The Bristol Neuroscience (BN) Research Network is delighted to be hosting its second Bristol Brain Research Day on 14 January 2021.

This online symposium replaces the (larger) event planned for 23 June 2020 which was cancelled due to the pandemic. The event has been restructured and we will welcome 18 speakers from across the University of Bristol and at various career stages, from PhD students to Principal Investigators. The programme is divided into sessions which reflect the research hubs that comprise the Network, namely:

• Memory
• Mental Health
• Movement
• Neural Computation
• Sleep

Keynotes:

We are pleased to introduce our two confirmed keynote speakers:

Professor Eve Marder, Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfield Professor of Neuroscience/Biology, Brandeis University, USA

Marder studies the dynamics of small neuronal networks, and her work was instrumental in demonstrating that neuronal circuits are not “hard-wired” but can be reconfigured by neuromodulatory neurons and substances to produce a variety of outputs. For more than 20 years Marder’s lab has combined experimental work with insights from modeling and theoretical studies. Her lab pioneered studies of homeostatic regulation of intrinsic membrane properties, and stimulated work on the mechanisms by which brains remain stable while allowing for change during development and learning. Marder is now studying the extent to which similar network performance can arise from different sets of underlying network parameters, opening up rigorous studies of the variations in individual brains of normal healthy animals. Her present work adds to our understanding of differential resilience of individuals in the population to environment perturbations.

Professor Sir Michael Owen, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neuroscience; Emeritus Director of the Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University

Owen has worked on the genetics of psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders for over 25 years haand has extensive research expertise in the genetic aspects of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Alzheimer's disease, depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). For the past 10 years, he has also worked on psychiatric and cognitive outcomes in children at high genetic risk, particularly those carrying structural chromosomal abnormalities.

Mike has studied the impact of genetic risk factors across diagnostic boundaries and developed a theoretical framework to understand the relationship between different neurodevelopmental disorders. He has also identified specific genes and sets of proteins involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease, which are potential therapeutic targets.

As well as continuing work on psychiatric genetics, he is currently undertaking research aimed at translating recent genetic findings into a greater understanding of disease mechanisms and into the development of novel biomarkers to aid classification and diagnosis.

Programme: