Brain Disorders and Therapeutics

Wang is Director of Neuroapoptosis Drug Discovery Laboratory, Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Dr. Wang received her PhD from Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She did her postdoctoral training at University of Michigan and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Wang has published about 70 peer-reviewed articles and has served as the Guest Editor, Handling Editor, and Editorial Board Member for a number of peer-reviewed journals, as well as the scientist reviewer for institutes or foundations including NIH, DOD, BSF, and others, and invited reviewer for 30 peer-reviewed journals.

Identification of candidate therapeutics for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Huntington’s disease, and ischemic stroke; Fundamental mechanisms of neurological diseases.

Dr. Ronald Swatzyna received his Masters of Science and Doctorate of Philosophy from The University of Texas Arlington. Currently, he is the Director of Electro-Neurophysiology Research, Director of Neurotherapy at the Tarnow Center for Self-ManagementSM, and is an associate of Brain Science International. Dr. Swatzyna is a licensed clinical social worker supervisor, board certified in neurotherapy and biofeedback by the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA). For 18 years, Dr. Swatzyna has analyzed and treated the most diagnostically challenging cases in both inpatient and outpatient settings. As a researcher, he has presented and/or published over 50 peer-reviewed papers on brain dysfunction, psychotropic medication and other related topics at national and international conferences and is a Special Editor for WebmedCentral plus and Clinical EEG and Neuroscience. In 2011, Dr. Swatzyna was inducted into Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society: Rice University/Texas Medical Center Chapter and in 2013, he accepted an appointment to the board of directors. Dr. Swatzyna is a veteran of both Vietnam and the first Gulf War, and his personal battle with a traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder has motivated him to become a leading expert in brain dysfunction.

Research Interest: involve the utility of EEG and qEEG technology to assist with medication selection and titration.

Professor of Neurology, Senior Neurologist, Chairman of the Neurosciences Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Iuliu Hatieganu” Cluj-Napoca, President of the Romanian Society of Neurology, President of the Society for the Study of Neuroprotection and Neuroplasticity (SSNN), member of the Academy of Medical Sciences, Romania, secretary of its Cluj Branch. He is also member of 13 scientific international societies (being member of the American Neurological Association (ANA) - Fellow of ANA (FANA) since 2012) and 7 national ones, being part of the executive board of most. Professor Dafin F. Muresanu is a specialist in Leadership and Management of Research and Health Care Systems (specialization in Management and Leadership, Arthur Anderson Institute, Illinois, USA, 1998 and several international courses and training stages in Neurology, research, management and leadership). Professor Dafin F. Muresanu is coordinator in international educational programs of European Master (i.e. European Master in Stroke Medicine, University of Krems), organizer and co-organizer of many educational projects: European and international schools and courses (International School of Neurology, European Stroke Organisation summer School, Danubian Neurological Society Teaching Courses, Seminars - Department of Neurosciences, European Teaching Courses on Neurorehabilitation) and scientific events: congresses, conferences, symposia (International Congresses of the Society for the Study of Neuroprotection and Neuroplasticity (SSNN), International Association of Neurorestoratology (IANR) & Global College for Neuroprotection and Neuroregeneration (GCNN) Conferences, Vascular Dementia Congresses (VaD), World Congresses on Controversies in Neurology (CONy), Danube Society Neurology Congresses, World Academy for Multidisciplinary Neurotraumatolgy (AMN) Congresses, Congresses of European Society for Clinical Neuropharmacology, European Congresses of Neurorehabilitation). His activity includes involvement in many national and international clinical studies and research projects, over 300 scientific participations as “invited speaker” in national and international scientific events, a significant portfolio of scientific articles (120 papers indexed on Web of Science-ISI, H-index: 14) as well as contributions in monographs and books published by prestigious international publishing houses. Prof. Dr. Dafin F. Muresanu has been honoured with: the Academy of Romanian Scientists, “Carol Davila Award for Medical Sciences / 2011”, for the contribution to the Neurosurgery book “Tratat de Neurochirurgie” (vol.2), Editura Medicala, Bucuresti, 2011; the Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Iuliu Hatieganu” Cluj-Napoca “Octavian Fodor Award” for the best scientific activity of the year 2010 and the 2009 Romanian Academy “Gheorghe Marinescu Award” for advanced contributions in Neuroprotection and Neuroplasticity.

Neuroprotection, Neuroplasticity, Neuroregeneration

Ivan G. Milanov graduated as MD in the School of Medicine, Medical University of Sofia, Bulgaria in 1981. He was board certified in neurology in 1986 and in social medicine and healthcare management in 2005. He trained movement Disorders in Kansas city University and headache in Pavia University, Italy. He got Ph.D. degree and D.Sc. degree in the Medical University of Sofia. His experience is in clinical practice, movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, pain, headache, clinical electromyography, and acupuncture. He started his career as an assistant professor in the Medical University of Sofia, Department Neurology and now is full time professor and director of the University Neurological Hospital “St. Naum”. In 2004-2008 he was Vice-Rector of the Medical University of Sofia. In 2015 he was elected for Academic of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. In 2010 he was Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Health. Currently he is President of the Bulgarian Neurological Society, Bulgarian Movement Disorders and Multiple Sclerosis Society, Bulgarian Headache and Pain Society and Bulgarian Society of Clinical Electromyography. Vice President of the Bulgarian Association of Neuroprotection and Neurodegeneration. He was Member of the Board and treasurer of European Headache Federation (EHF). He is editor of “Movement Disorders” (Bulgaria), “Cephalgia” (Bulgaria) and “Bulgarian Neurology”. Member of the editorial board of “Journal of Clinical Medicine”, “Medial Practice” (Bulgaria), “Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation” (Bulgaria), “Rehabilitation Medicine and Quality of Life” (Bulgaria) and “Neurorehabilitation” (Bulgaria). His scientific interests are mainly in the field of movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, headache, pain, and clinical electromyography.

