SATELLITE SYMPOSIUM

PHARMACOLOGICAL MODULATION OF STEROIDOGENESIS AND 

OF STEROID EFFECTS IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 

Saturday February 24 - Torino

Chairs: Roberto Cosimo Melcangi (Italy), Luis Miguel Garcia-Segura (Spain)

8:45 Melcangi R.C. (Italy), Garcia-Segura L.M. (Spain)  Introduction to the Satellite Symposium

9:00 Rainer Rupprecht (Germany) TSPO as diagnostic and therapeutic target in the nervous system 

9:30 Eleonora Da Pozzo (Italy) Steroidogenic translocator protein (TSPO) and inflammation of human microglial cells 

10:00 Vincent Prevot (France) Age-related loss of GnRH expression and rhythmic release in cognitive disorders: a role for minipuberty? 

10:30 - 11:00 coffee break

11:00 Thérèse Di Paolo (Canada) Effect of 5alpha-reductase inhibitors in animal models of Parkinson's  disease 

11:30 George Barreto (Ireland) Unraveling the mechanisms of neuroprotection by tibolone: Now and Beyond 

12:00 Elisabeth Traiffort (France) The androgen receptor: An unexpected pharmacological target in the demyelinated central nervous system of females

12:30 - 14:00 lunch

14:00 Erika Comasco (Sweeden) Progesterone receptor modulation: effects on the brain and mood 

14:30 Luis Miguel Garcia-Segura (Spain) An overview of selective estrogen receptor modulators as neuroprotectants 

15:00 Jonathan Hirst (Australia) Neurosteroid analogue therapy after preterm birth and major stresses in pregnancy

15:30 Katharina Gapp (Switzerland) A novel tool to combat stress signatures in vitro and in vivo

16:00 Closure of the Satellite Symposium

12th INTERNATIONAL MEETING

STEROIDS AND NERVOUS SYSTEM

Saturday February 24 - Torino

16:30 Opening ceremony

SYMPOSIUM - STEROIDS AND THE GUT-BRAIN AXIS 

17:00 Silvia Diviccaro (Italy) Gut-Microbes-Brain communication: focus on gut steroids in physiopathological conditions. 

17:30 Marc Tetel (USA) Estrogens and the gut microbiome

18:00 Chris Lowry (USA) Microbiome-gut-brain axis signaling and PTSD: Implications for prevention and treatment 

18:30 Niklas Blank (USA) The enteric nervous system relays psychological stress to intestinal inflammation

19:00 PLENARY LECTURE

Marc Claret (Spain) 

Multifaceted mitochondria in hypothalamic neurons 

20:00 Welcome Cocktail 

Sunday February 25

SYMPOSIUM - PLACENTAL STEROIDS AND NEURODEVELOPMENT 

9:00 Anna Penn (USA) Introduction to placental steroids and neurodevelopment 

9:30 Claire-Marie Vacher (USA) Novel mouse model targeting placental allopregnanolone alters neurodevelopment in a sex- and region-dependent manner 

10:00 Alex Tsompanidis (UK) Sex differences in the placenta and their link to autism likelihood and neurodevelopment 

10:30 - 11:00 coffee break

11:00 Morgan Firestein (USA) Prenatal maternal steroid levels as mechanisms underlying the associations between maternal metabolic conditions and child neurodevelopment 

11:30 PLENARY LECTURE

Liisa Galea (Canada) 

Game of Hormones: Why Sex Matters for Neuroscience 

12:30 - 14:00 lunch & poster session /exposition

SYMPOSIUM - HORMONAL CONTRACEPTIVES AND THE BRAIN: A FOCUS ON RODENT MODELS 

14:00 Jesse M. Lacasse (Canada) Hormonal contraceptives and the developing brain: Evidence from animal models 

14:30 Patrizia Porcu (Italy) How hormonal contraceptives shape brain and behavior: evidence from rodent models 

15:00 Ami P. Raval (USA) Simultaneous nicotine and oral contraceptive exposure alters brain energy metabolism and exacerbates ischemic stroke injury in female rats 

15:30 Nafissa Ismail (Canada) Understanding the effects of oral contraceptives on the adolescent and adult female brain 

