With a variety of sessions, Amsterdam Neuroscience wanted to inform participants about the latest research developments in neuroscience all revolving around this year’s theme: the science of individuality. If you missed out on the event, or if you want to catch up on the sessions, please watch the videos below.
Word of Welcome by the Board of Directors
With a crowded Amsterdam ’72 room former Amsterdam Neuroscience director Arjen Brussaard welcomed all attendees at the Annual Meeting 2022. Since it was the final edition that he was hosting Brussaard took the time to look back at six years of Amsterdam Neuroscience. He proudly presented statistics of the research institute over the period 2016-2021 as a result of the self-evaluation report. At the end, he welcomed the new Board of Directors Guus Smit, Yolande Pijnenburg and Marten Smidt, who spoke about the upcoming grand challenges for the research institute. Of course, the new online MAGAZINE 2022 was launched during the opening.
Research Reports by Jennifer Ramautar, Mototaka Suzuki, Betty Tijms, Jeanne Savage
Amsterdam Neuroscience selected four mid-career researchers to show their latest research projects on stage. Jennifer Ramautar (Postdoctoral researcher, N=You Center, Amsterdam UMC, Emma Children’s hospital) was sadly not able to join the event so she was replaced by Professor Hilgo Bruining who spoke about quantitative EEG for an undogmatic approach to neurodevelopmental disorders. Followed by Mototaka Suzuki (Assistant professor, SILS, UvA) with his presentation ‘How does general anesthesia suppress our consciousness?’. Third in line was Betty Tijms (Associate Professor, Department of Neurology, Alzheimer Center Amsterdam) who explained the molecular subtypes in Alzheimer’s disease. And finally Jeanne Savage (Postdoctoral researcher, CNCR, VU Amsterdam) told the audience more about how genes and environments shape individual differences in alcohol misuse.
Story Slam presentations by Colette Moses, Fernando Nobrega Santos, Gianina Cristian and Floor Loonstra
For the second in a row, the concept Story Slam was introduced at the Annual Meeting. It was led by assistant professor Priyanka Rao-Ruiz of VU Amsterdam. Four young researchers entered the stage: Colette Moses (EMBO Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Evolutionary Neurogenomics Laboratory, Molecular Neuroscience, SILS), Fernando Nobrega Santo (Research Associate, Multiscale Division, Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, Amsterdam UMC, and Research Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies, UvA), Gianina Cristian (PhD candidate, Department of Child Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC) and Floor Loonstra (MD PhD candidate, MS Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC). Be inspired by their research story.
Individuality in psychiatry: from the patient perspective to the future with artificial intelligence
This year’s in-depth session was led by Guido van Wingen and Christiaan Vinkers. They hosted a session on precision psychiatry that had a kick-off with the touching story by Bart Groeneweg, an expert by experience, and former board member of the Depression Association, who spoke about his depression. This was followed by a keynote lecture by Professor and Chair in Precision Psychiatry at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich Nikolaos Koutsouleris. Koutsouleris presented his research work on how algorithms might be helpful for both clinicians and patients: an overview of the state-of-play in the development of precision psychiatry. The session was ended by Professor Artificial Intelligence at VU Amsterdam Mark Hoogendoorn with his presentation ‘Using Artificial Intelligence to Personalized Treatments in Psychiatry’.
Poster Presentations & Award ceremony
Selected from the nine research programs of Amsterdam Neuroscience, the top four presenters of the poster market showed their poster and their research on stage. Mirte Scheper, Katharina Bolsewig, Isis Alonso-Lozares and Kayleigh Gultig were in the running for winning ‘Best Poster Presentation 2022’. The audience of the Annual Meeting decided who became the winner and voted for Isis Alonzo-Lozares as the best poster presentation of 2022 with her poster entitled ‘The role of Lateral Hypothalamic GABAergic neurons in the encoding of alcohol memories’.
From left to right: Arjen Brussaard, Katharina Bolsewig, Mirte Scheper, Kayleigh Gultig, Yolande Pijnenburg, Isis Alonzo-Lozares.
Special thanks to all speakers, poster presenters, the organization, and all the attendees of this year’s Annual Meeting, both live and online. We welcome you back next year!