Neuroinfectious Diseases Research Workshop: Advancing Translational Science and Clinical Research Innovation

JC and Polyoma Viruses 

Chairs: Dr. Irene Cortese (Director, Experimental Immunotherapeutics Unit, NINDS) & Dr. C. Sabrina Tan (Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Iowa)

Speakers: 

• Dr. Sasha Gupta (Assistant Professor of Neurology, UCSF), Development of an Off-the-shelf Engineered Anti-JCV VP1 TCR Based Therapy for Dominant Class I Alleles

• Dr. Aron Lukacher (Professor, Department of Cell and Biological Systems and Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, One Health Microbiome Center, Penn State Medical Center):  CD4 T Cell Deficiency Underlies Emergence of Antibody-Escape Polyomavirus Variant

• Ms. Angela Rocchi (MD/PhD Candidate at Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University): Dual-gRNA CRISPR Antiviral to Target JC Virus in Cells and Cerebral Organoids

Arboviruses 

Chair: Dr. Jim Sejvar (Clinical Associate Professor of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine) 

Speakers: 

• Dr. William DeSouza (Assistant Professor of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, University of Kentucky School of Medicine): Transmission Dynamics of Emerging Arboviruses

• Dr. Lyle Petersen (Director of the Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases): Epidemic Arboviral Diseases

• Dr. Emily Lee (Staff Scientist and Functional Group Lead, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, NIH): Drug screening for Neurotropic Viruses

Herpesviruses 

Chair: Dr. Arun Venkatesan (Professor of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University).  

Speakers: 

• Dr. Jeffrey I. Cohen (Chief, Medical Virology Section, NIAID):  Therapeutic Vaccines for Herpesviruses

• Dr. Shen-Ying Zhang (Associate Professor of Clinical Investigation, Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases, Rockefeller University):  Immunogenetics of CNS Viral Infections

Enteroviruses 

Chair: Dr. Kevin Messacar (Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Medical Center)

Speakers: 

• Dr. Hai Nguyen-Tran (Assistant Professor, University of Colorado) : Enterovirus Clinical and Epidemiology

• Dr. Megan Freeman (Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh): Enterovirus Basic and Translational Science

• Dr. Matthew Vogt (Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill): Enterovirus Therapeutics and Prevention 

Panelists: 

• Dr. Roberta DeBiasi (Professor, George Washington University)

• Dr. Carolyn Coyne  (Professor, Duke University)

• Dr. Mark Abzug (Professor, University of Colorado)

Neuro-HIV 

Chairs: Dr. Felicia Chow (Professor of Neurology, UCSF) & Dr. Shibani Mukerji (Associate Professor of Neurology, Associate Director of the Neuro-infectious Diseases Unit, Harvard University)

Speakers: 

• Dr. Shelli Farhadian (Associate Professor of Medicine in the Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine):  CSF as a Liquid Biopsy of the CNS in HIV

• Dr. Beau Ances (Professor of Neurology, Radiology, and Biomedical Engineering, Washington University):  Shifting the NeuroHIV Paradigm: Using Neuroimaging to Map Clinical Heterogeneity, Target Treatable Traits, and Trace Novel Markers of Inflammation

• Dr. Sara Lodi (Associate Professor of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health and CAUSALab, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health): Target Trial Emulation for HIV research with Complex Observational Data

Post Viral Syndromes 

Chair: Dr. Avindra Nath (Clinical Director, NINDS)

Speakers: 

• Dr. Igor Koralnik (Chief of Neuro-infectious Disease and Global Neurology, Northwestern University): Pegivirus in Parkinson's Disease and other Neurologic Conditions

• Dr. Jeane Billioux (Staff Clinician, International Infectious Disease Unit, Office of the Clinical Director, NINDS): Post-Ebola Neurological Conditions 

• Dr. Brian Walitt (Senior Research Physician, Post-Viral Syndrome and Gulf War Illness Studies, NINDS): Exploring the Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 at the National Institutes of Health

Special Plenary:  Neurological Complications of Measles: Research Gaps and Opportunities