16:00 - 16:30 coffee break

MINISYMPOSIUM - EXPLORING ENZYMATIC ABERRANCIES IN THE STEROIDOMIC TREE. IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND PHENOTYPIC DIVERSITY

16:30 Martin Hill (Czech Republic) Steroidomics in men with schizophrenia 

17:00 Filip Španiel (Czech Republic) Enzymatic changes in steroidomic pathways and neuroimaging correlates in men with schizophrenia 

17:30 Renáta Androvičová (Czech Republic) Sexual perception in patients with schizophrenia: links to hormonal milieu 

Monday February 26

SYMPOSIUM - STRESS AND SEX EFFECTS ON COGNITION, PAIN AND RELATED-PATHOLOGIES

8:30 Debra Bangasser (USA) Early life adversity causes sex- and reinforcer-specific effects 

9:00 Rebecca Shansky (USA) The influence of sex-dependent pain processing in Pavlovian fear conditioning

9:30 Christina Dalla (Greece) GPER1 receptor as a pharmacological target for depression and anxiety: rapid effects on male and female rats? 

10:00 - 10:30 coffee break

10:30 Ioannis Sotiropoulos (Greece) Chronic stress and exosomes as key players in Alzheimer’s disease progression and diagnosis

11:00 YOUNG INVESTIGATOR SYMPOSIUM

12:30-14:00 lunch & poster session/exposition

SYMPOSIUM - A TRIBUTE TO MARY DALLMAN: THE ENDURING EFFECTS OF GLUCOCORTICOIDS 

14:00 Victor Viau (Canada) Corticosteroid-binding globulin (SERPINA6) shapes the development and sexual dimorphism of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis

14:30 Claire-Dominique Walker (Canada) Glucocorticoids, early stress and emotional regulation in development 

15:00 James Herman (USA) Glucocorticoid receptor signaling, stress susceptibility and stress resistance 

15:30 Seema Bhatnagar (USA) Behavioral and physiological consequences of glucocorticoid receptor regulation of the sphingosine-1-phosphate 3 receptor 

16:00 - 16:30 coffee break

MINISYMPOSIUM - GLUCOCORTICOID EXCESS: SHORT- AND LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES 

16:30 Nikolaos P Daskalakis (USA) Dissecting the brain glucocorticoid signaling involvement in PTSD and MDD using single cell genomics

17:00 Alberto M Pereira Aria (The Netherlands) Neurocognitive and pychiatric effects in patients with Cushing's syndrome.  

17:30 Elena Valassi (Spain) Long-term effects of glucocorticoids on quality of life and survival in patients with Cushing’s syndrome 

Tuesday February 27

SYMPOSIUM - CIRCUIT MECHANISMS UNDERLYING SEX STEROID ACTION IN THE BRAIN

8:30 Luke Remage-Healey (USA) Cell-type specific regulation of auditory function by neuroestrogens 

9:00 Susana Lima (Portugal) In the mood for sex: hormonal regulation of female sexual receptivity

9:30 Pablo Méndez (Spain) Genetic and gonadal determination of sex hormone regulation of synaptic inhibition and hippocampal function 

10:00-10:30 coffee break

10:30 Catherine Christian-Hinman (USA) Impacts of epilepsy on neural and pituitary circuits regulating reproductive endocrine function

11:00 PLENARY LECTURE

Charlotte Cornil (Belgium) 

Role of neuroestrogens in social behavior from birds to mammals 

12:00 - 14:00 Poster discussion & lunch 

SYMPOSIUM - GENDER-AFFIRMING TREATMENT FOR TRANSGENDER PEOPLE: SEX, GENDER IDENTITY AND SEX HORMONES EFFECTS ON THE BRAIN

14:00 Ivanka Savic (Sweeden) Gender incongruence and body image perception

14:30 Philippa Hüpen (Germany) Brain functional correlates of gender-specific voice processing in transgender individuals in the course of gender-affirming hormonal treatment

15:00 Antonio Guillamón (Spain) Cerebral effects of gender-affirming hormone treatments in transgender individuals

15:30 Sarah Burke (The Netherlands) Brain sex and gendered brains - studies in youth with gender incongruence

16:00 Closing of the Meeting

Enjoy Torino (to be defined)

Social Dinner (to be defined)