10 year VIB Conferences
New Horizons in Neurodegeneration
9-10 October 2025, Leuven, Belgium
Organized in partnership with Cell Press
New Horizons in Neurodegeneration
New Horizons in Neurodegeneration
Organized in partnership with Cell Press
Keep me postedAdd to calendar
Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) manifest with distinct clinical features but shares underlying mechanisms. Understanding neurodegenerative diseases is critical in the quest to develop preventive measures, diagnostic tools, and targeted therapies.
This conference brings together leading scientists in the field to share groundbreaking research, novel methodologies, and cutting-edge technologies, all aimed at unraveling the complexities of neurodegeneration.
The presentations and discussions will focus on:
- Development of new models to study neurodegeneration
- New technologies to study neurodegeneration
- Role of Neuro-inflammation in neurodegeneration
- Novel therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases
This conference with a somewhat larger scale and scope is at the same time a celebration for 10 years of VIB conferences and is organized in partnership with Cell Press.
Abstracts & travel grants
Submit your abstract for a poster presentation before the deadline of 4 September 2025.
We offer four travel grants to international junior scientists, which will reimburse travel costs up to €400. The deadline to participate was 1 July 2025.
Host City: Leuven
Want to know more about the host city of this conference? Find out where the best restaurants, bars, or last-minute print shops are. Check the city page here.
Confirmed speakers
Bart De Strooper
Bart De Strooper
VIB-KU Leuven Center For Neuroscience, BE & UK Dementia Research Institute, UK
Henne Holstege
Henne Holstege
VIB-KU Leuven Center For Neuroscience, BE & Amsterdam University Medical Center, NL
Selina Wray
Selina Wray
Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, UK
Program
Day 1 - Thursday, 09 October, 2025
08:20
08:50
Welcome coffee & registration
08:50
09:00
Welcome words
09:00
12:35
Session 1: Development of new models to study neurodegeneration
09:00
09:30
Innate immunity and neurodegeneration: challenges and opportunities
Li Gan
Cornell Medicine, Appel Alzheimer’s Disease Research Institute, US
09:30
10:00
Understanding molecular heterogeneity of Alzheimer’s disease using personalised stem cell models
Selina Wray
Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, UK
10:00
10:30
Impact of genetics in the biology of microglia in dementia
Renzo Mancuso
VIB-UAntwerp Center for Molecular Neurology, BE
10:30
10:45
A long-term human brain organoid model to unravel human developmental features and early Alzheimer's disease hallmarks
Ira Espuny-Camacho
GIGA-Neuroscience Department, GIGA Institute, University of Liège, BE
Selected from abstracts
10:45
11:15
Coffee break
11:15
11:45
Applying iPSC-organoids to profiling the impact of 4R tau on mitochondrial health and microtubule stability
Kathryn Bowles
University of Edinburgh, UK
11:45
12:15
Modelling neurodegenerative diseases in a dish
Jeroen Pasterkamp
University Medical Center Utrecht, NL
12:15
12:30
Genetic heterogeneity alters the amyloid-beta response of human microglia
Annerieke Sierksma
Department of Neurosciences and Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, BE; VIB-KU Leuven Center for Neuroscience, BE
Selected from abstracts
12:30
12:35
End-to-End Solutions for Neurodegeneration Research
Benjamin Versier
Territory Manager, VectorBuilder, FR
Sponsored talk
12:35
13:30
Lunch
13:30
14:30
Poster session 1
14:30
18:00
Session 2: New developments in neurodegeneration
14:30
15:00
Prospects for improved neuroprotection in ALS/MND
Pamela Shaw
Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience, UK
15:00
15:30
Defining Proteins in Health and Disease
Judith Steen
Harvard Medical School & Boston Children's Hospital, US
15:30
16:00
Characterization of genetic variation in transcriptional enhancers in the cingulate gyrus and substantia nigra
Stein Aerts
VIB Center for AI & Computational Biology, BE
16:00
16:15
Dissecting the role of skeletal muscle in TDP-43- and FUS-associated ALS
Hannah Walgrave
Radboud University, NL
Selected from abstracts
16:15
16:45
Coffee break
16:45
17:00
How heterotypic interactions modulate amyloid formation
Joost Schymkowitz
Switch Laboratory, VIB-KU Leuven Center For Neuroscience, BE
Selected from abstracts
17:00
17:30
Critical Inflection Points in the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease
Bart De Strooper
VIB-KU Leuven Center For Neuroscience, BE & UK Dementia Research Institute, UK
17:30
18:00
TDP-43 mislocalization in neurodegeneration initiated by CREBBP acetylation of lysine 82 in its nuclear localization sequence
Sitao Zhang
UCSD, US
18:00
19:00
Reception
19:00
20:00
Social activity
20:00
22:30
Conference dinner
Additional fee
Day 2 - Friday, 10 October, 2025
08:30
09:00
Welcome coffee
09:00
11:15
Session 3: Role of neuro-inflammation in neurodegeneration
09:00
09:30
Brain-immune communications in Alzheimer’s disease
Xiaoying Chen
Tsinghua University, CN
09:30
10:00
Gut-Brain Neuroimmune Axis in Neurodegenerative Disease
Seppe De Schepper
VIB-UAntwerp Center for Molecular Neurology, BE
10:00
10:30
Neurovascular Interactions: From mechanisms to clinical trials
Katerina Akassoglou
Gladstone Institutes, US
10:30
10:45
The Alzheimer’s therapeutic Lecanemab induces an amyloid-clearing program in microglia
Giulia Albertini
VIB-KU Leuven Centre for Brain and Disease Research, BE; Department of Neurosciences and Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, BE
Selected from abstracts
10:45
11:15
Coffee break
11:15
12:35
Session 4: Genetic modifiers in neurodegenerative diseases
11:15
11:45
Finding genetic modifiers in ALS
Ammar Al-Chalabi
King's College London, UK
11:45
12:15
The genomic spectrum of repeat expansion loci and their growing associations to disease
Stephan Züchner
University of Miami, US
12:15
12:30
Investigating Low-Frequency Somatic Single Nucleotide Variants in Multiple System Atrophy Brains
Ben Thompson
Department of Clinical and Movement Neurosciences, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, GB; Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) Collaborative Research Network, US
Selected from abstracts
12:30
12:35
Unlocking the Human Brain secrets with BD Rhapsody™ Single-Cell Multiomics System
Stefano Bonelli
BD Biosciences Benelux, BE
Sponsored talk
12:35
13:30
Lunch
13:30
14:30
Poster session 2
14:30
18:00
Session 5: Novel therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases
14:30
15:00
Resilience to cognitive decline to escape dementia: what we can learn from cognitively healthy centenarians
Henne Holstege
VIB-KU Leuven Center For Neuroscience, BE & Amsterdam University Medical Center, NL
15:00
15:30
Transcription factor regulation of microglial states and their link to Alzheimer’s disease genetics
Alison Goate
Icahn Genomics Institute, US
15:30
16:00
An Oligonucleotide Transport Vehicle for the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease
Scarlett Barker
Denali Therapeutics, US
16:00
16:15
Multimodal polytherapy for ALS targeting both ends of the motor unit
Peter Crouch
The University of Melbourne, AU
Selected from abstracts
16:15
16:45
Coffee break
16:45
17:00
Lowering the Htt1a transcript as an effective therapy for Huntington’s disease
Aikaterini Papadopoulou
University College London, GB
Selected from abstracts
17:00
17:30
Probe neurodegeneration mechanisms by targeted degradation of lipid droplets
Boxun Lu
Fudan University, CN
17:30
18:00
Motor neuron degeneration driven by TRPV4 mediated breakdown of blood-neural barriers
Charlotte Sumner
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, US
18:00
18:10
Closing words
Organizing committee
Bart De Strooper
VIB-KU Leuven Center For Neuroscience, BE & UK Dementia Research Institute, UK
Alison Goate
Icahn Genomics Institute, US
Luis Gomes
Scientific editor, Cell, Cell Press, ES
Albena Jordanova
VIB-UAntwerp Center for Molecular Neurology, BE
Rosa Rademakers
VIB-UAntwerp Center for Molecular Neurology, BE
Ludo Van Den Bosch
VIB-KU Leuven Center For Neuroscience, BE
Patrik Verstreken
VIB-KU Leuven Center For Neuroscience, BE
Evy Vierstraete
VIB Training & Conferences, BE
Abstracts
Poster information
The format for your poster should be: A0 (841 x 1189 mm / 33.1 x 46.8 in), portrait orientation. All accepted poster submissions will have a chance to win the Cell Press Poster Prize!
The full list of abstracts will be available on 23-09-2025 until 10-01-2026
This list will only be available for registered attendees of the event.
This list will only be available for registered attendees of the event.
Attendees
The full list of attendees will be available on 23-09-2025 until 10-01-2026
This list will only be available for registered attendees of the event.
This list will only be available for registered attendees of the event.
Sponsors
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