Events
We foster a lively and engaging community at our Center through organizing regular seminars, lectures & events.
Progress Seminars
We host weekly internal progress seminars for PhDs and Postdocs to share their research.
Neuroscience Lectures
We run a high-profile lecture series where we invite an internationally renowned neuroscientist to present their work.
Science Day
Once a year we organize a Center-wide retreat for talks, posters & networking.
Group Leader Retreat
PIs from across neuroscience centers come together to devise collaborative science projects and define common agendas.
Methusalem Lectures
Several times a year we plan a Methusalem lecture with high-profile speakers in the field of neurodegeneration.
Neuroscience Conference
We organize a visible 3-day neuroscience conference with the help of the VIB Conferences team every year.
Mini-Symposia
We organize mini-symposia on emerging or controversial research and technologies.
Happy Hours
We host a monthly themed Friday-after-work Happy Hour with food, drinks, music and activities.
Meet Beatriz Rico, a Guest Speaker at our Center
We invite top-notch international scientists to Leuven to share their research at our CBD Neuroscience Lectures. A few times a year, we organize Methusalem Lectures directed towards a broad audience of graduate students, PhD students, postdoctoral researches and professors. We interview Beatriz Rico, one of our distinguished guest speakers.
Past Speakers
2023
2023
Speaker | Title | Position and/or Affiliation |
Christine Vande Velde | Stress granules as a therapeutic target for ALS/FTD | Associate Prof Dep of Neurosciences, Université de Montréal |
Lars Borm | Illuminating tissue organization by imaging the spatial transcriptome | Linnarsson lab in Stockholm |
Henne Holstege | The genetics of Alzheimer’s Disease and how to escape it | Dep of Human Genetics Amsterdam UMC, Dept of Intelligent Systems, Technical University Delft, The Netherlands |
Huda Y. Zoghbi | Molecular and neurobiological studies in Rett syndrome and other MECP2 disorders | Investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Prof Molecular & Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine, Director at Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute Texas, US |
Judith Zaugg | How do cells integrate extrinsic signals and intrinsic state? A systems epigenetics approach | EMBL Heidelberg, Germany |
Axel Montagne | Cerebrovascular and inflamm-ageing link to dementia | University of Edinburgh Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences |
Tommas Ellender | Embryonic neural progenitor pools and the generation of fine-scale neural circuits | Associate Prof of Neuroscience, University of Antwerp |
Joshua Sanes | Neuronal injury and evolution – a transcriptomic perspective | Prof of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, USA |
Sjors Scheres | Cryo-EM structures of amyloids from human brains | Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) Cambridge |
Lucas Pelkmans | Multimodal perception links cellular state to decision making in single cells | Professor in Molecular Systems Biology, University of Zurich |
Beatriz Rico | Molecular Programs orchestrating the synaptic specificity of cortical circuitries | Professor of Developmental Neurobiology, King’s College London |
Antoine Adamantidis | All-optical dissection of sleep circuits and functions in the brain | University of Edinburgh Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences |
Dame Pamela Shaw | MND: a neurodegenerative disorder poised for successful therapy development | Neurology University of Sheffield |
Don Cleveland | ALS research: past, present and future | Cellular and Molecular Medicine UC San Diego |
Mortiz Helmstaedter | Cerebral Cortex Connectomics | Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Dep of Connectomics, Frankfurt |
Andrew Lin | Sparse coding for odour-specific memories through homeostatic plasticity | School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, UK |
Aaron D. Gitler | Expanding mechanisms and therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative disease | The Stanford Medicine Basic Science Professor, Stanford University, Dep Genetics, California |
Vassiliki Nikoletopoulou | The complex life of brain autophagic vesicles | Dep. des Neurosciences fondamentales, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland |
Stephan Sigrist | The presynaptic active zone as a central signaling hub | Dep. of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany |
Julien Gagneur | Regulatory genomics: From sequence-based modeling to applications in rare disease diagnostics | Dep. of Computational Molecular Medicine, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany |
Alexander Stark | Decoding Transcriptional Regulation | Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna, Austria |
Detlev Arendt | Building bilaterian brains: innovations in molecular machinery, cell types, and nervous system architecture | EMBL Heidelberg, Germany |
Della David | Strategies to mitigate age-dependent protein aggregation | Babraham Institute Cambridge UK |
Ralf Stanewsky | Drosophila circadian rhythms: Adaptation and persistence to different environments | University of Munster |
