The German Society for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (DGKL) will host the 20th Annual Meeting on Molecular Diagnostics from May 20 to 22, 2026 at the Evangelische Akademie Tutzing on Lake Starnberg. The anniversary event will be held under the guiding theme “Laboratory meets AI” and will shed light on the integration of artificial intelligence into molecular diagnostics from the perspectives of the five sections of the Molecular Diagnostics Competence Field and the Biobanking Section.

The conference is organised by the DGKL’s Competence Field Molecular Diagnostics and organised by EUROKONGRESS GmbH. Due to the spatial conditions, the number of participants is limited to 120 people in order to enable an intensive professional exchange. The event is aimed at professionals from the fields of genomics, bioinformatics, NMR spectroscopy, proteomics & metabolomics, clinical mass spectrometry and biobanking.

Prof. Dr. Daniel Teupser, spokesperson for the Competence Field Molecular Diagnostics, invited to the continuation of the annual conferences: After the successful restart last year, the program promises an intensive exchange on the future of molecular laboratory diagnostics with excellent speakers and highly topical topics.

The program spans an arc from the analysis of non-coding genomes with AI and multimodal omics data integration to automated mass spectrometry workflows and AI-supported NMR spectroscopy. One of the highlights is the keynote lecture by Prof. Dr. Frederick Klauschen (LMU Munich) on “Pathology Foundation Models – Use for Cancer Research and Clinical Diagnostics”.

Program at a glance

The meeting will start on 20 May 2026 at 6:30 p.m. with a dinner and an informal get-together. On 21 and 22 May, sessions will follow thematically:

• Genomics (Chair: Prof. Dr. Stefan Holdenrieder): Lectures on “Deciphering the non-coding genome with AI” (Prof. Dr. Julien Gagneur, TU Munich and Helmholtz Zentrum München), System Architecture for Data Integration (Dr. Steffen Lott) and Interpreting Genomic Profiles (Dr. Martina Cantone, Foundation Medicine).
  
• Bioinformatics (Chair: Dr. Christof Winter): AI in biomedical research and blood disorders (Prof. Dr. Carsten Marr, Helmholtz Zentrum and LMU), integration in hematological workflows (Niroshan Nadarajah, MLL Munich Leukemia Laboratory) and AI in gynecological precision oncology (Dr. Jacqueline Lammert, TUM).
  
• Proteomics & Metabolomics (Chair: Prof. Dr. Peter Findeisen): Machine learning for the diagnosis of hemoglobinopathies (Dr. Alexander Lenard), evaluation strategies for omics datasets (Prof. Dr. Alexander Leichtle, University Hospital Augsburg) and the C-COMPASS tool for cell compartment analysis (Dr. Natalie Krahmer, Helmholtz Zentrum München).

On the evening of May 21, Prof. Dr. Frederick Klauschen will give the keynote speech on the application of Foundation Models in pathology.

On 22 May, the sessions will be dedicated to clinical mass spectrometry and biobanks (chair: PD Dr. Christoph Seger) with topics such as automated MS-MRD workflows (Dr. Christoph Krisp), diagnostic inference in proteomics (Dr. Johannes Müller-Reif, MPI of Biochemistry) and efficient biobanking (Prof. Dr. Matthias Nauck, University Medical Center Greifswald).

The NMR spectroscopy session (chair: Prof. Dr. Astrid Petersmann) will cover AI applications in NMR (Dr. Daniel Rosenkranz and Prof. Dr. Nils Strodthoff), machine learning for glycosylation profiling (PD Dr. Alvaro Mallagaray) as well as metabolomic profiling for the early detection of type 2 diabetes (Dr. Diana Drettwan, lifespin GmbH) and disease risk assessment (Kimmo Aro, Nightingale Health).

A guided tour of the industrial exhibition and an optional social program with a boat trip on Lake Starnberg complete the scientific program.

Current developments in molecular diagnostics

The conference addresses key trends: AI-supported decoding of the non-coding genome, machine learning in hematology and gynecological oncology, multimodal omics integration, automated diagnostic workflows in mass spectrometry, and AI applications in NMR spectroscopy for metabolic and glycosylation-based biomarkers. These developments are expected to further increase the precision, speed and significance of molecular diagnostics – from early detection of diseases to personalized oncology and improved risk assessments.

The limited number of participants and the idyllic location on Lake Starnberg are intended to promote professional exchange between laboratory doctors, bioinformaticians, researchers and industry representatives. The industrial exhibition with well-known sponsors such as Bruker, Roche Diagnostics and Thermo Fisher Scientific rounds off the program.

Registrations are possible online until May 6, 2026. The participation fee is 160 euros (incl. VAT). Overnight stays at the Evangelical Academy can be booked directly via registration.

The 20th Annual Meeting on Molecular Diagnostics marks a milestone in the series and underlines the growing importance of artificial intelligence for the further development of laboratory medicine.

Registration:

20th Annual Conference on Molecular Diagnostics of the DGKL

Editor: X-Press Journalistenbüro GbR

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