Disorders of Movement Across the Lifespan: Linking Muscle, Nerve and Brain
Schedule
Wed, 27 May, 2026 at 11:00 am to Fri, 29 May, 2026 at 03:00 pm
UTC+01:00Location
Royal Agricultural University | Cirencester, EN
Join us in person to explore how muscles, nerves, and the brain connect in movement disorders across all ages!About this Event
Come and join the annual BNS Summer School, which this year will explore movement disorders across nerve, muscle, and brain from early ideas to the newest tools reshaping how we see disease.
Weβll travel from classical neuropathology to spatial biology, from RNA and mitochondria to misfolded proteins and AI, asking simple but big questions along the way: why does movement fail, why do some cells die first, and how can technology help us see things differently?
This event will be informal, interactive, and thought-provoking, as well as conversation-rich, with plenty of discussion, curiosity, and freedom to think out loud. If you are a neuroscientist or neuropathologist at any career stage, the meeting will offer an opportunity to engage with like-minded colleagues, share ideas, and explore new ways of thinking together.
The registration fee includes on-site accommodation and all catering, so the conversations can continue over coffee, meals, and well beyond the lecture room.
Agenda
π: 11:00 AM - 12:40 PM
Arrival & Registration
Host: 27/05/2026
π: 12:40 PM - 02:10 PM
The Moving Mind: Paradigm Shifts in Understanding Movement Disorders
π: 12:40 PM - 12:50 PM
BNS President Welcome
Host: Silvia Marino, QMUL
π: 12:50 PM - 01:10 PM
Early Concepts of Muscle Disease & Movement Failure, and Evolving Definitions
Host: Matthew Clarke, UCL
π: 01:10 PM - 01:30 PM
Peripheral Nerve Pathology Through Time
Host: Alex Rossor, UCL
π: 01:30 PM - 01:50 PM
Paradigm Movements in Neuropathology: From Ways of Thinking to Machines
Host: Zane Jaunmuktane, UCL
π: 01:50 PM - 02:10 PM
When Biology Meets Intervention: Novel Therapies in Movement Disorders
Host: Francesca Magrinelli, UCL
π: 02:10 PM - 02:40 PM
Break
π: 02:40 PM - 05:30 PM
When Regulation Breaks: DNA, RNA, Epigenetics & Organelle Stress in Motion
π: 02:40 PM - 03:00 PM
RNA-Binding Proteins & Motor Neurone Vulnerability
Host: Pietro Fratta, UCL
π: 03:00 PM - 03:20 PM
Epigenetics of Motor System Disorders
Host: Sarah Marzi, KCL
π: 03:20 PM - 03:40 PM
Early vs Late-Onset Gene Regulation
Host: Alexandra Monceau, Newcastle
π: 03:40 PM - 04:10 PM
Break
π: 04:10 PM - 04:30 PM
Infection on a Genetic Background: Acute Axonal Neuropathy in RCC1 Carriers
Host: Robert Harkness, Manchester
π: 04:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Movement, Energy, and Vulnerability: Mitochondria at the Core of Disease
Host: Michael Devine, Crick, London
π: 04:50 PM - 05:20 PM
Driving Change in Movement Disorders Through Public Engagement
Host: Asma Bashir and Toby Curless
π: 05:20 PM - 05:45 PM
Moving Targets
Host: Discussion
π: 06:30 PM - 11:00 PM
Dinner & Socialising
π: 07:00 AM - 09:00 AM
Breakfast
Host: 28/05/2026
π: 09:00 AM - 10:50 AM
Lessons From the Vulnerable: What Selective Degeneration Reveals About Disease
π: 09:00 AM - 09:20 AM
Protein Aggregation and Beyond: Understanding the Molecular Basis
Host: Tiago Outeiro, Germany
π: 09:20 AM - 09:40 AM
Why Some Cells Die First: Selective Vulnerability in Neuropathies
Host: Alex Rossor, UCL
π: 09:40 AM - 10:00 AM
Why Some Cells Die First: Selective Vulnerability in Muscle Diseases
Host: Esther FernΓ‘ndez-SimΓ³n, Newcastle
π: 10:00 AM - 10:20 AM
Why Some Cells Die First: Selective Vulnerability in Neurodegenerative Disease
Host: Mathieu Bourdenx, UCL
π: 10:20 AM - 10:50 AM
Selective Vulnerability
Host: Discussion
π: 10:50 AM - 11:20 AM
Break
π: 11:20 AM - 12:40 PM
Detecting Pathology: Novel Technologies Across Molecular Scales
π: 11:20 AM - 11:40 AM
Post-Translational Modification Detection with Nanopore
Host: Patrick Cullinane, UCL
π: 11:40 AM - 12:00 PM
Seeing Neurodegeneration in Three Dimensions: Cryo-ET Insights
Host: Rene Frank, Leeds
π: 12:00 PM - 12:20 PM
Spatial Lipidomics in Parkinson's disease
Host: Ibrahim Kaya, Sweden
π: 12:20 PM - 12:40 PM
Novel Technologies
Host: Discussion
π: 12:40 PM - 02:00 PM
Lunch and Networking
π: 02:00 PM - 05:30 PM
Research to Practice: Nerve, Muscle & Brain Pathology
Host: Fernanda Valerio, Zita Reisz, Olaf Ansorge, Matt Clarke
π: 06:30 PM - 11:00 PM
Dinner & Socialising
π: 07:00 AM - 09:00 AM
Breakfast
Host: 29/05/2026
π: 09:30 AM - 01:00 PM
Moving Targets: How Therapies, Biomarkers and AI Are Redefining Neuropathology
π: 09:30 AM - 09:50 AM
Neuropathology and Biomarkers
Host: Annelies Quaegebeur, UK and Belgium
π: 09:50 AM - 10:20 AM
Anti-Amyloid Beta Treatment Effects and Neuropathological Interpretation
Host: Baayla Boon, USA
π: 10:20 AM - 10:30 AM
Advanced in-vitro Modelling of Neuromuscular Disease and Therapies
Host: Saverio Tedesco, UCL and Crick
π: 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Moving Targets
Host: Discussion
π: 11:00 AM - 11:20 AM
From Gut to Brain: Tracing Synuclein Pathology In Parkinson's Disease
Host: James Conway, UCL
π: 11:20 AM - 11:40 AM
The Interplay Between Alpha-Synuclein and Lipids in Synucleinopathies
Host: Tiago Outeiro, Germany
π: 11:40 AM - 12:00 PM
CSF and Plasma Biomarkers for Motor Neurone Disease
Host: TBC
π: 12:00 PM - 12:20 PM
CSF and Plasma Biomarkers for Cognitive Disorders
Host: Ashvini Keshavan, UCL
π: 12:20 PM - 12:40 PM
What Can an AI Scientist Do? Lessons from Kosmos
Host: Mathieu Bourdenx, UCL
π: 12:40 PM - 01:00 PM
Discussion & Closing Remarks
π: 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Lunch
Where is it happening?
Royal Agricultural University, Stroud Road, Cirencester, United KingdomGBP 0.00 to GBP 325.73











