Past Conference

Neuroepigenetics & Neuroepitranscriptomics Conference

Date

24 Feb - 27 Feb 2018

Location

Cancun, Mexico

Early Bird - Expired  •  Talk Submission - Expired  •  Poster Submission - Expired  •  Registration & Payment Deadline - Expired

Synopsis

Epigenetic mechanisms — including DNA and histone modifications, as well as regulation by non-coding RNAs — have pivotal roles in the nervous system. Aberrant epigenetic regulation also contributes to pathogenesis in various brain disorders. There are a number of recent ground-breaking discoveries of new features of epigenetic marks and regulation that are enriched in the nervous system, leading to an emerging new field of “neuroepigenetics”. In addition, new discoveries of modification of mRNAs and long non-coding RNAs lead to a new field of “epitranscriptomics”. This meeting will bring together experts and pioneers in studying neuroepigenetics and epitranscriptomics to provide an up-to-date and comprehensive picture of epigenetic and epitranscriptomic mechanisms in neural development, reprogramming and cell identity, plasticity, neuronal function and dysfunction. The meeting will offer opportunity for interdisciplinary interactions and future collaborations.

Key Sessions:

  • Epigenetic mechanisms regulating brain development and stem cells 
  • Transcriptional and translational regulation
  • Neuronal specific splicing
  • Brain developmental disorders, aging and neurodegeneration
  • Single-cell analysis
  • Genome-wide analysis of different DNA and RNA modifications
  • 3D epigenome and chromatin topology

Student Offer

Take advantage of this fantastic opportunity for students! Register an academic at the standard rate of $1,798 and bring a student for only $745. Unfortunately, Postdocs are not eligible. Both registration packages include; accommodation for the 24, 25, 26 February 2018 (on a shared basis for students, note guest rooms are open plan) and a 24hour all-inclusive food and beverage package for the conference period. Once registered, please contact Jack Peters (jack@fusion-conferences.com) to obtain a special registration link for your student.

Plenary Speakers

Anne Brunet (Stanford University)
Michael Greenberg (Harvard University)
Chuan He (The University of Chicago)
RNA METHYLATION IN GENE EXPRESSION REGULATION
Rudolf Jaenisch (Whitehead Institute)
EPIGENETIC REGULATION, STEM CELLS AND DISEASE RELEVANCE
Peng Jin (Emory University)
DYNAMIC CHEMICAL MODIFICATIONS OF NUCLEIC ACID IN NEURODEVELOMENT AND DISEASES
Guo-li Ming (University of Pennsylvania)
Eric Nestler (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai)
TRANSCRIPTIONAL AND EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS OF ADDICTION
Andreas Pfenning (Carnegie Mellon University)
EPIGENOMIC DISSECTION OF REGULATORY ELEMENTS UNDERLYING THE EVOLUTION OF LEARNED VOCAL BEHAVIOR
Antonella Riccio (University College London)
THE SECRET LIFE OF 3’UTRS IN DEVELOPING NEURONS
 

Invited Speakers

Angel Barco (Instituto de Neurociencias)
ROLE OF KAT3 PROTEINS IN NEUROPLASTICITY AND NEURONAL IDENTITY
Timothy Bredy (Queensland Brain Institute)
THE WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHY AND HOW OF NEW DNA MODIFICATIONS IN THE BRAIN AND THEIR ROLE IN MEMORY
Alon Chen (Weizmann Institute of Science & Max-Planck Institute of Psychiatry)
THE ROLE OF M6A-RNA METHYLATION IN STRESS RESPONSE REGULATION
Jesse Gray (Harvard Medical School)
DISTINCT NEURONAL ACTIVITY PATTERNS INDUCE DIFFERENT GENE EXPRESSION PROGRAMS
Elizabeth A. Heller (Perelman School of Medicine)
CHROMATIN-MEDIATED ALTERNATIVE SPLICING IN REWARD PATHOPHYSIOLOGY
Andrew Jaffe (Lieber Institute for Brain Development)
DYNAMIC DNA METHYLATION ACROSS DEVELOPMENT, GENOTYPE AND MENTAL ILLNESS IN THE HUMAN BRAIN
Tae-Kyung Kim (UT Southwestern Medical Center)
ACTIVITY-REGULATED TRANSCRIPTIONAL ENHANCERS
Ram Madabhushi (UT Southwestern Medical Center)
THE ROLE OF ACTIVITY-INDUCED DNA BREAKS IN NEURONAL PHYSIOLOGY, LEARNING AND MEMORY
Anne Schaefer (Mount Sinai School of Medicine)
EPIGENETIC CONTROL OF BRAIN REGION-SPECIFIC MICROGLIA CLEARANCE ACTIVITY BY PRC2
Yanhong Shi (City of Hope)
m6A RNA METHYLATION REGULATES NEURAL DEVELOPMENT AND NEUROLOGICAL DISORDER
Anne West (Duke Institute for Brain Sciences)
EPIGENOME EDITING IN NEURONS WITH dCAS9 FUSION PROTEINS
Heng Zhu (Johns Hopkins University)
DNA METHYLATION-DEPENDENT KLF4 BINDING PROMOTES TRANSCRIPTION ACTIVATION AND CHROMATIN REMODELING