Rsearch Interest: movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, headache, pain, clinical electromyography

Dr Katz is a native New Yorker, born and bred here, and a product of its public schools. After graduating from the Bronx High School of Science, he attended Colgate University in Hamilton, NY, and graduated at the tender ago of 19, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He was an Austen Colgate Scholar and thereafter went on to Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, where he graduated with Honors, and was given the Binz Scholar award for academic excellence. During his medical school years he served as an honorary registrar at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases at Queen’s Square, London, England. Following medical school Dr. Katz went on to train in Internal Medicine at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas. Thereafter he went to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland where he did research in Neuro-Virology. Following that, he completed a Neurology residency at Harvard Medical School, the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital and the Beth Israel Medical Center, all in Boston. Next he completed an Ophthalmology residency at the Tufts-New England Medical Center, again in Boston. Following that he went for fellowship to the University of California at San Francisco, in Neuro-Ophthalmology. Forced to find work, he joined the faculty of the University of Arizona and continued to pursue an academic career that brought him to the University of California at San Diego, UCSF and Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY, and the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he served as Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology. While there he established the first FDA Fellowship in Ophthalmology Drug Development. Along the way he obtained an M.B.A. in Health Care and Finance form the University of Rochester’s School of Business. He moved to industry full time, and has been part of three starts up Ophthalmology Drug development companies. The first, Eyetech, in NYC, brought the first drug for macular degeneration to market. He then served as CMO of Fovea Pharmaceuticals in Paris, and next as CEO of Danube Pharmaceuticals, in NYC. All were successfully sold. He came back to academia and joined Roy Chuck M.D., Ph.D. at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center in NYC. There he has worked with Dr. Chuck to make that department one of the strongest in the Northeast. He serves as the Francis DeJur Chair of Ophthalmology, and is Professor of Ophthalmology, Neurology and Neurosurgery. In addition, he serves as Executive Director of the Office of Clinical Trials, which manages all trials in all arenas for the medical college and the hospital. He is a renowned teacher, educator and diagnostician, a much sought after consultant, and truly a doctor’s doctor. He is widely published with over 200 citations, has been an invited speaker and visiting professor at over 100 centers, has served on the editorial board of several major specialty journals, has been a funded research from both the NIH and industry. He has held active leadership positions in multiple organizations such as the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society. He has served on the board of several companies, delivered many named lectureships, and is still Chairman of the Board of both World Eye Missions and the Center for Ophthalmology Research and Education, both philanthropic ventures. He has led and done surgery in medical missions around the world from Bulgaria to Zimbabwe, from Guatemala to Peru, from Trinidad to St Lucia. He holds several patents in Ophthalmology drugs and technology. He is an avid fly fisherman, a mediocre golfer, a devoted sailor, and a frustrated country western musician on the 5 strings Banjo and 12-string guitar. He has been married to Deborah Ann for 35 years; together they have four children – Nathaniel, Sarah, Matthew and Jacob - five grand daughters and one grandson. They live and reside in Manhattan.

Reserach Interest: NEURO-Ophthalmology

Dr. Ye received his undergraduate training in Organic Chemistry at Jilin University, China (BS, 1990); Graduate training in Polymer Chemistry at Beijing University, China (MS, 1993); and Graduate training in Biochemistry at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA (Ph.D. 1998); Postdoctoral training with Dr. Solomon H. Snyder at Johns Hopkins University (1998-2001). At the end of 2001, he joined the faculty of Emory University School of Medicine (Assistant Professor in Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, 2001-2007; Associate professor, 2007-2010; Full Professor, 2010-Present). Dr. Ye is the recipient of numerous professional honors, including the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Sontag Foundation (2003) and American Cancer Research Scholar (2004), and he is also one of the semi-finalists for Keck Foundation (2004). He has published approximately 140 papers with numerous papers in top journals including: Cell, Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Cell Biology, Nature Neuroscience, Neuron, Mol. Cell, EMBO J, PNAS etc. Dr. Ye has made a unique contribution to the anti-cancer drug arsenal in 1998, when he was a graduate student at Emory. He discovered a novel opium alkaloid, noscapine, as an anti-cancer drug. He has shown that noscapine binds to tubulin, affects microtubule assembly, and arrests mammalian cells in mitosis. Furthermore, noscapine causes apoptosis and has potent antitumor activity. His discovery was broadly reported by numerous major media including ABC News, CNN and Science Magazine in 1998. He has several patents on this drug. In 2000, Dr. Ye disclosed a long-awaited nuclear GTPase, PIKE, which specifically regulates nuclear PI 3-kinase signaling cascade. This finding provides insight into the molecular mechanism of how nuclear PI 3-kinase is activated in the nucleus. Moreover, he found that PLC-1 acts as a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for PIKE GTPase. In 2001, he was nominated as an assistant professor at Emory University. In 2003, he found that PIKE-L isoform can mediate mGluR’s anti-apoptotic action by binding to its adaptor protein Homer. This finding indicates that the PIKE-L/Homer complex mediates the well-known ability of agonists of Group I mGluRs to prevent neuronal apoptosis. Dr. Ye also discovered that PIKE is amplified in numerous human cancers and acts as a proto-oncogene by activating Akt in 2004. His lab established the nuclear signaling of NGF in promoting neuronal survival. In 2008, he discovered a novel asparagine proteinase (AEP) that mediates neuronal cell death during stroke, and PIKE robustly inhibits this protease activation, preventing neuronal damage in stroke. He also finds that PIKE binds netrin receptors UNC5B and DCC and exerts neuroprotective functions. In 2010, he identified numerous novel TrkA and TrkB agonists. These small molecules exhibit potent neurotrophic effect and display great therapeutic potentials for various neurological diseases including AD. Now, one of the small TrkB agonists is in IND drug development stage for treating AD. Most recently, he has also discovered oral insulin mimetic compounds for treating diabetes. Most recently, he found that AEP acts as a novel delta-secretase that cleaves both APP and Tau and mediates AD pathogenesis. It is an innovative drug target for treating AD. His lab has identified the small molecular inhibitors that display promising therapeutic efficacy toward AD.

