NSI stream

Neuroscience Ireland (NSI) was established in 2005 as Ireland’s National Neuroscience Society, and is a registered charity in the Republic of Ireland.

The aim of the Society is to advance research and education in the neurosciences in Ireland, and to represent Irish neuroscience researchers both nationally and internationally. NSI has a membership in the region of 200 scientists and clinicians, and represents Ireland on the Governing Council of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS).

NSI is a Festival Partner for BNA2019 and the NSI Council has also taken on the role of Local Organising Committee for the Festival.  NSI is playing a key part in organising the public programme of activities. 

The NSI scientific stream within the BNA2019 Festival of Neuroscience consists of the following sessions:

NSI Programme Stream:

Sunday 14th April: 13.00 - 14.40

S3: Precision therapy: Antisense oligonucleotides targeting coding and noncoding RNAs for neurological disorders​
Cristina Reschke, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Ireland (co-chair) - A microRNA-based disease-modifying therapy for epilepsy: journey to pre-clinical development
Suzan Hammond, University of Oxford, UK - Oligonucleotide therapies for neuromuscular diseases
Bernhard Landwehrmeyer, University College London, UK - Therapies targeting DNA and RNA in Huntington's disease
Gerhard Schratt, ETH Zurich, Switzerland - Novel non-coding RNA transcripts and their binding proteins as targets to shape neuronal network stability

Sunday 14th April: 18:00 - 19:00, the Auditorium, CCD

NSI Opening Plenary and The Brain Prize Plenary Lecture: Decisions, uncertainty and rewards

Professor Ray Dolan,
Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UK

Ray Dolan, one of the winners of The Brain Prize 2018, will be presented with the NSI Distinguished Investigator Award at the start of the lecture.  Read more information about Ray Dolan's lecture here.

​Monday 15th April: 9.30 - 11.10

​S12: Cognitive ageing: Inflammatory mechanisms driving changes in brain plasticity
The 'Neuronal Signaling' symposium, supported by Portland Press

Yvonne Nolan, University College Cork, Ireland (co-chair) - Chronic hippocampal inflammation and cognitive decline: neurogenesis-mediated mechanisms​
Annamaria Cattaneo, IRCCS Fatebenefratelli Brescia, Italy - Role of the gut microbiome and inflammation in Alzheimer Disease
Sandrine Thuret, King’s College London, UK - Alteration of Hippocampal Neurogenesis by the human systemic milieu: A biomarker of cognitive aging and dementia
Aine Kelly, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland (co-chair) - Regular physical activity protects against cognitive ageing: assessment of underlying anti-inflammatory mechanisms ​

Monday 15th April: 15.30 - 17.10

S17: Cannabinoids: therapeutic potential in CNS disorders
Eric Downer, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland (co-chair) - Therapeutically targeting innate immune signalling mechanisms in CNS disorders with cannabinoids​
Roger Pertwee, University of Aberdeen, UK - Pharmacological actions and potential novel therapeutic uses of certain plant and synthetic cannabinoids
Eva Marco, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain - Cannabinoids in emotional control, is there a sex-dependent effect? 
Michelle Roche, NUI Galway, Ireland (co-chair) - Endocannabinoid modulation of neuroinflammation: implications of psychiatric disorders and pain​

Tuesday 16th April: 15.30 - 17.10

S26: The Microbiome: A Key Regulator of the Impact of Diet on Brain Function
John Cryan, University College Cork, Ireland (co-chair) - Dietary targeting of the microbiome for the stressed, and ageing brain​
Carlos Ribiero, Fundação Champalimaud, Portugal - Commensal bacteria control food choice behavior 
Marion Rincel, University Bordeaux, France (co-chair) - Interactions between diet, early-life stress & behaviour: Role of the microbiome & gut barrier function​
Philip Burnet, University of Oxford, UK - Prebiotic effects on brain and behaviour in rodents and humans

Affiliated symposia: 

Sunday 14th April: 16.20 - 18.00

S7: The link between neuroinflammation and dysregulated metabolism in the context of age and Alzheimer's disease
Convened by Dementia and Neurodegeneration Network Ireland

Marie-Victoire Guillot-Sestier, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland - Immunometabolism and Alzheimer’s disease: Alteration of microglial metabolic function with age and cerebral amyloidosis
Catherine B. Lawrence, University of Manchester, UK (co-chair) - The role of zinc deficiency and neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s disease
Michael Heneka, University of Bonn Medical Center, Germany - The inflammasome in AD
Marina Lynch, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland (co-chair) - Inflammasome activation in microglia is accompanied by a switch towards glycolysis: Assessment of the impact on neuronal function

Tuesday 16th April: 09.30 - 11.10

S24: Impact Factor: Concussion and Brain Health
John Kealy, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland (co-chair) - The neurovascular unit following traumatic brain injury
David Loane, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland - Chronic pathologies following severe TBI: NOXious neuroinflammation as a therapeutic target​
Niamh Lynch, Bon Secours Hospital, Cork, Ireland (co-chair) - Concussion - A paediatrics perspective
Ann McKee, Boston University, US - Updates in CTE: 2019

Tuesday 16th April: 15.30 - 17.10

S28: Let’s stick together - neurodegeneration an expanding disease spectrum
Convened by the Association of British Neurologists

Timothy Lynch, University College Dublin, Ireland - Subtypes of Parkinson's disease and parkinsonism in Ireland (co-chair) - Subtypes of Parkinson's disease and parkinsonism in Ireland​
Jonathan Schott, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK (co-chair) - Determining the prevalence and causes of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease and cerebrovascular disease – results from a British Birth Cohort
Matthew Jones, University of Manchester, UK - Unravelling FTD – syndromes, proteins, genes and treatments 
Paola Piccini, Imperial College London, UK - Advances in Neuroimaging in PD

Wednesday 17th April: 09.30 - 11.10

S34: Vascular Neurology 
Convened by the Irish Institute of Clinical Neuroscience
Keith Muir, University of Glasgow, UK - Neuroimaging techniques  to optimise selection of acute ischaemic stroke patients for IV thrombolysis or mechanical thrombectomy
Dominick McCabe, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland (co-chair) - Update on translational platelet science / haemostasis in ischaemic cerebrovascular disease​
Aine Merwick, Beaumont Hospital, Ireland - Optimising risk-stratification to guide management following a transient ischaemic attack
Alex Leff, UCL, UK (co-chair) - Novel approaches to rehabilitation following stroke​

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