Genetics, environment, signaling, & synaptic plasticity in developmental brain disorders: from bench to bedside

Chairperson: Barbara Bardoni
CNRS UMR 7275, Institut de pharmacologie moléculaire et cellulaire, 660, Route des Lucioles, 06560 Valbonne, France
Phone: +33 (0)4 93 95 77 66
Email: bardoni@ipmc.cnrs.fr

Vice-chairperson: Mara Dierssen
CRG-Center for genomic regulation, C/ Dr. Aiguader, 88 PRBB Building 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Phone: +34 93 316 01 40
Email: mara.dierssen@crg.eu

Developmental Brain Disorder (DBD) encompass a highly heterogeneous group of disorders having a prevalence of around 3% of worldwide population. DBD is characterized by impairments in cognition, social interaction, behavior and motor functioning as a result of abnormal development of brain. DBDs include ID, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, specific learning disorder, motor disorder, schizophrenia and epilepsy. Several of these phenotypes can often co-exist in the same patient and characterize the same disorder. On the other side, some pathways (e.g., Rho-GTPase, mGluRI, cAMP, GABA and neuroinflammation) have been found to be altered in different forms of DBD, both of genetic and environmental origin. These findings suggest common pathophysiological mechanisms that can be considered as a continuum of developmental brain dysfunctions.  Starting from these considerations, we propose to organize a conference entitled «Genetics, environment, signaling & synaptic plasticity in developmental brain disorders: from bench to bedside » based on the idea that enhancing discussion among specialists having different backgrounds will allow to tackle the subject from complementary points of view and might result into the development of new concepts and ideas in the field.

The conference will cover the following topics:

• Genetic & Environmental causes of DBDs;
• Innovative therapies for DBDs, with a particular focus on the difficulties to translate those treatments from the preclinical to the clinical level;
• Normal and pathologic cortical development, having a specific focus on interneurons;
• Common molecular pathways and circuits in the pathophysiology of DBDs;
• Synaptic plasticity in normal and pathologic neurodevelopment.

Invited speakers

(provisional titles)

• Alberto Bacci (Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Épinière, Paris, France)
  Inhibitory control of cortical microcircuits
   
• Barbara Bardoni (IPMC, Valbonne, France)
  Role of interneurons in the pathophysiology of Fragile X Syndrome
   
• Paola Bovolenta (Center for Molecular Biology Severo Ochoa, Madrid, Spain)
  Developmental visual disorders
   
• Ana Luisa Carvalho (Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Coimbra, Portugal)
  AMPA receptor dysfunction in cognitive disorders
   
• Maria Vincenta Catania (CNR Institute of Neuroscience, Catania, Italy)
  mGlu receptor dysfunction in autism spectrum disorders
   
• John Cryan (University College of Cork, Cork, Ireland)
  A gut feeling about neurodevelopment: microbiome & critical windows
   
• Mara Dierssen (Center for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona, Spain)
  Down syndrome
   
• Michela Fagiolini (Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA)
  Circuit dissection in neurodevelopmental disorders: biomarkers and new therapy strategies
   
• Victor Faundez (Emory University, Atlanta, USA)
  Synaptic mitochondrial mechanisms of neurodevelopmental disorders
   
• Barbara Franke (Donders Institute for Brain, Nijmejen, Netherlands)
  From finding genes to understanding biological mechanisms in neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorders
   
• Jozef Gecz (The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia)
  PCDH19 girls clustering epilepsy, a complex neurodevelopmental disorder of cellular mosaics
   
• Laurent Groc (Sahlgrenska Akademin - Univ Goteborg, Goteborg, Sweden)
  Glutamate receptor dynamics in models of neurodevelopmental disorders
   
• Pierre Gressens (Inserm-Paris University, Paris, France)
  Developmental background of neurodevelopmental disorders; potential clinical targets
   
• Yann Herault (CSI /IGBMC, Illkirch, France)
  Dyrk1a in neurodevelopment disorders
   
• Brigitte Kieffer (University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France)
  Opioid receptors and brain function
   
• Freda Miller (University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada)
  Cortical stem cells during normal and abnormal development
   
• Christophe Mulle (Institut interdisciplinaire de Neurosciences, Bordeaux, France)
  Presynaptic plasticity as a component of synaptopathies
   
• Valentin Nägerl (Institut Interdisciplinaire de NeuroSciences, Bordeaux, France)
  Super-resolution imaging of brain plasticity mechanisms
   
• Maria Passafaro (CNR Institute of Neuroscience, Milano, Italy)
  Contribution of GABAergic transmission to synaptic phenotype in PCDH19 Female limited epilepsy
   
• Julie Perroy (Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle, Montpellier, France)
  Impaired molecular dynamics at synapses in ASD mouse models
   
• Alessandra Pierani (Institute Imagine, Paris, France)
  Life and death of transient neurons in the maturation of functional and dysfunctional cortical circuits
   
• Marie-Claude Potier (Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Épinière, Paris, France)
  GABAergic over-inhibition, a promising hypothesis for cognitive deficits in Down syndrome
   
• Orly Reiner (Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, Israel)
  Brain organoids-A bottom-up approach for studying human neurodevelopment

• Michèle Studer (Institute of Biology Valrose, Nice, France)
  Cortical circuits and synaptic plasticity in a mouse model of a recently-described neurodevelopmental disease
   
• Gabor Tamas (University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary)
  What makes us human - specialized and conserved features of the human microcircuit
   
• Peter Todd (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA)
  Nucleotide repeats in neuronal function and neurologic disease

Deadline for application: January 5, 2022

Registration fee (including board and lodging)

• 560 € for PhD students
• 710 € for other participants

Application for registration

The total number of participants is limited to 115 and all participants are expected to attend for the whole duration of the conference. Selection is made on the basis of the affinity of potential participants with the topics of the conference. Scientists and PhD Students interested in the meeting should deposit online before the deadline: https://cjm1-2020.sciencesconf.org/

• their curriculum vitae
• the proof of their student status
• the list of their main publications for the 3 last years
• the abstract of their presentation:

The abstract must respect the following template:

• First line: title
• Second line: list of authors
• Third line: author's addresses
• Fourth line: e-mail of the presenting author

Abstract should not exceed 600 words. No figures.

After the deadline, the organizers will select the participants. Except in some particular cases approved by the Chairperson, it is recommended that all selected participants present their work during the conference, either in poster form or by a brief in- session talk. The organizers choose the form in which the presentations are made. No payment will be sent with application. Information on how and when to pay will be mailed in due time to those selected.