Research Interests: 1. The molecular mechanisms in Neurodegenerative diseases including Alzherimer’s disease and Parkinson’s diseases 2. Drug discovery and development for neurological diseases including depression, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease and human cancers 3. Neurotrophin signalings in neuronal survival and glioblastoma progression

Born in Jammu-Tawi, India. After receiving Bachelor’s degree in Pharmaceutical Technology from the Birla Institute of Technology, Pilani, India, Rameshwar K. Sharma in 1960 entered the University of Connecticut for graduate work in Medicinal Chemistry and received his Ph.D. in 1963. Subsequently, after several Post-doctoral positions, including at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, he joined the University of Tennessee Medical Center at Memphis in 1970 where he rose to the rank of Full Tenured Professor of Biochemistry and Physiology. During this period through NIH Special Fellowship he spent two-years Sabbatical as a Visiting Professor at the McArdle Laboratory University of Wisconsin, Madison, in Dr. Henry Pitot’s lab, and subsequently additional two-years Sabbatical at the NIH, Bethesda in Dr. Michael Cashel’s lab. After Full Professorship at the Case Western University and Founder and Head of the Unit of Regulatory Biology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland Ohio, he joined the University of Medicine and Dentistry at New Jersey as the Professor and Head of The Unit of Regulatory and Molecular Biology. Since July 2006 he is at the Salus University as a Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In a period spanning four decades, his research team has dedicated itself to the advancement of the field of membrane guanylate cyclase in the vertebrate systems. A few of its core findings that have impacted this and the field of cellular signal transduction follow. (1) With the discovery of the first membrane guanylate cyclase, ANF-RGC that was also the hormone receptor of ANF, the membrane guanylate cyclase surface receptor family was established. (2) It had a unique signal transduction mechanism. Instead of GTP in G-Protein signaling, it was regulated by ATP through its ARM module (ARM). The complete dissection of the module, followed through the concept-based analysis, localized a WTAPELL motif that controlled the entire signal transduction process, it was, then, predicted that this motif is the one that controls the ANF-RGC-dependent blood pressure in vasculature. This has now been proven true through the construction of the mouse genetic model. The mice lacking this motif are hypertensive. (3) The discovery and molecular characterization of the photoreceptor ROS-GC is a land mark event in the phototransduction field. It filled in the gap on the identity of the source of cyclic GMP that serves as a second messenger of the LIGHT signal; and made it possible to explain the principles of phototransduction in molecular and physiological terms. It also impacted the core membrane guanylate cyclase field by branching it into two: a transducer of both the hormone receptor and the intracellularly-generated Ca2+ signals. (4) ROS-GC field took additional direction when it was demonstrated that, besides phototransduction, it is biochemically linked with the transduction mechanisms of the inner segments of the retina, olfactory cilia and the olfactory bulb neurons. (5) The demonstration that ROS-GC is a Ca2+-bimodal switch, generated a new revolutionary concept where theoretically ROS-GC could be modulated through two different modes of Ca2+ signaling: via Ca2+-sensor GCAPS and S100B, the latter stimulating it and the mode found exclusively in cones and absent in rods. (6) Recently, an additional model of the photoreceptor ROS-GC1 has been disclosed. ROS-GC1 is responsive to the bicarbonate signal; it is not the pH effect, rather it binds to a specific motif of the ROS-GC and transduces the signal in generation of cyclic GMP. Preliminary findings suggest that this novel transduction system is present in a small number of mouse cones, and, importantly, is absent in the rods. This opens up a new area of sensory transduction mechanism, where it is meant to communicate with the external atmospheric carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is sensed through carbonic anhydrase, whose subtype has been detected in some cones, it converts CO2 to the bicarbonate, which, then, becomes the second messenger of CO2 and a signaling agent of ROS-GC1. Threaded through this past history and step-by-step gain in the field, This investigator feels fortunate that his group has made these important contributions in generating the field of membrane guanylate cyclase, establishing that cyclic GMP is an ubiquitous intracellular second messenger in prokaryotes and eukaryotes and that it plays a critical role in the control of physiological processes of cardiac vasculature, smooth muscle relaxation, blood volume, cellular growth, sensory transduction, neural plasticity, learning and memory. It is also gratifying to know that during this course he has been able to train and guide more than 35 doctoral and post-doctoral students, author 184 peer-reviewed research articles, including the editorship of three books, Special Editorship of two journals of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry and the e-book editor of the Frontiers Molecular Neuroscience Research Topic, all focused on the field of membrane guanylate cyclases. At present I am on the editorial board of four international journals: Associate editor of the Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, Journal of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Journal of Signal Transduction, Journal of Membrane Science & Technology. I am also the founding father and the President of the Guanylate Cyclase Innovative Biotechnology (www.gcibiotechnology.com).

