Educational satellite: “How have methods shaped the BBB field?”
Chairs: Judit Prat Duran & Andras Harazin
Wednesday, 16th September, 8:45 – 12:20
Venue: Bartholin Auditorium, Aarhus University
08:00– 08:45 Registration
08:45 – 09:25 Roberto Villaseñor (Roche). In vitro methodologies: High-throughput in vitro models to study the brain barrier
09:25 – 10:05 Annika Keller (University Hospital Zurich). Developing a transgenic mouse model: from target identification to a validated in vivo model
10:05 – 10:25 Coffee Break
10:25 – 11:05 Michael Vanlandewijck (The Karolinska Institute). Proteomics & transcriptomics: From tissue to data: Interpreting omics in brain barrier research
11:05 – 11:45 Britta Engelhardt (University of Bern). Visualizing the brain barriers in vivo: from surgery to image analysis
11:45 – 12:20 Panel Discussion, Moderator: Stefan Liebner (University of Frankfurt)
12:20 – Sandwiches and walk to The Old Town
28th European Brain Barriers Meeting, 2026
Wednesday, 16th September, 14:00 – 17:40.
Venue: Helsingør Theatre, The Old Town
13:00 – 14:00 Registration
14:00 – 15:30 Session 1: Blood Brain Barrier, Cannabinoids and Behaviour Chair: Irena Loryan (Uppsala University)
14:00 – 14:10 Opening Words
14:10 – 14:50 Caroline Menard (Université Laval). Cannabinoids and resilience
14:50 – 15:10 Michal Toborek (University of Miami). Molecular synergy of HIV infection of brain pericytes and methamphetamine use
15:10 – 15:30 Adeline Collignon (Université Laval). Investigating the role of blood-brain barrier transport in chronic stress and depressive-like behaviors in mice
15:30 – 16:00 Coffee Break
16:00 – 17:40 Session 2: Blood Brain Barrier and Neuronal Circuitry Chair: Martin Lauritzen (University of Copenhagen)
16:00 – 16:20 Anna Klawon (Aarhus University). Immune-to-brain signalling in mood - across the barrier and beyond?
16:20 – 16:40 Brandon J. Kim (University of Alabama, University of Texas at Dallas). Neuron-endothelial cross talk protects the blood-brain barrier from Group B Streptococcal invasion and disruption
16:40 – 17:40 Keynote Lecture: Richard Daneman (University of California). BBB impact on the neuronal circuitry
18:15 – Welcome Reception, “Møntmestergaarden”
Thursday, 17th September, 8:45 – 17:55.
Venue: Stakladen, Aarhus University
08:45 – 10:25 Session 3: Ependymal Barriers Chair: Lenka Maletinska (IOCB Prague, Czech Academy of Sciences)
08:45 – 09:25 Vincent Prevot (Inserm, Lille). Tanycytes, a dynamic blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier
09:25 – 09:45 Vilém Charvat (Aarhus University). Investigating Tanycytes as a Brain Entry Route for Therapeutic Cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript Peptide Analogs
09:45 – 10:05 Andrea Pačesová (IOCB Prague, Czech Academy of Sciences). Tanycytes as a Potential Gateway for Brain Entry of Metabolic Peptides
10:05 – 10:25 Gabriela Hurtado-Alvarado (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México). The impact of sleep delay on the entry of metabolic cues into the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus: a pathway to develop insulin resistance
10:25 – 11:40 Poster Session 1, presentation of posters with even numbers
11:40 – 13:00 Session 4: Signal Transduction and Receptor Trafficking at the BBB Chair: Helen Stolp (Royal Veterinary College)
11:40 – 12:20 Benoit Vanhollebeke (Université Libre de Bruxelles). An endothelial stalk cell selection mechanism warrants blood-brain barrier integrity
12:20 – 12:40 Martin Dichgans (LMU Munich). Endothelial Foxf2 loss drives a BBB-centered cascade of iron dysregulation, oxidative stress, and neuronal ferroptosis
12:40 – 13:00 Noelia Gesteira-Pérez (KU Leuven). Astrocyte Targeting Unlocks Prolonged Brain Retention of Transferrin-Mediated Antibody Shuttles
13:00 – 13:40 Lunch
13:40 – 15:00 Session 5: In Vitro Cultures - from Monolayers to Organoids Chair: Antje Appelt-Menzel (University Hospital Würzburg)
13:40 – 14:20 Maria A. Deli (Hungary Academy of Sciences, Szeged). Lab-on-a-chip models of the blood-brain barrier
14:20 – 14:40 Hideaki Nishihara (Yamaguchi University). Patient-derived iPSC modelling of HTRA1-related cerebral small vessel disease reveals ECM dysregulation and endothelial inflammatory priming
14:40 – 15:00 Camilla D’Angelo (Università del Piemonte Orientale). A dynamic blood-brain barrier fluidic model as a platform to evaluate cell therapy for GLUT1-DS using engineered EPCs
15:00 – 16:15 Poster Session 2, presentation of posters with odd numbers
16:15 – 17:55 Session 6: Brain Barriers, Drug Delivery and Neurodegenerative Diseases Chair: Stina Syvanen (Uppsala University)
16:15 – 17:15 Keynote lecture: Joy Zuchero (Denali, San Francisco). Utilizing the brain vasculature to deliver CNS therapeutics
17:15 – 17:35 Krzysztof Kucharz (Copenhagen University). Huntington’s disease vasculopathy is barrier-type-selective and arteriolar-dominant with spatially-coupled astrogliosis and reversible by S1pr1 stimulation
17:35 – 17:55 Anika MS Hartz (University of Kentucky). Blood-Brain Barrier Dysfunction in Alzheimer’s Disease: From Disease Mechanisms to Barrier Repair
19:00 – Conference Dinner, Restaurant Anker
Friday, 18th September, 9:00 – 13:00.
Venue: Stakladen, Aarhus University
9:00 – 10:40 Session 7: Novel Approaches for Analysing Brain Barriers Chair: Britta Engelhardt (University of Bern)
09:00 – 09:40 Ayal Ben-Zvi (Hebrew University of Jerusalem). A deep view into the structure of brain endothelial cells
09:40 – 10:00 Annette Burkhart (Aalborg Universitet). Engineering The Blood-Brain Barrier as a Therapeutic Protein Factory For
Neurological Disease
10:00 – 10:20 Daniel Gonzalez-Carter (Barcelona Institute for Science and Technology). Endocytic Turnover of Endothelial Cell-Membrane Proteins as a Driver of Rat Blood Brain Barrier Specialization and Dysfunction
10:20 – 10:40 Petr Pleskač (University of Bern).In vivo synchrotron radiation-based computed tomography of cerebrospinal fluid outflow in mice
10:40 – 11:10 Coffee Break
11:10 – 11:30 Awards and Announcements
11:30 – 12:50 Session 8: Novel Therapies for Treating Neurodegenerative Diseases Chair: Torben Moos (Aalborg University)
11:30 – 12:10 Isabelle Aubert (Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto). Blood-brain barrier modulation to promote brain plasticity and the delivery of
therapeutics
12:10 – 12:30 Maria Thaysen (Copenhagen University). Targeted brain delivery of the neuroprotective peptide NR2B9c
12:30 – 12:50 Amel Amara (University College London). Galectin-1 as a pathological inducer of microvascular leakage in diabetic retinopathy
12:50 – Wrap Up and Lunch Boxes to-go