Meeting on Motor Neuron Diseases - II edition

Turin, Italy | 4-5 November 2022

II Edition
MOTOR NEURON DISEASES:
UNDERSTANDING THE PATHOGENETIC MECHANISMS TO DEVELOP THERAPIES

Hybrid Meeting

VENUES
Lectures: Palace of the Anatomical Institutes, C.so Massimo D’Azeglio 52, 10124, Torino, Italy
Practical activities (hands on training): Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi (NICO), RegioneGonzole 10, 10043, Orbassano (TO), Italy

Organizers: M. Boido & S. Stanga

For info, contact: marina.boido@unito.it | serena.stanga@unito.it 

Registration is closed!

Credits (CFU): 2 for attendance + 0.5 for poster presentation

The first edition of the meeting registered more than 170 participants from Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, Norway, Brazil, Peru and Canada. The event has been a great occasion for keeping up-to-date with the latest advances in ALS and SMA field, and a good opportunity for networking and laying the foundations for future collaborations.

The second edition of the conference will still focus on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), two severe neurological pathologies affecting motor neurons and causing their progressive degeneration.

The conference foresees to discuss about the most recent cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis and progression of these diseases, and to give an overview of the currently available treatments and new developing therapeutic strategies.

An entire afternoon will be dedicated to practical activities focused on nerve-muscle co-cultures techniques, advanced imaging methods and in silico analysis for neurological pathologies at the Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi.

SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM 

minor changes could occur

DAY 1 - Friday 4^th November 

13.00-14.00  Registration

14.00-14.15  Opening ceremony
Welcome by the Organizers
Greetings by A. Vercelli (Deputy Rector for Biomedical Research, Univ. Turin), A. Mauro (Director Dept. Neuroscience, Univ. Turin) and A. Calvo (PhD Neuroscience Coordinator, Univ. Turin)

14.15-14.30  Brief introduction by the organizers (Marina Boido and Serena Stanga, NICO - Univ. Turin)

14.30-15.30  Session I - SMA disease mechanisms and therapeutic approaches

14.30-14.50   Stefania Corti, Univ. Milan - Spinal Muscular Atrophy: new molecular therapeutic targets
14.50-15.10   Thomas Gillingwater, Univ. Edinburgh - Developing the second generation of therapies for SMA    
15.10-15.30   Cécile Martinat, I-STEM, AFM, Evry - Human pluripotent stem cells for neuromuscular diseases

15.30-15.45   Q&A Session 

15.45-16.10   Coffee break

16.10-16.50  Session II - SMA: a look at the clinical research

16.10-16.30   Gabriele Pistillo, Novartis Gene Therapies, Milan - Zolgensma journey for SMA patients access in Italy
16.30-16.50   Lorenzo Maggi, Foundation IRCCS Neurological Institute Carlo Besta, Milan - SMA in adult age - treatments and new challenges

16.50-17.00   Q&A Session II

17.00-17.20   Lecture
Francesco Biancardi, Zeiss - New approaches for Volume Imaging in Neuroscience: Lab based X-Ray and Serial Block Face Electron Microscopy

17.20-17.40   Lecture
Cinzia Gellera, Foundation IRCCS Neurological Institute Carlo Besta, Milan – Genetics of Motor Neuron Diseases: what we have learned

17.40-19.30   Poster session

20.00             Social dinner with the speakers

DAY 2 - Saturday 5^th November 

8.30-10.00  Session III - ALS pathogenetic mechanisms

8.30-8.50      Manuela Basso, Univ. Trento - It's all a matter of communication! What extracellular vesicles are revealing about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
8.50-9.10      Ludo Van Den Bosch, VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research - Using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells to get insights into the pathogenic mechanisms of ALS
9.10-9.30      Maria Pennuto, Univ. Padua - Motor neuron diseases: a journey from the central nervous system to periphery

9.30-10.10  Session IV – ALS therapeutic strategies

9.30-9.50      Françoise Piguet, NEUROGENCELL, INSERM, ICM, Paris - Cyp46a1 overexpression as a relevant target for ALS independent from its origin   
9.50-10.10    Adriano Chiò, Univ. Turin - Is it time for a personalized medicine approach in ALS?

10.10-10.25  Q&A Sessions III-IV

10:25-10:45   Lecture
Francesco Girardi, Media System Lab - Video Killed the Imaging Star

10.45-11.30   Closing Lecture
Aaron D. Gitler, Univ. Stanford - Expanding mechanisms and therapeutic targets for motor neuron disease 

11.30-11.35   Awards ceremony and goodbye to the online attendees

11.35-12.15   Brunch

12.15-12.45   Transfer TORINO-NEUROSCIENCE INSTITUTE CAVALIERI OTTOLENGHI (NICO, ORBASSANO)

13.00-16.00  Practical activities at Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi (with Marina Boido and Serena Stanga, Univ. Turin)

(I) How to set up a 2D nerve-muscle co-cultures: tips and tricks
(II) Label-free live cell imaging of mitochondria dynamics (sponsored by Media System Lab)
(III) Different approaches for mitochondria analysis: from the staining to in silico tools (sponsored by Zeiss)

16:00-16:30  Transfer NICO-TORINO

Goodbye to the next edition (in 2024)!

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