3Rd Macquarie Neurodegeneration Meeting 28-29 OCTOBER 2020
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CENTRE FOR MOTOR NEURONEDISEASE RESEARCH Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences 3rd Macquarie Neurodegeneration Meeting 28-29 OCTOBER 2020 AN EVENT FOR AUSTRALIAN NEUROSCIENTISTS TO SHOWCASE THEIR RESEARCH AND TO STIMULATE CONVERSATION AND FOSTER COLLABORATION TO DEVELOP TREATMENTS FOR DISEASES INCLUDING MOTOR NEURON DISEASE, ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE, FRONTOTEMPORAL DEMENTIA, PARKINSON’S DISEASE AND OTHER DEGENERATIVE BRAIN DISORDERS. Our Sponsor We are incredibly thankful to our sponsor for their support of the Macquarie Neurodegeneration Meeting Gain a new perspective on the nervous system and accelerate discovery. Explore 10x Genomics Solutions for neuroscience in this short video. 2 Our Sponsor 3 Our Sponsor 4 Welcome The Macquarie Neurodegeneration Meeting is an annual event hosted by the Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research, Macquarie University. The aim of this event is for Australian neuroscientists to showcase their research and to stimulate conversation and foster collaboration to develop treatments for diseases including motor neuron disease, Alzheimer’s disease, frontal temporal dementia, Parkinson’s disease and other degenerative brain disorders. We welcome your involvement and hope the day provides inspiration and assists in fostering collaboration and connections in the neurodegeneration research community. Yours Sincerely, The Conference Organising Committee COMMITTEE MEMBERS Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research Professor Julie Atkin Co-Director Professor Ian Blair Co-Director Christina Cassidy Centre Administrator Flora Cheng Research Assistant Dr Lyndal Henden Postdoctoral Research Fellow Research Dr Emily McCaan Postdoctoral Research Fellow Research Dr Prachi Mehta Research Officer Dr Sonam Parakh Postdoctoral Research Fellow 5 Program Conference Program WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 28TH 2020 Opening 2:00 pm – 2:05 pm Webinar Opening Welcome remarks by Professor Julie Atkin Co-Director Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research, Macquarie University Session 1 Chair – Dr Emily Don 2:05 pm – 2:35 pm Professor Neil Cashman The Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Canada TDP-43 Misfolding-Specific Antibodies in Treatment of TDP-43 Mediated Diseases (30min) 2:35 pm – 2:50pm Dr Sophia Luikinga The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health Ambroxol as novel therapeutic intervention to improve motor function in a mouse model of ALS (15min) 2:50 pm – 3:20 pm Professor Gilles Guillemin Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research, Macquarie University Overview of the involvement of the kynurenine pathway in neuroinflammatory diseases. Applications for prognosis and treatment (30min) 3: 20 pm – 3:35 pm Dr Emily McCann Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research, Macquarie University Implicating novel genetic variation in ALS through the analysis of disease discordant monozygotic twins (15min) Break 3:35 pm –4:20 pm Time to view Posters https://www.mq.edu.au/research/research-centres-groups-and- facilities/healthy-people/centres/macquarie-university-centre- for-motor-neuron-disease-research/conference 6 Program Session 2 Chair – Dr Alison Hogan 4:20 pm – 4:35 pm Ms Sarah El-Wahsh Faculty of Medicine and Health, Speech Pathology Department, The University of Sydney Perspectives from the patient: communication symptoms, their impact, and speech pathology services in multiple sclerosis (15 min) 4:35 pm – 4:50 pm Dr Léonie Borne Systems Neuroscience Group, School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of Newcastle Modes of covariation between cortical anatomy and multi- domain cognitive function in healthy mid-life adults predict mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s dementia (5min) 4:50 pm – 4.55 pm Dr Cindy Maurel Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research, Macquarie University The unexplored effects of SUMOylation on TDP-43 aggregation and sub-cellular localization (5 min) 4:55 pm – 5:00 pm Dr Lyndal Henden Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research, Macquarie University Identity by descent analysis links SOD1 familial and sporadic ALS cases (5 min) Professor Flaviano Giorgini 5.00 pm – 5.30 pm Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, University of Leicester, UK The kynurenine pathway and Huntington’s disease: from mechanisms to therapeutics (30 min) Professor Ammar Al-Chalabi 5.30 pm – 6.00 pm Kings College London, UK Understanding the causes of motor neuron disease (30 min) End Session – Reminder Posters available to view overnight on our website https://www.mq.edu.au/research/research-centres-groups-and-facilities/healthy- people/centres/macquarie-university-centre-for-motor-neuron-disease- research/conference 7 Program Conference Program THUSDAY OCTOBER 29TH 2020 Session 3 Chair – Dr