Dutch Lung Congress 2026

The DLC2026, held on 29–30 January under the theme Winter Olympics, concluded with highly satisfied participants and excellent overall ratings. Organized by NRS in partnership with NVALT, Longfonds, SKL, this was the first time the DLC took place in the winter season. The event welcomed 145 participants and was marked by lively and active networking throughout both days.

The two-day programme opened with a plenary session on Winter Olympics and Lung Health and closed with a plenary session on Respiratory Infections Impacting Lung Diseases. In addition, six parallel sessions explored a broad range of topics, including Co-morbidities: cross-talk between the lung and other organs, Cohorts and how we can leverage them to understand lung health, Bronchiectasis/Bronchiolitis, and the very well visited Longfonds Publiekssessie.

NRS extends its sincere gratitude to the 23 clinical and translational speakers and to the generous sponsors, Chiesi, AstraZeneca, Sanofi, Vertex, GSK, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Thirona, whose support made this event possible.

Beyond the scientific programme, DLC2026 also offered several networking activities. The DLC dinner brought together 96 participants, while the NRS Mentorship Breakfast welcomed 20 mentors and mentees, who rotated across tables to discuss a variety of career-related topics over a delicious breakfast buffet. The Evening Social Activity, organised by the NRS Young Investigator Board, attracted 50 enthusiastic participants who worked in teams to solve an engaging mystery.

Special thanks go to the DLC organizing committee members Bas Holverda, Stefan Prekovic, Sami Simons, Elin Kersten, Sacha Spelier, Willianne Hoepel, event planner Malou Meuffels, and NRS secretary Michelle Yang, all under the leadership of Prof. Janette Burgess. Their dedicated efforts resulted in a comprehensive and inspiring program that significantly contributed to the event's success.

Awards and Recognition

The DLC is more than a platform for sharing and discussing science; it is a venue for celebrating the achievements of both senior and junior scientists.

NRS Swierenga Penning Award

Professor Peter Wijkstra received the prestigious NRS Swierenga Penning Award his significant contributions to lung research.

Over the course of his career, Prof. Wijkstra combined clinical care—including chronic non-invasive ventilation, sleep apnoea, diaphragm dysfunction, and complex weaning—with education and supervision of students, physicians (in training), and PhD candidates. He held key national and international leadership roles, including chair and president of the NVALT and NRS, and served as Treasurer of the European Respiratory Society (ERS). His work contributed to advances in chronic ventilation, ALS care, diaphragm pacing, and guideline development.

In his award lecture, Prof. Wijkstra gave an overview of home mechanical ventilation and highlighted the importance of collaboration in advancing respiratory care.

DLC Poster Awards

Category 1: Imaging, biomarkers and advances in patient stratification went to Marieke de Rooy (KU Leuven) for her poster “IPF endotyping reveals multiple endotypes with distinct transcriptomic profiles and worse survival”

Category 2: Epithelial cells, aberrations, responses and repair went to Joyce van de Ven (Utrecht University) for her poster “Metabolic Profiling of Human Airway Epithelial Cells with Single-Cell Resolution”

Category 3: Modeling & Elucidating Disease mechanisms went to Sven Manse (Maastricht University) for his poster “A perfused muscle-on-chip platform to study muscle impairments in COPD”

Category 4: Advances for clinical care went to Bente Brauwers (Ciro, Maastricht) for her poster “Low appendicular muscle mass and the risk of COPD development in people with PRISm”

Chiesi Young Investigator Award

Six brilliant contestants competed for the Chiesi Young Investigator Award, each delivering an oral presentation scored live by both experts and the audience. Every participant is a winner, with the highest score awarded to Luke van der Koog.

Luke van der Koog (University of Groningen, MimeCure, Eelde) Osteoglycin fragment suppresses fibroblast activation and promotes lung tissue repair

Julia Scott (UMC Utrecht) Multi-omic integration links transcription factor regulatory programs supporting metabolic networks across lung cancers

Delian Hofman (Erasmus MC) Exploring responsiveness of the Living with Pulmonary Fibrosis questionnaire in patients with pulmonary fibrosis

Lotte Spaan (Erasmus MC) Electronic nose technology can distinguish UIP versus non-UIP CT patterns in patients with pulmonary fibrosis

Fleur Meulmeester (Leiden University Medical Center) Predictors of Rapid Lung Function Decline in the OxfoRd Asthma attaCk risk scaLE (ORACLE2) Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis

Jiahua Fang (UMCG) The extracellular vesicle proteome reveals endotypes underpinning COPD heterogeneity

Sanofi-Regeneron Best Impact Statement Award

“Asthma is becoming more common. It can greatly impact daily life and places a significant burden on families and society. Research shows that children who are breastfed have a lower risk of developing asthma than those who are bottle-fed. Human milk contains natural compounds that may help protect against asthma. By identifying these protective components and adding them to infant formula, we can give babies who are bottle-fed the same benefits as those who are breastfed.”