Confirmed Speakers

Plenary Speakers
Antonella Riccio

Antonella Riccio

Professor , MRC LMCB Univ. College London

Eric Nestler

Eric Nestler

Nash Family Professor Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Peng Jin

Peng Jin

Professor and Chair, Emory University

Chuan He

Chuan He

Professor, The University of Chicago/HHMI

Guo-li Ming

Guo-li Ming

Professor, University of Pennsylvania

Michael Greenberg

Michael Greenberg

Department Chair and the Nathan Marsh Pusey Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School

Rudolf Jaenisch

Rudolf Jaenisch

Member, WIBR and Professor of Biology, M.I.T., Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

Anne Brunet

Anne Brunet

Michele and Timothy Barakett Professor of Genetics, Stanford University

Invited Speakers
Jesse Gray

Jesse Gray

Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School

Heng Zhu

Heng Zhu

Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Elizabeth Heller

Elizabeth Heller

Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania

Anne West

Anne West

Professor of Neurobiology, Duke University

Angel Barco

Angel Barco

CSIC Research Professor, Instituto de Neurociencias (CSIC-UMH)

Tae-Kyung Kim

Tae-Kyung Kim

77 Cheongam-ro, Nam-gu, Pohang (Nam), Gyeongbuk, South Korea, 790-784, POSTECH Life Sciences

Timothy Bredy

Timothy Bredy

Professor, Queensland Brain Institute

Anne Schaefer

Anne Schaefer

Associate Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Andreas Pfenning

Andreas Pfenning

Assistant Professor, Carnegie Mellon University

Alon Chen

Alon Chen

Chair, Director , Weizmann Institute of Science, Max-Planck Institute of Psychiatry

Andrew Jaffe

Andrew Jaffe

Lead Investigator, Lieber Institute for Brain Development

Ram Madabhushi

Ram Madabhushi

Assistant Professor, UT southwestern Medical Center

Yanhong Shi

Yanhong Shi

Professor and Chair, Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope

Programme

SATURDAY 24TH FEBRUARY 2018

14:00 – 14:45

Registration & Reception

14:00 – 14:45

Welcome Lunch
*Kalmia Buffet Restaurant*

14:45 – 15:00

Opening Comments

Session 1
Session Chairs: Anne West & Guo-li Ming

15:00 – 15:30

Guo-li Ming
University of Pennsylvania

EPITRANSCRIPTOMIC m6A REGULATION OF AXON REGENERATION IN THE ADULT MAMMALIAN NERVOUS SYSTEM

15:30 – 15:45

Guang-Hui Liu
Chinese Academy of Sciences

ABSENCE OF SIRT6 RESULTS IN DEVELOPMENTAL RETARDATION IN CYNOMOLGUS MONKEYS

15:45 – 16:15

Antonella Riccio
University College London

THE SECRET LIFE OF 3’UTRS IN DEVELOPING NEURONS

16:15 – 16:45

Jesse Gray
Harvard Medical School

DISTINCT NEURONAL ACTIVITY PATTERNS INDUCE DIFFERENT GENE EXPRESSION PROGRAMS

16:45 – 17:15

Refreshments

17:15 – 17:45

Tim Bredy
Queensland Brain Institute

THE WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHY AND HOW OF NEW DNA MODIFICATIONS IN THE BRAIN AND THEIR ROLE IN MEMORY

17:45 – 18:15

Andrew Jaffe
Lieber Institute for Brain Development

DYNAMIC DNA METHYLATION ACROSS DEVELOPMENT, GENOTYPE AND MENTAL ILLNESS IN THE HUMAN BRAIN

18:15 – 18:30

Christina Vallianatos
University of Michigan

AN H3K4ME WRITER-ERASER DUO KMT2A AND KDM5C COORDINATES SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

18:30 – 18:45

Bing Yao
Emory University

DNA N6-METHYLADENINE IS DYNAMICALLY MODIFIED IN THE MOUSE BRAIN FOLLOWING ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS AND ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