Research Interest: Membrane guanylate cyclase in the vertebrate systems

George Perry (born April 12, 1953 in Lompoc, California) is a neuroscientist recognized in the field of Alzheimer's disease research particularly for his work on oxidative stress. Dr. Perry has studied at many universities and holds multiple degrees including a Bachelor of Arts degree in Zoology from the University of California Santa Barbara and a PhD in Marine Biology from the University of California at San Diego. He is distinguished as one of the top Alzheimer’s disease researchers with over 1000 publications, one of the top 100 most-cited scientists in Neuroscience & Behavior and one of the top 25 scientists in free radical research. Dr. Perry is a Semmes Foundation Distinguished chair in Neurobiology and is an active participant in many other scientific associations. In addition, Perry is an Editor of numerous scientific journals including Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease which he founded in 1998. Today, Perry continues his love for research while working as Dean of the College of Sciences at The University of Texas at San Antonio.

Research Interests: 1) Neurodegeneration 2) Alzheimer’s Disease

Stephen D. Skaper received a PhD in biochemistry from the University of South Dakota and Laurea in chemistry from the University of Padua, Italy. He is currently Adjunct Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences (section on Pharmacology and Anesthesiology) at the University of Padua. From 1998-2008 he was a Senior Group Leader for Neurodegeneration Research, Neurology & GI Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery, GlaxoSmithKline Research and Development Limited, United Kingdom. Prior to that he held academic research positions in the Department of Biology at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Skaper has authored/co-authored over 300 research papers, book chapters and monographs, as well as having guest-edited six journal thematic issues and a volume of Methods in Molecular Biology on neurotrophic factors. He is Editor-in-Chief of CNS & Neurological Disorders Drug Targets, the Associate Editor of the American Journal of Neuroprotection and Neuroregeneration, and a Councillor of the International Association of Neurorestoratology. His research interests focus on the role of immune cells and their interactions in neuroinflammation, in particular with regards to neuropathic pain and autoimmune demyelinating diseases like multiple sclerosis, and the development of therapeutic strategies based on natural molecules. He is a member of Sigma I, Phi Lambda Upsilon, Alpha Chi Sigma, the Society for Neuroscience and the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism.

Track record of drug discovery project leadership experience: kinases, ion channels, G-protein-coupled receptors, DNA repair enzymes, growth factors, as well as close interactions with early phase units of the drug discovery process Genetics Research & Discovery Research) to identify and optimise tools for target validation studies, utilising RNAi, conditional and viral knockdown\outs\ins, transcriptomics, proteomics and in vitro cell-based disease or mechanism relevant assays in rodent systems

Aruna Sharma, MD is currently Secretary of Research at Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala University, Sweden. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in 1971 and trained in Indian Medicine up to 1977 and engaged in medical research from 1978 to 1986 in India on hyperthermia induced brain dysfunction in the lab of Hari Sharma and Prasanta Kumar Dey under University Grants Commission and Indian Council of Medical Research Programs. She is a qualified experimental Neurpathologist and received her training at Karl Marx University Leipzig, Institute of Neurobiology (1987-1988); Semmelweis University Medical School, Department of Human Morphology and Developmental Biology, Budapest, Hungary (1988-1989), Free University Berlin, Germany (1989-1991) and Neuropathology Institute Uppsala (1992-1995). She was further engaged in experimental neuropathological research at Uppsala University Hospital in the laboratory of Neuropathology of Hari Sharma and Yngve Olsson under Swedish Medical Research Council Program. She continued to work with Hari Sharma and Jan Westman in the department of Neuroanatomy, Biomedical Centre, Uppsala University from 1996 until 2003 on neuroimmunohistochemistry of experimental and human brain diseases. Since 2004 she joined Department of Surgical Sciences, Anesthesiology & Intensive Care Medicine and working with Hari Sharma on various research programs including Nanotechnology in the CNS and disease modulation by endocrine or cardiovascular anomalies in the CNS and neuroprotection under various National and International Research Programs. Her main interest is now focused on Indian Medicinal drugs and their effects on the Central Nervous System Function, toxicology, neurorepair and neuroprotection. She is also investigating neurotoxicological profiles of many Ayurvedic traditional drugs with special reference to those containing metal oxide or metal ashes. Dr Sharma is member of various Distinguished American Organizations and elected to receive the prestigious award “Women of the Years Representing Sweden Award 2009” for her outstanding contributions towards society by American Biographical Research Institute, USA; and “Best Professional Business Women Award 2010” For Setting Standard to Motivate, Excel and Inspire Others, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. She has published over 50 original research papers in Reputed Neuroscience Journals and is currently Acquisition Editor of American Journal of Neuroproetction and Neuroregenartion.

