Lorenzo Vaccaro, Ph.D.: Matthew Hurles's talk offered a clear and inspiring overview of where our community is heading — a useful reminder that, small as it is, it consistently produces high-impact results.
[Editor’s Note: Lorenzo Vaccaro, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral researcher at the Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine, a multidisciplinary research institute in Italy devoted to studying the mechanisms underlying rare genetic diseases and to developing innovative therapies. He presented at the 2026 Mutational Scanning Symposium in Melbourne and offers observations and insights about the conference.]
Which presentation(s) or panel discussion(s) did you find the most interesting or compelling?
The overall quality of talks was exceptionally high. Reflecting on my own research background, I particularly enjoyed Jun Yang's presentation on AI-based models for pharmacogenetics, especially for their potential to scale variant effects and predictors. Omar Tariq and Vanessa Burns also stood out for showcasing exciting new technological developments in the field. Finally, Matthew Hurles's talk offered a clear and inspiring overview of where our community is heading — a useful reminder that, small as it is, it consistently produces high-impact results.
What new information or insights did you acquire that will be used in your work?
The symposium gave me several concrete takeaways for my own work. I am particularly keen to implement the new calibration methods presented by Lea Starita, which I found highly relevant to my research. Additionally, as someone primarily working with overexpression-based deep mutational scanning, the symposium gave me the sense that complementing my work with approaches such as Saturation Genome Editing, LabelSeq and VAMPseq would greatly strengthen it and take it to the next level.
Did the symposium meet – or exceed – your expectations? Why or why not?
The symposium perfectly met my expectations — and I could not have asked for more! It gave me a comprehensive overview of where the field is heading, with cutting-edge technological advances, the chance to meet and interact with community leaders, and a truly impressive poster session.
What are your suggestions/recommendations for MSS 2027?
The organization was excellent! What could be interesting would be to organize a dedicated session or a brief pre-meeting for young researchers (Master's and Ph.D. students) to give them more space, and more room for technological developments would also be welcome, though I fully acknowledge I may be biased on that front!
Any other observations about the symposium?
A big thank you to the organizers for putting together such a wonderful event. I am already looking forward to MSS 2027!
