11th September — 15:30 UTC (check local time) 

Jonathon Sewell
Graduate student in Chris Deppmann's and Bettina Winckler's labs at the University of Virginia, USA. Speaking from Charlottesville, VI, USA.

Making connections: NGF-regulated EVs in neural circuit formation?

Target-derived NGF dictates sympathetic circuit refinement, but its upstream effects are indirect via unknown factor(s). Other neurotrophins provide an incomplete explanation. We propose NGF-regulated extracellular vesicles may complete the story.

13th November — 16:00 UTC (check local time) 

Maurilyn Ayon Olivas
PhD student in the lab of Prof. Michael Sendtner at the Institute of Clinical Neurobiology, University Hospital Würzburg. Speaking from Würzburg, Germany.

BDNF dysregulation in a mouse model of DYT-GNAL dystonia  

BDNF is a central regulator of corticostriatal plasticity with a strong impact on motor learning and Parkinson's Disease. We investigated GNAL M137V mutant mice, a novel mouse model of dystonia, and found dysregulation of BDNF that might play a causal role in the pathophysiology of this disease.

11th December — 16:00 UTC (check local time) 

Giulia Borgonovo
Postdoc Fellow in Paolicelli Lab, University of Lausanne. Speaking from Lausanne, Switzerland.

TBD

We studied how NGF modulates microglial phenotype in health and disease, with a focus on its therapeutic potential in neurodegeneration and Rett syndrome.