I am a PhD student from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, currently doing my last year of doctoral training. I obtained my MSc degree in Biology at the same university and since then I have been working with tau at the Laboratory of Experimental Therapeutics for Neurodegenerative Processes, which belongs to the National Argentinian Research Council. For my PhD studies, I have been undertaking my research project which consists of testing the functional consequences and therapeutic potential of tau downregulation in models of tauopathy. For next year, one of my major goals is to move abroad and continue my work in neurodegenerative diseases. Hence, I am really interested in looking for postdoctoral positions.

Dr. Alireza Faridar received his M.D. degree in 2008. Since graduating from medical school, he gained extensive experience running translational research projects as a research fellow and post-doctoral scholar in prestigious institutes in Europe and the USA. Alireza Joined Houston Methodist neurology residency program in 2013. After starting residency, he found his desire to study neurodegenerative disorders and decided to follow his dream to be a clinician-scientist. He initiated research projects and worked with Dr. Stanley Appel and Dr. Joseph Masdeu, MD, PhD as his mentors, in a coordinated manner, to learn cellular immunology and molecular neuroimaging of AD and related disorders. After completing his behavioral and neuroimaging fellowships, Dr. Faridar joined Nantz National Alzheimer’s Center as an Assistant Professor of Neurology. Currently, he is a Principal Investigator of several studies to better characterize underlying mechanisms of neurodegenerative disorders and develop novel immunotherapeutic strategies.

Dr Faustini graduated in Medical Biotechnology in 2012 and was awarded the PhD in Technology for Health in 2020 with Excellence cum Laude. The thesis was focused on the role of Synapsin III in alpha-synuclein aggregation and in the related synaptic protein rearrangement. Currently, she is a post-doctoral fellow at the department of molecular and translational medicine of the University of Brescia. Her studies are aiming to address prodromal neurodegenerative changes of dopaminergic neurons during the onset of Parkinson’s disease in order to identify therapeutic-responsive windows in the early phases of the disease.

I received my PhD from Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia) in 2022, where I was part of the Dementia Research Centre headed by Prof Lars Ittner. During my PhD, my research focus has been the influence of microglia on dementia. Since early 2022 I am a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Prof Christian Haass in Munich, where I continue to explore the importance of microglia and particularly TREM2 in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

Toby Ferguson, MD, PhD Head Neuromuscular and Movement Disorders Development Unit Toby is a neuromuscular neurologist and neuroscientist who joined Biogen in 2013. His professional experience has focused on developing treatments for neuromuscular disease, with a focus on ALS and SMA as well as a more recent focus on movement disorders. He is currently the Head of the Neuromuscular and Movement Disorders Development Unit at Biogen. He plays a key role in developing clinical trials across his therapeutic areas and in driving clinical and preclinical strategy within neurodegenerative disease more broadly. His group also works closely with the preclinical scientific and biomarker teams as well as with external collaborators to identify novel disease targets and to develop the needed tools for efficient clinical development. At Biogen, he has advanced multiple programs into the clinic for ALS, SMA, Myotonic Dystrophy, and Parkinson’s disease. He has also helped to successfully develop Qalsody (tofersen) an ASO indicated for the treatment SOD1 ALS. He is dedicated to the successful development of meaningful therapeutics for neurologic disease and strongly believes that collaboration across industry, academia, and advocacy organizations is crucial to developing meaningful therapies. Prior to Biogen, Toby had a clinical neuromuscular neurology practice and a lab focused on peripheral axon injury and regeneration at Shriners Research Center and Temple University in Philadelphia. Toby trained in neurology and neuromuscular neurology at the University of Pennsylvania. He obtained an MD and PhD (Neuroscience) at the University of Florida.

Joana has a doctoral degree in Biomedicine from the University of Aveiro and NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal. Her Ph.D. project focused on the role of the Amyloid Precursor Protein, a central protein in Alzheimer’s disease, in neuronal differentiation. While still in Portugal, started her postdoctoral training at the Institute for Research and Innovation in Health - University of Porto, in acute and cultured brain slices and electrophysiology, including applications with multielectrode arrays recordings. She moved to Boston in 2021 to join the Wrann lab at the Cardiovascular Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms behind the benefits of physical exercise, and the related hormone Irisin, in the brain.