This two-day meeting will mark the launch of the UK Dementia Research Institute at Edinburgh. It will bring together speakers from throughout Scotland, and beyond.
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