• Dr. Carol Glaser, (Medical Officer, California Department of Public Health, Center for Laboratory Sciences)

Welcome by Workshop Chairs 

Endemic Fungal Infections & Cryptococcal Meningitis 

Chair: Dr. David Boulware: (Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical Center) 

Speakers:

• Dr. Arturo Casadevall (Chair, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor, Johns Hopkins University): Damage Response Framework; 

• Dr. David Boulware: (Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine):  Customized Immunotherapy for Cryptococcal Meningitis: One Size Does Not Fit All

• Dr. Gregory Whitehill (Infectious Disease Fellow, UCLA): Immunotherapy for Coccidioidal Meningitis - (Remote)

• Ms. Christine Boutros (MD/PhD Candidate, UCSF): Unbiased Serological Profiling Reveals a Compartment-specific Antigen Signature in Coccidioidal Meningitis

Neurosyphilis

Chair:  Dr. Shelli Farhadian (Associate Professor of Medicine in the Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine)

Speakers:

• Dr. Caroline Cameron (Professor, Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Victoria):  The Great Imitator: Biomedical Investigations to Understand and Prevent Neurosyphilis

• Dr. Alex Greninger (Head, Division of Infectious Disease Diagnostics, Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington): The Magic Shotgun:  Genomics of Treponema Pallidum

• Dr. Sumanth Reddy (Department of Neurology, UCSF):  Defining the CSF and Serum Humoral Response in Neurosyphilis

Panel Discussions

• Research Preparedness for Emerging/Reemerging Infections (11:45 - 12:10 PM)
  • Dr. Carol Glaser (Medical Officer, California Department of Public Health)
  • Dr. Avi Nath (Clinical Director, NINDS)
  • Dr. James Sejvar (Clinical Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine) 
  • Dr. Omar Siddiqi (Neurologist, Beth Israel Deaconess)
• Guideline Development and Building Clinical Research Groups (12:10 - 12:35 PM)
  • Dr. David Clifford (Professor of Neurology, Washington University) 
  • Dr. Rodrigo Hasbun (Professor of Infectious Diseases, UTHealth Houston)
  • Dr. Kathryne Holroyd (Neurologist, Columbia University)
  • Dr. Kevin Messacar (Professor of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Medical Center)
  • Dr. Shibani Mukerji (Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard University)
  • Dr. Carlos Pardo (Professor of Neurology and Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine)
• Building a Research Consortium for Undiagnosed CNS infections (12:35 - 1:00 PM)
  • Ms. Christine Boutros (MD/PhD Candidate, UCSF)
  • Dr. Felicia Chow (Professor of Neurology, UCSF)
  • Dr. Kenneth Tyler (Chair, Department of Neurology, University of Colorado)
  • Dr. Arun Venkatesan (Professor of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University)
  • Dr. Michael Wilson (Professor of Neurology, UCSF)

Tick Borne Neuroinfectious Diseases. 

Chair: Dr. Adriana Marques (Chief, Lyme Disease Studies Unit, NIAID)

Speakers:

• Dr. John Halperin (Atlantic Health Overlook Medical Center; Professor of Neurology and Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University):  Lyme Neuroborreliosis:  It All Depends on Your Frame of Reference

• Dr. G. Kyle Harrold (Department of Neurology, Mass General Brigham): Powassan Virus: Overview and Future Directions 

• Dr. Lise Nigrovic (Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School): Pediatric Lyme Neuroborreliosis

Cross-Cutting & Translational Topics

Chair:  Dr. Kiran Thakur (Associate Professor of Neurology, Director, Program in Neuroinfectious Diseases, Columbia University Irving Medical Center)

Speakers:

• Dr. Lisa Henderson (Section of Infectious Diseases, NINDS): Antisense Gene therapies for CNS Infections 

• Dr. Laura Jaeger (Associate Director, Division of Clinical Outcome Assessments, FDA):  Beyond Survival: Challenges, Gaps, and Opportunities for Clinical Outcome Assessments as Endpoints in Neuroinfectious Disease Drug Development