Events – BBBelgium

BRAIN BARRIERS BELGIUM SYMPOSIUM

14 October 2024

CHECK OUT THE PROGRAM

REGISTRATION CLOSED

Following the success of the first two editions, we are excited to announce the third edition of the Brain Barriers Belgium (BBBelgium) event, scheduled for 14 October 2024 at the VIB in Ghent.

This symposium continues to unite scientists dedicated to the study of the central nervous system (CNS) barriers. It provides an invaluable platform to connect researchers, to share the latest insights and developments in brain barrier research and to engage with leading experts in the domain.

The agenda includes keynote lectures and oral & poster presentations by up-and-coming investigators. After the talks, there is a opportunity to join the round table discussions, where you can meet the speakers, talk to scientists working in industry (big pharma companies and smaller spin-offs) or get to know the world of science communication/ scientific writing. Please read further for more information about this event.

Speakers:

Laura Pellegrini – King’s College London

Dr. Laura Pellegrini is a group leader at the Centre for Developmental Neurobiology at King’s College London. After receiving the Wellcome Trust Career Development Award, she started her laboratory in October 2023, focusing on the study of cerebral and choroid plexus organoids to understand brain development. During her postdoc at the MRC LMB in Cambridge with Dr. Madeline Lancaster, she contributed to developing a model that explored the choroid plexus, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) secretion and mimics the blood-CSF barrier. This work, published in Science, offered insights into how SARS-CoV-2 might affect the brain. Beyond this, Laura has worked on understanding how sex hormones influence brain development using cerebral organoids. Her current research looks at the choroid plexus organoid model to study brain development, the cerebrospinal fluid’s biomarkers, and how the brain protects itself from pathogens and drugs.

Gijs Kooij – Amsterdam UMC

Gijs Kooij is an associate professor at the Department of Molecular Cell Biology & Immunology as well as the MS center Amsterdam. His main research focus is to understand the natural process to resolve neuro-inflammation in order to provide new perspectives on the pathogenesis of chronic (unresolved) neuro-inflammatory diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS) and to reveal new treatment opportunities. He recently discovered endogenous lipid mediator circuits in the central nervous system (CNS) and revealed the absence of protective lipid mediators in various disease stages of MS. These findings in combination with personal Vidi (NWO) and Fellowship (Dutch MS society) grants have enabled Gijs to establish his own research group on inflammation-resolution mechanisms in health and disease.

Program

Time	Event
8:30	Welcome coffee and registration
9:00	Opening session
Part I: Brain targeting & brain barriers in vitro modeling
9:15	Keynote lecture 1 – dr. Laura Pellegrini ‘The choroid plexus: a key player in brain development and an   unexplored brain barrier’
10:00	Coffee break, poster presentations and visiting sponsor booths
10:30	Young Investigator Session 1 (selected abstracts, 5 talks of 15 min) 10u30: Laura Rué – Anti-mouse CD98hc nanobodies to cross the blood-brain barrier 10u45: Marie-Lynn Cuypers – Increasing brain half-life of biologicals by binding to myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein 11u00: Mar Condor – Modeling the human blood brain barrier using a novel micromesh multielectrode array chip 11u15: Laure Maes: The importance of choroid plexus endothelial cells to mimic the blood-CSF barrier in vitro
11:40	Promotional talk Platinum sponsor 1
11:50	Lunch and visit sponsor booths
12:30	Poster session and visit sponsor booths
Part II: Neuro-immune & periphery-brain interplay
13:10	Young Investigator Session 2 (selected abstracts, 5 talks of 15 min) 13u10: Julien Saint-Pol – Brain pericytes: from origins to implications in cell-cell communication within the neurovascular unit through mass spectrometry approaches 13u25: Océane Dusailly – Constitution of the endothelial cells, brain pericytes and astrocytes ‘reference proteomes’ through label-free fractioned and quantitative mass spectrometry approaches 13u40: Gayel Duran – Inflammasome activation is triggered in CD4+ T cells by transendothelial BBB migration during neuroinflammation 13u55: Hannah Lernout – Persisting neuroinflammation in extinguished chronic colitis: uncovering pathways for IBD-associated fatigue? 14u10: Jay Mehul Panji – An in vivo genetic screen identifies novel regulators of neurovascular development 14u25: Pieter Dujardin – Conditional C3 knockout mice to study the impact of complement deficiency on neuroinflammation and Alzheimer’s disease pathology
14:50	Coffee break and visit sponsor booths
15:20	Keynote lecture 2- Gijs Kooij ‘Bioactive lipid mediators to combat chronic neuro-inflammation’
16:10	Round table discussions – Session 1: 16:20 – 16:40 – Session 2: 16:45 – 17:05
17:10	Award ceremony and closing session
17:25	Networking reception

Registration:

To register, please complete our registration form and pay with the link provided at the end.
Indicate on the registration form whether or not you will submit an abstract for a poster and/or 15 minute presentation (more information below).
Indicate whether or not you will join for the round table discussions (more information below) and/or networking reception.

