8.00 - 9.00       Registration

9.00 - 11.00     Session 1 (Chairs: A. Markovinovic & E. Buratti): ALS/FTD: new mechanisms

Opening ceremony (Introductory speeches by the Rectorate and Organizers)

Pietro Fratta (University College London, London, UK): TDP -43 dysfunction and T cells

Emanuele Buratti (ICGEB, Trieste, Italy): TDP-43 and AI-based search for novel biomarkers and small molecule interactors

Chantelle Sephton (Laval University, Quebec, Canada): Metabolic homeostasis in ALS: linking energy metabolism to FUS proteostasis

Andrea Markovinovic (Faculty of Medicine, Rijeka, Croatia): ER-mitochondria interactions in ALS/FTD 

Morwena Latouche (Sorbonne University, Brain and Spinal cord Institute,Paris, France): Neuro-immune forebrain assembloids from C9ORF72 and GRN mutant hIPSC

Awarded talk: Carmelo Milioto (University of Milan, Italy): C9orf72 DPR knock-in mice shape motor neuron vulnerability and plasticity revealing a novel potential therapeutic axis in ALS/FTD

11.00 - 11.30     Coffee break

11.30 - 13.30     Session 2 (Chairs: E. Buratti & J. Mitchell): ALS/FTD: new mechanisms

Jean-Pierre Julien (Laval University, Quebec, Canada): The role of neurofilaments in TDP-43 pathology

Jacqueline Mitchell (King's College London, UK): TDP-43 pathogenesis: unpicking  differential vulnerability and environmental contributors

David Brenner (University of Ulm, Germany): Personalized medicine for genetic ALS - from bedside to bench and back to bedside

Marco Baralle (ICGEB, Trieste, Italy): Determinants of TDP-43 expression: Epigenetic and genetic regulation

Manuela Basso (University of Trento, Italy): Neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration: different timelines of two occurring events in ALS?

Awarded talk: Lea Knez (University College London, London, UK): Development  of a safe and effective gene therapy to rescue TDP-43 loss-of-function

Awarded talk: Ismail Gbadamosi (Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland): Cell-specific Neuroglia Metabolic Reprogramming Downstream TDP-43 Dysfunction

13.30 – 15.00   Lunch

15.00 – 16.20   Session 2 continued (Chairs: B. Rogelj & P. Fratta): Proteinopathy in ALS/FTD

Boris Rogelj (Department of Biotechnology, Jozef Stefan Institute): Interactomics in ALS and FTD

Michael Strong (Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, Canada): TDP-43 interaction with SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein (N protein) – biomolecular condensate formation

Angelo Poletti (University of Milan, Italy): Novel approaches to counteract DPRs neurotoxicity in C9ORF72-linked ALS and FTD

Giulia De Sabbata (VectorY Therapeutics B.V., Amsterdam, Netherlands): AAV-mediated delivery of an intrabody targeting TDP-43 for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis therapy

Awarded talk: Jerneja Nimac (Department of Biotechnology, Jozef Stefan Institute): Stress-associated dynamic interactome of TDP-43

18.30 - 20.00    Swim & Walk for Brain Health @ Kostrena beach

20.00 - 22.30     Drinks and snacks in Kostrena Yacht Club Galeb

9.00 - 11.00       Session 3 (chairs: J-P. Julien & I. Munitic): Immunity in ALS/FTD

Jasna Kriz (Laval University, CERVO Brain Research Centre): Development of distinct microglia proteome profiles in TDP-43 mediated pathologies

Jemeen Sreedharan (King’s College London, UK): TDP-43-linked inflammatory signals in mouse and stem cell-derived neurons

Christian Lobsiger (Sorbonne University, Brain and Spinal cord Institute, Paris, France): How microglial TBK1 and motor neuron aging could contribute to ALS disease

Ivana Munitic (Faculty of Biotechnology and Drug Development, University of Rijeka, Croatia): OPTN Variants as Disease Modifiers: Lessons from Experimental Models and Computational Analyses

Valeria Gerbino (IRCSS Fondazione Santa Lucia, European Center for Brain Research, Rome, Italy): TBK1 at the intersection of proteostasis and neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative disease progression

11.00 - 11.30     Coffee break

11.30 - 13.30     Session 3 continued (chairs: J-P. Julien & I. Munitic): Immunity in ALS/FTD & beyond

Ludo Van Den Bosch (University of Leuven, Belgium): Dynamic interplay between loss-of-support and gain-of-toxicity by ALS astrocytes on human motor units  