Jason Rihel | Sleep pressure modulates single-neuron synapse dynamics in zebrafish | University College London |
Ali Shariati | Self-organization of pluripotent stem cells into early embryonic developmental patterns through minimal epigenome editing | University of California, Santa Cruz |
Taisuke Tomita | Novel Strategies for Enhanced Amyloid Clearance in the Alzheimer Disease Brain | University of Tokyo |
Wiep Schepers | Keeping the balance: Neuron-specific proteostatic stress responses and neurodegeneration | Dep. of Functional Genomics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, VU Amsterdam |
Erika Holzbaur | Organelle quality control: lysophagy, mitophagy, and neurodegeneration | Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, US |
Sara Vieira-Silva | Quantitative approaches to microbiome ecology: towards personalized medicine | Head of Microbiome Research @ IMMH UMC Mainz, Adjunct Director @ IMB Mainz |
John Inglis | Preprints and the Scientific Media Landscape | Director of BioRxiv |
Anthony Holtmaat | Structural and functional features of higher-order thalamocortical feedback circuits | Geneva University, Neurocenter, Dep of Basic Neurosciences |
Eline Jammaers | Disability and neurodiversity as sources of advantage in science careers | Hasselt University |
Patrizia Zanoni | ‘Diversity, equality and inclusion in science: Moving research and innovation beyond the myth of meritocracy | Hasselt University |
Giovanni Monaco | Publishing at Cell reports Medicine | Editor Cell Reports Medicine |
Blanca Diaz-Castro | Brain Endothelial Cell – Astrocyte Signaling in a Model of Peripherally Induced Inflammation | UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Edinburgh, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences |
Matthew Holt | The Emerging Concept of Astrocyte Heterogeneity: Consequences for CNS Function | Instituto de Investigação em Saúde (i3S), Porto |
Henrietta Nielsen | Chasing Peripheral APOE Signatures | Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University |
Alexander Van Oudenaarden | Novel sequencing tools to explore replication, transcription and translation in single cells | Director of Hubrecht Institute, Developmental Biology and Stem Cell Research, Utrecht |
Shigeki Watanabe | Ultrafast synaptic vesicle recycling | Johns Hopkins University USA |
Jan Huisken | Flamingo: Modular and Portable Light Sheet Microscopy Framework for Novel Biological Experiments Inside and Outside the Optics Lab | Morgridge Institute & University of Göttingen, DE |
Judith Steen | Proteomics reveals the many lives of Tau | Ass Prof of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Director of the Neuroproteomics Laboratory, Kirby Center, Boston Children's Hospital |
2022
2022
Speaker | Title | Position and/or Affiliation |
Suresh Poovathingal | New Possibilities & Opportunities @ CBD Single cell & Microfludics Expertise Unit | PhD, Unit Lead, Single cell & Microfluidics Expertise Unit CBD |
Gaia Novarino | Studying cortical development through the lens of human disorders | Professor and group leader at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria |
Rosa Cossart | How development sculpts hippocampal circuits | Director of the Institute of Mediterranean Neurobiology (INMED), affiliated to INSERM and Aix-Marseille University |
Sten Linnarsson | Development and cellular architecture of the human nervous system | Chair of the department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Professor of Molecular systems Biology, Karolinska Institutet |
Kuang Jing Huang & Anu Tyagi | Seeing is Believing: Exploring the Lilliputian World through Electron Microscopy’ & ‘2D cellular EM and 3D cryo-EM structure determination of macromolecules | Chang Gung University, Microscopy Center, (Taiwan) & Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Division of Structural Biology and Biochemistry. (Singapore) |
Benedikt Berninger | Engineering new interneurons for the cerebral cortex via lineage reprogramming | Professor of Developmental Neurobiology, King’s College London |
Philip De Jager | TBA | Division of Neuroimmunology & Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain, Columbia University Medical Center, US |
Gero Miesenböck | Biophysical Mechanisms for Balancing Sleep Need and Sleep | Director Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of Oxford, UK |
Prof. Daniel Schraivogel | Genome-scale functional genomics screens with complex readouts of single cells | Research Staff Scientist EMBL Heidelberg |
Xitong Liang | Neural mechanism of cephalopod camouflage | Gilles Laurent department, Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Germany |
Samantha Morris | New single-cell genomic technologies to track and perturb cell identity | Ass Prof Developmental Biology and Genetics,Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis |
Michael Ward | Uncovering mechanisms of neurodegeneration through ‘omics and iPSCs | National Institutes of Health Bethesda, USA |
Michael Greenberg | How Nature and Nurture Conspire to Control Brain Development and Function | Nathan Marsh Pusey Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, USA |
