Scientific Program

08:00 - 09:00

Registration and Name Tag & Conference Kit Pickup 

Opening Session

Chair 

Henrietta M Nielsen, President of ISMND

09:00 - 09:15

Welcome Remarks：

Nancy Y. Ip, President, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong; 

Guojun Bu, Founder of ISMND and Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Neurodegeneration; 

Jimmy Liu, Director of Vision Science Programs, BrightFocus Foundation.

Session I:  Biochemical and Structural Insights of Neurodegeneration

Co-chairs              Hui Zheng & X. William Yang

Virginia M-Y Lee, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Structural variation in PSP tau underlies seeding potency

09:30 - 09:45

Michel Goedert, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, UK
Cryo-EM structures of amyloid filaments from human brains

9:45 - 10:00

Karen Duff, University College London, UK
Tauopathy in AD and FTD

Maria Grazia Spillantini, University of Cambridge, UK

Multiple facets of tau pathology

10:15 - 10:35

Q&A

10:35 - 11:00

Coffee Break/Exhibits

Session II: Cell Biological Insights of Neurodegeneration (KSND-supported Session) 

Co-chairs               Jae-sung Bae & Sun Ah Park

11:00 - 11:15

Robert Vassar, Northwestern University, USA

Exploring the mechanism that links Aβ and tau in Alzheimer’s disease

11:15 - 11:30

Seung H Kim, Hanyang University, South Korea

Induced microglia as an ex vivo platform for TDP-43 pathobiology and prediction of rapid disease progression

11:30 - 11:45

Gopal Thinakaran, University of South Florida, USA
BINning down the risk: parsing BIN1’s role in Alzheimer’s disease

11:45 - 12:00

Xiaodong Wang, National Institute of Biological Sciences, China

A two-step activation mechanism of SARM1 couples metabolite sensing to supramolecular assembly in axon degeneration

12:00 - 12:15

Mark Cookson, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, USA

A multicellular causative framework for Parkinson's disease

12:15 - 12:35

Q&A

12:35 - 13:45

Lunch Break/Exhibits

Short Talk I: Six 10-min talks (8-min presentation, 2-min Q&A) 

BrightFocus Foundation-supported Session

Chair

Jimmy Liu

Jimmy Liu, BrightFocus Foundation, USA
BrightFocus: Funding Bold Science in Mind and Sight

Kin-Sang Cho, Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, USA
A chip-based model of microglia–T cell crosstalk reveals a TLR4-dependent immune circuit driving glaucomatous neurodegeneration

Amanda McQuade, University of California, USA
Transcriptional regulation of disease-relevant microglial activation states

Omar Pena Ramos, Baylor College of Medicine, USA
Astrocyte surface proteomics identifies CD44 as an /OPN/Spp1 receptor regulating lipid metabolism and glial crosstalk in Alzheimer’s disease

Yifei Cai, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Uncovering mechanisms of axon-myelin pathology in Alzheimer’s disease

Eleanor Drummond, University of Sydney, Australia
Mapping the soluble and insoluble human brain proteome in primary tauopathies

Coffee Break/Exhibits 

Session III: Cell Biological Insights — Neurons

Co-chairs               Maria Grazia Spillantini & Julia TCW

15:05 - 15:20

X. William Yang, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Decoding a neuronal-selective pathogenic cascade in Huntington's disease 

15:20 - 15:35

Sandrine Da Cruz, VIB-University of Leuven, Belgium
Compartment-specific mechanisms of TDP-43 and FUS proteinopathies

15:35 - 15:50

Philip Wong, Johns Hopkins Medicine, USA

Tauopathy primes TDP-43 proteinopathy: a mouse model of AD-LATE

15:50 - 16:05

Clotilde Lagier-Tourenne, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University, USA
Disruption of RNA metabolism in ALS/FTD and therapeutic strategies

16:05 - 16:20

Andrew Yoo, Washington University in St. Louis, USA

Dissecting how human neuronal aging contributes to late-onset Alzheimer’s disease using directly reprogrammed patient-derived neurons