Ticket price:

Category	Early Bird (Prior to 02/09/2024)	Late Registration (Final deadline 27/09/2024)
PhD Students & lab technicians	€25	€30
Academia	€35	€42
Industry	€100	€150

Abstract

Submission deadline oral presentation 13/09/2024, poster presentation 20/09/2024

We welcome abstracts on any topic related to brain barrier research. The symposium will focus on two main themes: ‘Brain Targeting & Brain Barriers In Vitro Modeling’ and ‘Neuro-Immune & Periphery-Brain Interplay’. Please submit your abstract during registration.
During registration you can choose to present your abstract in a 15-minute talk during the conference and/or with a poster presentation.
Due to limited time and space, only part of the submitted abstracts will be selected for a 15’ presentation or poster presentation. People of selected abstracts will be informed in advance via mail.
Please consult your co-authors on possible intellectual property issues.
There will be awards for the best poster presentation and best selected 15-minute talk.
Please take our general guidelines into account regarding posters:
o Poster size: A0 (841 x 1189 mm, or 33,1 x 46,8 inches).
o Poster orientation = portrait (Please note that a poster in landscape format will NOT fit on the panels).
o Attachment materials will be provided for you and available on the poster panel itself.
o Your poster should be brought to the conference and not emailed. We do not have any facilities to print your poster on-site.
o Presenters are responsible for posting and removing their own materials. All posters should be attached to the poster panels on Monday 14th of October, in the morning before the talks, or the latest during the first coffee break. We will inform you about your poster number in advance via mail, please attach your poster to the panel with the corresponding number.
o All posters should be removed from the poster panels after the conference. Posters that have not been removed will not be stored by the organization.

Round table discussions

In two sessions of each 20 minutes you will have the opportunity to talk over a cup of coffee with scientists working in different scientific environments. Next to the two keynote speakers – Laura Pellegrini and Gijs Kooij – we have invited scientists from different pharmaceutical companies, smaller spin-offs and experts working in the field of science communication/scientific writing. During registration you can mention who you would prefer to have a chat with!

More information will follow soon!

Practical information

Venue

The 3^rd BBBelgium symposium will be hosted at the ‘Inflammation Research Center’ in the seminar room (ground floor) of the FSVMI building.
Adress: Technologiepark-Zwijnaarde 71, 9052 Ghent
Open in Google Maps

Travel to and within Ghent

By plane

Belgium is located centrally within Europe. Its capital, Brussels, is accessible through various flight and train connections. There are 3 airports close to Ghent:

Brussels National Airport (Zaventem) – BRU – Belgium
a. Located approximately 1 hour away
b. Direct connection by train to Gent-Sinter-Pieters station from the airport’s stain station
c. Car hire services available

✈️ Brussels Airport

🚆NMBS

Brussels South Airport (Charleroi) – CRL – Belgium
a. Approximately 2 hours by public transport to Ghent from the airport
b. Take the bus (TEC) Charleroi-Centraal trainstation. From here, take the train to the Gent-Sint-Pieters station.
c. FlixBus’s are available from Charleroi airport to Ghent
d. Car hire services available

✈️ Brussels South Airport

🚆NMBS

🚌 TEC

🚌 Flixbus

Flanders international airport (Ostend-Bruges) – OST – Belgium
a. Approximately 1h away by public transport to Ghent from the airport.
b. Take the bus (line 60, de LIJN) to Oostende station. From here, you have direct connection to Gent-sint-Pieters with the train.

✈️ Flanders International Airport

🚆NMBS

By train

Ghent is a 30-minute train ride from Brussels South train station. Thalys and Eurostar connect Ghent via this strain station to major European cities

By Thalys to Brussels South (Bruxelles-Midi) train station:
- Paris Nord: 2.5 hours
- Amsterdam: 2.5 hours
- Cologne: 2.5 hours
By Eurostar to Brussels South (Bruxelles Midi) train station
- London: 2 hours

Gent-Sint-Pieters station is the main station in Ghent and is directly connected to the city center via foot, bicycle, bus or tram. The venue is located outside of the city center of Ghent, but is easily accessible form the station via tram and bus

🚆NMBS

🚄Eurostar/Thalys

By car

Ghent is at the junction of the E40 and E17 motorways. Parking is possible at the venue and is free of charge if you ask for an exit ticket from the organizing committee or at the reception of the FSVM I building.

By bus/tram

Ghent has an extensive bus network. The city center and our venue are easily accessible by public transport.

The venue is easily accessible by a 15-minute bus ride from the Gent-Sint-Pieters station with bus stops next to the venue (Bus stop Zwijnaarde Technologiepark (Campus)).

Also the tram connects the venue and the station with stops such as ‘Zwijnaarde Klaartestraat’ (10 minute walk from venue) or Zwijnaarde Campusstraat (6 minute walk from venue).

🚌 De Lijn

By bike

A 15-minute bike ride connects Gent-Sint-Pietersstation with our venue. Bikes can be rented at the train station (Blue bikes). The city center of Ghent is only 10 minutes away by bike from the station!

🚲 Blue Bike