Annual Hope Center Retreat

The Annual Hope Center Retreat will be held at the Danforth Plant Science Center.

13th Annual Hope Center Retreat

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

All day event
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

Hope Center Lecture

Joseph Lewcock, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Discovery
Denali Therapeutics

“Targeting brain delivery of biotherapeutics for neurodegenerative disease“

Abstract: In this presentation, I will discuss our efforts at Denali to develop novel therapeutics for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases ranging from rare monogenic disorders to Alzheimer’s Disease. Our approach leverages our platform for delivery of therapeutics to the CNS combined with an improved mechanistic understanding of disease. The presentation will include both preclinical data and clinical data from our programs. 

Retreat Program

For inquiries contact the Hope Center at hopecenter@email.wustl.edu.

**Attendance at this event is based on prior registration. If you registered to attend but no longer can join, please let us know and help someone join from the waitlist.

View printable program
View poster program (WUSTL key required)
  • 9:00 am Welcome and Opening Remarks
    • David Holtzman (Hope Center Scientific Director) and Anneliese Schaefer (Hope Center Executive Director)
  • 9:05 am Welcome from Retreat Organizers
    • Geraldine Kress (WashU Neurology) and Brian Gordon (WashU Radiology)
  • 9:10 am Short talks Session I
    Moderated by Jason Ulrich (WashU Neurology)
    • Eileen Lynch (Weihl lab, WashU Neurology) – “TDP-43 aggregation and seeding in skeletal muscle”
    • Karl Friedrichsen (Brier lab, WashU Neurology) – “Increased S1PR1 Expression in Multiple Sclerosis Lesions Compared to Normal-Appearing White Matter as Measured by 11C-CS1P1 PET”
    • Yun Chen (Holtzman and Colonna labs, WashU Neurology and Pathology & Immunology) – “APOE3ch alters microglial response and suppresses Ab-induced tau seeding and spread”
    • Masatoshi Inoue (WashU Radiology) – “Multimodal Optical Interrogation of Neural Circuits that Control Social Interactions”
  • 10:25 am Danny Jaschek (WashU Medicine Corporate & Foundation Relations)
    Speaker Introduction – Anneliese Schaefer (WashU Neurology)
  • 10:30 am Short talks Session II
    Moderated by Aisling Chaney (WashU Radiology)
    • Vishnu Muraleedharan Saraswathy (Mokalled lab, WashU Developmental Biology) – “Single-cell analysis of innate spinal cord regeneration identifies intersecting modes of neuronal repair”
    • Zelun Wang (Williams and Apte labs, WashU Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences) – “Energetic heterogeneity in retinal ganglion cells: role of neuronal activity and implications for resilience”
    • Marta Celorrio (Friess lab, WashU Pediatrics) – “Gut Microbiota shape oligodendrocyte response after TBI”
  • 11:20 am Hope Center Lecture
    Speaker Introducation – David Holtzman (WashU Neurology)
    • Joseph Lewcock (Denali Therapeutics) – “Targeting brain delivery of biotherapeutics for neurodegenerative disease”
  • 1:30 pm Short talks Session III
    Moderated by Carla Yuede (WashU Psychiatry)
    • Farzaneh Mirfakhar (Karch lab, WashU Psychiatry) – “Trapped in transit: Tau accumulates in stem cell model of tauopathy through Autophagy and lysosomal impairments”
  • 1:45 pm Short talks Session IV
    Moderated by Miguel Minaya (WashU Psychiatry)
    • Joseph Bradley (Cruchaga lab, WashU Psychiatry) – “Novel genes and risk loci identified in large-scale multi-ethnic analysis of earlier-onset Alzheimer Disease”
    • Caitlin Dingwall (Milbrandt lab, WashU Genetics) – “Phosphatidylserine exposure is an early SARM1-dependent axonal danger signal that triggers phagocytosis of stressed-but-viable axons”
    • Aleksandra Beric (Ibanez lab, WashU Psychiatry) – “Circulating blood circular RNA in Parkinson’s Disease; a systematic study”
    • Yang Li (WashU Genetics and Neurosurgery) – “A comparative atlas of single-cell chromatin accessibility in the human brain”
  • 2:50 pm Closing Remarks
  • 3:10 pm Poster Session
  • 5:00 pm Retreat end, shuttle departs for WashU Medicine campus

About

The Hope Center Annual Retreat provides an opportunity to go off-site for a day, focus on Hope Center research, and learn more about transnational Neuroscience outside Washington University. Hope Center faculty and members of their laboratories learn about the latest findings and future directions of member labs in the context of short talks and a poster session. Keynote lectures feature invited speakers who lead their fields with a research/clinical program aligned with the Hope Center mission.

Stay tuned for details below and also on the Office of Neuroscience Research (ONR) Calendar.

For questions about the Hope Center Retreat contact the Hope Center.

Hope Center Awards

Recognizing an exceptional presentation by a trainee at the Annual Hope Center Retreat.

Hope Center Lecture

The keynote Hope Center Lecture is presented at the Annual Hope Center Retreat.