Symposia
03.09.2025, Wednesday
Symposia 1-6:
Symposium 1: Zinc and the Brain: Unlocking Neurobiological Secrets
Chair: Bernadeta Szewczyk (Maj Inst. Pharmacology PAS, Cracow, Poland)
Speakers:
Andreas M. Grabrucker, Professor, University of Limerick, Bernal Institute, Limerick, Ireland
„Zinc as a regulator of neuroinflammatory signalling in Autism Spectrum Disorders”
Jerome Ezan, PhD; Neurocentre Magendie – Inserm U1215, Bordeaux University, France
„Impact of Zinc (dys)homeostasis on the development of the axon and its initial segment.”
Artur Krężel, PhD Uniwersytet Wrocławski, Wrocław, Poland
„BRAK TYTUŁU”
Bernadeta Szewczyk, PhD, Maj Institute of Pharmacology Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, Poland
„Zinc Deficiency and Chronic Stress: Exploring Their Impact on Depression and Antidepressant Effectiveness”
Symposium 2: Neurobiology of Early Life Adversity Across the Lifespan and Across Generations
Chair: Ali Jawaid (Łukasiewicz – PORT, Wroclaw, Poland)
Speakers:
Prof. Dr. Mathias Schmidt, Max Planck Institutes Munich, Munich, Germany
„Sex-specific consequences of early life adversity: From transcriptome to complex behavior”
Prof. Dr. Aniko Korosi, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
„Long-term effects of early-life stress on cognition and emotional functions: a synergistic action of stress, inflammation and nutrition”
Dr. Ali Jawaid, PORT Lukasiewicz, Wrocław, Poland
„Towards the biological plausibility and biomarkers of intergenerational trauma in humans”
Weronika Tomaszewska, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology and PORT Lukasiewicz, Wrocław, Poland
„Interplay of serum lipids and microglia in the susceptibility to the long-term behavioral effects of adverse childhood experiences”
Symposium 3: Novel approaches for the PNS targeting and modulation
Chair: Mateusz Kucharczyk (Łukasiewicz – PORT, Wroclaw, Poland)
Speakers:
Dr Mateusz Kucharczyk, Polish Centre for Technology Development, Łukasiewicz-PORT, Wrocław, Poland
„Somatosensation and Cancer Neuroscience”
Dr Jimena Perez-Sanchez, Neural Injury Group, University of Oxford, UK
„Targeted chemogenetic inhibition of sensory afferents for pain relief in mice and humans”
Dr George Goodwin, Wolfson Sensory, Pain, and Regeneration Centre, King’s College London, UK
„Assessment of spontaneous activity and the role of silent nociceptors in musculoskeletal pain”
Dr Sara Jager, Madsen Lab, Department of Neuroscience, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
„Using 3D imaging and spatial brain transcriptomics to analyze peripheral relief of neuropathic pain”
Symposium 4: On the way to Parkinson’s disease: molecular, cellular and clinical aspects of prodromal synucleinopathies
Chair: Michał Węgrzynowicz (Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland)
Speakers:
Nathalie Van Den Berge, PhD, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
„Prodromal subtypes of synucleinopathies – knowledge from animal models”
Grzegorz Kreiner, PhD Department of Brain Biochemistry Maj Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, Poland
„Prodromal model of Parkinson’s disease based on targeting noradrenergic system”
Ambra Stefani, MD, PhD, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
„Relevance of isolated REM Sleep Behaviour Disorder as prodromal synucleinopathy”
Giorgio Vivacqua, MD, PhD, Campus Biomedico University of Roma, Rome, Italy
„Salivary biomarkers in prodromal synucleinopathies and Parkinson’s Disease”
Symposium 5: Copper in the brain
Chair: Anna Członkowska (Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland) and Susan Gaskin (Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada)
Speakers:
Anna Czlonkowska, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland
„Wilson Disease – genetics, clinic, diagnosis and treatment”
Susan Gaskin, Ph.D., Eng., McGill University, Montreal, Canada
„Copper toxicity in the brain – exposure, mechanisms and manifestations”
Tomasz Litwin, MD, Ph.D., Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland
„Copper and other neurological disorders”
Petr Dusek, MD, Ph.D., Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republik
„Neuroimaging of copper disorders”
Symposium 6: Advancing neuroscience with unbiased methods of automatization of behavioral studies
Chair: Bartosz Zglinicki (Łukasiewicz – PORT, Wroclaw, Poland)
Speakers:
Aleksandra Badura, PhD, Associate Professor at Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands
„The cerebellum as a driver of cortical maturation and cognitive flexibility”
Andrew Holmes, PhD, Senior Investigator at National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute of Health, Rockville MD,USA
„Machine learning discovery of homecage behavior predictors of mouse fear and alcohol drinking”
Adam Brosnan, PhD, Postdoc at Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland
„Cage of Thrones: Automated Analysis of Social Behaviour and Power Dynamics in Mouse Hierarchies”
Bartosz Zglinicki, PhD, Postdoc at Lukasiewicz Research Network – PORT Polish Center for Technology Development, Wroclaw, Poland
„Establishing unified, automatic, unbiased platform for characterization of social behavior in mice”
04.09.2025, Thursday
Symposia 7-12:
Symposium 7: EEG/ECoG based functional connectivity neuroimaging in the rat – towards standardization and translation in neuropsychopharmacology
Chair: Daniel Wójcik (Nencki Institute, Warsaw, Poland)
Speakers:
Ing. Ivana Chrtkova, National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czech Republic
„Exploring Brain Activity Modulated by Psychoactive Substances in Rats and Humans”
Prof. Theodor Doll, Medical University Hannover (MHH), Hannover, Germany
„Clinical perspective on Anti-IgLON5 Disease: Bridging Autoimmunity and Neurodegeneration in a Novel Neurological Disorder”
Assoc. Prof. Ing. Jaroslav Láčík, Brno Technical University, Faculty of electronics and communications technology, Brno, Czech Republic
