Location: NINDS, Bethesda, MD (limited in-person) & Virtual
Learn More About the 2026 NINDS CTE Summit
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) will convene the 2026 CTE Summit to reassess the state of the science on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and traumatic encephalopathy syndrome (TES), with a focus on how emerging evidence can inform clinical diagnosis, clinical trials, and patient care.
This summit will mark seven years since the First NINDS Workshop to Define the Diagnostic Criteria for TES and eleven years since the First NINDS/NIBIB Consensus Meeting to Define Neuropathological Criteria for CTE. In the years since, there has been substantial growth in the field, including new longitudinal cohorts, advances in fluid and imaging biomarkers, refined neuropathological staging, and greater awareness of exposure-related risk across diverse populations (e.g., athletes, military service members, and others with repetitive head impacts). The 2026 CTE Summit will provide a structured venue to review these developments, identify remaining gaps, and consider whether and how TES criteria might be used beyond observational research.
The meeting will bring together investigators, clinicians, neuropathologists, epidemiologists, imaging and biomarker experts, early-stage investigators, and stakeholders from across the CTE research community. Sessions will highlight:
- Evidence on the validity, reliability, and feasibility of the TES criteria in different settings and populations
- Progress in in vivo diagnostic tools, including neuroimaging, fluid biomarkers, and digital/functional measures
- Integration of clinical, biomarker, and neuropathological data to refine disease staging and prognosis
- Implications of current evidence for clinical trials, including patient selection, outcome measures, and ethical considerations
- Opportunities to inform NINDS and broader NIH efforts by addressing emerging CTE-related research and clinical needs.
Summit Goals
- Review the current state of CTE research, including but not limited to NINDS-funded studies, across clinical, neuropathological, imaging, biomarker, and epidemiological domains.
- Evaluate the readiness of the TES diagnostic criteria for use in settings beyond observational research, including clinical trials and, where appropriate, clinical care.
An agenda will be posted when available. In-person attendance will be limited and will require advanced registration; virtual participation will be available broadly to support engagement from the wider research and clinical communities.