Małgorzata Śliwińska | What, where, how many…? 3D Electron microscopy as a tool that can answer various biological questions | Laboratory of Imaging Tissue Structure and Function, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS, Warsaw, Poland |
Axel Montagne | Cerebrovascular and inflamm-ageing link to dementia | Chancellor's fellow at the University of Edinburgh Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences |
Fatima AlZahraa Alatraktchi | Biosensors – in sickness and in health | Assistant Professor, PhD, MSc, Research group leader @ the Roskilde Universitet, Denmark |
Selina Wray | Human stem cell models of Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia | UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UK |
Tancredi Pentimalli | Modeling herpes simplex virus 1 infection in cerebral organoids reveals new potential therapeutic approaches for viral encephalitis | Nikolaus Rajewsky Lab, Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology, Max Delbrück Center (BIMBS-MDC), Berlin |
Anna M. Krichevsky, Ph.D., | Non-Coding RNA regulators of brain pathologies, from brain tumors to Alzheimer’s disease | Ass Prof. of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, HMS Initiative for RNA Medicine, Harvard Medical School |
Christophe Leterrier | The functional nano-architecture of axonal actin | Neuropathophysiology Institute (INP), University of Marseille |
Marco Morsch | In vivo investigation of protein aggregation mechanisms and microglia-neuron Interactions in neurodegeneration | Macquairie University, Sydney |
Jaewon Ko | Trans-synaptic inhibition mechanism orchestrated by synaptic CAMs | Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), South Korea |
Jelle Jacobs | Uncovering regulatory specificities between transcriptional repressors and enhancers | IMP Vienna |
2021
2021
Speaker | Title | Position and/or Affiliation |
Alon Chen | Stress-induced psychiatric disorders: A symphony of molecular and cellular mechanisms’ | President of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel |
Robin Hiesinger | How does a neuron decide when and where to make a synapse? | Freie Universität Berlin |
Karen E. Duff | Pathogenic mechanisms in the tauopathies’ | Centre Director, UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL and Professor Emerita, Columbia University Medical Center, New York |
Fiona Doetsch | Stem Cells in the Adult Brain: Regulation and Diversity | Professor, Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland |
Peter Mc Naughton | HCN2: a key ion channel driving pain, migraine and tinnitus | Professor of Pharmacology, King’s College London |
Guiseppe Testa | The time of chromatin: emerging insights from longitudinal modelling of neurodevelopmental disorders | Dep of Oncology and Haemato-oncology, University of Milan and Head of the Neurogenomics Research Center of the Human Technopole, Milan, Italy |
Valina L. Dawson | Finding New Therapeutic Opportunities in Parkinson’s disease | Director, Neuroregeneration & Stem Cell Programs, Institute for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, US |
Nara Muraro | The Ih channel shapes circadian rhythms and sleep through the control of neuronal bursting frequency | Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires |
Guillermina López-Bendito | A thalamus that speaks to the cortex: Spontaneous activity in development and plasticity of sensory circuits | Group Leader, Lab of Development, Plasticity and Regeneration of Thalamocortical Circuits AND Instituto de Neurociencias, UMH-CSIC, Alicante |
Ed Lein (keynote speaker) | Creating a comprehensive understanding of human cortical cell types and circuits using quantitative single cell transcriptomic, anatomical and functional methods | Director of the Human Cell Types Program at the Allen Institute for Brain Science |
Cagla Eroglu | How do Astrocytes Sculpt Synaptic Circuits? | Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Neurobiology Co-Director, Regeneration Next Initiative, Duke University |
Magdalena Götz | Novel Mechanisms of neurogenesis and neural repair | Helmholtz Center Munich and Biomedical Center University of Munich |
Michal Schwartz | Empowering the immune system helps defeat dementia: The key role of monocyte-derived macrophages | Dep of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel |
Yukiko Goda | Rules for distributing synaptic weights in hippocampal neurons | Team leader and deputy director, Center for Brain Science, RIKEN, Japan |
Dr. Alex Neumann & Dr. Balkan Canher & Dr. Joy Ismail | The X-chromosome and Alzheimer's disease: a potential contributor to sex differences?' & 'Rocks in the morphogen stream: cell death and regeneration in plant meristems' & 'Fly with me: A journey into gene regulation in the Drosophila brain' |
VIB-UAntwerp Center for Molecular Neurology & VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology & VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research |
Henne Holstege | Cognitively healthy centenarians: what can we learn from them? | Assistant Professor, Dep. Clinical Genetics and Amsterdam Alzheimer center, University and Medical Center (UMC) Amsterdam |
Liqun Luo | Wiring specificity of neural circuits | Prof. of Biology at Stanford University , Prof of Neurobiology at Stanford University School of Medicine, investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute |
