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About This Symposium

Neuroimmunology is a term coined in the 1960s that describes how immunological events can affect the nervous system.  Although neuroimmunology research has been dominated by work on the human demyelinating disorder multiple sclerosis (MS), it has increasingly become evident that aberrant innate and adaptive immune response initiate and perpetuate inflammation in many other neurological and psychiatric disorders. 

Perhaps more than any other biomedical discipline, neuroimmunology has been very dynamic over the past two decades and now encompasses disorders that were previously considered to be exclusively neurodegenerative, including Alzheimer dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Huntington’s disease, leukodystrophies, Parkinson’s disease, and stroke.  In addition, new categories of autoimmune disorders have been established and characterized, including antibody-mediated autoimmune encephalitides, central nervous system (CNS) vasculitis, channelopathies, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-associated disorder (MOGAD), and paraneoplastic disorders.  Finally, new potentially pathogenic biological pathways are being established for traditional neuroimmunological disorders, including Guillain-Barre syndrome, MS, myasthenia gravis, and other channelopathies, including observations on the gut-brain axis. 

Our two-day live symposium will consist of five sessions: 1) Viral Models of CNS Autoimmunity (Early MS); 2) MS Phenotypes; 3) Disease-Modifying Factors in CNS Autoimmunity; 4) Cellular Mediators of CNS Inflammation; and 5) Other Neuroinflammatory Conditions (Psychiatric Disease, Neurodegeneration, encephalitides), featuring didactic lectures, case studies, and interactive Q&A/Discussion sessions.