16:20 - 16:40

Q&A

16:40 - 18:30

Poster Session I/Welcome Reception

Session IV: Cell Biological Insights — Immune Systems

Co-chairs               David Holtzman & Inhee Mook-Jung

Li Gan, Weill Cornell Medicine, USA

Redefine microglia in neurodegeneration: from waste management to signaling hub

9:15 - 9:30

Sangram Sisodia, University of Chicago, USA

Modulation of Aβ amyloidogenesis and microglial phenotypes by perturbations of the gut microbiome

9:30 - 9:45

Marco Colonna, Massachusetts General Hospital and Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, USA

Innate immune programs shaping neurodegeneration

9:45 - 10:00

Mathew Blurton-Jones, University of California, Irvine, USA

Examining the impact of age-related changes in brain myeloid cells on AD pathology

10:00 - 10:15

Bai Lu, Fudan University, China
Novel strategies for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases

10:35 - 10:55

Coffee Break/Exhibits

Session V: Cell Biological Insights — Lipids and Glia Crosstalk

Co-chairs               Alison Goate & Xu Chen

10:55 - 11:10

David Holtzman, Washington University in St. Louis, USA

Role of APOE in specific perivascular cell types in cerebral amyloid angiopathy

11:10 - 11:25

Guojun Bu, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong
ApoE in brain lipid metabolism and Alzheimer’s disease

11:25 - 11:40

Hui Zheng, Baylor College of Medicine, USA

Lysosomal dysregulation drives oligodendrocytes toward a stressed state and impairs myelination in tauopathy

11:40 - 11:55

Inhee Mook-Jung, Seoul National University, South Korea

Mechanistic dissection of microglia–astrocyte crosstalk via patient-derived iPSC models: identification of a novel regulatory factor in Alzheimer’s disease

Riqiang Yan, University of Connecticut, USA

Enhancing expression of CX3CL1-C-terminus for reducing neurodegeneration in AD and HD mouse models

12:10 - 12:30

Q&A

12:30 - 13:30

Lunch Break/Exhibits

Short Talk II: Six 10-min talks (8-min presentation, 2-min Q&A) selected from submitted abstracts, reporting the latest scientific findings.
Cell Biology of Neurodegenerative Diseases

Co-chairs

Lucy Job & Hayk Davtyan

13:30 - 13:40

Xiao-Fen Chen, Xiamen University, China

TMED10 facilitates Tau secretion and trans-neuronal propagation

Hui (Iris) Zhang, The University of Georgia, USA

Age-dependent impairment of dopamine synaptic vesicle recycling in humanized LRRK2-R1441G BAC transgenic mice is mediated by VMAT2 dysfunction

Yiming Zheng, Xiamen University, China

Perivascular cells are injury-responsive phagocytes that drive pathological lipid uptake and handling in the central nervous system

Yin Xu, Anhui Medical University, China

ABCA7 deficiency exacerbates Tau pathology through astrocyte metabolic reprogramming

Zhuohao He, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Golgi-derived glycosaminoglycans is a key cofactor of tau pathogenesis in Alzheimer’s disease and related tauopathies

Wim Annaert, VIB & KU Leuven, Belgium

The whereabouts of presenilins: from location to mechanisms and relevance for Alzheimer’s disease

14:30 - 14:50

Coffee Break/Exhibits

Session VI: Genetic/Genomic/Proteomic Insights of Neurodegeneration

Co-chairs              Henrietta M Nielsen & Gilbert Gallardo

14:50 - 15:05

Alison Goate, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA

Alzheimer’s disease genetics: implications for disease mechanisms and treatment

15:05 - 15:20

Junmin Peng, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, USA

Dissecting Alzheimer’s disease mechanisms through multiscale proteomic integration: from bulk tissue and cell types to spatial context

15:20 - 15:35

Li-Huei Tsai, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Integrative multi-omic data analysis and human stem cell approach to understand dementia pathogenesis

15:35 - 15:50

Owen Ross, Mayo Clinic Florida, USA
Multi-omic architecture of neurodegenerative disease

15:50 - 16:05

Bart De Strooper, University of Leuven, Belgium and University College London, UK 

From local tissue stress to network failure: rethinking Alzheimer’s disease progression

