The Annual Hope Center Retreat is held at the Danforth Plant Science Center.
Annual Hope Center Retreat
Tuesday, April 21, 2026
All day event | Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
Hope Center Lecture
Robert Baloh, MD, PhD
Global Head of Neuroscience
Novartis Biomedical Research
Call for Abstracts OPEN!
Deadline to submit: February 10, 2026 (5:00 PM CST)
The Hope Center is soliciting abstract submissions from graduate students, postdocs, and junior faculty who are interested in presenting their work at the retreat as a short talk or a poster. Presented work must be from the lab of a Hope Center faculty member. Work from all levels, basic science to clinically translated work, is appropriate for submission. We are seeking to highlight work that represents each of the seven Research Group areas:
- Axon Injury & Repair
- Clocks & Sleep Club
- Lysosome Processing & Transport
- Lipid Metabolism
- Neurodegeneration/HPAN
- Neurogenetics & Transcriptomics
- NeuroRestorative Therapy
For inquiries contact the Hope Center.
The Hope Center Steering Committee will review all submissions and select abstracts for a poster or a talk. Decisions will be announced 3-4 weeks prior to the retreat.
Graduate student and postdoc presenters are eligible for a Hope Center Award.
- Graduate student and postdoc presenters with work conducted at Washington University are eligible for a Hope Center Award. An award of $1000 each is awarded to one poster presenter and one short talk presenter.
- Judging is based on scientific merit, relevance to the Hope Center mission, and presentation at the retreat. Award winners will be declared in the days following the retreat.
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 exceptional presentations by trainees at the Annual Hope Center Retreat.
