SNN2026 Conference Program
Last updated: 25.05.2026, 11:00 AM
Thursday, 28 May 2026
09:00 – 15:00 Workshop Sessions for Young Investigators & Early-Career Researchers (click for details)
@ The Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest
09:00 – 12:00 – 1. Spinal Nerve Ligation Induced Neuropathic Pain Model in Rodents: model design and outcome measures (Roxana-Olimpia Gheorghe)
This workshop will help participants understand the key components of experimental design for animal models of neuropathic pain, using the core model design proposed by Chung in 1992. The session will present the ligation procedure for the L5 spinal nerve (target species, ligation method, approach, sham operation, type of anesthesia) with critical considerations, variations, and improvements, and outcome measures (mechanical allodynia, thermal hyperalgesia).
09:00 – 11:45 – 2. The shapeshifting microglia: advanced bioimage analysis of the cytoskeleton (Melania Maria Magercu)
This workshop will present quantitative image analysis concepts and tools for reliable detection of linear and point-like structures individually, and their cross-correlation in cells. The demonstration will explore F-actin and total α-tubulin cytoskeletal rearrangements in microglia via immunofluorescence staining. The participants will learn how to build an automated pipeline for quantitative image analysis using cultured HMC3 cells exposed to IFNγ and TNFα.
12:00 – 14:45 – 3. Application of the patch-clamp technique in the study of electrophysiological properties of nervous system cells (Bogdan Amuzescu)
This workshop will introduce the participants to the patch-clamp technique and its applications. The practical demonstration will cover the essential steps of a manual patch-clamp experiment: the experimental setup, preparation of a patch pipette, whole-cell recordings in HEK293 cells stably expressing hNaV1.5 channels, and analysis of multi-step recordings to explore voltage-dependent activation and inactivation.
@ The Faculty of Medicine, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest
09:00 – 15:00 – 1. EEG in Research Workshop. EEG data processing – an introduction to CARTOOL (Mihai Moldovan, Miralena Tomescu)
The EEG in Research Workshop – EEG Data Processing: An Introduction to CARTOOL, organized by Prof. Miralena Tomescu in collaboration with Prof. Mihai Moldovan and the Brain Products Team, includes 1) a live hands-on demonstration of EEG data collection using a mobile EEG system provided by Brain Products (SNN2026 sponsor); 2) an introduction to CARTOOL, hands-on pre-processing session covering filtering, re-referencing, interpolation, and downsampling; 3) Microstates Analysis, with further hands-on practice; 4) a round table and discussion of the principles of EEG, data acquisition, and limitations, followed by conclusions and a Q&A session.
This workshop aims to familiarize participants with both good practices in EEG data collection and EEG data processing using CARTOOL – a versatile, user-friendly, freely available software developed at the University of Geneva and now internationally used, requiring no coding skills. All welcome, whether you are a newcomer curious about starting with EEG or an experienced user looking to expand your data processing toolkit.
10:00 – 13:00 – 2. EBRAINS Computational Neuroscience Workshop (Carmen Lupascu, Luca Leonardo Bologna)
The workshop will focus on tools and instruments for building and simulating biophysically detailed models of single neurons and for visualization of large, full-scale point-neuron circuits, with the main aim to extend access to this field and related tools to the neuroscientific communities. After the workshop, participants will have a deeper understanding of the techniques and the scientific methods underlying the implementation of detailed computational models.
Note that registration for each workshop will be confirmed by email, together with the exact location.
14:00 – 16:00 Opening of the onsite registration and poster mounting @ Faculty of Medicine, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest
16:00 – 17:00 Session 1 – Chair Ana-Maria Zăgrean
Opening Ceremony. SNN Anniversary Event – 25th years from launching SNN!