Neurpathology, Neuroimmunohistochemistry, Neurorepair, Neuroprotection

Jean-Pierre Mothet have been investigated the functions of astrocyte-neuron interactions and the novel brain messenger D-serine in synapse physiology in the central nervous system. He has 20 years of research experience with synaptic transmission and cell signalling. He received his MSc in Physiology at the University of Lyon in 1992 and then his PhD in Neuroscience from the University Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris, in 1996. During his PhD under the supervision of DR. Ladislav Tauc in Gif-sur-Yvette (France), he studied biophysics and neuropharmacology of synaptic transmission in the sea slug Aplysia. After his Ph.D, he moved to the USA to carry out postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Pr Solomon H. Snyder at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore (USA). There he worked at exploring the functions and the synthesis pathway of brain D-amino acids a novel class of brain molecules with a special focus on D-serine. He discovered that D-serine rather than glycine is the endogenous coagonist of synaptic N-Methyl D-Aspartate subtype of glutamatergic receptors in the hippocampus, a breakthrough with profound lasting impact in the fields of synaptic physiology and neuropharmacology. He also helped to identify serine racemase the enzyme that synthesizes D-serine from L-serine in the brain. In 1999, he took a second postdoctoral position in the laboratory of Professor Jacopo Meldolesi In 1999 (Milano, Italy), one of the most eminent cell biologists in Europe where he got trained in the study of calcium-dependent exocytosis of transmitter release and membrane trafficking. Since 2000 as a CNRS scientist, he has been continuously developping an unique and very innovative project in France and EU on the neurobiology of D-serine. His team investigates the regulation of NMDA receptors by their co-agonists (D-serine and glycine) at synapses and circuits underlying memory formation, motivation and decision-making in the context of neuron-glia interactions of the healthy and diseased nervous system. He also explores the molecular and cellular events driving gliotransmission, i.e. the process by which glia releases chemical messengers, and the functional relevance of this process for synapses patterning and neuronal network functions. He was first to establish that astrocytes release D-serine through a calcium and SNARE protein-regulated exocytosis (PNAS 2005) of synaptobrevin2 positive secretory organelles (Glia 2008). More recently, he developed unique protocols for the purification of glial vesicles and found functional evidence for the existence of a vesicular transporter for D-serine (J Neurosci 2013). Growing on his expertise in the field, he has shown that in the hypothalamus D-serine released by astrocytes controls the direction and the amplitude of long-term synaptic plasticity (Cell 2006). Furthermore, his team has demonstrated that at mature synapses D-serine is the right co-agonist for synaptic GluN2A-containing NMDARs at glutamatergic neurons in the prefrontal cortex (Cereb Cortex 2012) and in the hippocampus (Cell 2012) while glycine is the co-agonist for extrasynaptic GluN2B-containing NMDARs. He has also shown that the identity of the co-agonist is synapse specific and developmentally regulated in the hippocampus paralleling the developmental switch of GluN2A/2B subunits (PNAS 2015). His team has also discovered that D-serine plays a central role in learning and memory and that a deficit in its synthesis is responsible for the cognitive and synaptic deficits associated to normal aging (Aging Cell 2006, 2012). He is currently leading the lab \'Gliotransmission and Synaptopathies\' at the Centre de Recherches en Neurobiologie et Neurophysiologie de Marseille (France) where his team is combining cell biology, biochemistry, and cellular electrophysiology with live cell imaging and the development of biosensors. In 2012, he was elected President of the French Club of Glial Cells an association aimed to ^romote and support research on glial cells. He is the member of the Editorial board of Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience and of PlosONE. His research is internationally recognized and has stimulated many research programs in academy and Industry in France and worldwide. His research have paved the ways for the development of new drug-based therapies of cognitive deficits during normal aging but also for those associated to psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia.

Research Interests: 1. Regulation of NMDA receptors by their co-agonists in the healthy and diseased nervous system 2. Molecular and cellular mechanisms of gliotransmission and the functional impact of this process in synapse and neuronal network patterning and dynamics, 3. Development of technologies like biosensors.

