PROGRAM

 

(ALL proceedings will be held in the Michigan League)

 

Keynote talks are 25 + 5 min, Invited talks are 15+5 min, Short Talks are 10+5 min

 

 

DAY 1 (SUNDAY, JUNE 29^th) AFTERNOON

2:00-2:05

Introduction. Steve Kunkel (Chief Scientific Officer, Michigan Medicine)

 

2.05 – 3.05 PM   OPENING KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS

Introduction. Steve Kunkel (Chief Scientific Officer, Michigan Medicine)

Chair: Tom Davis (University Arizona)

Keynote: Lester Drewes (University Minnesota-Duluth, USA). 33 Years of Cerebral Vascular Biology: Milestones and Challenges

Keynote: Britta Engelhardt (University Bern, Switzerland). Advancing our understanding on the role of the brain barriers in maintaining CNS immune privilege

 

3.05-5.35 PM.

Session 1: BARRIER CELL BIOLOGY. (In honor of Joan Abbott/Maria Spatz)

Chairs: Ignacio Romero (Open University, UK) & Asma Nusrat (University Michigan, USA)

1. Keynote speaker: Matthew Campbell (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland). Regulation of claudin-5 at the blood brain barrier in health and disease.

Invited speakers:

2. Yao Yao (University South Florida, USA). Endothelial laminin and the blood-brain barrier integrity
3. Natasha O’Brown (Rutgers University, USA). Neurovascular interactions in the development of the zebrafish BBB.
4. Lara Ogunshola (University Zurich, Switzerland). Synergy versus specialization at the blood-brain barrier.

Short Talks:

5. Iris Garcia-Pak. (University California – San Diego, USA)What is the role of the blood-brain barrier in glutamate regulation and brain function?
6. Shikha Nangia (Syracuse University, USA). Structural Insights into Claudin-5 Tight Junctions at the Blood-Brain Barrier.
7. Vladimir Matchkov (Aarhus University, Denmark). TMEM16A, a calcium-activated chloride channel in mural cells, is important for cerebral blood flow redistribution in ischemic stroke–reperfusion

 

5.20-5.35 PM

In Memoriam: Joan Abbott, Bill Pardridge, Maria Spatz, Danica Stanimirovic.

 

6.00-8.00 PM.

RECEPTION Michigan League

 

 

DAY 2 (MONDAY, JUNE 30^th) MORNING.

 

8.30 – 11.40 AM

Session 2: BARRIER/NVU IN AGING AND NEURODEGENERATION.

Chairs: Bjoern Bauer (University Kentucky, USA) & Michal Toborek (University of Miami, USA)

1. Keynote speaker: Nabil Alkayed (Oregon Health Sciences University, USA). Novel therapeutic targets for vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID)

Invited Speakers

2. Anika Hartz (University Kentucky, USA). Blood-brain barrier repair to improve cognition in Alzheimer’s disease
3. Lemin Zheng (Peking University, China). NAD+ rescues aging-induced blood-brain barrier damage
4. Sherry Hsiang-Yi Chou (Northwestern University, USA). ARIA and amyloid-targeting therapies: real-world challenges in acute cardiovascular and cerebrovascular emergencies

 

10.00-10.20 AM COFFEE BREAK

 

Invited speaker

5. Sidney Strickland (Rockefeller University, USA). The possible role of the plasma contact system in ARIA.

Short Talks:

6. Jessica Wagner (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany). Medin amyloid: Exploring its role in vascular ageing and Alzheimer’s disease.
7. Akihiko Urayama (University Texas-Houston, USA). Delayed Brain Drainage of Anti-amyloid Antibody is Associated with ARIA Development in Alzheimer’s Disease Model Mice with Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy.
8. Leon Tai (University Illinois-Chicago, USA). Brain endothelial cell APOE genotype as a regulator of neurovascular function
9. Sebastian Werneberg (University Michigan, USA). Disease-Associated Microglia Govern Synaptic Circuitry Disruption in Multiple Sclerosis

 

12.00-1.00 PM MONDAY LUNCH and Special Session: NEW MICROFLUIDIC DEVICES TO MODEL THE BBB

10 min invited talks and 20 min roundtable.