17:00 – 19:15 Session 2 – Chairs Aurel Popa, Andrei Miu
Andrei Miu – Neural mechanisms of trauma and psychopathology (Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania)
Raul C. Muresan – Waving neurons: How brain oscillations can be used in practical applications and therapy (Transylvanian Institute of Neuroscience, Cluj-Napoca, Romania)
Carmen Lupascu – Multiscale modeling of mouse, rat and human hippocampal CA1 networks (Institute of Biophysics, National Research Council, Palermo, Italy)
Andrei Ilie – Humans 3.0: Brain, Intelligence, and Evolution in the Age of AI (Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom)
Nicolae Popescu – Dr. Ștefan Odobleja’s Contribution to the Concept of Artificial Intelligence (Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Romania)
19:30 – 21:30 – 🍸 Welcome social event 🍸 @ “Dimitrie Brândză” Botanical Garden, University of Bucharest
Friday, 29 May 2026
8:30 – 9:00 Onsite registration and poster mounting
09:00 – 10:30 Session 3 – Chairs Mihai Moldovan, Daniela Popa
Tibor Szilágyi – Molecular and cellular changes in temporal lobe epilepsy: focus on calcium-binding proteins, glial cells and modulation by antiseizure drugs (George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Târgu Mureș, Romania)
Ioana Mîndruță, Irina Oane – Functional mapping of orbitofrontal cortex with intracranial electrodes (Epilepsy and Sleep Monitoring Unit, Emergency University Hospital Bucharest; Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania)
Mihai Moldovan – The value of EEG reactivity as a translational outcome measure after hypoxic ischemic brain injury (Department of Neuroscience, University of Copenhagen)
Miralena Tomescu – Spontaneous EEG microstates signatures of brain disorders and clinical states risk, diagnostic and predictive biomarkers (Faculty of Educational Sciences, University “Ștefan cel Mare” of Suceava, Suceava, Romania)
10:30 – 10:45 ☕ Coffee break ☕
10:45 – 11:30 IBRO Keynote Lecture – Hannah Monyer – Spatial Coding: Local and Remote Control (Department of Clinical Neurobiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, DKFZ, Germany)
11:30 – 12:30 Session 4 – Young investigators blitz presentations (posters and oral blitz) – Chair Tibor Szilágyi
PO1. Alexandra Mirela Mocanu – Oxytocin modulates EEG Microstate dynamics during Social Imitation to influence affective states and promote bonding
PO2. Bella Khlyzova – Age‑Related Variability in EEG Microstates and Their Associations with Cognitive and Socio‑Emotional States
PO3. Tiana Voicu – Trauma, Resilience, and Creativity: A Mixed-Methods EEG Microstate Study
PO4. Răzvan-Alexandru Șteopoaie – Current direction and intensity differentially modulate TMS-evoked EEG responses and corticospinal conduction latency
PO5. Alexandru George Rusneac – Empathy and emotion regulation: Linking neural, behavioral, and real-life measures
PO6. Adelina Păduraru – Developing a new behavioral task for testing thermal object memory
PO7. Andra-Maria Dobrin – A multimodal investigation of emotional interference in working memory
PO8. Didina-Cătălina Barbălată – Maternal Dysbiosis and Perinatal Asphyxia: Effects on Maternal Behavior and Neurodevelopmental Reflexes in Rat Offspring
12:30 – 13:30 Round table – AI in Neuroscience research. How to integrate national and international resources to advance Neuroscience Education and Research in Romania
Moderators: Andrei Ilie, Andrei Miu, Mihai Moldovan, Hannah Monyer, Aurel Popa, Daniela Popa, Leon Zăgrean
13:30 – 14:00 🍲 Lunch break 🍲
14:00 – 15:10 Poster & Networking Session
15:10 – 15:20 Group Photo
15:20 – 17:30 Session 5 – Chair Ana-Maria Zăgrean
Siobhain O’Mahony – Nurturing the Gut-Brain Axis in Menopausal Transition (University College Cork, Ireland)
Grațiela Grădișteanu Pîrcălăbioru – Microbes and moods: unraveling the gut-depression connection (Bucharest University, Bucharest, Romania)
Daniela Popa – Cerebellum in defensive behaviors (Institut de Biologie de l’École Normale, Paris, France)
Aurel Popa – Genetic conversion of astroglia cells to redress neural balance after stroke (Craiova University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Craiova, Romania)
Mario Scheel-Werner – Microscopy-guided proteomics at organelle-level resolution has the power to reveal unknown proteins in disease or functional-specific regions (Director Business Development EMEA, Syncell Inc., USA – Sponsor presentation)
17:30 – 17:45 ☕ Coffee break ☕
17:45 – 19:30 Session 6 – IBRO Early-Career Researchers Session I – Chair Andrei Ilie
Mara Ioana Ionescu – Prenatal programming of the brain: The role of maternal microbial communities on the neurodevelopment of the offspring (Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania)
Sebastian Isac – Pro and anti-apoptotic pathways in the vulnerable brain exposed to anesthesia – an experimental approach (Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania)
Milorad Dragić – The GluN2A subunit is necessary for intermittent theta burst stimulation-induced hippocampal plasticity (University of Belgrade, Faculty of Biology, Belgrade, Serbia)