Ilija Brizic (Center for Proteomics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Croatia): Glial cell adaptation to latent cytomegalovirus infection in the CNS

Jason Cannon (Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA): Ferroptosis cell death pathways as a critical pathogenic intersection across multiple neurodegenerative diseases

Marina Babić Čač (Faculty of Medicine, Rijeka, Croatia): Regulation of Lymphocyte Responses During Neuroinflammation

Ludmilla Morozova-Roche (Umeå University, Sweden): Role of proinflammatory S100A9 protein in the amyloid-neuroinflammatory cascade in neurodegenerative diseases

13.30 - 15.00       Lunch

15.00 - 17.00      Session 4 (chairs: S.Kalra & F. De Marchi): Clinical studies, biomarkers & emerging therapies in ALS/FTD

Angela Genge (McGill University, Quebec, Canada): Update on Targets in ALS Drug Development

Sanjay Kalra (University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada): Cerebral Degeneration in ALS: Insights from Neuroimaging

Hrvoje Bilić (Clinical Hospital Centre Zagreb, Croatia): Tofersen: real-world data in Croatian patients

Blaž Koritnik (Institute of Clinical Neurophysiology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana): Clinical perspectives on ALS genetics

Fabiola De Marchi (University of Piemonte Orientale, Maggiore della Carità Hospital, Novara, Italy): Stem cell based clinical trials in ALS/FTD and beyond

Aleksandra Kacar (University Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia): Electrophysiological markers in ALS           

Ante Tolić (Clinical Hospital Centre, Rijeka, Croatia): Tofersen treatment in ALS SOD-1 positive patients in Clinical Hospital Centre Rijeka 

17.00 - 19.00      Poster session with coffee & cookies

19.30 - 23.00      Dinner for invited speakers & organizing committee  Canada day celebration with Canadian friends in Croatia!

9.00 - 11.00       Session 5 (chairs: J. Kriz & J. Cannon): Systems and multi-omics approaches ALS/FTD and related brain disorders

Robert Russell (Heidelberg University, Germany): Predicting disease variant molecular mechanism: from first year biochemistry to sophisticated AI models

Vladimira Vuletić (Clinical Hospital Centre, Rijeka): Precise and personalized therapy in neurodegenerative diseases - examples from everyday practice

Sandra Maria Martin Guerrero (Instituto de Parasitología y Biomedicina López-Neyra, CSIC, Granada, Spain): Maternal Immune Activation as a driver of protein dysregulation in neural progenitors

Lea El Hajjar (Sorbonne University, Brain and Spinal cord Institute, Paris, France): In vitro experimental validation pipeline for discovering small‑molecule inhibitors of TDP‑43 aggregation

Sara Cappelli (ICGEB, Triste, Italy): From Blood to Brain: Unveiling Platelet–Neuron Crosstalk in ALS and FTD

Dijana Ostojić (University of Galway, Ireland): Investigating the metabolomic signatures of schizophrenia and frontotemporal dementia in UK Biobank

Awarded talk: Benedetta Bartilomo (University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy): A Multi-Hit Genetic Model for Motor Neuron Vulnerability Machine Learning-Based Identification of Variant Convergence in ALS-Related Gene Networks

Awarded talk: Giovanni Papagni (University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy): Application of High Throughput Approaches for the Functional Characterization of  VUS in ALS  and Neurodegenerative Diseases

11.00 - 11.30    Coffee break

11.30 - 13.30    Session 6 (chairs: V. Vuletić & E. Stefanova): Overlapping pathologies in neurodegenerative diseases

Dmitry Lim (University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy): A chicken and the egg: ER-mitochondrial interaction and protein homeostasis in Alzheimer’s disease and beyond

Dubravka Svob Strac (Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia): Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulphate Mitigates Aβ Toxicity and Accumulation in Experimental Models of Alzheimer’s Disease Selected speaker

Elka Stefanova (Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade): The role of C9orf72 in neurodegenerative diseases

Silva Katušić Hećimović (Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia): Proteome and lipidome signatures of a juvenile neurodegenerative disorder Niemann-Pick type C

Laura Tapella (University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy): Calcineurin in astrocytes and its role in proteostasis and neuroinflammation

Victor Coelho (Laval University, CERVO Brain Research Centre): Converging SRSF3 immune-mediated mechanisms in ALS/FTD and AD models

Award for best young researcher presentation & best NeuroArt Contest Artwork

Closing ceremony