
August 7-10, 2022. SEC Glasgow, Scotland.
Please Note: We are committed to providing all registrants with an excellent conference experience. While current circumstances may provide logistical challenges when considering conference travel, based on current information we look forward to ICN2022 as a face-to-face meeting. If this is not possible, the conference format will be adapted accordingly.
Programme at a glance
ICN 2022 Concurrent Symposia
Speakers and Themes


Theme: reproduction
Puberty: metabolic and genetic factors
Speaker: Nelly Pitteloud, Switzerland
Presentation Title: Genetics of congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism
Speaker: Jenny Kindblom, Sweden
Presentation Title: Possible interactions between body weight, timing of puberty and consequences in later life
Speaker: Manuel Tena-Sempere, Spain
Presentation Title: Linking metabolism and female puberty
Pulse generators – the enduring challenge
Speaker: Kevin O’Byrne, UK
Presentation Title: Modelling the GnRH pulse generator
Speaker: Su Han, UK
Presentation Title: Illuminating the GnRH pulse generator in mice
Speaker: Hiroko Tsukamura, Japan
Presentation Title: Kndy neurones and pulse LH generation
Speaker: Kellie Breen, USA
Presentation Title: Neural pathways controlling LH pulses during stress
Networks in regulation of the neuroendocrine reproductive axis
Speaker: Oline Ronnekliev, USA
Presentation Title: Kisspeptin coordinates reproduction and metabolism
Speaker: Denise Belsham, Canada
Presentation Title: Phoenixin: uncovering its receptor, signaling and functions
Speaker: Pablo Chamero, France
Presentation Title: Vomeronasal pathways
Speaker: Carmen Clapp, Mexico
Presentation Title: Prolactin/Vasoinhibin axis
Emerging therapies and hot topics in reproduction
Speaker: Ali Abbara, UK
Presentation Title: Translating kisspeptin to treat reproductive disorders
Speaker: Selva Nataraja, USA
Presentation Title: Allosteric modulators of the FSH receptor
Speaker: Claire Newton, South Africa
Presentation Title: Restoring function to inactivating GPCR mutations in the reproductive axis
Speaker: Elisabet Stener-Victorin, Sweden
Presentation Title: Maternal androgen exposure and risk of transgenerational transmission of psychiatric disorders

Theme: behaviour
Circadian control of behavior
Speaker: Hugh Piggins, UK
Presentation Title: Local circadian control of fluid and energy balance neural circuits
Speaker: Mariana Astiz, Germany
Presentation Title: The circadian phase of antenatal glucocorticoid treatment affects the risk of behavioral disorders
Speaker: Valerie Simonneaux, France
Presentation Title: Neuroendocrine rhythms in female reproduction, from mouse to camel
Speaker: Charles Bourque, Canada
Presentation Title: Multimodal regulation of clock time and output via an excitatory GABAergic pathway
A rich diversity of systems neuroendocrinology
Speaker: Rui Oliviera, Portugal
Presentation Title: Social behavior in fish
Speaker: Galit Shohat-Ophir, Israel
Presentation Title: Sex, alcohol and neurogenetics of social behavior in flies
Speaker: Isabel Beets, Belgium
Presentation Title: Neuromodulation by neuropeptidergic circuits in C. elegans
Speaker: Scott Cummins, Australia
Presentation Title: Ecological and chemical biology studies in marine invertebrates
Ingestive behaviour
Speaker: Lotte Bjerre Knudsen, Denmark
Presentation Title: Emerging therapies – GLP1 system
Speaker: Denis Burdakov, Switzerland
Presentation Title: Sensing and control of ingestion by orexin neurons
Speaker: Ruben Nogueiras, Spain
Presentation Title: MCH: Integrating feeding with peripheral metabolism
Speaker: Jong-Woo Sohn, South Korea
Presentation Title: A lateral parabrachial 5HT2C pathway that puts a break on sodium appetite
Reproductive, social and aggressive behaviour
Speaker: Dayu Lin, USA
Presentation Title: Neural mechanisms linking reproduction, social behaviour and aggression
Speaker: Oliver Bosch, Germany
Presentation Title: Mothers neglect their young when peripartum adaptations of the CRF system fail
Speaker: Hirotaka Sakamoto, Japan
Presentation Title: Oxytocin Influences Male Sexual Activity via Non-synaptic Axonal Release in the Spinal Cord
Speaker: Alan Kania, Germany
Presentation Title: Operating principles of the brain oxytocin system

Theme: stress
Stress Neuroendocrinology and Behavior
Speaker: Linda Rinaman, USA
Presentation Title: Role of the NTS and central GLP-1 in stress behaviour
Speaker: Karl Iremonger, New Zealand
Presentation Title: Plasticity of CRH neuron responses to stress
Speaker: Paula Brunton, UK
Presentation Title: Maternal stress and prenatal programming of the offspring’s brain and behaviour
Speaker: Mathias Schmidt, Germany
Presentation Title: FKBP51: A molecular link between stress and metabolic disorders
Stress and Emotionality
Speaker: Harm Krugers, The Netherlands
Presentation Title: Early life adversity and programming of social behaviour
Speaker: Jamie Maguire, USA
Presentation Title: How stress corrupts networks implicated in mood
*Speaker: Alejandro de Nicola, Argentina
Presentation Title: Protective and toxic effects of neuroactive steroids
*Speaker: Victoria Luine, USA
Presentation Title: Sex differences in chronic stress effects on cognition in rodents
Stress Pathology and emerging therapies
Speaker: Jaideep Bains, Canada
Presentation Title: Stress from a synaptic perspective
*Speaker: Carla Nasca, USA
Presentation Title: Multidimensional brain-body predictors of susceptibility versus resilience to stress
Speaker: Hazel Hunt, UK
Presentation Title: Glucocorticoid receptor antagonists – new developments
Speaker: Peter Trainer, UK
Presentation Title: Therapeutic potential of a nonpeptide, orally bioavailable ACTH antagonist

