12:30p Free Time & Recreation
05:30p Cash Bar - Opening Reception
07:00p Buffet Dinner
Spring Brain Conference - Sedona AZ – April 7 to April 10, 2016
Thursday April 7 (Official Hotel Check-in 4:00p)
12:30p Free Time & Recreation
05:30p Cash Bar - Opening Reception
06:45p Introduction Speaker: Thomas A. Woolsey, MD
Washington University, SOM Dept. of Neurosurgery
Title: “A Brief History of Spring Brain Conference”
07:00p Buffet Dinner
07:00p Keynote I: Speaker: Baldomero M. Olivera. Ph.D.
University of Utah, Dept. of Biology. HHMI Professor
Title: “Biological Toxins and their Ion Channel Targets”
Friday April 8
07:00a Buffet Breakfast
07:30a Plenary #1 Organizer: Tarek Samed, Ph.D. - Topic: Neuroinflammation
Session Title: “Neuroinflammation: Unravelling Mechanisms and Revealing Therapeutic
Opportunities”
Speaker 1: Title: “Neuroinflammatoin in Multiple Sclerosis” (tentative)
Etty Benveniste, Ph.D.
Alma B. Maxwell UAHSF Endowed Chair
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)
Speaker 2: Title: “Modulation of Endocannabinoid Hydrolysis to Reduce Brain Inflammation”
Tarek Samed, Ph.D.
Head, Neuroinflammation Research
Pfizer R&D
610 Main St
Cambridge, MA
Speaker 3: Title “Endocannabinoid Metabolism in Neurodegenerative Diseases”
Chu Chen, Ph.D.
LSU Health Sciences Center
New Orleans, LA
08:45a Plenary #2 Organizer: Frank Porreca, Ph.D. - Topic: Pain Mechanisms
Session Title: “Identifying Cell-specific Molecular Changes in DRG Neurons in a Chronic Pain
State”
Speaker 1: Title: “Constellation Pathology. A Novel Platform for Assessing Pathological Pain States”
Russ Teichert, Ph.D.
University of Utah
Speaker 2: Title: "Intrathecal contulakin-G for cancer pain"
Amol Patwardhan, MD, Ph.D.
University Arizona
Speaker 3: Title: “Teaching an old dog new tricks: constellation pharmacology unravels nociceptive targets and mechanisms"
Rajesh Khanna, Ph.D.
University of Arizona
10:00a Coffee Break & Networking
10:30a Plenary #3 Organizer: Stefan Clemens, Ph.D. - Topic: Neuromodulation
Session Title: “Neuromodulatory Interactions in the Spinal Cord”
Speaker 1: Title: “Do CSF-contacting aminergic neurons like dietary amino acid levels to motor drive?”
Shawn Hochman, Ph.D.
Emory University
Speaker 2: Title “Effect of diet induced obesity on muscle spindle afferent function and spinal cord integration”
Katie Wilkinson, Ph.D.
San Jose State University
Speaker 3: Title “Age-related dopamine D1 and D3 receptor functional changes in the spinal cord”
Stefan Clemens, Ph.D.
East Carolina University
11:45a Lunch
12:30p Free Time & Recreation
06:00p Cash Bar
06:30p Buffet Dinner
07:30p Keynote II Speaker: Ann McKee, MD
Boston University, SOM, Dept. of Neurology & Pathology
Title: “Trauma-induced Neurodegeneration"
Saturday April 9
07:00a Buffet Breakfast
07:30a Keynote III Speaker: James Levernez, MD
Cleveland Clinic, Chair, Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health
Title: “How Do You Define a Disease: Lessons from Neurodegeneration”.
08:45a Plenary #4 Organizer: Richard Zigmond, Ph.D. - Topic: Neurorepair Mechanisms
Session Title: “Advances in Degeneration and Regeneration Research"
Speaker 1: Title "DLK dependent Regulation of the Degenerative and Regenerative Responses to Axonal Injury"
Richard E Zigmond, Ph.D.
Dept. Neuroscience
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Speaker 2: Title: “Axonal Health: Metabolism Takes Center Stage”
Jeffrey D Milbrandt, PhD, MD
Dept. of Genetics
Washington Univ Sch Med
Speaker 3: Title: "DLK-dependent Regulation of the Degenerative and Regenerative Responses to Axonal Injury"
Joseph Lewcock, PhD
Denali Pharmaceuticals
South San Francisco, CA
10:00a Coffee Break & Networking
10:30a Plenary #5 Organizer: Chris Ford, Ph.D. - Topic: Movement Disorders
Session Title: “Molecular Basis of Striatal Function and Dysfunction”
Speaker 1: Title: "Synaptic Actions of Dopamine in the Striatum"
Christopher Ford, Ph.D.
Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics & Dept. of Neurosciences
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Speaker 2: Title "Protection of Mitochondrial Function in Huntington's Disease"
Xin Qi, Ph.D.
Department of Physiology & Biophysics
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Speaker 3: Title: TBA
11:45a Lunch
12:30p Free Time & Recreation
06:00p Cash Bar
06:30p Buffet Dinner Organizer: Doug Rosene: Posters 3 Minute Presentations
07:30p Keynote IV Speaker: Saterial & Bergethon -Topic: Neurobiology of Magic
Title: “Neurobiology of Magic”
Sunday April 10 (Official Hotel Check-out 11:00am)
07:00a Buffet Breakfast
07:30a Plenary #6 Organizer: Tara Moore, Ph.D. Topic: Recovery Function after Stroke
Session Title: ”Recovery of Function and Cortical Reorganization After Stroke”
Speaker 1: Title “A Non-human Primate Model of Cortical Injury”
Tara L. Moore, Ph.D.
Dept. of Anatomy and Neurobiology
Boston University School of Medicine
Speaker 2: Title: “Mesenchymal Stem Cell Derived Exosomes Promote Axonal Growth and Myelination”.
Benjamin Buller, Ph.D.
Henry Ford Health System
Detroit, MI
Speaker 3: Title: “Distributed Plasticity Across the Cortical Motor Network After Brain Injury.”
Numa Dancause, Ph.D.
Département de Neurosciences,
Université de Montréal
08:45a Plenary #7 Organizer: Margaret Bauman Topic: Neurobiology of Autism
Session Title: The Neurobiology of Autism
Speaker 1: Title: “Immune and Autoimmune factors in ASD”
Judy Van der Water, Ph.D.
UC Davis/MIND Institute
Speaker 2: Title: “The role of GABA in the Autistic Brain”
Gene J Blatt, PhD
Hussman Institute for Autism
Baltimore, MD
Speaker 3: Title: “The Cerebellum in Autism” (tentative)
Peter Tsai, MD, Ph.D.
UT Southwest Dallas
10:00a Coffee Break & Networking
10:30a Plenary #8 Organizer: Peter Bergethon -Topic: Neurobiology of Education
Speaker 1: Title: “Teachers as Scholars and the Neuroscience of Learning”
Peter Bergethon, MD
Head, Quantitative Medicine
Neuroscience and Pain Unit
Pfizer
11:45a Lunch Business Meeting & Plans for the Future
12:30p Free Time & Recreation
06:00p Preparation for Neuroscience Outreach Program: review of activities and team building
08:00p Cash Bar
Monday April 11 Neuroscience Outreach Program at Coconino High School, Flagstaff, AZ
08:30a Travel to Flagstaff (tentative)
10:00a to 1:00p Meeting with students (tentative)