„Assessing Blood-Brain Barrier Integrity and Neuroinflammation in Neurodegenerative Disease Using Mass Cytometry”
Dr. Marian Dovgialo, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland
„Effects of geometry and conductivity on current source density estimation in realistic scenarios”
Symposium 8: Human Brain Development
Chair: Bogna Badyra (Nencki Institute, Warsaw, Poland)
Speakers:
Simona Lodato, Humanitas University, Milan, Italy
„3D Human Organoids to Explore the Development of the Cerebral Cortex and Its Barrier”
Laurent Nguyen, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
„Cortical interneuron migration in the forebrain – An evo-devo perspective”
Aleksandra Pękowska, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland
„Human astrocytes – evolution and link to neurodevelopmental diseases”
Maciej Figiel, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry PAS, Poznań, Poland
„Modelling neurodevelopmental pathogenesis of Huntington’s disease with human iPSC lines and brain organoids”
Symposium 9: Brain and metabolism
Chair: Joanna H. Śliwowska (University of Life Sciences, Poznan, Poznan, Poland) and Monika Kaczmarek (Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research, Olsztyn, Poland)
Speakers:
Prof. Lora Heisler, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
„New insights into the brain control of food choice and obesity”
Prof. Monika Kaczmarek, Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research PAS, Olsztyn, Poland
„Lactocrine-based mechanisms responsible for reprogramming of reproductive fitness over generations”
Prof. Paloma Collado, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Madrid,Spain
„Hormonal modulation during development of the effects of malnutrition”
Prof. Joanna H. Śliwowska, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Poznań, Poland
„How prenatal exposure to cafeteria diet, which leads to obesity affect the reproduction?”
Symposium 10: Unraveling the Social Brain: how hierarchies, partners, and hormones shape rodents behavior
Chair: Hanna Trebesova (Nencki Institute, Warsaw, Poland)
Speakers:
Hanna Hörnberg, Max-Delbrück-Centrum für Molekulare Medizin (MDC), Berlin, Germany
„Molecular mechanisms of social heterogeneity”
Hanna Trebesova, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland
„The Maintenance of the social behavior: the role of central amygdala”
Jonathan P. Fadok, School of Science and Engineering – Psychology and Tulane Brain Institute, New Orleans, LA, USA
„Female dominance hierarchies influence responses to psychosocial stressors”
Alan Kania, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany
„Oxytocin facilitates social behavior through interneurons in the rat prefrontal cortex”
Symposium 11: Intersecting Pathways: Neuroinflammation in Neurodegenerative Disease
Chair: Natalia Malek (Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wroclaw, Poland)
Speakers:
Nico Melzer, Heinrich-Heine-University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
„Role of B Cells and CD8+ T Cells in GABAA Receptor Autoimmune Encephalitis Pathogenesis”
Lidia Sabater, Hospital Clinic Barcelona, FCRB-IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain
„Clinical perspective on Anti-IgLON5 Disease: Bridging Autoimmunity and Neurodegeneration in a Novel Neurological Disorder”
Marta Kaminska, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland
„Assessing Blood-Brain Barrier Integrity and Neuroinflammation in Neurodegenerative Disease Using Mass Cytometry”
Ewa Trojan, Maj Institute of Pharmacology PAS, Cracow, Poland
„Regulation of Inflammation Resolution in Age-Related Cognitive Decline and Neurodegenerative Pathology”
05.09.2025, Friday
Symposia 13-15:
Symposium 12: TYTUŁ
Chair:
Speakers:
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Symposium 13: TBC
Chair: Jerzy Mozrzymas (Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland)
Speakers:
Andrea Barberis
„TYTUŁ”
Tomaso Fellin
„TYTUŁ”
Grzegorz Wiera
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Symposium 14: Time for flies – an alternative model for research on brain diseases
Chair: Milena Damulewicz (Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland)
Speakers:
Milena Damulewicz, Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
„Clock and brain health – important lesson from flies”
Aron Szabo, Biological Research Centre, Institute of Genetics, Szeged University, Szeged, Hungary
„Glia-neuron interactions mediated by vesicular degradation pathways after traumatic nervous system injury in Drosophila”
Aaron Voigt, Department of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
„TRMT2A inhibition, a causative treatment of polyglutamine diseases? The path from basic fly science towards drug development”
Sergio Casas-Tinto, Institute for Research of Rare Diseases, Carlos III Health Institute, Madrid, Spain
„Stress shapes brain fitness in the progeny through epigenetic modifications”
Symposium 15: Bridging Autoimmunity and Neurodegeneration: Immune Cells in Action
Chair: Natalia Malek (Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wroclaw, Poland)
Speakers:
Bart Eggen, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
„The Shapes and States of CNS Macrophages in the Healthy and Diseased Human Brain”
Maarten Titulaer, Erasmus MC, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
„Integrating Single-Cell Sequencing and OLINK Proteomics in Understanding IgLON5 Disease”
Agnieszka Zabłocka, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy PAS, Wroclaw, Poland
„Protease Inhibitors in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Investigating Ovocystatin’s Role in Preventing Protein Aggregation”
Natalia Malek, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wroclaw, Poland
„Application of Activity-Based Probes for Visualizing Alterations in Proteasome and Immunoproteasome Function in Neuroinflammation”