Chris Shaw | Gene therapy for ALS and FTD; Are we there yet? | Prof of Neurology and Neurogenetics, Dir. Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, Ass Director UK Dementia Research Institute, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London and King's Health Partners |
Dr. Armando Azua-Bustos | The Atacama Desert, the Most Martian place on Earth | Research Scientist, Dep of Planetology and Habitability, Center of Astrobiology (CSIC-INTA), Madrid, Spain |
Eva Hedlund | Elucidating mechanisms of neuronal resilience, vulnerability and regeneration in motor neuron diseases | Associate professor of Neurochemistry, Stockholm University, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, ass prof. of Neurobiology at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden |
2020
2020
Speaker | Title | Position and/or Affiliation |
Fumio Matsuzaki | Structural plasticity of neural stem cells underlies brain size expansion in mammals | Director, Riken Center of Developmental biology, Kobe, Japan |
Julie Williams | The Multiplex Model of Alzheimer’s Disease | Director–UK Dementia Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff, UK |
Fekrije Selimi | Deciphering the molecular code controlling synapse identity in the mammalian brain | Group Leader CIRB, Collège de France, Paris Research Director–CNRS Paris, France |
Linda Van Aelst | Shedding Light on Chandelier Cell Connectivity in the Neocortex | Harold and Florence & Ethel McNeill Professor of Cancer, Professor Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), Division of Neuroscience Research, New York |
Adriano Aguzzi | Mechanisms of prion neurotoxicity | University Hospital Zurich |
Henne Holstege | What can we learn from those who escape cognitive decline until extreme ages? Findings from the 100-plus Study of cognitively healthy centenarians | Assistant Professor, Dep. Clinical Genetics and Amsterdam Alzheimer center, University Medical Center Amsterdam (UMC) |
Beatriz Rico | Molecular Programs orchestrating the wiring of inhibitory circuitries | Professor, MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King’s College London |
Barak Cohen | Integration of Local and Regional cis-Regulatory Information in the Genome | Professor, Department of Genetics, Washington University, St. Louis, MO |
Rosa Rademakers | A decade of TMEM106B research | VIB-U Antwerp |
Peter Vangheluwe | Lysosomal transport deficiencies in Parkinson’s disease’ | Head of the Laboratory of Cellular Transport Systems at KU Leuven |
Marc Van Ranst | Director of the clinical and epidemiological virology unit at the Rega Institute for Medical Research and member of the COVID-19 expert advisory board in Belgium and abroad | |
Juan Burrone | The emergence and plasticity of synapses along different subcellular compartments | Prof of Development Neurophysiology, King’s College UK |
Heidi Mc Bride | Mitochondrial vesicle transport and the stress response in Parkinsons models | McGill University, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery |
Nadav Ahituv | Functional characterization and therapeutic targeting of gene regulatory elements | Director, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics (PSPG) graduate program, Dep of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, Instit for Human Genetics, UCSF, San Francisco |
Li-Huei Tsai | Uncovering the role of Alzheimer’s disease risk genes using stem cells, yeast, and human brains | Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT |
Dr. Maria S. Ioannou | Lipid transport from neurons to glia in health and disease | PI at the University of Alberta, Canada |
2019
2019
Speaker | Title | Affiliation |
Frank Polleux | Development, maintenance & evolution of cortical circuits | Visiting Professor |
Sarah J. Tabrizi | Meeting the therapeutic challenge of Huntington’s disease-from genetic modifiers to the first trial of antisense therapy in a neurodegenerative disease‘ | Director of the Huntington’s Disease Centre, Joint Head of the Dep of Neurodegenerative Disease at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, UK |
Jeroen Pasterkamp & Jean-Louis Bessereau | Semaphorins in control of cortical development and adult hippocampal neurogenesis & Ce-punctin sets GABA receptor synaptic content by dual control of extra-and intra-cellular scaffolds | Brain Center Rudolf Magnus Utrecht University, The Netherlands & NeuroMyoGène Institute University Claude Bernard Lyon, France |
Ghazaleh Ashrafi, Cordelia Imig | Powering the synapse on demand’ & Presynaptic ultrastructure-function relationships resolved by electron tomography | Weill-Cornell Medical College & Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine |
Luisa Cochella | Transcriptional and post-transcriptional strategies for neuronal diversification’ | Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna, Austria |
Lynette Lim & Georgia Rapti | Early neuronal diversity shapes cortical circuit assembly’ & Weaving a brain: glia-neuron crosstalk paves the way to circuit assembly | King’s College London, UK & Rockefeller University, NY, USA |
Chister S. Ejsing | Functional lipidomics: technology and applications for systems-level analysis of lipid metabolism | Associate Professor, Dep. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark |
