Luxembourg 15th-16th May 2023
This workshop, funded by the Joint Programme on Neurodegenerative Disease Research, is intended to bring together a wide multidisciplinary community to discuss links between Coronavirus, Amyloid Disease, and Inflammatory Disease. Conference attendees should include, but not be limited to, COVAMINF workgroup members.
Medical practitioners, social and political actors, and scientists of all fields are welcome.
Conference attendees will be invited to contribute to two outputs, firstly a jointly authored review article presenting the broadest and most complete “atoms to societies” multiscale view of Cov-Am-Inf, addressing if possible the questions:
- A: How does SARS-CoV2 interact with any ongoing ‘typical’ neurodegenerative and/or chronic inflammatory disease etiology?
- B: Can SARS-CoV2 cross-seed or otherwise initiate progressive amyloid and/or inflammatory disease?
- If A or B, what risk-management strategies or potential treatments are relevant to SARS-CoV2 in relation to amyloid and/or chronic inflammatory disease?
Following the submission of the review article, the COVAMINF workgroup coordinator will prepare and disseminate a report on best practice and best policy giving the view of the COVAMINF workgroup as representing the JPND, with inputs again solicited from the COVAMINF workgroup and workshop attendees, on a voluntary basis.
The COVAMINF workshop has been arranged to follow directly from the 7th VENUSBERG MEETING ON NEUROINFLAMMATION, which will not be in Venusberg but in Luxembourg. The V7 meeting will run from Thursday May 11th to Saturday May 13th inclusive, with an opening dinner on May 10th. No sessions are planned for either meeting on the Sunday, however enrichment and relaxation activities will be arranged. Sessions for both meetings will be held at Belval campus in Southern Luxembourg.
REGISTRATION
The abstract deadline for contributed talks is March 31st. Final registration deadline is May 1st.
Cost to register is €200 for non-COVAMINF members, unless invited as a speaker. A limited number of non-paying places are available, students or other financially disadvantaged persons in particular may request exemption from registration fees. Payment details will be supplied following registration, and registration will be cancelled if payment or exemption from payment is not confirmed before the date of the workshop.
REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED. IN THE EVENT OF DROPOUTS THERE MAY BE LAST-MINUTE SPACES; CONTACT THE ORGANISER IF YOU WISH TO BE PUT ON A WAITING LIST.
ACCOMODATION
Rooms at Ibis Belval can be reserved at a 10% discount (book early) until Jan 31st 2023. Accomodation at Ibis Belval (only) will be reimbursed for COVAMINF members and for invited speakers. It is the responsibility of individual attendees to reserve accommodation and to verify the reduced rate. The code to secure the 10% discount will be provided following registration.
Hybrid / Online Acess
If you wish to present online please note this in your abstract submission. If you wish to attend the meeting entirely virtually please also note this at registration time. Fully online registration has no fee, but please do not register unless you intend to take part as fully as possible in the sessions.
GETTING TO BELVAL CAMPUS
Luxembourg airport is served by free bus links to Luxembourg city. To get from Luxembourg city to Belval it is normal to take the train (also free) which runs four times per hour for most of the day and night. CFL (Chemins de Fer Luxembourg) provides an online journey planner.
Getting here and parking – BELVAL
Brussels Charleroi and Frankfurt Hahn airports are both fairly close to Luxembourg. These budget travel hubs are connected to Luxembourg by coach services but not by convenient rail links.
It is also possible to take a high-speed train between Luxembourg and Paris, however the journey between the major Paris airports (either Orly or Charles de Gaulle) and the rail station Gâre de l’Est can be more trouble than seems reasonable for the distance.
TENTATIVE PROGRAMME
THE FINAL PROGRAMME IS AVAILABLE TO REGISTERED ATTENDEES ONLY, BY PDF
Sunday May 14th
Arrival (or rest day following Venusberg neuroinflammation meeting), with guided tour of Luxembourg medieval city at 16:00.
Monday May 15th
| 09:00 – 12:30 | Session: etiologies for neurodegenerative disease |
| 13:30 – 17:00 | Session: etiologies for neurological harm by SARS-CoV2 |
| 18:00 | Conference Opening Dinner |
Tuesday May 16th
| 09:00 – 12:30 | Session: peptide self-assembly and neurodegenerative disease |
| 13:30 – 17:00 | WORKSHOP: New priorities in policy and research |
| 17:00 | Closing remarks |
CONFIRMED SPEAKERS BY SESSION AND SESSION WORKSHOP QUESTIONS
ETIOLOGIES FOR NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE
Michael Heneka, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Jean-Charles Lambert, University of Lille, France
Workshop Agenda:
What are the major genetic and environmental causes of neurodegenerative disease, which causes should be priorities for policy action and which causes should be priorities for further research?
ETIOLOGIES FOR NEUROLOGICAL HARM BY SARS-COV2
Abdul Mannan Baig, Agha Khan University, Pakistan
Maria Stefanatou, National And Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Ruth Itzhaki, University of Oxford, UK
Workshop Agenda:
What are the major routes for neurological harm by SARS-CoV-2, which routes should be priorities for policy action and which should be priorities for further research?
PEPTIDE SELF-ASSEMBLY AND NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE
Nicholas P Reynolds, Latrobe University, Australia
Sofie Nyström, Linköping University, Sweden
Workshop Agenda:
What is the role of peptide self-assembly in neurodegenerative disease? Are any forms of assembly in particular dangerous? Are there any valid strategies to control peptide self-assembly?
NEW PRIORITIES IN POLICY AND RESEARCH
Misbah Mannan, Agha Khan University, Pakistan
Alexander Skupin, University of Luxembourg and Luxembourg Covid Taskforce
Workshop Agenda:
What lasting changes must be made by the institutions of science, medicine, and government, in response to the intersecting threats of neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration, and SARS-CoV2?