Theme: metabolism
Controlling metabolism
Speaker: Csaba Fekete, Hungary
Presentation Title: A glial neuronal-hypothalamic circuit controlling energy expenditure
Speaker: Rosalia Rodriguez-Rodriguez
Presentation Title: Hypothalamic neurons and brown fat thermogenesis: a strategic alliance against obesity
Speaker: Takeshi Sakurai, Japan
Presentation Title: Neural circuits regulating hibernation-like states in rodents
Speaker: Alexander Nectow, USA
Presentation Title: A role for brainstem GABA in energy expenditure
Food, motivation and reward
Speaker: Serge Luquet, France
Presentation Title: Dietary lipids as regulator of dopamine-associated reward processes
Speaker: Stephanie Borgland, Canada
Presentation Title: Neuropeptide and peptide hormone actions in the mesolimbic system
Speaker: Roger Adan, The Netherlands
Presentation Title: How does leptin talk to the dopamine system?
Speaker: Alain Dagher, Canada
Presentation Title: Cognitive control of food reward: role in obesity
Spotlight on the brainstem
Speaker: Clemence Blouet, UK
Presentation Title: Nutrient-Sensing in the brainstem
Speaker: Lei Zhang, Australia
Presentation Title: Integration of glucose homeostasis control by brainstem NPFF circuits
Speaker: Scott Kanoski, USA
Presentation Title: Hippocampus-brainstem interactions in the control of food intake
Speaker: Cheng Zhan, China
Presentation Title: A vagal-NTS pathway that stimulates feeding
How do circulating hormones talk to the brain?
Speaker: Virginie Tolle, France
Presentation Title: Gut-brain signalling in anorexia nervosa
Speaker: Harriet Schellekens, Ireland
Presentation Title: Novel insights into the gut microbiota regulation of neuroendocrine signalling in metabolism, mood and food intake
Speaker: Stephanie Kullmann, Germany
Presentation Title: Imaging pathways of insulin action in the control of metabolism and food intake
Speaker: Christelle Le Foll, Switzerland
Presentation Title: Amylin actions on the brain
Hot topics
Hot topics
Speaker: Tibor Harkany, Austria
Presentation Title: Ontogenetic rules of neuronal differentiation in the hypothalamus
Speaker: Patrice Mollard, France
Presentation Title: Hidden cell networks in the neuroendocrine system
Speaker: Zhihua Gao, China
Presentation Title: Reconstruction of the hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system and functional dissection of magnocellular oxytocin neurons in the brain
Speaker: Daniela Cota, France
Presentation Title: Hypothalamic bile acids-TGR5 signaling: a new player in energy balance regulation
Credit: Tiffany Lee
* Bruce McEwen Memorial Lectures
2020 saw the passing of a pioneer within the neuroscience community Bruce Sherman McEwen. Bruce left behind a vast scientific legacy in the form of a comprehensive body of work but also the many neuroscientists he trained and mentored over a six-decade career.
Bruce obtained a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Oberlin College, before completing a PhD in cell biology at Rockefeller University. After a short time working in Sweden Bruce returned to the US and founded the Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology. Bruce published over 1,000 scientific articles (with over 130,000 citations) which spanned the molecular mechanisms of central steroid action, to the health impacts of early-life adversity, and led him to describe himself as a “molecular sociologist.”
Bruce published a seminal paper in 1968, that demonstrated the presence of corticosterone receptors in the hippocampus and provided a mechanism through which steroid hormones could have a direct impact on neural function. Over his subsequent academic career, he continued as a leader within the field of the neurobiology of stress. His laboratory demonstrated that stress can, through neural plasticity, affect behaviour and influence susceptibility to psychiatric illnesses. Bruce also characterised how the effects of stress differ with life stage, early-life stress affecting brain development, while increased vulnerability to stress as a function of age leads to accelerated cognitive decline. Bruce’s work highlighted the reciprocal between the brain and body as being critical to both susceptibility and resilience to stress. His work on the health impacts of stress lead to the development of the concept of ‘allostatic load’ which remains the primary theoretical model of how adverse life events impact physical and mental health. However, Bruce’s interests were not limited to stress as he pioneered our understanding of how gonadal steroids act in the brain and sex differences as a biological variable in neuroscience and beyond.
Bruce was characterised by his scientific and personal generosity, he supported everyone to develop their ideas and do great things independently. Bruce had an infectious energy and optimism; he was patient and generous and gave his time and energy to everyone and anyone.
Adapted from Hill et al, 2020 In memory of Bruce McEwen: a gentle giant of neuroscience Nature Neuroscience volume 23, pages 473–474
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