Graduated in Biological Sciences (D.Sc.) and in Medicine and Surgery (M.D.) - Associate Professor of Pharmacology at University of Pavia -Teaching Pharmacology for students in Biological Sciences and in Chemistry - Visiting: (1) Department of Neurology and (2) Cerebral Metabolism Research Laboratory, University of Lund, Sweden; (3) Department of Psychobiology, University of California ICI, U.S.A.; (4) Max Plank Institute for Neurochemistry, University of Gottingen, Germany; (5) San Diego Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, University of California, San Diego, U.S.A.. Research activities: biochemical studies (Functional Proteomics and Metabolomics) on Physiopathology and Pharmacology of the Central Nervous System in experimental conditions of hypoxia, ischaemia, hyperammoniaemia, ipoglycaemia on the cerebral energy metabolism and actions of drugs on the brain energy state; molecular mechanisms of ageing and drugs' interference; the study of Parkinson’s disease and drugs' actions in Dementia; clinical studies on Molecular Medicine and Human Genetics on patients affected by neurological diseases (Dementia) or Alzheimer’s disease. Scientific research activity: 349 total papers: no. 129 on peer international reviews (IF about 350, only ISI publications); no. 66 Congress Proceedings and Acts; no. 154 communications in International Meetings, participating to no. 219 scientific Congress; officially invited to no. 214 Congress since 1993; from 2010 no. 56 as speaker; 9 Member of Organizing Committee or Session Chair/Co-Chair. International appointments as: (A) International ad hoc Reviewer for: - Research Founding Grants (Neuroscience) of The Wellcome Trust Foundation, London, United Kingdom (since 1994) - British Medical Council (asked 2014) inserted as - Reviewer’s Database for Founding of United Kingdom SBS, North Star House, Swinodon, U.K. - Listed as International Expert for the evaluation of Research Grant Programs of the European Commission Research Directorate General, Life Sciences: Health Research, European Union, Brussels. - Reviewer’s Database of Journal of Neuroscience - Reviewer’s Database of European Journal of Neurology And Committee Member of Italian Ministry for Scientific Research Grants (MIUR). (B) Member of the International Experts Panel of the Medical Science Monitor (since 2003), Albertson, New York, U.S.A. (C) Participant to ex Internship Program for U.S.A. students of New York Academy of Science, New York, U.S.A. Accredited Researcher for grants at National Institute of Health (NIH - U.S.A.). (D) Medical Credits at San Diego Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Conference of University of California, San Diego, U.S.A. (E) Member of the Editorial Boards of: - Member of the Science Advisory Board – Arlington, U.S.A.. - Member of the Editorial Board of “Neurological Disorders & Therapy” – U.S.A. - VIP Member of EB of Neural Regeneration Research, Supervisor Ministry of Health - China (until 2013). - Member of EB of Journal of Neurological Disorders - Member of EB of “Aging and Neurodegeneration” – Anhui Medical University, China - Academic Editor of International Neuropsychiatric Disease Journal. - Member of EB of Journal of Depression and Anxiety – Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.. - Member of EB of International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience – Foster City, California, U.S.A.. - Member of EB of International Journal of Neurology Research – Sheung Wan, Hong Kong (China) - Member of EB of Journal of Neurology and Neuroscience – Wilmington City, Delaware, U.S.A.. (N) ad hoc Reviewer for over of 25 Journals: (in 1989) for Circulation Research; reviewer (from 1989) for Mechanisms of Ageing and Development; reviewer (in 2003) for Molecular Brain Research; reviewer (in 2004) of the Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group, Department of Clinical Gerontology, Oxford, U.K.; reviewer (since 2004) for Experimental Gerontology; reviewer (in 2004) for the “Bioastronautics Critical Path Roadmap Document”, Bioastronautics Research Division of NASA, U.S.A.; reviewer (since 2004) of The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology; reviewer (from 2011) of Complementary Medicine and Drug Discovery; reviewer (in 2011) for Drugs Today, Prous Thomson Reuters; reviewer (in 2011) for Neuropharmacology, Vascular Pharmacology, Journal of Neurological Disorder; reviewer (in 2012) for Vascular BMC Neurology; reviewer (in 2013) for Journal Neuroscience Research, Free Radical Research, Pharmacological Reports, PLOS ONE, Journal of Cytology & Histology, Neurological Research; reviewer (from 2014) for Neurochemical Research, Neural Regeneration Research, Journal Neurological Disorders (4 times), Molecular Neurobiology, Journal Proteome Research (3 times), Neuroscience Letters (3 times), Recent Patents on CNS Drug Discovery (Bentham Science Eds), Neuroscience Research, British Medical Journal, Metabolic Brain Disease.

Research Interests: Biochemical studies (Functional Proteomics and Metabolomics) on Physiopathology and Pharmacology of the Central Nervous System in experimental conditions of hypoxia, ischaemia, hyperammoniaemia, ipoglycaemia on the cerebral energy metabolism and actions of drugs on the brain energy state; molecular mechanisms of ageing and drugs' interference; the study of Parkinson’s disease and drugs' actions in Dementia; clinical studies on Molecular Medicine and Human Genetics on patients affected by neurological diseases (Dementia) or Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Hiroshi Nakanishi is currently a Professor of Departmet of Aging Science and Pharmacology, Faculty of Dental Science, Kyushu University. He completed his PhD in Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyushu University and his post-doctoral training at Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, the University of Tennessee at Memphis. He became an Associate Professor at Department of Pharmacology in 1999, and a Professor of Laboratory of Oral Aging Science, Faculty of Dental Science, Kyushu University in 2000. He was the Dean of Faculty of Dental Science, Kyushu University from 2011 to 2013. He is now the vice Dean of Faculty of Dental Science, Kyushu University from 2014. His reserach is focusing on roles of cathepsins in the healthy and diseased brain.

Research Interests: (1) Roles of microglial cathepsins in in the chronic pain, (2) Roles of microglial and neuronal cathepsins in the brain aging and age-related brain diseases, (3) Connection between periodontitis and Alzheimer’s disease.

