15th Annual Tufts Neuroscience Symposium & Shucart Lecture

Schedule

Thu Oct 08 2026 at 09:00 am to 05:00 pm

UTC-04:00
Location

Tufts University School of Medicine | Boston, MA

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Please join us in person for the 15th Annual Tufts Neuroscience Symposium and William Shucart Lecture on Thursday, October 8th, 2026.
About this Event

The Tufts Neuroscience Symposium is a day-long event featuring diverse speakers from around the country, and consistently brings together many from Neuroscience disciplines in the Boston area for a day of educational talks and discussions. It is concluded by a lecture that honors Dr. William Shucart, former professor and chair of Neurosurgery at Tufts University School of Medicine.

This year’s theme, "Neural Metabolism Across Scales: From Cellular Bioenergetics to Systemic Energy Homeostasis," will explore how metabolic mechanisms shape nervous system function in health and disease.

Please RSVP by October 1st if you plan to attend. Registration is free but required.



Agenda

🕑: 08:30 AM - 09:00 AM
Registration & Breakfast Refreshments
🕑: 09:00 AM
Opening Remarks

Info: Maribel Rios, PhD, Neuroscience Symposium Director


🕑: 09:05 AM - 10:35 AM
SESSION 1: Cellular Bioenergetics
Sankhanil Saha, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar, Dulla Lab, Tufts University

Info: "Collagen XIX can be a therapeutic intervention for dysfunctional inhibitory neurons post traumatic brain injury"


Gulcin Pekkurnaz, PhD, University of California, San Diego

Info: "Metabolic Control of Neuronal Function through Mitochondrial Plasticity"


Mark Andermann, PhD, Harvard Medical School

Info: "Fluorescence lifetime cellular imaging of activity, metabolism, and metabolic therapies in awake mice"


Break
🕑: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
SESSION 2: Brain Circuits Regulating Systemic Metabolism
Gabriella Hinojosa, Graduate Student, Rios Lab, Tufts University

Info: "BDNF Control of the VMH Extracellular Matrix and Metabolism"


Sabrina Diano, Ph.D, Columbia University

Info: "Fuel for thought: nutrient-sensing pathways shaping metabolism"


Bradford Lowell, MD, PhD, Harvard Medical School

Info: "Top-down Control of AgRP Hunger Neurons"


🕑: 12:30 PM - 01:30 PM
Lunch
🕑: 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM
SESSION 3: Metabolic Dysregulation and Brain Function
Jonathan Hacker, Graduate Student, Reijmers Lab, Tufts University

Info: "Disease-induced CD63 regulates microglia tau clearance and spreading in tauopathy"


Joshua Meisel, PhD, Brandeis University

Info: "Hypoxia and genetic suppressor mutations rescue frataxin deficiency"


Juan Song, PhD, University of North Carolina School of Medicine

Info: "Diet-Mediated Metabolic Control of Memory Processing"


Break
🕑: 03:45 PM
SHUCART LECTURE
Dana Small, PhD, McGill University

Info: "Gut-brain Learning and Memory in Humans"


🕑: 05:00 PM
Reception
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Where is it happening?

Tufts University School of Medicine, Behrakis Auditorium, Jaharis Building, Boston, United States

Event Location & Nearby Stays:

Tickets

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