Inna Slutsky | Firing Homeostasis in Neural Circuits: From Basic Principles to Malfunctions | Associate Prof., Dep of Physiology & Pharmacology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University |
Giovanna Mallucci | Neurodegeneration: mechanisms to medicines | Associate Director UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, UK |
Alison Goate | Rare and common variation implicate microglial function in Alzheimer's risk | Willard T.C. Johnson Research Professor of Neurogenetics, Professor of Neuroscience, Professor of Neurology, Professor of Genetics & Genomic Sciences, ISMMS, New York & Director, Ronald Loeb Center for Alzheimer’s Disease, Associate Director, Alzheimer’s Disease Research |
Pavan Ramdya | Reverse-engineering Drosophila behavior | Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne |
Keith K. Murai | Neuron-Astrocyte Communication and Brain Circuit Microenvironments | Director of the Centre for Research in Neuroscience, Prof Dep. Of Neurology & Neurosurgery, Leader of the Brain Repair & Integrative Neuroscience (BRaIN) Program, The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada |
Alain Prochiantz | Regulation of cerebral cortex plasticity by Otx2 transfer from choroid plexus to PV-interneurons | Collège de France, Paris |
Sandrine Da Cruz | Mechanisms of Neurodegeneration: from the motor neuron cell body to the neuromuscular junction | Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research University of California, San Diego |
Rickie Patani | The molecular pathogenesis of ALS using human stem cells | Medical Research Council (MRC), Senior Clinician Scientist, Group Leader, UCL Queen Square ION & The Francis Crick Institute, UK |
Ella Preger-Ben-Noon | How to shave a baby: evolved repression overcomes enhancer robustness | Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Faculty of Medicine |
Fred Meunier | Tracking synaptic vesicles in living nerve terminals | Single Molecule Neuroscience Laboratory, Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Australia |
Brock Grill | Molecular Exploration of Neuron Development: Insights into Synapse Maintenance and Autophagy | The Scripps Research Institute, Department of Neuroscience, Florida |
Shohreh Issazadeh-Navikas | Can neurons regulate immunity? | Head of Neuroinflammation Unit, BRIC, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark |
Anthony Mathelier | Combining transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation to predict somatic mutations altering the gene regulatory program in cancer cells | Group Leader –Computational Biology & Gene Regulation Group, Oslo |
Fred H. (Rusty) Gage | Modeling neurological and psychiatric diseases with human stem cells | President of the Salk Institute, Head of the laboratory of Genetics Salk Institute, Vi and John Adler Chair for Research on Age-Related Neurodegenerative Diseases, Adjunct Professor in the Department of Neurosciences, UCSD |
Vanessa Morais | The Importance of Mitochondria Homeostasis for Brain Function | Group Leader at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular iMM, Lisbon, Portugal |
Della David | Understanding age-dependent protein aggregation using C. elegans | DZNE, German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases Tübingen, Germany |
Alain Prochiantz | Engrailed, a therapeutic homeoprotein in models of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis? | Collège de France, Paris |
Clothilde Lagier-Tourennes | Disruption of RNA metabolism in neurological diseases and emerging therapeutic interventions’ | Associate Professor of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, USA, Healey Family ALS Endowed Chair for Research |
Justin Mirus | The future of cloning and virus packaging | Senior Territory Manager VectorBuilder GmbH |
Ragnhildur Thóra Káradóttir | Neuronal activity dependent myelination and remyelination | WellcomeTrust –Medical Research Council (MRC) Cambridge Stem Cell Institute and Dep. of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, UK, |
Carla Shatz | Synapses lost and found in brain development, disease and repair | Sapp Family Provostial Professor, Prof. of Biology and Neurobiology, David Starr Jordan Director, Stanford Bio-X James H. Clark Center |
Monika Moscibrodzka | Seeing the unseeable: taking the first ever photo of a black hole | Assistant Prof. at the Dep. of Astrophysics, The Institute for Mathematics, Astrophysics & Particle Physics, Radboud University Nijmegem |
Cheng-Ying Ho | The role of skin-derived BDNF in the development of cutaneous sensory system and treatment of diabetic neuropathy | Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Neurology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore |
Corinne Houart | RNA regulation dynamics in developing and degenerating neurons | Deputy Head -Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, MRC Centre for NeuroDev Disorders, King's College London |
Andrew Adey | Single-cell epigenomics with combinatorial indexing | Principle Investigator, Molecular & Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, OHSU |
Sonia Garel | Microglia at the crossroads of cortical wiring and environmental signals | Head of Brain Development & Plasticity Institut de Biologiede l’Ecole Normale Superieure(IBENS), INSERM, Paris |
Rita Sattler | Molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration in C9orf72 ALS/FTD | Associate professor, Neurobiology at Barrow Neurological Institute Arizona, USA |
Margaret Sutherland + Katja Brose | New funding opportunities at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative | Program Manager Neurodegeneration Challenge Network, CZI + Science Program Officer, CZI |
Anne Bertolotti | Selective inhibition of phosphatases to boost protein quality control : A possible treatment for degenerative diseases | Group Leader at MRC, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Cambridge |
2018
2018
Speaker | Title | Position and/or Affiliation |
Frank Bradke | Mechanisms of Axon Growth and Regeneration | Senior Research Group Leader, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Full Prof Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn |
Andreas Hermann | Modern concepts in the pathophysiology of ALS | Group Leader Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE), Germany |
Detlev Arendt | Evolution of neural cell types and nervous systems | Group leader, senior scientist & academic mentor postdoctoral training, EMBL Heidelberg, Germany |
Jacques Van Helden, Boris Lenhard and Hana Imrichova | 'Protein binds DNA makes RNA — did our regulatory switches melt away with high-throughput genomics?' & 'Conservation versus innovation in yeast promoter architectures , Identification of coding and non-coding cancer drivers using gene regulatory network analysis' | |
Martin Guilliams | Home sweet home – eternal life in the Kupffer cell niche | Prof. Ghent University, Faculty of Science, Principal investigator, VIB Center for Inflammation Research |
Carlos Dotti | About how changes in cerebral cholesterol metabolism determine the loss of cognitive abilities with age (and at the same time prevent neuronal loss?) | Profesor de Investigación, Consejo Superior Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC/UAM), Madrid. |
Charlotte Sumner | SMA therapeutic development: bench to the bedside and back again | Professor, Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, US Co-director Charcot Marie Tooth Disease Clinic and Spinal Muscular Atrophy Center |
Martin Rossor | The many faces of Dementia | Director of the Queens Square Dementia Biomedical Research Unit & Prof of Clinical Neurology, UCL, London. NIHR National Director of Dementia Research |
Phyllis I Hanson | Expanding roles for the ESCRT machinery in endosomal trafficking and beyond | Gerty T. Cori Professor, Dep. of Cell Biology and Physiology, Washington University School of Medicine St. Louis, USA |
Arnold R Kriegstein | A new understanding of human brain development in health and disease | Director, The Eli & Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF School of Medicine, Prof. in Stem Cell and Tissue Biology, University of California, USA |
Stephan Lawrence Zipursky | In Search of Cajal’s “unfathomable mystery of life” | Distinguished Professor of Biological Chemistry, Investigator Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, USA |
Siddharthan Chandran | The role of cellular autonomy in neurodegenerative diseases |
Director, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK |
Ryan J Watts | Charting New Territory in Neurodegeneration |
President and CEO of Denali Therapeutics, USA |
Thomas Voets | TRP channels as molecular sensors in the somatosensory system | head of the Laboratory of Ion Channel Research |
Karin Borges | Alternative fuels to treat ALS | Assistant professor, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia |
Tara Spires-Jones | Losing connections - the role of synapses in Alzheimer's disease |
Prof of Neurodegeneration, Deputy Director of the Centre for Brain Sciences, and a UK Dementia Research Institute Programme Lead at the University of Edinburgh |
Trese Leinders-Zufall | Neuronal mechanism of olfactory sensing: a TRiP into hormonal regulation | Sensory and Neuroendocrine Physiology, Saarland University, School of Medicine, Homburg, Germany |
Christian Klämbt | Glial barriers and the behavior of Drosophila larvae |
Professor Institute of Neuro- and Behavioral Biology, University of Münster, Germany |
Rosa Rademakers | Unraveling the genetic factors associated with disease risk and disease presentation in frontotemporal dementia and related disorders |
Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Jacksonville, USA |
Simone Mayer | Neurotransmitters in cortical development and evolution | PhD, Regeneration Medicine University of California, San Francisco, US |
Giorgio F. Gilestro | Most sleep does not serve a vital function. Evidence from Drosophila | Lecturer at Imperial College London, Department of Life Sciences, London UK |
Isabel Beets | Neuropeptidergic networks and control of C. elegans circuit plasticity | MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK |
Benoit Vanhollebeke | Neurovascular development via Gpr124/Reck-dependent Wnt7/β-catenin signaling | Associate Prof and Welbio Investigator, President of the Dep of Molecular Biology Lab of Neurovascular Signaling, Université Libre de Bruxelles |
