Tuesday, 15th September 25th International Pathogenic Neisseria Conference 2026

Keynote Speaker: Mitch Matoga - University of North Carolina Project Malawi, Malawi

• Neisseria gonorrhoeae overview in Africa – epidemiology and research - Mitch Matoga
• Azithromycin and ESC resistance are near mutually exclusive in global multi-drug resistant gonococci. - Anastasia F Unitt
• The SHAPE Protocol: Leveraging Digital Anonymity for AI-Driven Triage and Partner Management in Neisseria gonorrhoeae Control - Keshav Yadav

• Neisseria gonorrhoeae suppresses chlamydial development while enhancing gonococcal survival during co-infection - Delia Onorini
• Modeling Gonococcal Infection in a 3D Human Mucosal Platform Reveals Sex-Dependent Epithelial Barrier Responses - Ines Cadena Cabezas
• Peptidoglycan is required for gonococcal biofilm formation - Joseph P Dillard

Keynote Speaker: Monica Lahra - NSWHP Microbiology, Randwick

• Public Health Surveillance and Antimicrobial Resistance in Pathogenic Neisseria, Australia - Monica Lahra
• Genomic Epidemiology of Neisseria meningitidis in New Zealand Following 4CMenB Vaccination Implementation    - Sarah Hannah
• Genomic analysis of Neisseria meningitidis carriage and transmission within Pacific households in South Auckland, New Zealand. - Xiaoyun Ren
• Repeat cross-sectional surveillance of meningococcal carriage in South Australia during established MenB and MenACWY vaccination programs - Mark McMillan
• Post-pandemic resurgence of invasive meningococcal disease in Central Asia: epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the 2026 Tashkent outbreak - Nilufar Khamzaeva

• Advancing gonococcal AMR surveillance metrics: The susceptible isolate pressure indicator ratio (SIPI) reveals population-level effects of dual therapy in Neisseria gonorrhoeae - Patricia Campbell
• From meningitis to gonorrhoea: Long-term population impact of the 4CMenB program in South Australia - Bing Wang

Attendees can collect their lunch from level 2 and bring it to the auditorium for this session.

Opening Remarks: The Opportunity to Eliminate Meningococcal Meningitis in the African Meningitis Belt is Now - Marie-Pierre Preziosi

Presentation: Understanding a Changing Risk Landscape: Regional Climate and Meningitis Risk Mapping - Molly Cliff
Presentation: Translating Risk into Action: Country Level Meningitis Risk Assessment - Clément Lingani
Presentation: Initial Actions to Major Impact: Identifying and Prioritizing Very High-Risk Areas Across the Region for Multivalent Meningococcal Vaccine Introduction - Simone de Rijk

Panel Discussion and Q&A: From Risk to Action: Overcoming Challenges with a Targeted Strategy

• Changing epidemiology of cerebrospinal meningitis in nigeria post covid resurgence and serogroup C dominance 2020–2026 - Farida J Ciroma
• Breadth of coverage of the bivalent factor H binding protein meningococcal group B vaccine - Lefteris Zolotas
• Towards an African Region free of meningitis epidemics by 2030: progress, challenges and way forward - ANDRE ARSENE AABF BITA FOUDA

• Neisseria bergeri unmasked in meningococcal carriage surveys among asymptomatic individuals in Northern Ghana (2023-2024) - Felix E Nenyewodey
• Hidden Burden of Meningococcal Sequelae in Nigeria: Evidence from Multi-Method Surveillance - Fareedah Mohammed Munir
• First clinical trial results in the Phase 2/3 study of the EuBiologics pentavalent meningococcal ACWYX conjugate vaccine compared to Nimenrix® in healthy children aged 12-23-month-old in The Gambia - Howard Her
• Vaccine Effectiveness of a Pentavalent Meningococcal Conjugate Vaccine (Men5CV) Used in Response to an Outbreak in Nigeria: A Matched Case-Control Study - Isha Berry

• Bayesian Spatiotemporal Modelling of Climatic Drivers of Meningitis Outbreaks Across the African Continent - Molly V Cliff
• Disappearance of Neisseria meningitidis outbreaks and emergence of Non-Vaccine serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Togo, 2020-2025 - Adodo Yao AYS SADJI
• Serogroup dynamics and age-specific burden of Neisseria meningitidis in Nigeria: multi-state molecular surveillance data, 2025. - Ikechukwu Nnaji
• Bacterial Meningitis Epidemiology in Burkina Faso and Niger - High-Risk Countries in the Meningitis Belt of Sub-Saharan Africa, 2015-2023 - Veronica A Pinell-McNamara

• Increasing Neisseria meningitidis cases in the United States: The rise of ST-1466 - Shalabh Sharma
• Molecular Characterization of Meningococcal Isolates from U.S. STD Clinics 2017–2019 - Daya Marasini
• Polyamines Shape Tissue Tropism and Host–Pathogen Interactions in Neisseria meningitidis - Sunil Saroj
• Prediction of Bexsero coverage using Meningococcal Antigen Typing System on isolates from U.S. invasive N. meningitidis serogroup B disease cases from 2015 to 2018 - Sundaram (Ajay) Vishwanathan

FLASHTALK POSTERS INCLUDED IN POSTER SESSION B:

Disappearance of Neisseria meningitidis outbreaks and emergence of Non-Vaccine serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Togo, 2020-2025 - Adodo Yao AYS SADJI #004

Modeling Gonococcal Infection in a 3D Human Mucosal Platform Reveals Sex-Dependent Epithelial Barrier Responses - Ines Cadena Cabezas #010

Advancing gonococcal AMR surveillance metrics: The susceptible isolate pressure indicator ratio (SIPI) reveals population-level effects of dual therapy in Neisseria gonorrhoeae - Patricia Campbell #012

Changing epidemiology of cerebrospinal meningitis in nigeria post covid resurgence and serogroup C dominance 2020–2026 - Farida J Ciroma #016

Bayesian Spatiotemporal Modelling of Climatic Drivers of Meningitis Outbreaks Across the African Continent - Molly V Cliff #018

Peptidoglycan is required for gonococcal biofilm formation - Joseph P Dillard #022

Prediction of Bexsero coverage using Meningococcal Antigen Typing System on isolates from U.S. invasive N. meningitidis serogroup B disease cases from 2015 to 2018 - Ajay Vishwanathan #064

Molecular Characterization of Meningococcal Isolates from U.S. STD Clinics 2017–2019 - Daya Marasini #066

Manufacture of a Neisseria gonorrhoeae challenge agent for use in an oropharyngeal controlled human infection model - James S McCarthy #070

Serogroup dynamics and age-specific burden of Neisseria meningitidis in Nigeria: multi-state molecular surveillance data, 2025. - Ikechukwu Nnaji #078

Neisseria gonorrhoeae suppresses chlamydial development while enhancing gonococcal survival during co-infection - Delia Onorini #082

Bacterial Meningitis Epidemiology in Burkina Faso and Niger - High-Risk Countries in the Meningitis Belt of Sub-Saharan Africa, 2015-2023 - Veronica A Pinell-McNamara #086

Polyamines Shape Tissue Tropism and Host–Pathogen Interactions in Neisseria meningitidis - Sunil Saroj #094

Increasing Neisseria meningitidis cases in the United States: The rise of ST-1466 - Shalabh Sharma #096

From meningitis to gonorrhoea: Long-term population impact of the 4CMenB program in South Australia - Bing Wang #104

Breadth of coverage of the bivalent factor H binding protein meningococcal group B vaccine - Lefteris Zolotas #108

