Neuroscience Research Day 2024

This year’s Buffalo Neuroscience Research Day is dedicated to the memory of the preeminent M. Laura Feltri, MD, who passed away in December 2023. The event will feature a host of presentations by Dr. Feltri’s colleagues and trainees, along with UB faculty and student presenters.

Painting by Camilla Wrabetz, inspired by Dr. Feltri's lab images.

Painting by Camilla Wrabetz, inspired by Dr. Feltri's lab images.

Celebrating Her Legacy

A widely respected scholar and a member of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences faculty, she was a SUNY Distinguished Professor of biochemistry and neurology in the Jacobs School and director of UB’s Institute for Myelin and Glia Exploration.

Her research focused on multiple sclerosis; Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, which affects the peripheral nerves; and Krabbe leukodystrophy, a rare, fatal neurological disease that afflicts newborns.”

Feltri was an internationally renowned pioneer in the study and treatment of myelin diseases in the nervous system. She made numerous seminal discoveries in her field, including developing the first mutagenesis tool for studying the development of Schwann cells, which generate myelin, and the signals that regulate myelination.

Dr. M. Laura Feltri, in whose memory this conference will be held.

Schedule

Buffalo Neuroscience Research Day logo.

The conference will be held Thursday, September 26, 2024 in downtown Buffalo at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (955 Main St, Buffalo, NY 14203).

Thursday, September 26, 2024; Order of Events Subject to Change!

Time Event Location
9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Check-in and Breakfast 2nd Floor Atrium
9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Opening Remarks/Reflections

Allison Brashear, MD, MBA
Vice President for Health Sciences, Dean, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences


Fraser Sim, PhD
Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Director, Neuroscience Program

 

Mark O'Brian, PhD
Professor and Chair of Biochemistry

 

Maureen Milligan, MS
Research Administrator
Institute for Myelin and Glia Exploration

 

2220A&B

Jacobs School

10:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Poster Session #1 2nd Floor Atrium
11:20 a.m. – 12:50 p.m.

Invited Speakers:

Michael Weaver, MD, PhD
Laminin Receptors in Peripheral Nervous System Myelination

Gustavo Della Flora Nunes, PhD
Incomplete Remyelination via Endogenous or Therapeutically Enhanced Oligodendrogenesis is Sufficient to Recover Neuronal Function

2220A&B

Jacobs School

1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Lunch 2nd Floor Atrium
2:30 p.m. – 3:20 p.m.

Invited Speaker:

Yannick Poitelon, PhD
The Forces Regulating Peripheral Nerve Biology

2220A&B

Jacobs School

3:30 p.m. – 4:20 p.m. Invited Speaker: 

Judith B. Grinspan, PhD
Two Important Players in Schwann Cell and Oligodendrocyte Differentiation
 

2220A&B

Jacobs School

4:30 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. Poster Session #2 2nd floor Atrium
5:45 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. Dinner 2nd floor Atrium
6:55 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. Keynote Speaker:

Kelly Monk, PhD
Molecular and Genetic Dissection of Myelinating Glial Cell Biology
 

2220A&B

Jacobs School

7:45 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Meeting Close

Awards Presentation

2220A&B

Jacobs School

Registration and Poster Abstract Submission