Brita Laht and Kattri-Liis Eskla from Faculty of Medicine will travel to this year's meeting with the Nobel laureates in Lindau

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The Estonian Academy of Sciences announced that 635 young scientists aged up to 35 from all over the world have been invited to the meeting with the Nobel laureates in Lindau at the end of June. Brita Laht and Kattri-Liis Eskla from Faculty of Medicine of University of Tartu will travel to Lindau.

Brita Laht is a fifth-year medicine student. Brita Laht said that her interest in science began already in high school, and she has received recognition at competitions for young scientists. She has also co-authored several scientific articles on the role of infectious diseases in the development of autoimmune diseases. "I plan to continue doing research in the field of immunology, probably focusing on researching the mechanisms of diabetes," she said.

Kattri-Liis Eskla is a researcher of human physiology at the Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine. She defended her master's degree in molecular and cell biology at the University of Tartu in 2014 and doctorate in neuroscience in 2019. Kattri-Liis Eskla's research studies the molecular mechanisms behind the protective effect of hypothermia, i.e. lowering the temperature. "The results of my research show for the first time that hypothermia activates a signaling pathway that regulates the antioxidative response in cells and offers protection against oxidative stress. Identifying such factors is crucial because it will help medicine in the future to reduce the damage caused by lack of oxygen," explains Kattri-Liis Eskla.

Kattri-Liis Eskla has participated in many practical courses at top centers in her field, including the Wellcome Trust Genome Center and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. "CSHL is a center of excellence and a comprehensive research infrastructure, where you can meet a Nobel laureate at practically every corner," she says.

The 72nd Lindau meeting will take place on 25-30, June and this time is dedicated to medical science and physiology. Young scientists from 98 countries will participate in this year's meeting. 40 Nobel laureates have confirmed their participation. The youngest participant is 20 years old, and the oldest Nobel laureate is 91-year-old Walter Gilbert.

Since 1951, around 600 young scientists and several dozen Nobel laureates have gathered at the Lindau meetings every year to exchange knowledge, ideas and experiences.

Further information about Lindau's Forum is on the event's web page.