Matthijs Verhage | Neurotalk: how CNS neurons regulate the secretion of many chemical signals | Full Professor and head of Functional Genomics at the VU University Medical Center and Faculty of Life Sciences, Amsterdam Chairman of the Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), Amsterdam |
Stef Lhermitte | What happens in Antarctica, does not stay in Antarctica | Assistant professor Geoscience & Remote Sensing at Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands |
Mara Dierssen Sotos | Rethinking cognitive enhancement intellectual disability: the role of neuronal plasticity | , President Trisomy 21 Research Society, Systems Biology Program, CRG-Center for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona, Spain. |
James Shorter | Countering aberrant phase transitions connected to ALS/FTD | Seminar organized by CEBE (Científicos Españoles en Bélgica) |
Sarah Teichmann | Reconstructing Tissue Architecture by Single Cell Genomics | Head of Cellular Genetics, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, United Kingdom |
Rob Meijers | Structures of human DSCAM may reveal it is an adhesion sensor | , Group leader, Structural Biology of Cell Surface Receptors, EMBL Hamburg, Germany |
Natalia Rodriguez Muela | Resistance versus vulnerability: unraveling the fate of neuronal subtypes in neuropathologies’ | Research Associate at Biological Research Center Spanish National Research Council, Madrid, Spain; Associate at Harvard University, Boston, USA |
Geert Van Loo | A20 critically controls microglia activation and neuroinflammation | Principal investigator Unit Cellular and Molecular (Patho)physiology -VIB Inflammation Research Center, Faculty of Sciences, UGent |
Sheena Radford | Seeing amyloid: Beautiful structures and toxic mechanisms | Astbury Prof of Biophysics, The Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, University of Leeds, United Kingdom |
Avital Rodal | Routing and remodeling membranes at the synapse | Brandeis University |
Silvia Cappello | Mechanisms regulating human neurogenesis | Research group leader Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany |
Perrine Paul-Gilloteaux & Robert Haase | Computer vision methods for multidimensional correlative microscopies: optimizing acquisitions using maths’ & Content aware smart microscopy - Let the microscope decide what to look at’ | CNRS Nantes & MPI Dresden |
Iris Salecker | Connections for vision | The Francis Crick Institute, Visual Circuit Assembly Laboratory, London |
2017
2017
Speaker | Title | Position and/or Affiliation |
Vincent Bonin | How movement and touch entrain the sense of vision | Principal Investigator, NERF, VIB and Assistant Professor, Dept. Biology, KU Leuven |
Michael Pankratz | Functional connectomics of a central feeding network | University of Bonn Life & MedicalSciences Institute (LIMES) Molecular Brain Physiology and Behavior |
Simon Hippenmeyer | Molecular Mechanisms of Neural Stem Cell Lineage Progression | Assistant Professor, Institute of Science and Technology (IST), Austria |
David Rowitch | Development of functionally heterogeneous astrocytes in mammalian CNS | Prof & head of the department of Paediatrics at University of Cambridge, England |
Jeroen Pasterkamp | Non-coding RNAs in neural circuit development and disease | Professor of Translational Neuroscience, Director MIND Facility, Chair Brain (Center Rudolf Magnus) |
Juan Larraín | Cellular and molecular mechanism of spinal cord regeneration in Xenopus | Associate Prof. , Lab of Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Center for Aging and Regeneration, School of Biological Sciences, P. Universidad Católica de Chile |
Thomas Biederer | Dynamic trans-synaptic interactions shape synapses and drive synaptogenesis | Associate Professor, Director Neuroscience Graduate Program, Dep of Neuroscience, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, USA. |
Robert Baloh | The role of C9orf72 in neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation | Associate Professor-in-Residence, Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA Director of Neuromuscular Medicine, Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles, CA |
Nils Brose | On the role of neurotransmitter signaling in the establishment of neuronal synaptic connectivity | Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine, Göttingen, Germany |
Erik Jorgensen | Ultrafast endocytosis at synapses | Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Prof, Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA |
Xinnan Wang | A converging mitochondrial pathway destructed in Parkinson’s disease | Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford Neuroscience Institute, Stanford University, USA |
Jonathan Kipnis | Draining old concepts: meningeal lymphatics and immunity in brain function | Harrison Distinguished Teaching professor and Chair, Department of Neuroscience Director, Center for Brain Immunology and Glia(BIG) University of Virginia, USA |
Anthony Mathelier | Better predict transcription factor binding sites and highlight cis-regulatorysomatic mutations altering gene expression Draining old concepts: meningeal lymphatics and immunity in brain function | Group Leader Anthony Mathelier Group, Computational Biology & Gene Regulation, Oslo, NO |