This statement from Vera Rijks (Utrecht University) won the Sanofi-Regeneron Best Impact Statement Award at the Dutch Lung Congress 2026.
 

Other Awards given out at the Dutch Lung Congress include:

Longfonds Junior Investigator Award 2025

Padmini Khedoe: Seeing is believing: spatially resolved metabolomic and lipidomic profiles of emphysema for better human culture models

Longfonds Junior Investigator Grant 2025

Sjord Maassen: IMPACT – Immune Modulation for Phagocytosis Activation as a COPD Treatment

Longfonds Rutgers Kickstart Grant 2025

Elin Kersten: From Microbes to Asthma: Early Clues in the Nasal Mucosa

Longfonds Swierenga Grant 2025 

Bahar Yetkin-Arik: In vitro modelling of patient-specific primary ciliary dyskinesia airway models recapitulate disease specific phenotypes

Tjeerd van der Veer: Predictive Value of Automated CT Analysis in ZZ-AATD (PACT-ZZ)

Sterk Participation Award

Atena Mahboubian: Co-creating Remote COPD Monitoring: From Shared Values to Concrete Requirements

GSK SPARROW AWARD 2026

Fien Vermaere: Sex-specific upregulation of TLR7 in alveolar macrophages of female COPD patients

here are photos to remember the event by:

Welcome! The Dutch Lung Congress is an annual Congress organized by the NRS, in collaboration with NVALT, Longfonds, SKL and Stichting Astma Bestrijding aims to present the cutting-edge developments in lung science to individuals involved in pulmonary research and foster cross-disciplinary conversations to facilitate novel scientific prospects.

DLC2026 will take place for the first time in the winter season. You are coordially invited to join us 29-30 January at the Van der Valk Hotel in Utrecht. Registration and more information can be found on the Event website. 

DLC 2026 Final Programme(updated 22-01-2026)

Abstract Submission

The Organizing Committee of the DLC Congress 2026 invites researchers, practitioners, and professionals to submit abstracts for oral and poster presentations.

Because DLC 2026 takes place just four months after DLC 2025, you are welcome to submit the same abstract you presented at DLC 2025. Of course, new or updated work is also encouraged.

• Abstract Submission portal has closed.

Become a contender for the Sterk Participation Award 2026! Are you a researcher who makes patient participation an essential part of your work? Then don’t miss your chance to compete for the Sterk Participation Award 2026! The Award comes with a prize of €5.000. A portion of this amount is intended as personal recognition of your commitment to patient participation — and may be spent at your own discretion. With this award, Longfonds aims to encourage researchers in the respiratory field to integrate the patient perspective into all phases of their research — from design to implementation. Involving patients as research partners offers unique insights that significantly enhance both the relevance and quality of your project. To compete for the award: Go to the Longfonds website for more information on how to enter the competition, the requirements and for downloading the entry form.

• Deadline for submission have passed.

In addition to its outstanding scientific program, the DLC also provides a fantastic opportunity to connect and network with fellow colleagues:

Mentorship breakfast 

30 Jan 7:00-8:30

This networking event during a delicious breakfast offers young investigators a unique opportunity to get to know a more senior researcher who can help with specific questions related to career development. Such as (but not limited to):

How do I combine my clinical tasks with research?

How do I achieve specific academic goals?

What is the best timing and way to take leadership over my career?

How do I tackle work-life balance?

What is the best way to enhance networking qualities?

Can anyone help me with writing grants? Or networking within the field for a postdoc (abroad)?

Cost of participating in the mentorship breakfast for mentees is 21,50 euros for a luxury hotel buffet.

Registration fees​​​​

The following fees apply according to your membership and function.

NRS Member /Longfonds / BALR Member / BeRS Member

Note: NRS members must have an active membership to register in the above category.

Sign up now to become an NRS member and save on your registration fee! The annual fee for NRS-ERS membership: € 90,-. More information and to sign up: CLICK HERE

NVALT member (not NRS)

Non-member & Industry

Accommodation

Van der Valk Utrecht

Adress: Winthontlaan 4-6

3526 KV Utrecht

Should you require accommodation, then we have secured a discounted room block at the conference Hotel – the Van der Valk Utrecht.

Please note that rooms are available on a first come, first served basis, and these expenses will be at your own cost.

Use this link to reserve a room

Important: enter this reservation code: DLCongress26