Rosana-Bristena Ionescu – Decoding Neurodegenerative Vulnerability – Multiomics Signatures of Inflammaging and Resilience Loss (University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom)
Miruna Rascu – Continuous emotional evidence integration following ketamine (Oxford Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging (OxCIN), Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, United Kingdom)
Robert Mihai Haret – Modelling spatio-temporal contrast adaptation in retinal ganglion cells (University Medical Centre, Göttingen, Germany)
Mihai Stancu – Noise-induced reduction and early recovery of superior paraolivary nucleus sound-offset responses (Faculty of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München, Germany)
19:30 – 20:30 SNN General Assembly
Saturday, 30 May 2026
09:00 – 10:30 Session 7 – Chair Violeta Ristoiu
IBRO Keynote Lecture – Marc R. Suter – Hyperexcitability after peripheral nerve injury, which fibers modulate microglia? (Pain Center, CHUV & DNF, Faculty of Biology and Medicine University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne, Switzerland)
Alexandru Babeș – Statins activate temperature-gated Transient Receptor Potential ion channels (University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania)
Tudor Șelescu – Probing the limits of TRPM8 multimodality (University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania)
10:30 – 10:45 ☕ Coffee break ☕
10:45 – 12:30 Session 8 – IBRO Early-Career Researchers Session II – Chair Alexandru Babeș
Alexandru Deftu – Neuroimmune interactions in neuropathic pain: a focus on neuronal and non-neuronal extracellular vesicles profiling and their effects on DRG neuronal excitability, macrophages and spinal microglia (Pain Center, CHUV & DNF, Faculty of Biology and Medicine University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne, Switzerland)
Violeta Caragea – The functional expression of thermosensitive ion channels in the cerebellum (University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania)
Gabriela Marcu – Wired but tired: A resting EEG study of insomnia-related cortical hyperactivation in depression (Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu and Clinical Psychiatric Hospital, Sibiu, Romania)
Anđela Šoškić – How does a community-developed reporting standard become standard? The case of ARTEM-IS in EEG research (University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia)
Mihai Simedrea – Can EEG Revolutionize Education? A Neuroadaptive Framework for the First Generation of Digital Natives (Timișoara, Romania)
Michael Bogdan Mărgineanu – Cigarette Smoke, Nerves, and Cancer: The CGRP–Nociceptor Axis in Lung Adenocarcinoma (Victor Babeș University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timișoara, Romania)
Ianis Kevyn Ștefan Boboc – Targeted Lipid Nanoparticles Carrying Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived MicroRNAs as a Novel Therapy for Ischemic Stroke (Craiova University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Craiova, Romania)
12:30 – 12:40 ☕ Coffee break ☕
12:40 – 14:00 Session 9 – Chair Beatrice Radu
Delia Gheorghe – Childhood adversity and resting-state functional connectivity: a population-based discovery and replication study in the UK Biobank (Transylvanian Institute of Neuroscience, Cluj-Napoca, Romania)
Beatrice Radu – Blood-brain barrier: the bridge between health and disease (University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania)
Bogdan Pavel – Claustrum modulation impact on the anesthetic state (Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania)
Bogdan Amuzescu – Neuronal oscillators: synchrony analysis of a thalamo-cortical network (University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania)
14:00 – 14:30 Concluding remarks, Awards, and Closing Ceremony
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List of Poster Only
P1. Melisa Asan – The influence of aging on color perception and sensibility of contrast
P2. Georgiana Balea – Emotion regulation in daily life and telomere length: The role of inflammation and autonomic regulation
P3. Ana-Maria Catrina – The probiotic potential to alleviate offspring brain damage caused by maternal antibiotic exposure – a histological study
P4. Cristian Ciotei – Behavioural alterations in adult rats induced by perinatal asphyxia and antibiotic
P5. Ciprian Constantinescu – Neural Tokenisers
P6. George Cristian Georgescu – Ultrasound guided optic nerve sheath diameter as a proxy for neuroinflammation
P7. Monica Giurgiu – The effects of the menthol applied on the skin, on the sympathetic – vagal balance in the young adults
P8. Melania Magercu – Exploring binding interactions in microglial lipid-sensing receptors and CSF lipidome ligands in Multiple Sclerosis: in silico characterization
P9. Laurențiu Tofan – Brain networks associated with visual hallucinations evoked by direct cortical stimulation exposure during embryological development