Fred Meunier | Munc18 (STXBP1) function and possible link to synucleopathies under the nanoscope | Prof. of Neurobiology, Head of Single Molecule Neuroscience laboratory, Queensland Brain Institute, Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research at the University of Queensland, Australia |
Silvio Rizzoli | Synaptic vesicle functional turnover | Full Prof and Dep. Chair, Department of Neuro- and Sensory Physiology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Germany |
Jeff Lichtman | Prof of Molecular & Cellular Biology and the Ramón y Cajal Prof of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, USA | |
Anja Capell | Loss of progranulin differentially affects lysosomal activity in brain cells of a mouse for FTD and NCL | Senior scientist Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, Germany |
Silvio Rizzoli | The relation between gene sequences and cell biology parameters | Full Prof and Dep. Chair, Department of Neuro- and Sensory Physiology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Germany |
Zsuzsanna Callaerts-Vegh | What mice are telling us. Rodent model in behavioral research | PhD, Coordinator animal behavior core facility mINT, Faculty of Psychology, Laboratory Biological Psychology, Leuven |
Elly Hol | Glia in Alzheimer’s disease – molecular changes and functional consequences | Prof of “Glia Biology of Brain diseases”, Dept. Translational Neuroscience, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht |
Jose Bras & Rita Guerreiro | 'Genetics of neurological diseases: focus on movement’ & 'Genetics of neurological diseases: focus on dementia' | PhD, UK Dementia Research Institute & UCL Institute of Neurology, London |
Aya Takeoka | Where are my legs?: Spatial and temporal requirements of proprioception in locomotor recovery after spinal cord injury | PhD, Principal Investigator at NERF/VIB, Assistant Professor in Faculty of Biomedicine, Department of Neurosciences @ KU Leuven |
Roosmarijn Vandenbroucke | The choroid plexus epithelium: a small brain barrier with big therapeutic potential | Associate Professor, Ghent University-VIB, Center for Inflammation Research |
2016
2016
Speaker | Title | Position and/or Affiliation |
Sha Liu | Circadian and Homeostatic Control of Sleep | Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA |
Virginia Lee | Transmission of Misfolded alpha-synuclein in synucleinopathiees | Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia |
John Trojanowski | Seeded Transmission of Glial And Neuronal Tau Pathology: New Models of Tauopathies | Institute of Aging, Penn University of Pensylvania, Philadelphia, USA |
Gianmarco Rinaldi (Sarah-Maria Fendt) & Saar Vandekeere (Peter Carmeliet) | 'Crosstalk between mTORC1 signaling and serine biosynthesis pathway in breast cancer' & 'Unexpected role for phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase in mitochondrial homeostasis in endothelial cells' | |
Adrian Liston | The Genetic Basis of Inflammation | |
Ramin Shiekhattar | Targeting Integrator in Cancer | Director Cancer Epigenetics Research Program, Department of Human Genetics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine |
Chris Walsh | Genes and mechanisms of autism spectruum disorders | Harvard Medical School, US |
Daniel Peeper | Systematic genetic perturbations to reveal novel cancer vulnerabilities | Division of Molecular Oncology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
Axel Nimmerjahn | How do glial cells control CNS homeostasis? | Waitt Advanced Biophotonics Center, Salk Institute for Biological Studies |
Courtney Anderson, Advanced Cell Diagnostics | The Visualization of Gene Expression & Genetic Variations in situ | Advanced Cell Diagnostics |
Chris de Zeeuw | It takes two to Tango: Cerebellar Modules and Learning Rules | Chair Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam Vice-Director Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
Anirvan Ghosh | The battle to defeat neurological disease: from risk genetics to drug development | Chief scientific officer, E-scape Bio, San Francisco, USA |
Bart Swinnen (Ludo Van Den Bosch) & Evgenia Salta (Bart De Strooper) | 'Direct RNA toxicity in an transient zebrafish model of C9orf ALS/FTD is abrogated by Pur-alpha' & 'miR-132 loss aggravates pathology in Alzheimer’s brain: A possible therapeutic target?' | |
Emily Sylwestrak | Tools for mapping gene expression and neural activity in intact brain circuits | Deisseroth lab, Stanford University, USA |
Carll Herrmann | Modelling the epigenetic landscape in cancer | German Cancer Research Center, University of Heidelberg, Germany |
Bernice Morrow | What is new about the genetics of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome | Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York |
Lawrence Rajendran | ScienceMatters - the next-gen science publishing platform for reproducibility, honesty and efficiency in publishing | ETH Neuroscience Center Zürich, Switzerland |
Wiebke Niebel -Griet Den Herder -Floor Stam (VIB HQ) | Valorization of your research via VIB Tech transfer: patentability, economical and societal impact | VIB HQ, Tech Transfer |
Anders Nykjaer | Sortilins as regulators of tyrosine kinase receptor activity: implications in mental disorders and diabetes | Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Denmark |