Educational Day

This year the committee have decided to collect a group of unique ideas into an Educational Day here at Brain 2023, being held on Monday 12 June 2023. The committee have curated a unique set of educational courses that you can participate throughout the day. This will also be an opportunity to network and gain exposure in a smaller learning environment.

Click through each course session outline below to learn more.

Course #1: Adding long-term functional testing to existing preclinical brain injury research

Chair: Ann Stowe (US); Co-chair: Farida Sohrabji (USA)

This course will focus on adding long-term evaluation of functional recovery to pre-existing lines of research. These are methods applicable to most studies of neurologic injury and disease, and includes potential costs, time investments, and considerations for adding new methods to current research programs.

Speakers:
Farida Sohrabji (US): Testing cognitive impairment and depressive-like behaviors in neural injury models
Adam Bauer (US): Longitudinal functional neuroimaging in mouse models of brain injury: Methods and Considerations
Katherine Cotter (US): Automated forelimb motor function without food deprivation
Prasad Katakam (US): Two-photon microscopy as a tool to study cerebrovascular function in mice.

Course #2: Big data analysis in Neuroscience

Chair: Xiaoming Hu

This course will provide familiarity with basic single cell RNAseq analysese and other big data analyses tools using different disease models. The speakers have expertise in distinct areas of big data analysis.

Speakers:
Vilas Menon (US): Identifying shared and distinct signatures of neurodegenerative disease using single-cell techniques.
Amanpreet Badhwar (CA): Large-scale cerebrovascular proteomics and the investigation of neurodegenerative diseases.
Quan Nguyen (AUS): Applying Spatial Transcriptomics to Study Drug Effects on Cancer Tissues.

Course #3 The BBB: imaging, drug delivery and changes in aging and disease

Chair: Lotta Oikari; Co-chair: Edith Hamel

This course will discuss the properties of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) along with methods of in vivo BBB imaging and drug delivery. In addition, disease-associated changes in the BBB as well as cell model approaches for in vitro BBB modelling will be discussed.

Speakers:
Krzysztof Kucharz (DK): Opening the blood-brain barrier ‘black box’ with two-photon microscopy in vivo
Joana Loureiro (PT): Nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery across the BBB
Joseph Nicolazzo (AUS): Altered blood-brain barrier dynamics in Alzheimer’s disease: impact on CNS drug exposure and pathogenesis
Lotta Oikari (AUS): Using patient-derived blood-brain barrier cell models for disease and drug delivery modelling

Course #4 How to communicate your research effectively

Chairs: Lotta Oikari (Aus) & Edith Hamel (CA)

Speakers:
Lin Kooi Ong (AUS)- Social Media
Tracy Farr (UK)- Networking and Collaborations
April Hatcher (USA)- Engaging Presentations (presenting your science/lecturing)
Rohan Walker (AUS)- Grant writing

Course #5 -PET-Pharmacokinetics Part 1

Chair: Mark Lubberink; Co-chair: Julie Price

This course is designed for anyone who would like to gain a better understanding of the principles involved in PET kinetic modeling and analysis.

Speakers:
Paolo Zanotti Fregonara (US): PET data and pre-processing
Julie Price (US): PET compartmental modeling
Mark Lubberink (SE): Blood flow and glucose metabolism (SUV)
Paolo Zanotti Fregonara (US): Receptor kinetics
Julie Price (US): Reference tissue models
Mark Lubberink (SE): Graphical analysis (linearisations) and SUVR

Course #6 -PET-Pharmacokinetics Part 2

Chair: Mark Lubberink; Co-chair: Julie Price

This course is designed for anyone who would like to gain a better understanding of the principles involved in PET kinetic modeling and analysis.

Speakers:
My Jonasson (SE): Dopamine transporter and blood flow
Paolo Zanotti Fregonara (US): In-vivo pharmacology and steady-state methods
Mark Lubberink (SE): Model selection and applications
Julie Price (US): Amyloid and tau imaging
Julie Price (US): The beautiful world and the real world