16:05 - 16:25

Q&A

16:25 - 17:05

Panel Discussion I: Cell Biology of Neurodegeneration 

Moderator: Bart De Strooper

Panelists: Marco Colonna, Sandrine Da Cruz, Virginia M-Y Lee, Philip Wong

9:00 - 9:30

Keynote: Thomas Christian Südhof, Stanford University, USA

Neuronal lipid metabolism and Alzheimer’s disease

Introduction by Hui Zheng

Session VII: Biomarkers and Circulating Factors of Neurodegeneration

Co-chairs               Robert Vassar & Li-Huei Tsai

9:30 - 9:45

Nancy Y. Ip, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong

Understanding the biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases – Insights into the development of diagnosis and therapeutics

9:45 - 10:00

Charlotte Teunissen, Amsterdam UMC, Netherlands

Fluid biomarkers in the era of treatment implementation of AD

10:00 - 10:15

Henrietta M Nielsen, Stockholm University, Sweden
APOE peripheral traits and implications to neurodegenerative disease

10:15 - 10:30

Katerina Akassoglou, University of California, San Francisco and Gladstone Institutes, USA

Blood drivers of neurodegeneration: from mechanisms to clinical trials

10:30 - 10:50

Q&A

10:50 - 11:10

Coffee Break/Exhibits

Session VIII: Therapeutic Insights 

Co-chairs               Gopal Thinakaran & Karen Duff

11:10 - 11:25

John Hardy, University College London, UK, and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong

The faltering steps from mechanisms to therapy

11:25 - 11:40

Peter Walter, Buck Institute for Research on Aging, USA
Targeting the cell’s stress pathways for therapeutic benefit

11:40 - 11:55

Yueming Li, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, USA

Mechanisms and development of CD33-based antibody therapy for Alzheimer’s disease

11:55 - 12:10

Pete Williams, Centre for Eye Research Australia, Australia, and Karolinska Institutet, Sweden

Gene and drug therapies targeting neuroprotection and neuroregeneration in glaucoma

12:10 - 12:25

Michael Heneka, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Blame the microglia: innate immunity as driving force of Alzheimer’s disease

12:25 - 12:45

Q&A

12:45 - 13:45

Lunch Break/Exhibits

Keynote: Randy Schekman, University of California, Berkeley, USA

Unconventional traffic of alpha-synuclein within and between cells

Introduction by Robert Vassar

Short Talk III: Six 10-min talks (8-min presentation, 2-min Q&A) selected from submitted abstracts, reporting the latest scientific findings and therapeutic approaches.
Biomarkers and Therapeutics of Neurodegenerative Diseases

Co-chairs

Yun-wu Zhang & Jie Wang

Peng Lei, Sichuan University, China

A E3 ligase F-box protein 48 licenses striatal neurons metabolically for ferroptosis in Huntington’s disease

Xiaolai Zhou, Sun Yat-sen University, China

Base editing for PGRN-related neurodegeneration: dual rescue of retinal and cerebral disease in a humanized mouse model

Kaoru Yamada, The University of Tokyo Hospital, Japan

Enhancing AQP4-dependent glymphatic transport promotes tau clearance and attenuates neurodegeneration in a mouse model of tauopathy

Dominik Paquet, LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich, Germany

Engineering of iPSC-derived microglia expressing Abeta-specific chimeric antigen receptors to target Alzheimer’s disease pathology

Wenqing GAO, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong

Beneficial T-cell responses to central nervous system injury: mechanisms and therapeutic potential

Weili Yang, Jinan University, China

Primate-specific proteolysis generates a functional PINK1 isoform that protects against neurodegeneration independent of mitophagy

15:15 - 15:35

Coffee Break/Exhibits

Panel Discussion II: Therapeutic Strategies

Moderator: Robert Vassar   

Panelists: Li Gan, David Holtzman, Peter Walter, Mathew Blurton-Jones

Closing Session

Chair     

Guojun Bu, Founder of ISMND and Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Neurodegeneration

16:15 - 16:35

ISMND Travel Awards, BrightFocus Training Fellowships, and Best Short Talk & Poster Awards Ceremony

16:35 - 16:40

Closing Remarks — Henrietta M Nielsen, President of ISMND