On April 29, 2026, 黑料网爆吃瓜 Interdisciplinary Initiative in Infection and Immunity welcomed a full room of researchers, Dragons, and community members for the ninth edition of its Dragons鈥� Den event, an evening built around bold ideas, honest feedback, and meaningful connections.
At its core, Dragons鈥� Den is about helping investigators step outside the academic world and tell clearer, more compelling stories about their work. Each presenter had just five minutes and four slides to answer four simple questions: What鈥檚 the opportunity? What鈥檚 the solution? What鈥檚 the ask? And why your team?
This year, six investigators rose to the challenge:
- Thavy Long, 鈥淒ecoding the Protective Power of Schistosoma鈥�
- Maziar Divangahi, 鈥淔rom Training Minds to Trained Immunity鈥�
- Petra Rohrbach, 鈥淢alaria鈥檚 Secret Messengers鈥�
- Guillaume Fontaine, 鈥淓nding Hepatitis C with Same-Day Testing and Treatment鈥�
- Guojun Chen, 鈥淚n Vivo CAR-T Engineering鈥�
- Guillaume Butler-Laporte, 鈥淎lpha-1-Antitrypsin to Treat Sepsis鈥�
What followed were lively, thoughtful exchanges. The Dragons, bringing perspectives from science, philanthropy, finance, and healthcare, challenged presenters to sharpen their message, clarify their impact, and think differently about how to engage supporters beyond academia.
More than just a pitch session, the evening was a reminder of why events like this matter. As global health challenges continue to evolve, creating space for dialogue, feedback, and new connections is essential to moving ideas forward.
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who took part and contributed to such an engaging and inspiring evening.