Shelley Forrest 9:00 am – 9:05 am Welcome by Professor Ian Blair Co-Director - Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research, Macquarie University 9:05 am – 9:20 am Dr Rachel Atkinson from Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre, University of Tasmania New model approaches for understanding axon degeneration in ALS (15min) 9:20 am – 9:35am Dr Mouna Haidar from The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne Modelling cortical hyperexcitability in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis using chemogenetics (15min) 9:35 am – 9: 50 am Ms Katherine Jane Robinson from Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research, Macquarie University Pathological expansion of ATXN3 alters memory and anxiety-like behaviours in a mouse model of Machado Joseph Disease/Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3 (15min) 9:50 am – 10:20 am Dr Arne Ittner from Dementia Research Centre, Macquarie University Protein kinases and tau phosphorylation in memory (30min) 10:20 am – 10:25 am Mrs Barbora Fulopova from University of Tasmania Differential patterns of cortical connectivity and beta amyloid deposition in APP/PS1 mice relative to ageing and the effects of midlife environmental enrichment (5min) Break 10:25 am – 11:00 am Time to view Posters https://www.mq.edu.au/research/research-centres-groups-and- facilities/healthy-people/centres/macquarie-university-centre- for-motor-neuron-disease-research/conference 8 Program Session 4 Chair – Dr Jennifer Fifita 11:00 am – 11:30 am Professor Anna King from University of Tasmania Blood biomarkers of neurodegeneration (30min) 11:30 am – 11:45 am Dr Lisa Oyston from Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney Determining the pathogenicity of TBK1 missense variants in FTD and ALS (15min) 11:45 am – 11:50 am Ms Marina Ulanova from Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, UNSW Magnetic nanoparticles as MRI contrast agents for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease (5min) 11:50 am – 11:55 am Associate Professor Alison Canty from Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre, University of Tasmania In vivo imaging of injured cortical axons reveals a rapid onset form of Wallerian degeneration (5min) 11:55 am – 12:00 pm Mr Andres Vidal-Itriago from Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research, Macquarie University The missing link: Investigating the physiological traits of microglia during neurodegeneration (5min) 12:00 pm – 12:30 pm Professor Colin L Masters Laurette Professor of Dementia Research from The Florey Institute, The University of Melbourne The molecular origins of Alzheimer’s disease: when does it start and what strategies for primary prevention? (30min) Close of Presentations 12:30 pm – 12:35 pm Closing remarks by Professor Patrick McNeil Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Medicine and Health) and Executive Dean of Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Science, Macquarie University 12:35 pm – 12:45 pm Prize Presentation 9 Invited Speakers Professor Ammar Al-Chalabi PROFESSOR OF NEUROLOGY King's College London Ammar Al-Chalabi is professor of neurology and complex disease genetics at King’s College London, consultant neurologist at King’s College Hospital and Deputy Editor, Brain. His research focuses on understanding the causes and modifiers of motor neuron disease and how these can be used to find effective treatments. Professor Neil Cashman PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE University of British Columbia Dr. Neil Cashman is Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, where his basic research is focused on the role of protein misfolding in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He serves as a Director of the ALS Centre Clinic at G.F. Strong Hospital. He is a neurologist-neuroscientist- entrepreneur who holds leadership positions in these three career domains. Two central ideas inform his scientific and translational work: first, that neurodegenerative diseases are due to prion-like propagated protein misfolding, and second, that antibodies are well suited to specifically bind to misfolded proteins while sparing normal proteins from autoimmune attack. He originally applied these ideas to prion disease itself (Cashman et al, Cell 1990; Paramithiotis et al, Nat Med 2003). He has applied the prion concept to developing novel immunotherapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). For ALS, he discovered that misfolded Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) acquires the prion-like ability to template misfolding of healthy SOD1 molecules (Grad et al, PNAS 2011), and that prion-like transmission of SOD1 misfolding can be 10 Invited Speakers propagated between cells by protein aggregates and exosomes (Grad et al, PNAS 2014). For AD, He discovered Aβ oligomer-specific epitopes; which will enable a safe and effective AD treatment (Silverman et al, ACS Chem Neurosci 2018, Gibbs et al Sci Rep 2019). He is the Scientific Founder