The keynote speaker of this year’s F. Kafatos Lecture 2026 will be 2022 Nobel Laureate, renowned Swedish evolutionary geneticist Svante Pääbo. The lecture will take place on Friday, 9 October 2026, from 19:00 to 20:10, in the Auditorium of the Innovation and Advanced Education Hub of the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH) at its headquarters, in Vassilika Vouton, Heraklion. It is co-organised by the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of FORTH and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). This year’s lecture is part of the 15th FORTH Scientific Retreat, organised with the support of the Region of Crete.

The lecture by Nobel Laureate Svante Pääbo is open to the public and is entitled “A Neanderthal Perspective on Human Origins and Health: How Ancient DNA is Revealing New Insights into Disease and Biology.”

Svante Pääbo’s pioneering work gave rise to the field of paleogenomics: the study of ancient DNA to shed light on the evolution of humans and other organisms. As Director at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, he led the Neandertal Genome Project, which achieved the first sequencing of a Neanderthal genome and revealed that Neanderthals and modern humans interbred. His team later discovered a previously unknown hominin, the Denisovans, through DNA extracted from a small bone fragment found in Siberia.

For his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and their influence on modern humans, Pääbo was awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. His work continues to reshape our understanding of what makes us uniquely human, and how the legacy of our extinct relatives lives on within our DNA.

In EMBL’s 5th annual Kafatos Lecture, Nobel laureate Svante Pääbo, will explore how genetic material inherited from our long-extinct relatives, offers profound insights into human biology and health, seeking to bridge cutting-edge genomic research with fundamental questions about what it means to be human.

The prestigious Kafatos Lectures are organised annually by EMBL in honour of the distinguished Greek biologist Fotis Kafatos, founding Director of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of FORTH. The lectures aim to bring cutting-edge and timely research in the Life Sciences to the general public, making it accessible, and highlighting its everyday impact on society.

The lecture will be delivered in English and will be live-streamed. It is open to the general public and can be attended by high school students, university students, academics and professionals from fields including archaeology, anthropology, biology, chemistry and computer science, as well as anyone interested, without a relevant scientific background.

More information about the Lecture and registration:
https://www.embl.org/about/info/alumni/events/2026-kafatos-lecture/

For the first time this year, the Lecture will also be combined with the IMBB International Symposium on Ancient DNA and Proteins, a special event highlighting recent advances in ancient biomolecular research, and its contribution in understanding human past, featuring four world-leading experts who will present overviews of their work using ancient DNA and proteins to reconstruct the human past. The Symposium, is entitled “Unfolding our history through ancient biomolecules” and will take place earlier on the same day, from 15:00 to 18:00. The Symposium is organised by Dr. Eirini Skourtanioti, Junior Researcher at IMBB, and newly appointed Head of the Ancient DNA Laboratory at IMBB.

More information about the Symposium and registration:
https://ancient-biomolecules.gr/index.php

We would like to warmly thank our Platinum Sponsors, EKTER and Lab Supplies Scientific, as well as our Gold Sponsors, Eurobank and ANTISEL, and our Silver and Bronze Sponsors, suppliers and partners of FORTH, for their contribution to the organisation of the event.

In the context of the General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679 / EU), known as “GDPR”, we would like to inform you that the event will be video-recorded and photos will be taken during the event. This material will be used to promote the event through the media. By participating, you declare that you are informed about the collection and use of the aforementioned video/audio data and you consent. If you would like to learn more about our privacy policy and your rights, you can visit our website: https://www.forth.gr/en/content/Personal-Data-Protection-Policy.138/