Latest trends in neuroscience at the PORT for Health: Neuroscience 2025 conference

While this will not be the first time we have hosted scientists, clinicians and entrepreneurs related to the field of neuroscience at the institute, it will be the first time we have organized this conference under the banner of the P4Health project, which is strategic for Łukasiewicz – PORT. With the support of Horizon Europe’s Teaming for Excellence program, we are implementing activities at the institute to optimize the diagnosis of neurobiological diseases, among other things, and this is what we will be discussing with the participants of the conference, which will kick off on April 7.

During “PORT for Health: Neuroscience 2025,” speakers – global experts in neuroscience – will present the latest results of their research and talk about the way to implement scientific discoveries. We will be introduced to the theme of the opening session “Empowering translational brain research through networking” by speakers: Lorenza Magno and Judith Schweimer from Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma in Germany, Julie Neubauer from Fraunhofer Project Center for Stem Cell Process Engineering in Germany, Joseph Hritz from CEITEC – Central European Institute of Technology in the Czech Republic, Luis Pereira de Almeida from the University of Coimbra, GeneT – Center of Excellence in Gene Therapy in Portugal, Cezary Mazurek from Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center, Witold Konopka, Michał Ślęzak, Agnieszka Krzyżosiak from Łukasiewicz – PORT. The focus will be on the importance of cooperation between research centers and free access to databases for the development of brain research.

In Session I, “Neuroimmune dialogue with sensory systems and cancer neuroscience,” scientists (Marcin Szczot from Linköping University in Sweden, Franziska Denk from King’s College in London, Mateusz Kucharczyk from Łukasiewicz – PORT and Anne-Marie Heegaard from the University of Copenhagen) will present current findings in neurophysiological oncology. The study of the interplay between tumor tissue, the nervous system and the immune system is a rapidly developing field, allowing the development of entirely new therapeutic remedies in the fight against tumorigenesis – a group of diseases that is naturally affecting more and more patients as the life expectancy of the population increases.

In session II, “Translational approaches to understanding neurodegeneration,” speakers (Selina Wray of University College London, Sara Carracedo of the University of Bordeaux, Pranesh Padmanabahn of the University of Queensland and Dimitris Xirodimas of the Montpellier Cell Biology Research Center) will present ways to deal with age-dependent neuronal death in diseases such as dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

“Translational biomarkers of mental disorders,” the third conference session, will focus on effective and easy-to-apply clinical diagnostics for cognitive diseases and disorders. These will be discussed by Mykhailo Batiuk of École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, Alexandra Badura and Henk-Jan Boehle of Erasmus University MC in the Netherlands, and Thomas Fenzl of Technical University Munich.

The theme of Session IV “Translational neuropsychiatry across the lifespan” will be psychiatric treatment methods. Invited researchers (Agnes Nadjar of Université de Bordeaux, Veronika Potok of ETH Zürich, Nora Raschle of the University of Zurich and Ali Jawaid of Łukasiewicz – PORT) will present the mind and brain as a set of elements that deregulate during cognitive diseases and ways to repair this condition.

The satellite session, “PORT4Business – Digital therapeutics,” continues the issue of combating cognitive disorders such as chronic stress and affective disorders and invites business representatives to the discussion. The main protagonist of this part of the program will be artificial intelligence. Marta Marciniak from Erasmus University Rotterdam, Malgorzata Sochacka from MoodMon, Elżlukbieta Trypka from VividMind, Ignacy Czajewski and Anna Chrzanowska from Paris Brain Institute will talk about the application of AI in psychiatry.

A key highlight of the conference will be speeches by respected authorities in neuroscience. Keynote speakers for this edition are Paul Schultz of the University of Texas Health Science Center (Houston) and Simona Lodato of the Humanitas Research Center (Milan).