Robert Zorec is Professor of Pathophysiology at the University of Ljubljana, Medical Faculty, a Full Member of Academia Europaea (London) and Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (cont. of Academia Operosorum Labacensis from 1693), as well as a past Member of the Committee for Advanced Medical Products at the European Medicine’s Agency (London). Dr. Zorec received his Ph.D. from the University of Ljubljana in 1986 for his work conducted at the Newcastle Medical School and at the MRC Neuroendocrinology Unit in Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K, and introduced the "patch-clamp" method in Ljubljana in 1985. Dr. Zorec postdoctoral experience was at Cambridge in Dr. W. T. Mason's laboratory. Independently of the laboratory of the Nobel Laureate Erwin Neher, he developed his own membrane capacitance measurements (MCM) to monitor processes such as endo-and exocytosis in real time. In Prof. M. Berridge's laboratory at the Cambridge University, he studied cytosolic calcium homeostasis by the imaging related to MCM approach. He also worked in Dr. R.N. McBurney's laboratory studying single channel chloride currents activated by GABA and glycine in spinal cord neurons. In 1991 he was conducting experiments on plant secretory cells at the University of Adelaide, Australia and his MCM technique rounded up by the papers in Nature Protocols in 2013 (8:1169) and in Nature Communications in 2014 (5:3780), focusing into the mechanisms of regulated exocytosis in endocrine pituitary cells, plant cells, hepatocytes, adipocytes, skeletal muscle, taste cells, neurons and glia. Since 1991 he has been the Head of Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology-Molecular Cell Physiology and in 1997 he received the Republic of Slovenia Prize for Science. In 2000 he established the Cell Engineering Laboratory at the Celica BIOMEDICAL, Ljubljana Tech Park (http://celicabiomedical.com/) where he has been a CEO since 2006 and the head of the Carl Zeiss Reference Center for Confocal Microscopy. During the last 15 years he developed research on astrocytes, the most abundant glial cells in the brain, to learn how vesicle traffic and regulated exocytosis is altered in these cells under pathological conditions, specifically related to the mechanisms of cytotoxic edema, astroglial scarring, in the acute and chronic trauma as well as in neurodegeneration (Alzheimer’s disease) and neurodevelopmental conditions including intellectual disability. In addition to MCM, Dr. Zorec developed Super-Resolution Fluorescence Microscopy to study subcellular vesicle traffic and collaborates with a wide circle of scientists such as Drs. B. Betz, Stefan Hell, Y. D. Teng, V. Parpura, M. Potokar, A. Araque, G. Carmingnoto, A. Verkhratsky, P. Haydon and has published > 155 peer reviewed papers. He has lectured at over 100 distinguished Universities, International Meetings and Research Institutions worldwide. He has been a reviewer for leading scientific journals including Nature, Science, PNAS, J. Neurosci., J. Physiol., Biophys J., Brain Res. and others. Recently, together with Dr. Y.D Teng from Harvard he found a robust new endogenous mechanism of cytotoxic edema reduction in astrocytes, which leads to new paradigms of treatment of CNS trauma. Importantly, not only in trauma, astrocytes also play a pivotal role in neuron-glia signaling in other pathological conditions and represent a target for new therapeutics including those for regeneration to be developed in the future for neurological diseases. In addition to basic research focusing into physiological and pathological problems, the lab is also developing advanced cell-based medicines such as hybridoma cells to treat cancer, a product HybriCure® is currently in clinical trial. His work was and is supported by different grants from EU and other countries (the British Council and The Wellcome Trust Fellowships, Fulbright Scholarship, Research Council of Slovenia, Nuffield Foundation, EduGLIA, NIH).

Research Interest: Astrocytes, the most abundant glial cells in the brain

Dr. Sanjoy Sanyal, Associate Dean, Neuroscience and Clinical Professor in Texila American University, Guyana, is a surgeon by profession, medical academician and educator by choice and medical informatician from UK by aptitude and inclination. He has more than 2 decades of surgical experience and more than 17 years of teaching experience in hospitals and medical universities in 11 countries worldwide. He is also an Honorary Faculty, Editor and Peer-reviewer of Neuroscience in WebmedCentral. He was solely responsible for setting up the Neuroscience department in two medical schools in Seychelles and in the Caribbean. This included curriculum development, syllabus, labs and clinical training in Neurological Examination. Additionally, he was the sole faculty in charge of the Student Surgical Association and was responsible for establishing the format for surgical skills training in medical schools. With more than 400 online brain dissection and Neuroscience videos online, which have received thousands of subscribers, Dr. Sanyal is a prolific teacher. With more than 35 scientific print publications and 11 papers presented in international conferences, Dr. Sanyal is a keen academic researcher. Dr Sanyal developed a Digital Brain Imager which enables a researcher or student to view the internal structure of the human brain by taking transverse slices through the head at 10 mm intervals from the top of the skull to its base. Dr. Sanyal also developed an electronic computer-based system for quickly establishing the Anatomical Stage of 26 cancers of the human body with just 4 mouse clicks. He presented this paper in Medicine X Conference in Stanford University School of Medicine in September 2012. This earned him a Provisional Patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in January 2013 and 2014. His research interests lie in Digital Brain Imaging Technologies, Brain Dissections, Brain Digital Videos and Imaging Informatics.

Research Interest: Digital Brain Imaging Technologies, Brain Dissections, Brain Digital Videos and Imaging Informatics

Dr Dremencov completed his bachelor studies (BSc) in biology (1996) and master studies (MMedSc) in basic medical sciences (2000) in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He performed his doctoral studies in the Faculty of Life Sciences of Bar-Ilan University (Ramat-Gan, Israel; 2000-2004) and two postdoctoral fellowships in the Departments of Affective Disorders (2004-2006) and Translational Neuroscience (2007-2008) of the University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research (Ontario, Canada). After working for five years in the private commercial sector (as a trial manager in Brains On-Line BV, a contract research organization, and CEO of Neuroken Consulting, a research and development consulting firm; both based in Groningen, the Netherlands), Dr Dremencov returned to the public academic sector after being appointed as a senior scientist in the Institutes of Molecular Physiology and Genetics and Experimental Endocrinology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava (maintaining his position of CEO of Neuroken Consulting). He has acted as an expert advisor to the Medical Research Council of the UK, EU FP7 Program, National Research Agency of France, US Department of Health and Human Services, and Ministry of Science and Education of the Russian Federation. Dr Dremencov is a member or editorial boards of several international journals (General Physiology and Biophysics, World Journal of Pharmacology, World Journal of Psychiatry, and World Journal of Neurology).

