For more than five decades, Keystone Symposia has been a place where the most important conversations in life science happen — across disciplines, career stages, and continents. This fall, our community will begin to see a fresh look roll out: a refreshed visual identity designed to reflect more clearly who we are and what we stand for.
The science that happens at Keystone Symposia meetings — the collaborations formed, the careers shaped, the ideas that shift a field — has always spoken for itself. What this moment calls for is a visual presence that speaks just as clearly: one that makes it easier to find us, recognize us, and feel at home in our community, wherever you are in your scientific journey.
"Keystone Symposia has always been a foundation for discovery — across basic research, career development, collaboration, and innovation," says Janice Miller, Director of Marketing. "This updated identity gives that story the visual language it deserves."
The new visual identity is built around a simple truth: Keystone Symposia doesn't just host events. We design environments that create trust, spark collaboration, and change the trajectory of careers and discoveries.
That idea — Designed for Discovery — anchors everything in the refresh. A deepened color palette rooted in deep navy, warm ivory, and the greens and cyans drawn from the natural settings where Keystone Symposia meetings come alive: retreat environments chosen because they quiet the noise, dissolve hierarchy, and create the conditions for the kind of candid, generative exchange that rarely happens in a convention center. A signature topographic line pattern and mesh gradients that do double work — capturing the texture of those landscapes while evoking the act of navigation itself: charting a course through uncertain terrain, whether in scientific discovery, career development, or collaboration. Typography that balances the credibility our community expects with an openness that welcomes scientists at every stage.
The result is an identity that feels recognizably Keystone Symposia — grounded, warm, and built for the global scientific community we serve.
Keystone Symposia convenes 50–60 open, peer-reviewed conferences each year, spanning immunology, cancer, neurobiology, infectious disease, cardiovascular science, and more – totaling more than 2,000 conference presented since the organization’s inception. Our programs are shaped by our Scientific Advisory Board and expert scientific organizers — researchers themselves — who work closely with our internal scientific programs team to develop each meeting's agenda. That collaboration means organizers bring the latest insights directly from the field, including emerging voices, ensuring every meeting reflects where science is now. The result is a portfolio that rewards repeat attendance and delivers the best the field has to offer, through a process built to surface it.
That commitment to the next generation of scientists isn't just holding steady — it's growing. Trainee scholarships, available to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, are increasing in award amount from $1,200 to $1,500, with more awards available in the 2027 season. The Early-Career Investigator Travel Awards continue to support researchers who have recently transitioned out of training into their early professional stages, and the Keystone Symposia Fellows Program continues — with applications for the upcoming round opening in mid-August. Consider a gift to help us expand this program!
Access for researchers based in low- and middle-income countries is expanding as well. The Global Health Travel Award program, supported by continued collaboration with and funding from the Gates Foundation, is growing from six historically funded meetings to eleven this year. And all virtual access options are free to LMIC researchers who complete our application — including On Demand access following each meeting and the Livestream option, now available across all Keystone Symposia meetings in the 2027 season.
We're also deeply indebted to our Young Investigators who spoke up about what they'd like to see in our meetings. In response, we're making refreshing changes in our programming and networking approaches – these will again roll out in the 2027 Season (and beyond).
These expansions provide opportunities for discovery within the Keystone Symposia ecosystem — a brand story which the visual language makes more visible, identifiable, and relatable.
The updated identity will take shape this fall. Attendees will see a new look and feel in the upcoming 2027 meeting season as it surfaces in event communications, on our website, and in the materials that accompany each meeting. We look forward to having you join us at our meetings — the place where science and people come together to create something larger than either could alone. We've always been a place for discovery — now we'll look the part.
Learn more about upcoming Keystone Symposia conferences