Chair: Eric Shusta (University Wisconsin) & Aditya Raghunandan (University Michigan, USA)

1. Luca Cucullo (Oakland University, USA). Strategies in Neurovascular In Vitro Modeling: a microfluidic perspective.
2. Dan Ahmad. The Fluidic µSiM-BBB: The Next Step in a Determined Effort to Model the Vulnerable Brain On-a-Chip 
3. Maria Deli (Biological Research Centre, Hungary). An integrated lab-on-a-chip model of the blood-brain barrier and brain organoids
4. Brian O’Grady (Vanderbilt University; USA). Engineering Next-Gen BBB Models: A Novel Microfluidic Approach for Vascular Research

 

DAY 2 (MONDAY) AFTERNOON

1.10-3.30 PM

Session 3: Barrier/NVU  in Neurological and Metabolic Diseases

Chairs: Ulf Eriksson (Karolinska Institute, Sweden) & Dionna Williams (Emory University)

Invited speakers:

1. Alon Friedman (Dalhousie University, Canada). The blood-brain barrier in traumatic brain injury: from bench to bed
2. Ingrid Nilsson (Karolinska Institute, Sweden). Thrombolysis exacerbates cerebrovascular injury after ischemic stroke via a VEGF-B dependent adipose-brain metabolic axis
3. Yuri Persidsky (Temple University). Alcohol induced injury of neurovascular unit: Mechanisms and protective strategies
4. Pedro Lowenstein (University Michigan). How tumor cells crawl through the brain: blood vessels, myelin, neurons, extracellular spaces

Short Talks

5. Bjoern Bauer (University Kentucky). Endocannabinoid Signaling as a Therapeutic Target for Blood-Brain Barrier Repair and Seizure Management in Epilepsy.
6. Chia-Yi Kuan (University Virginia). TNK is a safer and more potent thrombolytic agent than tPA in hyperglycemia-compounded experimental stroke.
7. Sarah Schmidlin (Miami University). Latently HIV-1 Infected Blood-Brain Barrier Pericytes Disrupt Mitochondrial Functions in the Neurovascular Unit.
8. Celene Titus (University Toronto, Canada). Therapeutic Potential of a PPARγ Agonist INT131, in HIV-Associated Brain inflammation and Cognitive Impairment

 

3.30 PM Group Photograph

 

3.45-5.45 PM TEA BREAK +POSTER SESSION

 

FREE EVENING

 

 

DAY 3 (TUESDAY, JULY 1^st ) MORNING

 

8.30-10.10 AM

Session 4: PREVENTING AND REPAIRING NVU DYSFUNCTION.

Chairs: Tom Arnold (University California-San Francisco, USA) & Tom Sanderson (University Michigan, USA)

Invited Speakers

1. Linda Fredriksson (Karolinska institute, Sweden). Targeting myofibroblast expansion in ischemic stroke
2. Roman Giger (University Michigan, USA). Protecting the Inflamed Vasculature to Enhance Immune-Mediated Retinal Ganglion Cell Regeneration.
3. Michael Taylor (University Wisconsin, USA). Unraveling the role of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in BBB development and disease.

Short Talks

4. Ke-Jie Yin (University Pittsburgh, USA). Modulation of long non-coding RNAs to enhance cerebral angiogenesis and promote stroke recovery.
5. Thomas Abbruscato (Texas Tech. University, USA). Metformin transports across the ischemic blood-brain barrier and offsets oxidative and inflammatory injury from stroke and nicotine product exposure.

 

10.10 -10.30 AM Tea Break

 

10.30 AM – 12.00PM

Session 5: OTHER CNS BARRIERS.

Chairs: Joel Pachter (University Connecticut, USA) & Peter Westenskow (Roche, Switzerland)

Invited Speakers

1. Nanna MacAulay (University Copenhagen, Denmark). Choroid plexus as the brain’s fluid faucet
2. Julie Siegenthaler (University Colorado, USA). Meningeal barriers in development, health and disease
3. Elia Duh (Johns Hopkins University, USA). Role of microglia in inner blood-retinal barrier breakdown in ischemic retinopathy:  modulation of the neurovascular unit

Short Talks

4. Talya Goble (University College London, UK). Circadian and state regulation of CSF solute clearance by Brain Lymphatic Endothelial Cells (BLECs)
5. Laura Gonzalez Gonzalez (University Michigan, USA). Disheveled-1 and claudin-5 interaction regulates retinal vascular barrier integrity and visual function.

 

12.00-1.00PM. LUNCH and IBBS Membership Meeting/ Selection CVB 2029

 

DAY 3 (TUESDAY) afternoon

 

1.00 – 3.00 PM

Session 6: NOVEL METHODS FOR ASSESSING BBB/NVU

Chairs: Sumio Ohtsuki (Kumamoto University, Japan) & Ethan Lippmann (Vanderbilt University, USA).

