UK DRI @ Edinburgh Launch Symposium - Programme

click here to return to main symposium page

The Royal Society of Edinburgh

22-26 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2PQ

Wednesday 11th April

12.45pm           Registration

1.15pm               Welcome from Professor Giles Hardingham, Associate Director UK DRI @ University of Edinburgh

1.20pm               Official opening by Professor Jonathan Seckl, Vice Principal Planning, Resources & Research

1.30pm               Professor Bart de Strooper, Director UK DRI, Scientific vision of the UK DRI

Session I (Chair: Professor David Lyons)

1.40pm                Keynote speaker: Professor Berislav Zlokovic, University of Southern California, The blood-brain barrier: Structure, Function and Pathology – Implications for Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, 

2.25pm                Professor Joanna Wardlaw, Vascular sources of neurodegeneration

2.45pm                Professor Karen Horsburgh, Glial-vascular dysfunction leading to degenerative processes and dementia

3.05pm               Tea/coffee break

Session II (Chair: Professor Catherina Becker)

3.35pm                  Professor Siddharthan Chandran, The role of macroglia in neurodegeneration

3.55pm                  Dr Mandy Johnstone, An integrated patient study of in vivo brain imaging and cerebral organoids to fuel discovery neuroscience

4.10pm                  Professor Giles Hardingham, Signaling pathways to degeneration and resilience in the brain

4.30pm                  Keynote speaker: Prof Maiken Nedergaard, Universities of Copenhagen/Rochester, The glymphatic system

5.15pm                  Thanks and invitation to drinks reception from Professor Giles Hardingham

5.20pm                  Drinks reception and posters

6.45pm                 Close of day 1

Thursday 12th April

8.45am                 Registration

Session III (Chair: Professor Charles ffrench-Constant)

9.15am                  Professor Tara Spires-Jones,  A tale of three diseases: The role of synapses in neurodegeneration

9.35am                  Dr Barry McColl, Microglial diversity and mechanisms of resilience and susceptibility to neurodegenerative disease

9.55am                  Professor Josef Priller, Heterogeneity of CNS myeloid cells and their roles in neurodegeneration

10.15pm               Dr Mathew Horrocks, PAINTing a clearer picture: Super resolution methods for characterising aggregates

10.30am               Tea/coffee break

Session IV (Chair: Professor David Wyllie)

11.00am                 Professor Craig Ritchie, The Centre for Dementia Prevention: Synergies and collaboration with the DRI for improved brain health

11.25am                 Professor Ian Deary, A top ten from a decade of CCACE-studies

Invitees from Scottish Universities

11.50am                Professor Frank Gunn-Moore, University of St Andrews, Linking mitochondrial and synaptic dysfunction in dementia

12.15pm                Dr Sophie Bradley, University of Glasgow, From cognition to seizures: Defining the therapeutic potential of M1 muscarinic receptors in neurodegeneration

12.40pm                Professor Dario Alessi, University of Dundee, The LRRK2 protein kinase in Parkinson’s Disease

1.05pm                   Professor Bettina Platt, University of Aberdeen, Tracking brain networks via qEEG

1.30pm                  Lunch and posters

Session V (Chair: Professor Tara Spires-Jones)

Junior academic short presentations

2.20pm                   Dr Bhuvaneish Selvaraj, Crsipr/Cas9 genome editing: An indispensable tool in iPSC disease modelling

2.30pm                   Dr Philip Hasel, Neuron-to-astrocyte signalling in health and disease

2.40pm                   Dr Laura McCulloch, Understanding and preventing stroke-associated immune dysfunction and infectious complications: Relevance to dementia

2.50pm                   Dr Chris Henstridge, Synapse loss in the prefrontal cortex is associated with cognitive change in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

3.00pm                   Dr Jon Moss, Ultrastructural changes in dysfunctional endothelial cells in small vessel disease: Implications for dementia

3.10pm                   Dr Veronique Miron, Microglia regulate central nervous repair

3.20pm                   Keynote speaker: Professor Beth Stevens, Harvard University, How microglia prune synapses in health and disease

4.05pm                   Closing remarks from Professor Richard Morris, Chair UK DRI @ UoE Scientific Advisory Board

4.15pm                  Meeting close