Midwest Carbohydrate & Glycobiology Symposium 2026
Friday, September 18 – Saturday, September 19, 2026
Dear Colleagues,
It is my great pleasure to invite you to participate in the 21st Annual Midwest Carbohydrate and Glycobiology Symposium (MCGS), which will be held from 6pm September 18th to September 19th at Michigan State University.
As you are well aware, carbohydrates are one of the most important class of biomolecules. They are present in cell walls of bacteria and plants, on the surface of all mammalian cells including immune cells and cancer cells, in our food, and in nucleic acids. In addition, they are often found as glyco-conjugates in many medicinally important natural products. Given their ubiquitous presence, it is not surprising that they play important roles in modulating many critical biological processes. The fundamental understanding of carbohydrates and their biological functions is essential to fields including biomedical research, bio/nanotechnology, and renewable resources.
Recognizing the rich tradition in glycoscience research in the Midwest, we organized the 1st MCGS in 2005 at the University of Toledo. Subsequently, this annual symposium has been held at Wayne State University (hosted by Profs. Zhongwu Guo and Peter Andreana), Ohio State University (hosted by Prof. Peng George Wang), Cleveland State University (hosted by Profs. Xue-long Sun and Jun Hu), University of Cincinnati (hosted by Prof. Suri Iyer), the University of Toledo (hosted by Prof. Steven Sucheck), Michigan State University (hosted by Prof. Xuefei Huang), Wayne State University (hosted by Profs. David Crich, Zhongwu Guo and Peter Andreana), the University of Toledo (hosted by Profs. Steven Sucheck, Peter Andreana and Jianglong Zhu), University of Michigan (hosted by Prof. Pavel Nagorny), Cleveland State University (hosted by Prof. Xue-long Sun), Central Michigan University (hosted by Prof. Ben Swarts), University of Wisconsin (hosted by Profs. Weiping Tang, Jiaoyang Jiang and Lingjun Li), Michigan State University (hosted by Prof. Xuefei Huang), University of Notre Dame (hosted by Prof. Anthony Serianni), University of Michigan (hosted by Prof. Pavel Nagorny), Wayne State University (hosted by Prof. Hien Nguyen and Charlie Fehl), Purdue University (hosted by Profs. Abram Axelrod, Enoch Mensah, Ming-Yu Ngai, and Nicola Pohl), Washington University (hosted by Prof. James Janekta and Cristina De Meo), and the University of Toledo (hosted by Profs. Jianglong Zhu, Peter Andreana, and Steven Sucheck).
The past symposia were well attended, where students and faculty presented their cutting-edge research findings in an engaging environment. This year, we will continue this tradition of excellence at Michigan State University and make every effort to make this symposium a success. The symposium will include topics on Carbohydrate synthesis, Glycobiology, Glycotherapeutics, Glycomics, Glyco-engineering, Glyco-nanotechnology and Carbohydrates as renewable resources. Both oral and poster presentations will be accepted.
We look forward to hosting you and welcoming you to beautiful East Lansing in September.
Sincerely,
Xuefei Huang