Therapeutic Approaches to Neurodegeneration - Age Modifiers, Proteostasis, and Stem Cells

Postnatal neuronal recruitment and the induction of plasticity
Arturo Alvarez-Buylla (University of California, San Francisco, USA)
Dr. Alvarez-Buylla has an international reputation for his work in neurogenesis of the adult mammalian brain, the assembly of the brain, brain tumors and repair, and the ontogeny and phylogeny of behavior.

Division and differentiation of adult neural stem cells
Grigori Enikolopov (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA)
Dr. Enikolopov focuses on stem cells in the adult brain and the relationship between neurogenesis and mood disorders. He has generated several models to study how stem cells give rise to progenitors and neurons.

Title to be announced
Fiona Doetsch (Columbia University Medical Center, USA)
In her lab, Dr. Doetsch uses a variety of molecular, cellular and genetic approaches to discover the regulation, lineage relationships, diversity and function of stem cells and neuronal production in the adult mammalian brain.

FoxO transcription factors in aging and stem cells
Anne Brunet (Stanford University School of Medicine, USA)
Dr. Brunet's laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms of aging, longevity, and are particularly interested in the aging of the nervous system.

Regulation of adult neurogenesis by Alzheimer’s-linked Presenilin 1 variants
Sangram Sisodia (The University of Chicago, USA)
Dr. Sisodia's laboratory has focused on understanding the normal biology of APP, PS1 and PS2, and the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which mutated versions of these interesting proteins cause Alzheimer's disease.

Non-autonomous mechanisms of protein misfolding in tauopathy
Marc Diamond (Washington University School of Medicine, USA)
Dr. Diamond's goal is to discover and develop highly specific therapies for human diseases based on selective control of intra and inter-molecular protein interactions for tau and polyglutamine proteins and nuclear receptors.

Induction and spreading of cerebral amyloidosis
Mathias Jucker (Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Germany)
Dr. Jucker's lab is evaluating the significance of neural stem cells for the pathogenesis and therapy of age-related neurodegenerative diseases.

VCP – the Rosetta Stone of age-related degeneration
Paul Taylor (St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, USA)
Dr. Taylor's research focuses on the primary targets of neurotoxic proteins and developing target-based therapeutics using molecular and pathological analyses of cell culture and Drosophila and mouse models of neurodegenerative diseases.

From genes to therapies for Alzheimer's Disease
Rudy Tanzi (Massachusetts General Hospital, USA)
Dr. Tanzi's aim is identifying and characterizing Alzheimer's disease-associated gene mutations/variants with the goal of defining the molecular, cellular, and biochemical events leading to neuronal cell death.

Stress and misfolded proteins in aging and disease
Rick Morimoto (Northwestern University, USA)
Dr. Moritomoto is interested in the fundamental events that underlie the appearance of misfolded proteins and their consequence to protein homeostasis, cellular function, and organismal adaptation and survival.

Age onset neurodegeneration is a result of proteostasis decline
Andy Dillin (Salk Institute for Biological Studies, USA)
Dr. Dillin uses the roundworm Ceanorhabditis elegans to study the process of aging by looking at a hormone that is most widely recognized for its role in diabetes among humans: insulin.

Bmi-1, neuroprotection, and the maintenance of stem cells during aging
Sean Morrison (University of Michigan, USA)
Dr. Morrison's lab focuses on the mechanisms that regulate stem cell self-renewal and stem cell aging, as well as the role these mechanisms play in cancer.

Title to be announced
Jens Brüning (Institute for Genetics at the University of Cologne, Germany)
Dr. Brüning characterizes signaling pathways responsible for the regulation of energy and glucose homeostasis using mouse models with targeted disruption of genes in the leptin, insulin, and cytokine signaling pathways.

Recapitulating human premature aging using iPSCs from Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome
Juan Carlos Belmonte (University of California, San Diego, USA)
Dr. Belmonte's lab has shown that Wnt7a action can be mediated through the activation of a LIM-Homeodomain containing gene, Lmx-1.

Activation of SIRT1 to treat neurodegenerative disaeses
Leonard Guarente (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)
The Guarente lab has been in operation since 1982 and is interested in determining whether the highly-conserved SIR2 gene governs longevity in mammals.

Between brain interstitial fluid and CSF Abeta and tau in relation to protein aggregation: Insights into Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis
David Holtzman (Washington University School of Medicine, USA)
Dr. Holzman is interested in understanding basic mechanisms underlying acute and chronic cell dysfunction in the CNS particularly as these mechanisms may relate to Alzheimer's disease and injury to the developing brain.

Title to be announced
Peter Reinhart (Proteostasis Therapeutics)
Dr. Reinhart he is responsible for mechanistic and drug development strategies comprising the portfolio for Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, stroke, stroke regeneration, and other neurodegenerative disorders.

Targeting the peripheral immune system to modify neurodegeneration
Paul Muchowski (Gladstone Institute, University of California, San Francisco, USA)
The goal of Dr. Muchowski's lab is is to understand the molecular mechanisms that underlie neurodegenerative disorders associated with protein misfolding, focusing on Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

Registration includes:

• Hotel accommodations for the nights of February 14, 15, and 16
• Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and coffee breaks on February 14, 15, and 16
• Entrance to scientific sessions (except partner and child registrations)
• Conference materials, including book of abstracts

All prices are in US Dollars.

Register online at www.abcam.com/neuro2011.