Meet-the-Experts and Meet-the-Clinician-Expert Sessions
The Meet-the-Experts Series will continue with live one-hour webinars after the conclusion of ºÚÁÏÉç 2024, between November 2024 and April 2025.
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View other scientific sessions being held this year.
Meet-the-Clinician-Expert: Sohal — Understanding Complex Systems: Leveraging a Background in Math to Tackle Problems in Psychiatry
Speaker: Vikaas S. Sohal, MD, PhD
Institution: University of California, San Francisco
Location: MCP Room S104
Theme: Theme H – Cognition
The idea that mental health conditions arise from the brain is widely accepted, but there is still a lack of understanding about how specific changes in brain function lead to these conditions. This session will describe the speaker’s journey from studying math in college to performing some of the first experiments using optogenetics, training as a psychiatrist, and leading a neuroscience laboratory that tries to link patterns of brain activity to cognitive and emotional functions that are altered in mental health conditions.
Meet-the-Expert: Bu — Unlocking the Mystery of Alzheimer’s Disease: The APOE Connection
Speaker: Guojun Bu, PhD
Institution: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Location: MCP Room S104
Theme: Theme C – Neurodegenerative Disorders and Injury
The e4 allele of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene is the strongest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. ApoE4 dominantly seeds early and more abundant amyloids and has several amyloid-ß-independent effects, including inferior functions in transporting lipids, responding to neuropathology, and supporting cerebrovasculature. In this session, the speaker will discuss their career journey from studying apoE receptor LRP1 to zooming in on complex apoE isoform-dependent effects using various model systems.
Meet-the-Expert: Stevens — Bridging Genes and Biology: Exploring Neuroimmune Mechanisms Behind Synapse Loss and Dysfunction
Speaker: Beth Stevens, PhD
Institution: Boston Children's Hospital
Location: MCP Room S104
Theme: Theme A – Development
Session Sponsor: Thorlabs, Inc.
Emerging genetic studies implicate microglia in Alzheimer’s disease and other brain diseases, yet it's unclear how they contribute to cognitive dysfunction. Microglia eliminate synaptic connections using molecules from the innate immune system, shedding light on mechanisms of pathological synapse loss. This session will outline paths to define microglia-mediated disease mechanisms, highlighting new models and approaches that bridge gaps between genetics, cellular states, and function.
Meet-the-Expert: Froemke — Love, Death, and Oxytocin
Speaker: Robert C Froemke, PhD
Institution: NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Location: MCP Room S104
Theme: Theme D – Sensory Systems
Baby cries seem like simple sounds but evoke powerful responses, especially in parents. This session will discuss work on synaptic plasticity and mouse family life, with a focus on changes to the maternal brain and adult social behavior in response to infant cries. This session will also share a perspective on the challenges and opportunities in neuroscience today. It is a remarkable time to be a scientist in terms of what’s possible for recording neural activity and observing animal behavior.
Meet-the-Expert: Luan — Maximizing Flexibility: Ultra-Thin Polymer Electrodes for Large-Scale, Long-Lasting, Bi-Directional Neural Interface
Speaker: Lan Luan, PhD
Institution: Rice University
Location: MCP Room S104
Theme: Theme I – Techniques
The central nervous system is incredibly complex. Developing neurotechnology to understand and restore its functions requires interfaces at minimal invasiveness, with high spatiotemporal resolution, bi-directionally, and over extended periods. This session will discuss the speaker’s path toward a maximizing "flexibility" approach to engineer ultra-thin polymer electrodes that can potentially meet these demands.
Meet-the-Clinician-Expert: Mallucci — Mechanisms to Medicines in Neurodegeneration
Speaker: Giovanna Mallucci, MD, PhD
Institution: Altos Labs
Location: MCP Room S104
Theme: Theme C – Neurodegenerative Disorders and Injury
Session Sponsor: Thorlabs, Inc.
Untreatable neurodegenerative disorders are an ever-increasing problem as society ages. This talk will focus on how increasing neuronal resilience and functional rejuvenation can slow and prevent these diseases. The speaker will discuss their discoveries on dysregulated PERK-UPR signaling in mediating neurodegeneration and how small molecules and drugs targeting the pathway prevent it. The speaker will also show how they used the biology of hibernation to drive synapse regeneration for neuroprotection via the cold shock protein, RBM3, and how they are translating these approaches to treat dementia.Â
Meet-the-Expert: Sussillo — Transforming Early Adversity Into Insights at the Nexus of ºÚÁÏÉç and AI
Speaker: David Sussillo, PhD
Institution: Stanford University
Location: MCP Room S104
Theme: Theme H – Cognition
The speaker's work in neuroscience draws from his personal history, marked by a challenging childhood and his fascination with computing technology and gaming. Raised predominantly in orphanages, he found escape in the burgeoning world of personal computers. This early exposure to technology during the golden age of arcade and home computers sparked a passion that would later blossom into academic and industry careers at the intersection of neuroscience and artificial intelligence.
Meet-the-Expert: Goda — Exploration of Local Synaptic Interactions Guided by Global Experiences
Speaker: Yukiko Goda, PhD
Institution: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology
Location: MCP Room S104
Theme: Theme B – Neural Excitability, Synapses, and Glia
Session Sponsor: Thorlabs, Inc.
The diversity of synaptic connections is crucial for circuit operations underlying a wide range of brain functions. However, scientists have yet to elucidate how synapses are formed and maintained in a specific pattern and functionally tuned as required by the neural circuits they support remains to be elucidated, including the contribution of glial cells. This session will discuss a journey across three continents to define the cellular and molecular basis of synaptic strength regulation in rodent hippocampal circuits.
Meet-the-Expert: Ting — Finding Balance Outside the Box: Neuromechanics of Skilled and Impaired Movements
Speaker: Lena H Ting, PhD
Institution: Emory University and Georgia Tech
Location: MCP Room S104
Theme: Theme E – Motor Systems
Just as the unique experiences of each individual shape the way they move, this session will recount how interdisciplinary training in biomechanics, neurophysiology, and engineering, coupled with diverse cultural and athletic experiences shape the speaker’s research in sensorimotor control of balance and gait. Collaborating with people from diverse backgrounds, training, and perspectives is critical to forging an integrative, multi-scale neuromechanical understanding of how people move.
Meet-the-Expert: Amara — A Different Take on Uptake: An Unexpected Journey in Flux
Speaker: Susan G Amara, PhD
Institution: NIMH
Location: MCP Room S104
Theme: Theme F – Integrative Physiology and Behavior
Advances in technology have always been the driving force for scientific progress. Since the first identification of neurotransmitter transport systems in the 1960s, new technologies have illuminated the unexpected functions of these carriers and the mechanisms of action for therapeutic drugs that target their activities. With an eye toward future studies using next-generation approaches, this lecture will provide a perspective on the evolution of the scientific understanding of neurotransmitter transporter structure, function, and multifaceted cellular regulation.
