This symposium will focus on the molecular basis of major neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, with a strong emphasis on mechanism based drug development. The meeting will cover the various molecular mechanisms linked to these diseases, including RNA biology, nuclear transport, protein processing, protein aggregation and protein folding. The symposium will also address the genetic components underlying neurodegeneration and the involvement of innate immune responses, discuss disease biomarkers and therapeutic options, as well as using animal models for studying neurodegenerative disease.

Aims
The aim of the meeting is to promote discussions and sharing of new findings among basic scientists, clinical researchers, and their counterparts from pharmaceutical industry, in order to advance our understanding of neurodegeneration and to further drug development in an area urgently requiring therapeutic progress.