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Targeting Therapeutics for Brain Disorders Conference 2021
The Targeting Therapeutics for Brain Disorders Conference 2021 was hosted by Early Career Academics from the School of Pharmacy, UCC.
The School of Pharmacy was delighted to host the recent Targeting Therapeutics for Brain Disorders symposium. The one-day virtual conference welcomed national and international delegates across a range of disciplines, bringing together world-leading experts in the areas of Clinical Practice, Translational Neuropharmacology and Drug Delivery with a common focus on enhancing outcomes for patients living with brain disorders. This event was organised by early career faculty from the School (Organising Committee: Dr Rachel D. Moloney, Dr Erin K. Crowley, Dr Joseph P. O’Shea, Dr Patrick J. O’Dwyer) and was supported by the NUI Early Career Academics Grant awarded to Dr Rachel Moloney http://www.nui.ie/awards/Profiles/2020/Rachel_Moloney.asp.
Opening the event, chair of the organising committee, Dr Rachel Moloney, outlined the day’s goal – to provide a forum for interdisciplinary research aimed at developing targeted therapeutics for brain disorders - and emphasized that the patient and their needs are central to any research question focused on drug targeting to the brain. The first session of the day focused on this patient perspective, with patient advocate and plenary speaker Gary Boyle discussing living with early onset Parkinson’s Disease. In the second session, Prof. Margareta Hammarlund-Udanaes of the University of Uppsala presented the challenges in delivering drugs to the brain, and outlined the key strategies in development to enhance delivery across the blood brain barrier. In the final session, Prof. Eric Nestler of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA highlighted novel targets in his discussion of the transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms of depression. Speaking after the event, Dr Moloney said “We would like to sincerely thank all of our plenary speakers, oral and poster presenters, Conference UCC and all attendees in helping us put together such a successful day. It was fantastic to welcome speakers of such high calibre to UCC, albeit virtually and we look forward to bringing them here again, hopefully in-person, at a future event.” Over 170 delegates across 4 continents registered for the event, highlighting the significant international reach and success of the conference.
Plenary speaker Gary Boyle discussing living with early onset Parkinson’s Disease.