Zum Inhalt springen Zur Suche springen

 

6th Symposium on Neurodegenerative Diseases: “Amyloid, prions, clinical trials and biomarkers”

Date: 12-14 November 2025
Venue: 'Haus der Universität', Düsseldorf, Germany

 

Preliminary Program

Wednesday, November 12, 2025

09:00Registration
09:30

Welcome

Dieter Willbold

Institute of Physical Biology, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany

09:35

Welcome addresses

Anja Steinbeck

President of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany

 

Linda Thienpont

Deputy managing director, Alzheimer Forschung Initiative e.V., Düsseldorf, Germany

SESSION I: Amyloids

Chair: Erdem Gültekin Tamgüney, Heinrich Heine University

09:45

Prions: From violent refusal to general concept of neurodegenerative diseases.

Detlev Riesner

Institute of Physical Biology, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany

10:15

How do we remember Alzheimer's disease?

Thomas van Groen

Dept. Pediatrics-Neonatology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA

10:45Coffee break
11:15

RNA-binding protein phase transitions and their relevance for amyloid formation

Dorothee Dormann

Institute of Molecular Physiology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany

12:05

Nuclear TDP-43 dysfunction releases endogenous retrotransposons from suppression in neurodegenerative disease

Roger Sher

Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Stony Brook University, New York, USA

12:55Lunch break
13:30

Efficacy and mechanisms of targeting intracellular protein aggregates 

Rakez Kayed

Mitchell Center for Neurodegenerative Disorders, John Sealy Chair for Parkinson's Research, Dept. of Neurology, UTMB Health - University of Texas, USA

14:20Talk by early career scientist

SESSION II: Genetic risk factors

Chair: Sascha Weggen, Heinrich Heine University

14:40

The impact of rare genetic variants on Alzheimer’s disease

Lara De Deyn

Center for Molecular Neurology, University of Antwerp, Belgium

15:30Coffee break
16:00Talk by early career scientist
16:20

The molecular basis of ApoE4 risk in alzheimer's disease

Joachim Herz

UTSouthwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA

17:10Talk by early career scientist
17:30Break

PUBLIC SCIENCE LECTURE

jointly organized with Alzheimer Forschung Initiative e.V. (AFI)

Chair: Okka Gundel, German journalist, television presenter and author

18:15

Neue Antikörper-Therapien

Sabine Kuckert

Memory Zentrum Neuss, Germany

 

Thursday, November 13, 2025

SESSION III: From lab to market: Industry insights: latest R&D developments

Chair: Wolfgang Hoyer, Heinrich Heine University

09:00

The nose - a window to the brain

Mareike Albert

Founder & CSO of Noselab

09:50Talk by early career scientist
10:10

tbd

Armin Giese/ Johannes Levin

MODAG Neuroscience Solutions

11:00Coffee break

SESSION IV: Basic science

Chair: Carsten Korth, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

11:30

On the structural polymorphisms of a-synuclein in vitro and in cells

Roland Riek

Dept. of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Deputy head of Institute of Molecular Physical Science, ETH Zürich, Switzerland

12:20

Inflection Points in Alzheimer’s Disease: From Molecular Triggers to Cellular Dysregulation

Bart De Strooper

UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, England

13:10

Flash Talks Part 1

9 poster presenters, one single slide, 90 sec time per talk.

13:30Lunch break
14:10

Novel functions of oligodendrocytes in energy metabolism and Alzheimer’s disease

Klaus-Armin Nave

Dept. of Neurogenetics, Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Goettingen, Germany

15:00

Flash Talks Part 2

10 poster presenters, one single slide, 90 sec time per talk.

15:20

Funding opportunities: Alzheimer Forschung Initiative e.V. (AFI)

 

POSTER SESSION
15:35Poster Session with fingerfood buffet at 5 pm

SESSION V: Noble lecture

Chair: Dieter Willbold, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

18:00

tbd

Stan Prusiner

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of Prions - a new biological principle of infection

Director, Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases

University of California San Francisco, USA

 

Friday, November 14, 2025

SESSION VI: Clinical insights and sex differences in clinical trial outcome

Chair: Alfons Schnitzler, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

09:00

Biomarker-based neurobiological staging and treatment of Alzheimer´s disease

Oliver Peters

Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy CBF, Charité Berlin, Germany

09:50Talk by early career scientist
10:10

Genetics and Sex in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias

Celine Bellenguez

Institute Pasteur de Lille, University Lille, France

11:00Coffee break

Session VII: AWARDS and Closing

Chair: Inga Kadish, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA

11:30

Ulrich Hadding Award, Egon Nettersheim Award

Guido Reifenberger

Vice Dean of the Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany

12:10

Poster prizes

sponsored by Alzheimer Forschung Initiative e.V.

Inga Kadisha and Anne Pfitzer-Bilsingb

aHeersink School of Medicine, Dept. Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA

bDirector of Scientific Affairs, Alzheimer Forschung Initiative e.V., Düsseldorf, Germany

12:30

Closing remarks

Inga Kadisha and Thomas van Groenb

aHeersink School of Medicine, Dept. Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology,

University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA

bDept. Pediatrics-Neonatology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA

The Symposium is generously supported by Alzheimer Forschung Initiative e.V. and BMFZ