Translational research on neurotrophins from corneal disease to the central nervous system
The conference aims to involve the relevant scientific communities in a discussion on the state of the art and future directions of research on neurotrophins investigating the potential of neurotrophins like Nerve Growth Factor (NGF), Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), and others in therapeutic areas such as Ophthalmology and the Central Nervous System. The program, which will start on the afternoon of Tuesday, 11 June, and conclude in the early afternoon of Wednesday, 12 June, will feature a series of talks by expert scientists from research institutions worldwide, highlighting research investigating the therapeutic potential of neurotrophins for either ocular or Central Nervous System disorders. The conference will be focused on the role of neurotrophins in pathophysiological processes spanning from corneal, retinal and optic nerve degeneration to dysregulated cognitive and/or motor functions, impairment of synaptic plasticity and aberrant social behavior.
Event details
Speakers
Thomas C Südhof
Professor Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Stanford University
Thomas Christian Südhof obtained his M.D. and doctoral degree in biophysics from the University of Göttingen and trained as a postdoctoral fellow with Drs. Mike Brown and Joe Goldstein at UT Southwestern in Dallas, TX. After postdoctoral training, Südhof stayed as a faculty at UT Southwestern in Dallas, where he was the founding chair of the Department of Neuroscience. In 2008, Südhof became the Avram Goldstein Professor in the School of Medicine at Stanford University. Südhof’s research originally focused on how an action potential in a presynaptic neuron triggers the secretion of neurotransmitters, which initiates synaptic transmission.
This work revealed a general mechanism of regulated secretion, for which Südhof was awarded a share of the Nobel Prize in 2013. More recently, Südhof’s studies have centered on how synapses in brain are formed and how their properties are shaped, resulting in the identification of trans-neuronal signaling mechanisms that control synaptic connections in brain. Moreover, Südhof’s work has addressed how these synaptic connections become impaired in disorders such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease, with the hope of gaining insight into possible new therapeutic avenues.
Pedram Hamrah
Vice Chair of Research and Academic Programs
Tufts University of Medicine
Marco Coassin
Professor of Ophthamology
University Campus Bio-medico of Rome
Jeffrey Goldberg
Professor and Chair of Opthamology
Byers Eye Institute at Stanford University
Dr. Jeffrey Goldberg is Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology and Director of the Byers Eye Institute at Stanford University, and a member of the National Academy of Medicine. His clinical effort is focused on patients in need of medical or surgical intervention for glaucoma and other retinal and optic nerve diseases, as well as cataract. His research is directed at neuroprotection and regeneration of retinal ganglion cells and the optic nerve, a major unmet need in glaucoma and other optic neuropathies, and his laboratory is developing novel molecular, stem cell and nanotherapeutics approaches for eye repair.
Dr. Goldberg received his B.S. magna cum laude from Yale University, and his M.D. and Ph.D. from Stanford University where he made significant discoveries about the failure of optic nerve regeneration. He did his clinical training in ophthalmology and then in glaucoma at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, and was awarded a fellowship from the Heed Foundation. He was named the 2010 Scientist of the Year by the Hope For Vision foundation, and received the Cogan award from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in 2012. He was elected in 2010 to the American Society of Clinical Investigation, an honorary society of physician scientists, and in 2021 to the American Ophthalmological Society. He directs an NIH-funded research laboratory and is one of the scientists funded by the National Eye Institute’s Audacious Goals Initiative. In addition, he has developed significant expertise with implementing FDA clinical trials for optic nerve neuroprotection and regeneration. His goal is to translate scientific discoveries to patient therapies.
Elliott Mufson
Greening Chair in Neuroscience
Barrow Neurological Institute
Barbara Hempstead
Dean of Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences
Cornell University
Xu Baoji
Principal Investigator
Scripps Research Institute
Elizabeth Coulson
Head of School, School of Biomedical Sciences Faculty of Medicine
The University of Queensland
Zhigang He
Professor of Neurology and Ophthalmology
Harvard Medical School
Michael Sendtner
Director
Institute of Clinical Neurobiology, University of Wuerzburg
In parallel, he collaborated with Martin Raff at UCL and other partners for studying the effects of neurotrophic factors on glial and neuronal differentiation. Since 1994, he is working at the University of Würzburg, Germany. Central focus is the therapy development for spinal muscular atrophies and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, through analyses of signaling pathways of neurotrophic factors for survival and axon growth in motoneurons and studies on the cellular pathomechanisms underlying spinal muscular atrophy. In the last 5-10 years, his work focused on axonal RNA metabolism, its role for synaptic maturation and functional maintenance of axonal compartments in motoneurons, and dysfunction of these mechanisms in motoneuron disease.
He is recipient of the Wilhelm Vaillant award for his work on the effects of neurotrophic factors on motoneurons, the ALS research award of the German Society of Muscle Diseases, and the Sobek award 2007 for analysis of axonal degeneration and regeneration mechanisms in Multiple Sclerosis.
Lisa Monteggia
Professor of Pharmacology
Vanderbilt Brain Institute
José-Alain Sahel
Chair, Department of Ophthalmology
University of Pittsburgh
Vittorio Cristini
Program Chair
Houston Methodist
Top Italian Scientists list.
- Professor of Population Sciences,
- Professor of Physiology,
- Biophysics and Systems Biology,
- Weill Cornell Medical College
- Professor and Chief,
- Mathematics in Medicine,
- Professor of Computational Biology,
- Department of Medicine,
- The Houston Methodist Research Institute
- Adjunct Professor of Imaging Physics,
- MD Anderson Cancer Center