The 4th edition of Fusion conferences on Neuroepigenetics and Neuroepitranscriptomics in St. Julian's, Malta attracted researchers from across the world, including Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Luxembourg, France, Netherlands, UK, US, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan. During the exciting 4-day meeting from October 1st to 4th, 37 talks covered a wide range of broad topics in the field, from single-cell multiomic technologies, neurogenesis, learning and memory, to various brain disorders, with mostly unpublished data presented. The meeting provided a platform for active interactions among 86 attendees, with so many questions that we ran out of time for almost every single talk. Several sessions for the 36 posters provided additional platform for discussion, so did group breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. Thanks to the support of Fusion and sponsors, the meeting provided several fellowships for early career investigators and six poster awards. This series of Fusion Conference on Neuroepigenetics and Neuroepitrasncriptomics have become the go-to meeting for the field and we are looking forward to the next edition of the meeting in the near future.  

Epigenetic mechanisms, including chemical modifications of DNA and histones as well as regulation by non-coding RNAs, are fundamental mechanism regulating gene expression. Various epigenetic mechanisms have pivotal roles in the nervous system and aberrant epigenetic regulation contributes to pathogenesis in many brain disorders. In parallel, epitranscriptomic mechansims cover over 170 different modifications of various RNA. Recent studies have shown diverse role of epitranscriptomic regulation of diverse process in the nervous system, from neurogenesis, learning and memory, to regeneration and cancer. The field is particularly excited by the possibility of clinical translation as shown by the recent profound success in using modified mRNA for COVID 19 vaccine. This meeting will bring together pioneers, experts and junior investigator in studying neuroepigenetics and epitranscriptomics to provide an up-to-date and comprehensive picture of epigenetic and epitranscriptomic mechanisms in neural development, reprogramming and cell identity, plasticity, neuronal function and dysfunction, and discuss future directions of the field. The meeting will offer opportunity and platform for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, clinical fellows and junior investigator to present their work and interact with leaders in the field and for interdisciplinary collaborations.

Key Sessions

•    Epigenetic mechanisms regulating brain development and stem cells 
•    Transcriptional and translational regulation
•    Neuronal specific splicing
•    Brain developmental disorders, aging and neurodegeneration
•    Single-cell transcriptome, epigenomic, epitranscriptomic, and multi-omics analysis
•    Spatial transcriptomic analysis
•    3D epigenome and chromatin topology 
•    Diverse roles of various RNA modifications in basic neurobiology and clinical translation
•    Brain cancer

Confirmed Plenary Speakers

Angel Barco (European Neuroscience Institute)
EXPERIENCE-DRIVEN EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF GENE EXPRESSION IN ADULT HIPPOCAMPAL NEURONS 
Anne Brunet (Stanford Medicine)
SPATIAL TRANSCRIPTOMICS IN THE AGING BRAIN
Gonçalo Castelo-Branco (Karolinska Institutet)
SINGLE-CELL AND SPATIAL OMICS OF OLIGODENDROGLIA IN DEVELOPMENT AND IN MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS 
Chuan He (University of Chicago)
RNA METHYLATION IN CHROMATIN REGULATION
Peng Jin (Emory University)
m6A EPITRANSCRIPTOME IN HUMAN BRAIN AND ITS ROLE IN NEURODEGENERATION
Guo-li Ming (University of Pennsylvania)
IMPACTS OF GENETIC RISK FACTORS FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA AND GENETIC BACKGROUNDS ON HUMAN iPSC-DERIVED HIPPOCAMPAL NEURONS

Confirmed Invited Speakers

Timothy Bredy (University of Queensland)
UNUSUAL NEUROEPIGENETIC MECHANISMS OF MEMORY 
Yanxiang Deng (University of Pennsylvania)
MULTIPLEXED SPATIAL MAPPING OF CHROMATIN FEATURES, TRANSCRIPTOME, AND PROTEINS IN TISSUES
André Fischer (German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, DZNE)
EXPANDING THE SPACE FOR DRUG DISCOVERY: THE EPIGENETIC ROLE OF THE NON-CODING RNAome IN NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES
Johannes Graeff (EPFL)
EPIGENETIC ENCODING OF MEMORY EXPRESSION
Ankur Jain (MIT)
RNA AGGREGATION IN NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE
Daniel Lim (University of California, San Francisco)
REGULATION OF SPATIAL ASPECTS OF 3D GENOME ARCHITECTURE IN HUMAN NEUROGENESIS
Hsiu-Chuan Lin (Centre for Genomic Regulation)
PROFILING AND PROGRAMMING IN VITRO NEURONAL DIVERSITY AT SINGLE-CELL RESOLUTION
Ram Madabhushi (UT Southwestern Medical Center)
DNA TENSION IN NEURONAL TRANSCRIPTION
Kate Meyer (Duke University)
EXPLORING m6A IN THE BRAIN AT SINGLE-CELL RESOLUTION 
Alexi Nott (Imperial College London)
VASCULAR AND IMMUNE EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS UNDERLYING DEMENTIA 
Jelena Radulovic (Albert Einstein College of Medicine)
MAINTENANCE OF MEMORY REPRESENTATIONS THROUGH NEURON-SPECIFIC IMMUNE PATHWAYS
Ravikiran Raju (MIT)
THE NEUROEPIGENETICS OF SOCIAL ISOLATION
Yin Shen (University of California, San Francisco)
INVESTIGATING 3D EPIGENOME DYNAMICS IN BRAIN DEVELOPMENT AND DISEASES
Xiao Wang (MIT)
TRANSLATING SPATIAL MOLECULAR ATLAS TO BRAIN FUNCTION 
Xiaoqun Wang (Institute of Biophysics)
SINGLE-CELL EPIGENOMICS AND SPATIOTEMPORAL TRANSCRIPTOMICS REVEAL HUMAN CEREBELLAR DEVELOPMENT
Anne West (Duke University)
REGULATION OF NEURONAL MATURATION BY THE RAHMAN SYNDROME GENE HISTONE H1-4

Target Audience

Graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, clinical researchers in the academia as well as scientists in the industry.  

Educational Need

Neuroepigenetics and neuroepitranscriptomics are emerging new fields that have expanded dramatically in the past few years with numerous new technologies and exciting new discoveries. The purpose of the conference is to provide an update of latest progresses, and discuss future studies in the new fields of neuroepigenetics and neuroepitrancriptomics to encourage collaboration and clinical translation.

Unfortunately, all current ECR grants have been awarded. However, we hope to release additional grants later following fundraising efforts. If you are interested in future opportunities, feel free to sign up for updates about the conference to be kept informed should further grants be released. Or, you are welcome to send in an application in advance, to be considered in the first instance should additional grants be released.