aspects in genetics

(organised by the Dutch and Belgian working group of psychologists)

Psychosocial care in genetics: What is the added value? (interactive presentation)

• Lucienne van Der Meer, Healthcare psychologist, LUMC and NKI

• Eveline Bleiker, Research psychologist, NKI and LUMC

The role of psychologists in cardiogenetics: Making patient-centered care meaningful.

• Saar Van Pottelberghe, Researcher/Psychologist/Sexologist, UZ Brussels and University Tilburg

Routine germline testing in pediatric oncology: Lessons from psychosocial research.

• Sebastian Bon, Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht

17:45-18:15      Keynote speaker: Aaron Panofsky (Institute for Society and Genetics, UCLA) -Going Meta: Visions, Blind Spots, and Futures of the Metascience Movement

18:15-19:00      Keynote speaker: Elisabeth Bik (Harbers Bik) - Errors and Misconduct in Biomedical Research Images

• Q&A Session with Aaron Panofsky & Elisabeth Bik

19:15-21:00      Dinner

21:00-00.00 Party @ Feestzaal, De Doelen

Friday 18 September 2026:

08:30                Registration

09:00-10:30     Plenary session 3: Introducing novel genetics applications in Belgium and the Netherlands: lessons learned

Moderated by Gert Matthijs (UZ Leuven)

• Sandra Janssens (Ghent University Hospital) - Implementing Reproductive Genetic Carrier Screening (RGCS) in Belgium

• Masoud Zamani Esteki (MUMC+)

• Katrien Janssens (Antwerpen University) - The implementation of cell-free DNA screening for common trisomies in the Belgian genetic centers – a winding and interesting road

• Jeroen van Rooij (Erasmus MC) - Implementation of novel technologies; Polygenic Risk Scores

• Panel discussion with speakers & Lidewij Henneman, Elles Boon & Phillis Lakeman

10:30-11:00      Coffee break

11:00-12:30      Parallel session 2a: Diagnostics & Long-Read Sequencing 

Selected abstracts

• Tessa de Bitter (Radboudumc) - Routine first-tier use of long-read sequencing for germline diagnostics of rare diseases: a six-month experience

• Camilla Calandrini (Erasmus MC) - Clinical RNA sequencing across 350 unselected patients demonstrates broad diagnostic utility in routine genome diagnostics

• Sjoerd Holwerda (UMC Utrecht) - Illumina TruPath genome - a single short read WGS test for the detection of large structural chromosomal and molecular genomic variants for both germline and somatic applications in rare disease.

• Machteld Oud (Radboudumc) - Downstream regulatory structural variants explain a substantial proportion of NKX2-1 molecular diagnoses

• Sebastian Neuens (Brussels University Hospital) - Diagnostic yield of an integromic approach to neurodevelopmental disorders using whole-genome sequencing, methylation analysis and transcriptomics

• Livija Bardina (Erasmus MC) - Clinical nanopore long read genome sequencing as a first-line test improves diagnostics for repeat expansion disorders

11:00-12:30      Parallel session 2b: AI, Genomics & Population Genetics 

Selected abstracts

• Francisco Camões Magalhães (UMCG) - Integrating Deep Learning and Single-Cell Networks to Uncover the Non-Coding signal of Cancers

• Omar A.Z. Tutakhel (Amsterdam UMC) - A Novel Approach to Assess the Pathogenecity of MT-DNA Variants 

• Jorrit van Uhm (Erasmus MC) - Unequal Associations of Polygenic Risk with BMI and Obesity Across Educational Attainment Levels in UK Biobank

• Lilia Ouadah (UMCG) - Predicting causal gene regulatory interactions from human genetics and multimodal functional genomics data

• Maaike Alaerts (University of Antwerp) - AI-driven HPO guided analysis of whole genome datasets by Arun unveils clinically relevant variants in hereditary aortopathy patients

• Marte Berckmans (KU Leuven) - Bridging genomics and healthcare: insights from a JA PreventNCD expert survey on genomic data integration in European health systems

12:30-14:00      Lunch break and poster viewing with presenters session 2 (even numbers)

12:30-13:00      NVHG General Assembly – members only

13:10-13:55       Sponsor pitches part 2

• Christophe Fleury, Oxford Nanopore Technologies - A single assay, multiple perspectives: improving the understanding of genetic diseases

• Wilfred van IJcken, Element Biosciences - Relentless innovation where it counts: From High-Throughput Genomics to Ultrafast Targeted Trinity Sequencing

• Céline Helsmoortel, Roche Diagnostics - AXELIOS Sequencing by Expansion (SBX): A new approach for genome analysis

14:00-16:00      Plenary session 4: Genomics in Context: International Highlights

• Eric Green (Illumina) - From the Human Genome Project to the Realization of Genomic Medicine: A Scientific, Medical, and Societal Journey

• Eveline Altena (LUMC) - The prehistory of the Lower Rhine-Meuse region from a genetic perspective

• Johannes Krause (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology) - The Genetic History of Europe: from the settlement of Europe to the medieval migration period

16:00-16:15      NVHG Awards

• Young Investigator Award 2026

• Announcement best presentation and poster awards

16:15                  Closure

Abstract submission

Abstract submission has closed for the upcoming meeting. Please share your latest discoveries and join the Belgian and Dutch human genetics community at de Doelen!