5th International Conference on
Neuroscience & Psychiatry (ICNP)

Moses Rodriguez, M.D., is a nationally recognized multiple sclerosis expert. He holds the academic rank of Professor of Neurology and Immunology and holds the Mildred A. and Henry Uihlein II Professorship in Medical Research. He recently received the highest award at Mayo Clinic – the Distinguished Investigator Award. He earned his B.A. degree in medical sciences and M.D. degree at Northwestern University. After residency in internal medicine and a residency in neurology at Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, he served as a trainee at the National Institutes of Health and completed fellowships in neuropathology at the University of California, San Diego, and at Scripps Research Institute. Dr. Rodriguez has made significant contributions to both the clinical and basic science aspects of multiple sclerosis. His research has focused on developing methods to reverse the deterioration of the central nervous system in multiple sclerosis, a debilitation by the destruction of the multi-layered sheath that surrounds nerve fibers called myelin. Dr. Rodriguez was the first to demonstrate conclusively that plasma exchange is effective in patients with severe, devastating attacks of multiple sclerosis. He is also a member of a Mayo Clinic research team that identified the human-produced hormone Interleukin-6 that may prolong neuron (brain cell) life. Dr. Rodriguez holds 14 U.S. patents related to his fundamental medical discoveries and has authored more than 400 peer reviewed papers. Currently the principal investigator of five grants, he directs a prestigious National MS Society Center of Excellence and the Mayo Center for Multiple Sclerosis and Central Nervous System Demyelinating Diseases Research and Therapeutics. A talented musician, Dr. Rodriguez is co-director of Trombones Anonymous, a regional trombone choir for which he has written over 250 original arrangements. He enjoys bass fishing and camping with his family in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Northern Minnesota.

Dr. Moses Rodriguez's research is focused on determining the mechanisms of demyelination and remyelination in diseases such as Human Multiple Sclerosis.

Lucia-Maria Vaina combines psychophysics, multimodal neuroimaging (fMRI and MEG), and computational modeling to study plasticity and the spatiotemporal orchestration of the visually eloquent system in humans. She trained first in mathematics&applied mathematics, and received her first PhD from the Sorbonne, in 1977, she underwent postdoctoral training at Berkeley (with Lotfi Zadeh) , Stanford (with Patrick Suppes) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (with