Description: This workshop will focus on ongoing studies and findings that enhance our understanding of the emergence and transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD), the prion disease of cervid species. Special emphasis will be placed on short oral talks from early career principal investigators/scientists, students, and technicians.

Organization: Candace Mathiason (Colorado State University) and Sabine Gilch (University of Calgary).

Invited Keynote Speakers: Rodrigo Morales (The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins) and Glenn Telling (Colorado State University)

Format and duration: Two 25-minute invited keynote presentations and six 12-minute talks drawn from abstract submissions to the main congress. Questions for each speaker will follow their talk within the timeline below.

 

• 16:00-16:30          Rodrigo Morales:  CWD environmental and detection, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA
• 16:45-17:00          Mariel Wictoria Holmen: How will CWD Resistance Breeding impact genetic variation in semi-domesticated reindeer herds?, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, As, Norway
• 17:00-17:15          Michelle Gibison: The science behind the scent – An interdisciplinary approach to understanding how chronic wasting disease influences feces from white-tailed deer leading to discrimination of disease status by canines, University of Pennsylvania, Phillidelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
• 17:15-17:30          Hanaa Ahmed-Hassan: CWD vaccination reduces shedding of prions in urine and feces, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
• 17:30-17:45          Break
• 17:45-18:00          Sonja Ernst: Animal prion strains around the globe, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald, Germany
• 18:00-18:15          Zoe Smyth: Nano-QuIC Enhanced CWD Detection in Norwegian Cervids,  University of Minnesota, Minnesota, USA
• 18:15-18:30          Sara Canoyra Sanchez: Evolutionary mechanism of Nor98/atypical scrapie during intra- and cross-species transmission in vivo and in vitro., CISA-INIA, Madrid, Spain
• 18:30-19:00          Glenn Telling: Nordic CWDs, Colorado State University, Prion Research Center, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

 

Target Audience: Those interested in CWD, prion strain evolution, environmental impacts, contemporary proteopathy diagnostics and vaccine approaches.

Relevance: Historical and contemporary CWD studies have led to novel developments that have informed and extended our understanding of this and other proteopathies. Join us as we hear from preeminent leaders in the field share their novel findings.

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Description: Several dementias are characterized by aggregation of abnormally folded conformers of host-encoded proteins. In prion diseases and related dementias, seeded aggregation can lead to the spread of protein aggregates throughout the brain. In this workshop, we will focus on neuropathology, selective cellular and regional vulnerability, and clinicopathological correlation not only in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease but also in Parkinson's, Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Besides lectures by prominent experts in the field there will be room for case discussions and hands-on neuropathology training in this exciting field of science.

Organization: Markus Glatzel (University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf)

Invited Keynote Speakers:

• Markus Glatzel: Institute of Neuropathology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
• Zane Jaunmuktane: Division of Neuropathology, University College London, London, UK.
• Leila Chimelli: Department of Neuropathology, State Institute of the Brain, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Format and duration: The workshop will take place in an interactive format and will include discussions of specific case studies.

• 15:00-15:05 Markus Glatzel: Introduction to the concept of this workshop
• 15:05-15:20 Markus Glatzel: Neuropathology of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and patterns of pathological deposition of the prion protein
• 15:20-15:40 Jane Jaunmuktane: Pathological deposition of the A-beta, tau and alpha-synuclein in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
• 15:40-16:00 Leila Chimelli: Surveillance of prion diseases in Brazil
• 16:0-16:30 Break
• 16:30-17:45 All speakers and the audience: Case presentation and discussion with selected cases of CJD, AD, DLB, PSP and MSA.
• 17:45-18:00 Markus Glatzel: Summary and feedback

Target audience: This workshop is tailored for (neuro)pathologists, neurologists, and other clinicians, as well as researchers and students with an interest in the neuropathology of dementia. It also welcomes professionals from the biotech and pharmaceutical industries working on diagnostics and treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, along with patient representatives.

Relevance: This workshop explores the clinical context of prion diseases alongside other dementias. By examining both shared and distinct mechanisms of protein misfolding, seeded aggregation, and neurodegeneration, it enhances understanding, improves diagnostics, advances research, and promotes cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Click here to register for the workshop