Events The UK-Japan Neuroscience Symposium

Conference Report

The ‘UK-Japan Neuroscience Symposium’ was held at the Royal Society in London on the 5th and 6th March 2018, co-organised by the MRC, Cardiff University and AMED, with the aim to explore exciting new approaches and ways in which new technologies and new methods of working can be applied to solving pressing challenges in the fields of neuroscience and mental health. The Symposium was also intended to provide an opportunity for new research partnerships and scientific collaborations to develop, and to create a new research and development platform between the UK and Japan.

This symposium is the first neuroscience symposium to be supported collaboratively under the Memorandum of Cooperation signed between the MRC and AMED on the 1st February 2017. The two-day Symposium was attended by 90 participants, representing universities, research institutions, funding agencies, and private companies, and featured research presentations as well as open and panel discussions.

The first day featured sessions on ‘Synapse and circuit development in relation to neuropsychiatric conditions’ and ‘New technology and novel approaches in Neuroscience’, as well as a Plenary Lecture by Professor Sarah Tabrizi of UCL on ‘Meeting the therapeutic challenge of Huntington’s Disease’.

The second day featured a session on ‘Neurodegenerative conditions: strategies and synaptopathies’, followed by a panel discussion in which several experts discussed ‘strategies for understanding neurodegenerative conditions and mechanisms for collaborative working’. The symposium ended with a final session on ‘Advanced imaging methods for understanding brain function’.

AMED and the MRC will continue to support UK-Japan collaboration in the field of Neuroscience, with the next UK-Japan Neuroscience Symposium to be held in Japan.

The Plenary Lecture by Prof Sarah Tabrizi of UCL

04/02/18

Last updated 04/02/18