Research Interests: Eliyahu Dremencov, MMedSc, PhD, is a biological psychiatrist, neuropharmacologist and neurophysiologist. His primary scientific interests are pathophysiology and treatment of depression and related mood and anxiety disorders. Dr Dremencov investigates the role of interactions between brain monoamines (serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, and histamine) and neuropeptides (β-endorphin, neuropeptide-Y, oxytocin and vasopressin) in the response to antidepressant and antipsychotic drugs. He uses advanced in vivo research techniques in animal models (behavioral neuroscience, microdialysis, and electrophysiology) to investigate the mechanism of action of novel CNS drugs and to predict their clinical efficacy. Recently, Dr Dremencov expanded his research interests to the mechanism of beneficial mood effects of physical exercise and to the prenatal effects of stress and antidepressant drugs on brain development and functioning.

Galila Agam, PhD, is Full Professor of Biochemistry in Psychiatry since 2009 at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. She is the past chairperson of the Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology and the director of the Psychiatry Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel. She has published more than 150 papers in reputed journals, wrote 50 chapters in books/collective volumes, edited one book and three international journals' special issues and won numerous prestigeous research grants.

Research Interest: Neurodegenerative disorders

Education in theTechnion, Israel, B.Sc. Chemistry (cum laude) and D.Sc., Biophysics & Electrophysiology. Academic position at the Tel-Aviv University Life Science, Neurobiochemistry, and 1992-present: Faculty of Medicine, Dept. of Physiology and Pharmacology. On 2001, she was a visiting researcher in Columbia University, New York, lab of Learning and Memory, in collaboration with Late Prof. James Schwartz. Prof Cohen-Armon is an academic editor in PLOS ONE and Am. J. of Alzheimer's Disease & Other Dementias, She is the recipient of numerous professional awards including HFSP. She authors several high impact papers. Her discovery on the voltage dependence of GPCR affinity for their agonists (reported in PNAS and J Biol Chem) developed into a new research field. On 2004 Dr Cohen-Armon and Prof Schwartz first reported on a mechanism in the chromatin that is required for long-term memory acquisition during learning. Their finding was reported in Science, and was accompanied by Press release in USA and Israel. Their discovery lead to the disclosure of epigenetic mechanisms underlying addiction. Through 2000-2007 Dr Cohen-Armon identified the role of the chromatin-bound protein PARP1 in signal transduction mechanisms evoking gene expression in response to excitatory signals (reported in J Cell Biol, J Neurosci, Mol Cell, TIPS). The implication of this molecular mechanism in synaptic plasticity and long-term memory is the main topic of her current research. On 2009 Dr Cohen-Armon discovered that human solid cancer cells are exclusively eradicated by a small molecule, the phenanthridine PJ34, which protects human normal cells from apoptotic cell death. She identified the exclusive death mechanism activated by this molecule in human cancer cells during mitosis. Her finding was accompanied by a word wide press release, and was patented. At present, her applied research on PJ34 is supported by Novartis.

Topics of interest: Signal transduction, Epigenetic mechanisms, PARP1 and polyADP-ribosylation; Molecular mechanisms mediating long-term memory formation during learning; Memory erasure; A selective eradication of human cancer cells.

Hermona Soreq was trained at The Weizmann Institute of Science and the Rockeffeler University. In 1986, she joined the faculty of The Hebrew University where she holds a University Slesinger Chair and is also a founding member of the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Science. Soreq’s research is centered on acetylcholine functioning; she pioneered the application of molecular biology and genomics to the study of cholinergic signaling, with a recent focus on its microRNA regulation. Soreq consistently collaborates with basic and clinician experts on cholinergic signaling in health and disease, was recently elected to head the International Organization of Cholinergic Mechanisms, and has one DNA-based drug in phase II clinical trials in a Jerusalem start-up. She served as the elected Dean of the Faculty of Science from 2005-2008, authored hundreds of publications, including 55 published in Science, Nature, PNAS and other high-impact journals and has been the recipient of co-recipient of significant funding from US, European and Israeli National and private foundations including an Advanced ERC Award and an Israeli I-Core Center of Excellence on mass trauma. A member of The Hebrew University’s Executive Committee, Soreq has past and current appointments on scientific advisory boards for national and international bodies with major interests in life sciences. Her honors include Honorary PhDs from the Universities of Stockholm (1996), Ben-Gurion University (BGU, 2007), and Erlangen (2008), Teva Founders’ Award (2006), The Lise Meitner Alexander von Humboldt Award, Germany (2009), a Miller Fellowship at US UC Berkeley (2009), a Berlin NeuroCure visiting fellowship (2015) and a Rappaport prize for bio-medical research (2015). She also contributes to the Center of Non-neuronal Cholinergic Mechanisms, Giessen, the Immunosensation Center of Excellence, Bonn and the International Advisory Boards of the UK-Israel Council and BGU’s Center of Biotechnology. Notably, 25 of her trainees are faculty members in Israel (In Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, the Galilee and Beer Sheva) and overseas (UC Berkeley, Maryland, Ann Arbor, Paris, Tours, Gottingen, London). Others contribute to government and private biotechnology organizations and companies involved in Life Sciences.

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