[BIC-announce] FW: Killam Lecture - TODAY - Glial-Immune interactions in neural tissue maintenance, disease and repair

[Jennifer Chew, Ms.]

PLEASE DISCARD IF THIS IS A DUPLICATE.  THANK YOU.  JENNIFER 
 

____________________________

From: MNISTAFF - Montreal Neurological Institute Staff [mailto:MNISTAFF at LISTS.MCGILL.CA] On Behalf Of Enza Ferracane, Ms.
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 8:26 AM
To: MNISTAFF at LISTS.MCGILL.CA
Subject: Killam Lecture - TODAY


 

***REMINDER***

 

Killam Lecture

 

Speaker:  Alon Monsonego, Ph.D.

Professor, Biotechnology Institute and Faculty of Health Sciences

Ben Gurion University , Israel

 

Title:  Glial-Immune interactions in neural tissue maintenance, disease and repair

 

Date:  TODAY

 

Time:  4:00 pm

 

Place:  de Grandpre Communication Centre

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Hi everyone, 

 

Alon's expertise is in the area of glial- and neural-immune interactions, particularly in context of Alzheimer's disease and therapeutics. In addition to being a very capable neuroimmunologist, Alon is a pretty entrepreneurial and tech-savvy guy, a very creative thinker who loves to invent new reagents and experimental approaches, and highly approachable to trainees.  A brief summary of his research area and some refs are included below. Hope to see you all there!

 

Cheers,

Amit

 

 

Alexander Prat will present the Killam Conference on Tuesday, January 19, 2010, with the subject being 

 

Dr. Monsonego is the Zehava and Chezy Vered Chair for the Study of Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases, with cross-appointments at the Biotechnology Institute and at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University. He trained at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, and at Harvard University, and is regarded internationally as an emerging expert in the field of neuroimmunology, with a particular interest in elucidating the pathophysiology of, and developing novel therapeutics for, human degenerative diseases, principally Alzheimer's Disease (AD). His work bridges basic science of neural-immune interaction in health and disease, with an entrepreneurial approach to the development and application of innovative technologies for preventative and therapeutic application. His lab has developed a unique AD mouse model that lends itself to the development of safe vaccination approaches aimed at prevention and therapy of the disease. Other approaches involves the use  of (i) 3D-scaffolds to generate transplantable lymphoid-like tissue with local immuno-regulatory properties, and (ii) peptide- or siRNA-containing microparticles to target cells of the immune system, inducing peripheral immunoregulatory properties that may impact the CNS.

 

 

 

Selected Refs:

 

Kaminer-Israeli Y, Shapiro J, Cohen S, Monsonego A. Stromal cell-induced immune regulation in a transplantable lymphoid-like cell constructs. Biomaterials. 2010 Dec;31(35):9273-84.

 

Geifman N, Monsonego A, Rubin E. The Neural/Immune Gene Ontology: clipping the Gene Ontology for neurological and immunological systems. BMC Bioinformatics. 2010 Sep 12;11:458.

 

Fisher Y, Nemirovsky A, Baron R, Monsonego A. T cells specifically targeted to amyloid plaques enhance plaque clearance in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. PLoS One. 2010 May 26;5(5):e10830.

 

Brunner T, Cohen S, Monsonego A. Silencing of proinflammatory genes  targeted to peritoneal-residing macrophages using siRNA encapsulated  in biodegradable microspheres. Biomaterials. 2010 Mar;31(9):2627-36.

 

Zota V, Nemirovsky A, Baron R, Fisher Y, Selkoe DJ, Altmann DM, Weiner  HL, Monsonego A. HLA-DR alleles in amyloid beta-peptide autoimmunity:  a highly immunogenic role for the DRB1*1501 allele. J Immunol. 2009  Sep 1;183(5):3522-30.

 

Baron R, Nemirovsky A, Harpaz I, Cohen H, Owens T, Monsonego A.  IFN-gamma enhances neurogenesis in wild-type mice and in a mouse model  of Alzheimer's disease. FASEB J. 2008 Aug;22(8):2843-52.

 

Baron R, Harpaz I, Nemirovsky A, Cohen H, Monsonego A. Immunity and  neuronal repair in the progression of Alzheimer's disease: a brief  overview. Exp Gerontol. 2007 Jan-Feb;42(1-2):64-9.

 

Mor F, Monsonego A. Immunization therapy in Alzheimer's disease.  Expert Rev Neurother. 2006 May;6(5):653-9. Review.

 

Monsonego A, Imitola J, Petrovic S, Zota V, Nemirovsky A, Baron R,  Fisher Y, Owens T, Weiner HL. Abeta-induced meningoencephalitis is IFN -gamma-dependent and  is associated with T cell-dependent clearance of  Abeta in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Mar 28;103(13):5048-53.