Invited Speakers

1. Audrey Cleuren (Oklahoma Research Medical Foundation, USA). Mapping the blood-brain barrier one cell(type) at a time.
2. Yang Xiao (University Michigan, USA). Spatial Proteomics Builds an Atlas of the Human Hippocampus at Single-Cell Resolution.
3. Peter Searson (Johns Hopkins University, USA). Influence of risk factors for diseases of the brain on blood-brain barrier dysfunction.

Short Talks

4. Neil Dani (Vanderbilt University, USA). Calcium dynamics in intact choroid plexus endothelial cell networks across space and time.
5. Malgorzata Burek (University Hospital Wuerzburg, Germany). Effects of microRNA-212/132 knockout on the blood-brain barrier in cerebral ischemic injury
6. Joseph Amick (Harvard, USA). Signals for polarized protein sorting in brain endothelial cells
7. Gaétan Braud (INSERM, France). Controlling blood-CNS barrier integrity in health and disease

 

 

3.00-5.00 PM

TEA BREAK + POSTER SESSION

 

CONFERENCE BANQUET (LOCATION: HENRY FORD MUSEUM)

Buses leave 5.30-6.00 PM

 

 

DAY 4 (WEDNESDAY, JULY 2^nd) morning

8.30 AM – 11.50 AM

Session 7: DRUG DELIVERY TO THE CNS (in honor of Bill Pardridge/Danica Stanimirovic).

Chairs: Xavier Declèves (University of Paris Descartes, France) & Colin Greineder (University Michigan, USA)

1. Keynote speaker: Jens Niewoehner (Roche, Switzerland). Mechanistic and safety aspects of the Brainshuttle (TM)”

Invited speakers:

2. Robert Thorne (Denali Therapeutics, USA). ‘Enabling efficient transport of antibodies, enzymes, oligonucleotides and other proteins across the blood-brain barrier with engineered transport vehicles.
3. Patrick Ronaldson (University Arizona, USA). Transporters at the neurovascular unit: opportunities for drug delivery and therapeutic development.
4. Irena Loryan (Uppsala University, Sweden). Oxycodone transport across brain barriers in endotoxemia: Insights from microdialysis in rats and pigs.

 

10.00- 10.30 AM TEA BREAK

 

Invited speakers

5. Hien Zhao (Ionis Pharmaceuticals, USA). Antisense oligonucleotides for the treatment of neurological diseases.

Short Talks

6. Pawel Stocki (Ossianix Inc., UK). Advances in Engineering TfR1 Brain Shuttles for Enhanced Safety and Efficacy in Targeted Biologic Delivery to the CNS
7. Parthasarathy Sampathkumar (Alector Inc, USA). GCase: Stability Engineering and Delivery Across the Blood-Brain Barrier via Alector Brain Carrier Technology
8. Quentin Smith (Texas Tech. University, USA). Brain Fatty Acid Uptake and Incorporation with No Need for Enhanced or Induced Dissociation
9. Dionna Williams (Emory University, USA). Astrocytes and Pericytes Emerge as Unanticipated Mediators of Antiretroviral Therapy Transport Across the BBB

 

YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AND POSTER AWARDS

 

12.00-1.00 PM. LUNCH and Fluids and Barriers of the CNS meeting

 

DAY 4 (Wednesday) Afternoon

1:00 – 3:05 PM

Session 8: GENETICS/EPIGENETICS OF BARRIER DYSFUNCTION/VASCULAR MALFORMATIONS.

Chairs: Raina Bendayan (University Toronto, Canada) & Rajesh Rao (University Michigan, USA)

Invited speakers:

1. Chris Greene (Royal College Surgeons, Ireland). The asymmetrical barrier – deciphering brain region vulnerability to trauma
2. Douglas Marchuk (Duke University, USA). Germline and somatic mutations fuel the development of Cerebral Cavernous Malformations
3. Peetra Magnusson (Uppsala University, Sweden). Cavernoma profiling for biomarkers and potential treatments.
4. Miguel Alejandro Lopez-Ramirez (University California-San Diego, USA). Molecular Mechanisms of Inflammation and Thrombosis in Brain Vascular Malformations.

Short Talks

5. Teresa Christina Faupel (University of Lübeck, Germany). NEMO mutation causes brain endothelial cell death
6. Chaitali Ghosh (Cleveland Clinic, USA). GLUT1 and cerebral glucose hypometabolism in human focal cortical dysplasia is associated to hypermethylation of key glucose regulatory genes
7. Imola Wilhelm (Biological Research Centre, Hungary). Inflammasome activation in peritumoral astrocytes is a key player in breast cancer brain metastasis development

3:05 PM CLOSING REMARKS