The Cajal Course on Neuroimmunology will provide a comprehensive overview of the interactions between the nervous and immune systems, with a focus on microglia, macrophages, and adaptive immunity. The program will cover both physiological and pathological aspects, exploring the roles of microglia in brain homeostasis, their response to injury, and their involvement in neurodegenerative diseases. Sessions on macrophages will address their functions in the central and peripheral nervous systems, highlighting their contributions to neuroinflammation and tissue repair. The adaptive immune system’s influence on neurological conditions will also be discussed, including T and B cell responses in autoimmunity and neurodegeneration. The course will finally cover a session on body-brain interaction and the glymphatic system, in health and disease.
Combining lectures from leading experts in the field with advanced hands-on training, this course will cover a variety of approaches, including immune cell profiling by flow cytometry and histology, metabolic investigations, imaging techniques, in different in vitro and in vivo models, such as primary immune cells, iPSC-derived microglia and preclinical mouse models.
Course directors
- Rosa Chiara Paolicelli (University of Lausanne, Switzerland)
- Agnès Nadjar (University of Bordeaux, France)
- Stefano Pluchino (University of Cambridge, UK)
November 26 – 9:00am
Sonia Garel (Institut de Biologie de l’École Normale Supérieure, France)
Microglia in early brain construction.
November 26 – 11:00am
Michael Heneka (Luxemburg University, Luxemburg)
Tunneling nanotubes as rescue routes between microglia and neurons.
November 27 – 9:00am
Andrew Greenhalgh (University of Manchester, UK)
Navigating a career in neuroimmunology.
November 28 – 9:00am
Marco Prinz (Freiburg University, Germany)
The myeloid side of the brain.
November 28 – 11:00am
Arthur Liesz (Ludwig-Maximilians Munich University, Germany)
Immunological brain-body interaction after stroke.
December 1 – 9:00am
Rejuane Rua (Centre d’Immunologie de Marseille Luminy, France)
Brain border macrophages : more than immune sentinels?
December 3 – 9:00am
Michal Schwartz (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel)
The brain is not isolated: T cells support the brain in health, aging, and disease -Lessons from 27 years of dogma-breaking discoveries.
December 3 – 11:00am
Aleksandra Deczkowska (Institut Pasteur, France)
Immune regulation of brain physiology.
December 4 – 9:00am
Jonathan Kipnis (Washington University School of Medicine, USA)
What is CNS immune privilege? An update.
December 5 – 9:00am
Laurent Groc (University of Bordeaux, CNRS, France)
Decrypting pathogenic brain autoantibody at the molecular level.
Elena Avignone, University of Bordeaux, France
Amy Dashwood, Cambridge University, UK
Guillaume Duranthon, IGBC Bordeaux, France
Max Fliegauf, University of Freiburg, Germany
Chaim Glück, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Mariangeles Kovacs-Arevalo, Pasteur Institut, France
Charlotte Madore, University of Bordeaux, France
Renzo Mancuso, VIP Antwerp, Belgium
Saudina Mateus Gomes, Aix-Marseille University, France
Katia Monsorno, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Katerina Palios, Cambridge University, UK
Luca Peruzzotti-Jametti, Cambridge University, UK
Alessio Ricci, Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research , Germany
Audrey Romano, Aix-Marseille Université, France
Alanna Spiteri, VIB Antwerp, Belgium
Daan Verhaege, Washington University School of Medicine, USA
Several different techniques and models will be used, including flow cytometry, fluorescence- and magnetic-activated cell sorting (FACS and MACS), confocal microscopy, high resolution respirometry, live imaging, electrophysiology, human iPSC-derived microglia, in vivo mouse models, murine primary cultures.
Course topics will include:
- Microglia in the healthy and diseased brain
- CNS-associated macrophages in physiology and pathology
- Adaptive immunity and CNS interactions
- The glymphatic system and brain immunity
- Neuroimmune interactions in body-brain communication
Keynote Speakers
Aleksandra Deczkowska, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
Sonia Garel, Institut de Biologie de l’École Normale Supérieure Paris, France
Andrew Greenhalgh, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
Laurent Groc, University of Bordeaux, CNRS, Bordeaux, France
Michael Heneka, Luxemburg University, Luxemburg
Jonathan Kipnis, Washington University School of Medicine, USA
Arthur Liesz, Ludwig-Maximilians Munich University, Germany
Marco Prinz, Freiburg University, Germany
Rejane Rua, Centre d’Immunologie de Marseille Luminy, France
Michal Schwartz, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel