Asset 2 Conferences

Sneak Peek into The Brain Mosaic

30 July 2019

In less than three months’ time, the second edition of The Brain Mosaic: Cellular heterogeneity in the CNS will take place in Leuven, home of the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research.

As the conference is fast approaching, this means we can now give you some insight into what the experts will be talking about.

Barbara Treutlein studies how the human brain has changed dramatically since humans diverged from our closest living relatives, chimpanzees and the other great apes. After analyzing chimpanzee and macaque cerebral organoids, she compiled a temporal cell atlas of great ape forebrain development and found that human neuronal development proceeds at a delayed pace relative to the other two primates.

Spatial transcriptomics and data-driven computational approaches result in a multidimensional gene expression atlas. Joakim Lundeberg will illustrate the methodological aspects and describe how the spatiotemporal gene expression atlas uncovers early changes in ALS disease not observable using traditional sequencing methods.

Choosing the right behavior in response to a stimulus is crucial for an animal’s survival. The senses are crucial for achieving this. The lab of Gwyneth Card focusses on visually-driven behaviors of the fly. Her talk will contain insights into the representation of ethologically-relevant visual features in the fly brain and how descending neurons contribute to this process.

The immune system is a complex network. Single-cell genomics can play a vital role in the characterization of complex immune cell assemblies. Ido Amit will discuss how single-cell genomic studies have an impact on our perspective of various immune related pathologies from cancer to neurodegeneration.

The Brain Mosaic will bring together a tremendous amount of essential knowledge and insights into the Central Nervous System. All speakers will share their latest findings and the conference will open doors for new collaborations.

If you are interested in this meeting, we invite you to take a look at the conference’s website.

Venue - KU Leuven University Hall - Leuven