On 4th December 2020, the Singapore Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience held a half-day symposium organized by Hong Xu, Ajay Mathuru, Caroline Wee, Sarah Luo, and Adam Claridge-Chang.
The Keynote speaker was Christof Koch of the Allen Brain Institute. The program also included Flash talks by Singapore-based scientists. Attendance peaked during Professor Koch’s talk, with around 250 attendees.
The feedback survey of 56 respondents showed that attendees loved the talks and the quiz, and would be likely to attend a similar event (online or in person) in 2021, with some helpful suggestions on how to improve. Attendees strongly favored the development of a science communication workshop run by the Chapter.
Flash Talks
Session 1: Neurodevelopment and Degeneration (9.10 AM / Session Moderator: Adam Claridge-Chang)
1. Cdk5 phosphorylation of Tet3 ensures optimal neuronal differentiation (Ong Chin Tong, TLL)
2. Loss of TDP-43 in astrocytes leads to motor deficits by triggering A1-like reactive phenotype and triglial dysfunction. (Ira Agrawal, NUS)
3. Human pluripotent stem cells to investigate early neurodevelopment in Fragile X syndrome (Georgia Chaldaiopoulou, NUS / A*STAR)
4. Studying cellular subtypes in the human midbrain using an organoid model (Yang Lin, GIS, A*STAR)
5. Neurological diseases/Neurometabolism studies using induced neurons/glia from human ES cells (Tang Jiong, SBIC, A*STAR)
6. Functional analysis of putative pathogenic variants in Ermin, a white matter disease-linked myelin protein. (Lily Henry, NUS)
Session 2: Mechanistic Cognitive Neuroscience (11.05 AM / Session Moderator: Hong Xu)
1. Structural and functional connectomes of neurocognition in Mild Cognitive Impairment (Junhong Yu, NUS)
2. Crossmodal working memory representation in the mouse prefrontal cortex (Tsukasa Kamigaki, NTU)
3. Learning multiple paired associations with biologically plausible reinforcement learning models (M Ganesh Kumar, NUS)
4. A neural m6A/YTHDF pathway is required for learning and memory in Drosophila (Stanislav Ott, DUKE-NUS)
5. Rodent Pulvinar-Frontal Cortical Interactions In Visual Decision-Making (Ning Leow, AGA, MIT)
Session 3: Chronobiology (12:40 PM / Session Moderator: Sherry Aw)
1. The habenula clock in zebrafish underlies circadian variation in response to a stressor (Ruey-Kuang Cheng, NTU)
2. Chronotype associates with psychological attributes important for learning in undergraduate students (Loke Yng Miin, DUKE-NUS)
3. Deep Breathing Test Can Be Used to Identify Autonomic Dysfunction, marker of cardiovascular risk, in Subjects with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (Sevoz-Couche Caroline, INSERM / NUS)
Session 4: Diagnostics and Therapeutics (1:10 PM / Session Moderator: Michael Meaney)
1. EV-biomarkers for the diagnosis of dementia (Gunnar Heiko Dirk Poplawski, DUKE-NUS)
2. Immunomodulatory Sphingosine-1-phosphates as plasma biomarkers of Alzheimer’s Disease and Vascular Cognitive Impairment (Chua Xin Ying, NUS)
3. Isoform of Fyn tyrosine kinase as a potential therapeutic target for Alzheimer’s disease (Michelle Guet Khim Tan, SGH)
4. Remember me? Intermittent fasting as a potential therapy for Vascular dementia (Sharmelee Selvaraji, NUS)
5. Flexible and Wireless Photodynamic Therapy for Glioblastoma Multiforme with Upconversion Implantable (Daniel Teh, NUS)
6. Efficacy of dyadic conversation training for Mandarin-English bilinguals with aphasia (Victoria Lai, NUS)
See the feedback data here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ufazUQLJiBO9VIviTd3aW73fqrDM-nEuDmhZ7yytWpc/viewanalytics
