Bionow’s inaugural 2024 Neuroscience conference showcases key developments across the sector
Published on 18/07/2024
The first ever Neuroscience conference, hosted in Sheffield, proved to be a great success with 115 delegates and eight exhibitors collaborating and exploring the current challenges and opportunities facing the industry, including in R&D, commercialisation and implementation, and the impact on patient outcomes.
There was a tangible energy in the room as the tackling of neurodegenerative diseases gathered pace with this event bringing together experts from industry and academia to discuss the latest research and challenges, including early diagnosis and detection, treatments of the future, patient perspectives and funding and investment, along with a poster competition to showcase new developments and ongoing research projects.
Bionow welcomed two keynote speakers to share their expertise on the day: Professor Dame Pamela Shaw, Director of the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN) at the University of Sheffield, and Eli Lilly’s Associate Vice President, and Head of Proteostasis, Fiona Menzies.
The first presentation examined the journey to develop better neuroprotective therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most common form of motor neurone disease (MND). Four key approaches were identified in order to improve ALS prognoses: creating the right research infrastructure; multidisciplinary care and improved symptom management; better sub-classification of ALS into its genetic and molecular subtypes; and new strategies for neuroprotection, such as genetic and small molecule therapies, and orphan drug targets.
The work of SITraN was also highlighted, with its vision to harness advances in neuroscience and translate these into benefits for patients with ALS and other neurodegenerative conditions, having raised £86m in research funding since opening in 2010, as well as submitting more than 3,300 publications, conducting 235 clinical studies led by their teams, engaging in 23 current commercial partnerships and holding five patents.
Takeaways included the need for better molecular subclassification in clinical trials; the emergence of biomarkers of therapeutic efficacy from recent trials; the use of transcriptomics and proteomics approaches to identify new therapeutic targets; and the advantages of using a range of model systems from different subgroups of ALS, which combined suggest that ALS is becoming more treatable.
The second keynote looked at Eli Lilly’s role in Neuroscience and ALS research, with its focus on identifying, building and developing collaborations with expert scientific communities in the UK and Europe; identifying novel targets for neuroscience drug discovery via genetics and bioinformatics; and being scientific leaders of internal drug discovery projects and teams.
The presentation also identified the accumulation of TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) aggregates in the central nervous system as a common feature of neurodegenerative diseases including ALS as a target for research, with causal genes, risk genes and key pathways also being targeted for new therapies.
We were pleased to announce that the winner of the poster competition, with 22 entrants, was Rhiannon Brown at Sheffield University with their abstract titled Stratifying Sporadic Parkinson’s Disease Patients Based on Mitochondrial and Lysosomal Dysfunction. Congratulations!
We would also like to extend a thank you to the patients who shared their perspectives on the day; they were truly inspirational and courageous individuals. More so than ever before it reinforced the reason behind the conference, and why the researchers in the room work so hard and with such passion. The personal stories told definitely struck a chord with everyone in the audience.
Bionow’s Executive Director of Business Development, Stella James, commented: “We are so pleased at the positive response to the newest event in our calendar, and it was great to hear from a range of perspectives. Bringing expertise, funding and new technologies together in the neuroscience field is essential for the development of new therapies and better patient outcomes, which is why this conference is such an important addition to our rota.”
The 2024 Neuroscience conference sponsored by ApconiX and the University of Sheffield.
There was a tangible energy in the room as the tackling of neurodegenerative diseases gathered pace with this event bringing together experts from industry and academia to discuss the latest research and challenges, including early diagnosis and detection, treatments of the future, patient perspectives and funding and investment, along with a poster competition to showcase new developments and ongoing research projects.
Bionow welcomed two keynote speakers to share their expertise on the day: Professor Dame Pamela Shaw, Director of the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN) at the University of Sheffield, and Eli Lilly’s Associate Vice President, and Head of Proteostasis, Fiona Menzies.
The first presentation examined the journey to develop better neuroprotective therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most common form of motor neurone disease (MND). Four key approaches were identified in order to improve ALS prognoses: creating the right research infrastructure; multidisciplinary care and improved symptom management; better sub-classification of ALS into its genetic and molecular subtypes; and new strategies for neuroprotection, such as genetic and small molecule therapies, and orphan drug targets.
The work of SITraN was also highlighted, with its vision to harness advances in neuroscience and translate these into benefits for patients with ALS and other neurodegenerative conditions, having raised £86m in research funding since opening in 2010, as well as submitting more than 3,300 publications, conducting 235 clinical studies led by their teams, engaging in 23 current commercial partnerships and holding five patents.
Takeaways included the need for better molecular subclassification in clinical trials; the emergence of biomarkers of therapeutic efficacy from recent trials; the use of transcriptomics and proteomics approaches to identify new therapeutic targets; and the advantages of using a range of model systems from different subgroups of ALS, which combined suggest that ALS is becoming more treatable.
The second keynote looked at Eli Lilly’s role in Neuroscience and ALS research, with its focus on identifying, building and developing collaborations with expert scientific communities in the UK and Europe; identifying novel targets for neuroscience drug discovery via genetics and bioinformatics; and being scientific leaders of internal drug discovery projects and teams.
The presentation also identified the accumulation of TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) aggregates in the central nervous system as a common feature of neurodegenerative diseases including ALS as a target for research, with causal genes, risk genes and key pathways also being targeted for new therapies.
We were pleased to announce that the winner of the poster competition, with 22 entrants, was Rhiannon Brown at Sheffield University with their abstract titled Stratifying Sporadic Parkinson’s Disease Patients Based on Mitochondrial and Lysosomal Dysfunction. Congratulations!
We would also like to extend a thank you to the patients who shared their perspectives on the day; they were truly inspirational and courageous individuals. More so than ever before it reinforced the reason behind the conference, and why the researchers in the room work so hard and with such passion. The personal stories told definitely struck a chord with everyone in the audience.
Bionow’s Executive Director of Business Development, Stella James, commented: “We are so pleased at the positive response to the newest event in our calendar, and it was great to hear from a range of perspectives. Bringing expertise, funding and new technologies together in the neuroscience field is essential for the development of new therapies and better patient outcomes, which is why this conference is such an important addition to our rota.”
The 2024 Neuroscience conference sponsored by ApconiX and the University of Sheffield.