18:45 – 19:30

Chuan He
The University of Chicago
*Keynote*

RNA METHYLATION IN GENE EXPRESSION REGULATION

19:30

Dinner at Leisure

SUNDAY 25TH FEBRUARY 2018

07:00 – 08:30

Breakfast
*Kalmia Buffet Restaurant*

Session 2
Session Chairs: Antonella Riccio & Yanhong Shi

08:30 – 09:00

Hongjun Song
University of Pennsylvania

Epitranscriptomic regulation of neurogenesis and plasticity

09:00 – 09:30

Alon Chen
Weizmann Institute of Science & Max-Planck Institute of Psychiatry

THE ROLE OF M6A-RNA METHYLATION IN STRESS RESPONSE REGULATION

09:30 – 09:45

Marija Kundakovic
Fordham University

CHANGES IN NEURONAL CHROMATIN ORGANIZATION AND ANXIETY-RELATED PHENOTYPES ACROSS THE ESTROUS CYCLE

09:45 – 10:00

Felice Elefant
Drexel University

RESTORING HISTONE ACETYLATION HOMEOSTASIS IN THE NEURODEGENERATIVE BRAIN RELIEVES EPIGENETIC TRANSCRIPTIONAL REPRESSION AND REINSTATES COGNITION

10:00 – 10:45

Refreshments & Group Photo

10:45 – 11:15

Rudolf Jaenisch
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

EPIGENETIC REGULATION, STEM CELLS AND DISEASE RELEVANCE

11:15 – 11:45

Heng Zhu
Johns Hopkins University

DNA METHYLATION-DEPENDENT KLF4 BINDING PROMOTES TRANSCRIPTION ACTIVATION AND CHROMATIN REMODELING

11:45 – 12:00

Valeria Cavalli
Washington University in St Louis

GENE REPRESSION BY DNA METHYLATION PROMOTES AXON REGENERATION IN PERIPHERAL SENSORY NEURONS

12:00 – 12:15

Johannes Graeff
EPFL

REWRITE OR OVERWRITE: DECIPHERING THE NEUROEPIGENETIC MECHANISMS OF REMOTE FEAR MEMORY ATTENUATION

12:15 – 12:30

Meilin Fernandez
University of Pennsylvania

DIFFERENTIAL NUCLEOSOME BINDING BY DEVELOPMENTAL AND REPROGRAMMING TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS

12:30 – 12:45

Jing Crystal Zhao
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute

M6A RNA METHYLATION CROSSTALK WITH HISTONE MODIFICATIONS IN NEURAL STEM CELLS

12:45 – 17:30

Lunch at Leisure & Free Time

Session 3
Session Chair: Elizabeth A. Heller

17:30 – 18:00

Peng Jin
Emory University

DYNAMIC CHEMICAL MODIFICATIONS OF NUCLEIC ACID IN NEURODEVELOMENT AND DISEASES

18:00 – 18:30

Elizabeth A. Heller
Perelman School of Medicine

CHROMATIN-MEDIATED ALTERNATIVE SPLICING IN REWARD PATHOPHYSIOLOGY

18:30 – 19:00

Ram Madabhushi
UT Southwestern Medical Center

THE ROLE OF ACTIVITY-INDUCED DNA BREAKS IN NEURONAL PHYSIOLOGY, LEARNING AND MEMORY

19:00 – 19:15

Shigeki Iwase
University of Michigan

NEURONAL ACTIVITY-DEPENDENT TRANSCRIPTION START SITES

19:15 – 19:30

Chris Pierce
University of Pennsylvania

THE SINS OF THE FATHERS: PATERNAL COCAINE ELICITS LEARNING DEFICITS IN MALE PROGENY

19:30

Dinner at Leisure

MONDAY 26TH FEBRUARY 2018

07:00 – 08:30

Breakfast
*Kalmia Buffet Restaurant*

Session 4
Session Chairs: Anne Schaefer & Anne Brunet

08:30 – 09:00

Eric Nestler
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

TRANSCRIPTIONAL AND EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS OF ADDICTION

09:00 – 09:30

Anne West
Duke Institute for Brain Sciences

EPIGENOME EDITING IN NEURONS WITH dCAS9 FUSION PROTEINS

09:30 – 09:45

Sika Zheng
University of California Riverside

NEURONAL POLARIZATION IS COORDINATED BY ALTERNATIVE SPLICING REPROGRAMMING

09:45 – 10:00

Jose V. Sanchez-Mut
EPFL

PM20D1 METHYLATION QUANTITATIVE TRAIT LOCUS IS ASSOCIATED WITH ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

10:00 – 10:30

Refreshments

10:30 – 11:00

Yanhong Shi
City of Hope

M6A RNA METHYLATION REGULATES NEURAL DEVELOPMENT AND NEUROLOGICAL DISORDER

11:00 – 11:30

Tae-Kyung Kim
UT Southwestern Medical Center

ACTIVITY-REGULATED TRANSCRIPTIONAL ENHANCERS

11:30 – 11:45

Jeremy Day
University of Alabama at Birmingham

ROLE OF GADD45B IN DNA DEMETHYLATION AND COCAINE ACTION

11:45 – 12:00

Nathalie Berube
Children's Health Research Institute

THE CTCF CHROMATIN ORGANIZER DICTATES THE FATE OF CORTICAL GABAERGIC INTERNEURONS IN THE DEVELOPING BRAIN

12:00 – 17:00

Lunch at Leisure & Free Time

12:30 – 16:00

Snorkel Trip (signups required in advance)

Session 5
Session Chair: Hongjun Song

17:00 – 17:30

Li-huei Tsai
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

INSIGHTS INTO THE EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS OF MEMORY ENCODING, CONSOLIDATION AND RECALL

17:30 – 19:45

Poster Session

20:00

*Gala Dinner & Poster Awards*

TUESDAY 27TH FEBRUARY 2018

07:00 – 08:30

Breakfast
*Kalmia Buffet Restaurant*

Session 6
Session Chair: Li-huei Tsai

08:30 – 09:00

Anne Brunet
Stanford University

EPIGENETIC AND METABOLIC REGULATION OF NEURAL STEM CELL AGING

09:00 – 09:30

Angel Barco
Instituto de Neurociencias

ROLE OF KAT3 PROTEINS IN NEUROPLASTICITY AND NEURONAL IDENTITY

09:30 – 10:00

Andreas Pfenning
Carnegie Mellon University

EPIGENOMIC DISSECTION OF REGULATORY ELEMENTS UNDERLYING THE EVOLUTION OF LEARNED VOCAL BEHAVIOR

10:00 – 10:30

Refreshments

10:30 – 11:00

Anne Schaefer
Mount Sinai School of Medicine

EPIGENETIC CONTROL OF BRAIN REGION-SPECIFIC MICROGLIA CLEARANCE ACTIVITY BY PRC2

11:00 – 11:45

Michael Greenberg
Harvard University
*Keynote*

HOW NATURE AND NURTURE CONSPIRE TO CONTROL BRAIN DEVELOPMENT AND FUNCTION

11:45 – 12:00

Closing Comments

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Venue & Location

Fiesta Americana Condesa

This stylish hotel features contemporary Mexican architecture, including one of the largest and most impressive thatched-roof "palapas" in the entire country. There are cultural activities, arts and crafts and sports programs to keep you constantly entertained, plus time to relax and enjoy the Mayan culture, soak up the Caribbean sunshine and revel in the international ambiance that settles in after the sun goes down.

Throughout your stay delegates will enjoy a full meal plan, inclusive of beverages. Take your pick from the aromatic Asian delights at Kaumbu, traditional fare at El Mexicano, delicious international cuisine at Kalmia Buffet or perhaps sample the sumptuous Italian dishes at Rosato. There are also several other dining opportunities such as the Cevichería, Pizzeria, Sushi Corner, pool and lounge bar areas. The Gala Night with either a Mayan or Caribbean theme takes place on the third evening of the conference with a mouth-watering feast of local cuisine, an open bar and amazing local entertainment.  We welcome all delegates and their accompanying persons to the Gala Night – a truly fun filled night not to be missed!

Hotel Facilities

  • Lagoon Pool
  • Extensive Health Club and Spa
  • Complimentary Wi-Fi in guest rooms and throughout hotel and conference areas

The Fiesta Americana Condesa, Cancun is the 2015 Winner of the Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence and also received the Travellers Choice Award in 2014. 

The remains of ancient Mayan cities are scattered throughout the Yucatan Peninsula and no trip to Cancun would be complete without a visit to these majestic temples and pyramids set amongst lush tropical vegetation. We will be working very closely with a reputable tour company who will be organising trips to Tulum, Chichen Itza, Coba and Xcaret to name a few, some of which may require a full day. Full day excursions will be arranged pre or post conference and may be on an individual or group booking so we would recommend booking extra nights to extend your stay as early as possible to avoid disappointment should these excursions be of interest to you and/or your party. For further information please contact us.

General Information

Venue Rating

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Currency

US Dollar (USD)

Address

Fiesta Americana Condesa, Blvd.Kukulkán km 16.5 Zona Hotelera, Cancun, 77500 Mexico

Nearest Airport

Cancun International Airport

Location

Cancun is a delightful combination of natural beauty, islands, ecological reserves and white sandy beaches. However, besides sun, sand and sea, this destination also offers an infinite variety of underwater activities to choose from: the diving, snorkelling and fishing here are outstanding and you will find an undersea world packed with tropical fish that live on the second largest barrier reef in the world. Sports enthusiasts might choose one of the many eco-tourism activities, such as cycling or hiking through the tropical forest or kayaking through mangroves, or something a little more adventuresome, like zip lining through the treetops.

Apart from the more well-known ancient Mayan archealogical sites such as Tulum, Cobá and Chichén Itzá you may like to visit the Aktun Chen caverns, voted one of the Top 10 underwater walks by National Geographic described as a truly magical experience.

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Conference Manager

Jack Peters

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