Neuroscience Ireland Annual Conference and Research Overview

The NSI conference is a premier biennial meeting of neuroscience researchers, clinicians, and industrial partners from across Ireland, Europe, and the international community. This year’s conference will be the first-in person meeting since 2019 and we anticipate 150-200 attending delegates spanning the full spectrum of career experiences.

Conference Schedule and Locations

The 2023 conference will be hosted in the historic RCSI St. Stephen’s Green campus, located in the heart of Dublin on August 29th-30th. Looking forward, the Neuroscience Ireland Conference 2025 will take place from Thursday 28 August 2025 to Friday 29 August 2025. This future meeting will be held at Whitla Hall, Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT7 1NN United Kingdom.

Confirmed Speakers and Research Focus

The event features distinguished experts in the field of medicine and neurology:

• Dr Patrick Waters, Oxford University, UK: Dr Waters BSc PhD CSci FIBMS FRCPath is the co-director of the autoimmune neurology diagnostic laboratory. His research focuses on antibody-mediated central nervous system diseases and the discovery of new antibody targets.
• Dr Yvonne Dombrowski, Queen’s University Belfast, UK: Dr Dombrowski’s research focuses on immune mechanisms in tissue damage and repair. The Dombrowski group is primarily interested in the underlying immunological mechanisms that direct tissue repair and regeneration with the goal to identify novel therapeutic targets for immune-mediated diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
• Prof Sean Kennelly, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland: Professor Sean Kennelly MB BCh BAO PhD FRCP (Lond) FRCPI is a consultant physician in geriatric and stroke medicine at Tallaght University Hospital (TUH). He has extensively published in his main research areas of Ageing, brain health, dementia, and Inflammaging.

Collaborations and Special Sessions

This year we are also partnering with the Dementia Research Network Ireland (DNRI) to host a Patient & Public Involvement Session. Additionally, there are opportunities for oral and poster presentations. We are also delighted to share that HelloBio are offering 3 x €100 travel grants for the meeting.

The PD-MitoQUANT Project

Specific research developments, such as the PD-MitoQUANT project, are often highlighted during these meetings. The poster entitled “Multi-omics profiling of fibril-induced alpha-synuclein aggregation in primary neurons as model for Parkinson’s disease” reflects ongoing efforts to understand the molecular underpinnings of Parkinson's and Alzheimer’s disease. This project has received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 821522 and receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

Diagnostic and Technical Innovations

The autoimmune neurology diagnostic laboratory is principally focused on the detection of neurological autoantibodies in patients, and developing a better understanding of their causes and treatment. In another area of technology, attendees can meet with companies like TMSi to discuss how fNIRS or EEG can be used in research using portable devices.