Spanish Influencers: Constructing amazing brains - 16 October 2018

16 October 2018 ·

Instituto Cervantes, CEBE (Científicos Españoles en Bélgica) and the Cultural and Scientific Section of the Embassy of Spain in Belgium invite you to the talk by Dr. Mara Dierssen entitled Constructing Amazing Brains

The entrance is FREE but registration is mandatory. Take your tickets at: https://www.eventbrite.es/e/entradas-constructing-amazing-brains-50636543264

Down syndrome is a complex condition that results from having a third copy of human chromosome 21. People with the syndrome experience problems with learning and memory that affect many aspects of their lives. In DS individuals and trisomic mice models early intervention results in only limited and temporary cognitive improvements. Our previous work in trisomic mice suggested that this is probably due to an inability to translate the temporary changes in synaptic efficiency after exposure to enriched environments, into stable structural changes. Several molecular mechanisms may account for these alterations but not all are good therapeutic targets. I will discuss the experimental arguments that make one of the triplicated genes in DS a good pharmacological target for boosting plasticity: Dyrk1A a candidate gene closely implicated in various DS features.

Dr Mara Dierssen is a world expert in the field of neuroscience and her contributions have been published in more than 160 peer-reviewed papers (h index 45). Dr. Dierssen has received several awards for her work in intellectual disability including Ramón Trias Fargas, Jaime Blanco, Trifermed Social Impact of Healthcare Award, or Sisley-Lejeune awards and the National Science Culture Award from the Generalitat de Catalunya. Dr. Dierssen is president of the Trisomy 21 Research Society, and past-president of the Spanish Society of Neuroscience, and the International Behavioral and Neural Genetics Society, she served as executive committee member of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS). She is member of Editorial Boards (Genes Brain and Behavior, Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, Amino Acids, Frontiers in Genetics among other) and very active in organizing international research conferences. She serves as evaluator of different Scientific Committees and Boards (ERC, Spanish National Evaluation Agency, Panel Expert for EU). She is member of the Academia Europaea and of the European DANA Allianze for the Brain.

After the event, a dinner with Mara Dierssen will take place. Only CEBE members can attend. If you are interested, do not wait more to become a member