Conferences and symposiums Developing Brains 2026
The Conference “Developing Brains” will gather for the 13th time leading scientists to discuss how the immense complexity of the brain arises. Knowing how intricate brain structures are assembled gives not only crucial knowledge about the function of our bodies, but also how some of most common diseases arise.
Many overarching questions regarding how these brain structures arise and function remain unanswered. For instance, how can a single cell give rise to complex structures such as the central nervous system (brain/spinal cord) and peripheral and enteric nervous systems, which include the brain in the gut? The Conference “Developing Brains” will gather international and national leading scientists with expertise in these areas at Karolinska Institutet. These scientists will give lectures and discuss the latest advances in our knowledge of how brain structures develop.
Agenda
09.00 - 09.05 Welcoming address
Session 1
Chair: Francois Lallemend
09.05 - 09.50 Decoding neural fates with NEPTUNE: Lineages, Mechanisms, and Spatial Context
Emma Andersson, Karolinska Institutet, SE
09.50 – 10.35 Time to wake up: regulation of neural stem cell quiescence
Andrea Brand, NYU, US
10.35 – 11.00 BREAK
Session 2
Chair Jens Hjerling-Leffler
11.00- 11.45 How to Build a Synapse: Molecular Assembly through Synaptic Cell Adhesion
Fredrik Sterky, Gothenburg University, Sweden
11.45 – 12.30 The mosaic brain: tracing cell lineages and when they go awry
Sara Bizzotto, INSERM Paris, France
12.30-13.30 Lunch
Session 3
Chair: Ulrika Marlund
13.30 – 14.15 Building the “little brain” on the heart: Development and Function of the intrinsic cardiac nervous system
Rui Chang, Yale University, US
14.15 – 15.00 Temporal patterning of the vertebrate nervous system by microRNAs
Andreas Sagner, FAU, Germany
15.00 – 15.30 BREAK
Session 4
Chair: Gonçalo Castelo-Branco
15.30 – 16.15 Transposable elements and the evolution of the human brain
Johan Jakobsson, Lund University, Sweden
16.15 – 17.00 Characterizing cis-regulatory elements and genetic variants underlying the human brain development and disease
Yin Shen, UCSF, US
17.00 – 17.45 Development of a therapeutically effective cell therapy for Parkinson´s disease”
Johan Ericson, Karolinska Institutet, SE
17.45 – 18.00 Concluding remarks
Confirmed speakers
Emma Andersson Karolinska Institutet, SE
Sara Bizzotto INSERM, Paris, France
Andrea Brand New York University, USA
Rui Chang Yale University, USA
Johan Ericson Karolinska Institutet, SE
Johan Jakobsson Lund University
Andreas Sagner Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen–Nuremberg, DE
Yin Shen University of California San Francisco, USA
Fredrik Sterky Gothenburg University, SE
Registration
Hosts
Ulrika Marklund, MBB
Francois Lallemend, MBB