The 2nd successful Worldwide Sodium Channel Conference, organized by Prof. Angelika Lampert (Uniklinik RWTH Aachen, Germany) and Prof. Hugues Abriel (University of Bern, Switzerland), took place from February 4 to 6, 2026, in Grindelwald, Switzerland.
A total of 93 participants attended the conference coming from around the world (EU, Switzerland, USA, Japan, China, Australian, Rwanda, Russia and several more), representing a broad spectrum of career stages. The science was outstanding, with cutting-edge contributions and many new conversations and collaborations. The audience was enriched by the talks of patient partners, Jan Dirk Barreveld and José Ángel Aibar (President of the Dravet Society), whose contributions added an essential and powerful layer of understanding and strengthened the translational perspective of discussions. Key highlights included new insights into Nav1.7 structure, investigations of sodium channel function in algae, and emerging data on the effects of Nav1.8 blockers.
The Worldwide Sodium Channel Conferences originated from the Worldwide Sodium Channel Seminars, which have been held online since 2021. The seminars take place in alternating years with the conferences and will continue this fall (more information available here). In connection with the conference, the Journal of General Physiology will publish a Special Issue entitled “Voltage-gated sodium channels”. Researchers are invited to submit their work until September 30, 2026: Call for Papers: Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels | Journal of General Physiology | Rockefeller University Press. You can find the 2024 conference’s edition here.
A special thank you goes to the sponsors for their generous support: Sophion, Nanion, MaxWell Biosystems, InSCREENex, Vast Bioscience, Journal of General Physiology, Microsynth, Anatomic, Swiss National Science Foundation, Swiss Academy of Sciences, and Life Sciences Switzerland.
Additional resources:
More information on the conference is available here and regarding the seminars here.
View pictures of the conference here.
