Winter Retreat 2019 took place in Saint Petersburg from 26 to 30 January

As an established tradition, English was the working language of the venue, and more than half of our speakers came from abroad

70 carefully selected participants from all over Russia met and discussed topical scientific issues with leading world scientists. It was about the organization of the genome; transcription and translation; ribosome structure and RNA interference; ways to edit the genome and the implementation of these skills in practice; antibiotic resistance and antimicrobial agents; immunology and cancer treatment; gene and cell therapy and much more.

In addition to scientific lectures, the program included business talks from representatives of 4BIO Capital, Generium, Abercade Consulting, and Pharmstandard Ventures.

The Retreat also included various networking activities: The Game of Ventures business game; round table on the problem of antibiotic resistance, held by Yuri Polikanov, known for his work on ribosomal antibiotics.

The final game was Science Quiz, prepared for the School by Prof. Finn Werner and his postdoc Fabian Blombach from University College London.

In the free time, the participants of the Retreat walked around Saint Petersburg, attended theaters and museums