• Host genetic determinants of susceptibility to invasive meningococcal disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis - Prabha H Andraweera
• Strengthening Meningitis Case Detection and Monitoring Systems - A National Perspective for Ethiopia - Getachew Tesfaye GTB Beyene
• Persistence of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates with reduced susceptibility to cefixime carrying mosaic penA allele XXXIV in Iquitos, Peru - Gilda Bocco
• Genomic characterisation of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup X from meningitis outbreaks in Northern Nigeria, 2017–2021 - Rahab Charles-Amaza
• Preclinical and clinical data from an investigational gonococcal vaccine NgG - Isabel Delany
• Meningitis risk assessment in the meningitis belt to inform introduction strategies of pentavalent meningococcal ACWYX conjugate vaccines : methodology, findings and challenges for the way forward - Antoine Durupt
• Analysis of paired Neisseria gonorrhoeae cervical and blood isolates reveals bacterial and host determinants associated with dissemination levels. - Vonetta L Edwards
• Systemic infection by Neisseria meningitidis leads to antibodies that recognize self-protein in transgenic mice expressing human transferrin - Jamie E Fegan
• Navigating the evidence: clinical and real-world performance of MenACWY-TT (Nimenrix) across all age groups - Jamie Findlow
• Old Drugs, New Tricks: Beating Gonorrhoea Resistance   - Holly EE Floyd
• A pilot study of the activity of synthetic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) against Neisseria gonorrhoeae in vitro. - Michael M. Girgis
• Development of a human endocervical biomimetic model to examine gonococcal infection and the neutrophilic innate immune response - Ian J Glomski
• Challenges in laboratory confirmation and epidemiological surveillance of suspected meningococcal meningitis in children a multi-site study in zamfara state, northern nigeria - Mikailu Abubakar Jangebe
• Will sexual health interventions influence Neisseria meningitidis ecology in men who have sex with men? - Odile B Harrison
• Advancing Anti-Virulence Strategies: Next-Generation Mip Inhibitors Overcome Functional Redundancy in Neisseria gonorrhoeae. - Joe Hooton
• Ciprofloxacin resistance is prevalent in meningococcal carriage isolates from Western Australia - Charlene Kahler
• Understanding the Rise of Gonorrhea among Female Sex Workers in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh: Epidemiology and Implications for STI Prevention - Mohammed Abul Kalam
• Integrating reverse vaccinology and artificial intelligence driven immuno-informatics to identify novel vaccine candidates against Neisseria gonorrhoeae - Ravi Kant
• Safety, effectiveness, and immunogenicity of meningococcal combined MenACWY-7B vaccine in healthy adolescents and adults: a randomized, controlled, partially blinded phase 1/2 study - Pavitra Keshavan
• A Next-Generation OMV Vaccine Candidate (DX-104) for Group B Meningococcal Disease - Qiubin LIN
• ctrA-Deficient ST-175 Nongroupable Neisseria meningitidis Recovered from a Respiratory Specimen in India: First Report and Implications for Surveillance and Vaccine Coverage - Gurumoorthy M
• Genomic Characterization and Antimicrobial Resistance Genotyping of Neisseria meningitidis Isolates from South India: Circulation of Hypervirulent W135:cc11 and Diverse Serogroup B and Nongroupable Lineages - Gurumoorthy M
• Proof of concept of a multiplex Luminex immunoassay using Neisseria outer membrane vesicles - Sunil Maharjan
• Sex- and adjuvant-dependent difference in murine immune responses to meningococcal ΔABRSL outer membrane vesicle vaccines - Kathryn A Matthias
• Targeted sequencing of Neisseria meningitidis directly from clinical specimens, South Africa, 2023-2026 - Keabetswe Motsepe
• Reversion of Thr316 to valine in Neisseria gonorrhoeae penicillin-binding protein 2 encoded by the penA60.0001 allele relieves the conformational barrier imposed by resistance mutations in the β3-β4 loop - Robert A Nicholas
• Functional characterization of the N. gonorrhoeae Type IV pilus component, TfpC - Kathleen R. Nicholson
• Global surveillance for different β-lactamase alleles reveals false-positive β-lactamase isolates with bla_TEM-1 gene mutations - Vincent J. Oliver
• Extracellular DNA joining in the multi-drug resistant pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae - Jolyn Pan
• Optimizing Laboratory Surveillance for Bacterial Meningitis in Nigeria: Insights from 2024–2025 Data on Turnaround Time, Age Trends, and EpiWeek Reporting. - Michael Oladotun M.O Popoola
• Molecular epidemiology and transmission dynamics of multidrug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae across tertiary STI clinics in India: a multicentric surveillance study - Parth Rathi
• Contrasting antimicrobial resistance patterns of Neisseria gonorrhoeae with fluoroquinolone failure and Azithromycin and cephalosporin preservation, Togo, 2010-2026 - Adodo Yao AY SADJI
• Characterization of a GloB homolog from Neisseria gonorrhoeae - implications for methylglyoxal detoxification.  - Avi Singh
• A narrative review of evidence on vaccine effectiveness against gonorrhoea by the meningococcal 4CMenB vaccine: a public health value perspective - Allison Taylor Walker
• Predicting Azithromycin resistance in N. gonorrhoeae using Machine Learning. - Anastasia Unitt
• Addressing the immunization gap: an expert consensus on Meningococcal vaccination policy for students studying abroad and military recruits in Taiwan - Yung-Chih Wang
• Manufacture of a Neisseria gonorrhoeae challenge agent for use in an oropharyngeal controlled human infection model - James S McCarthy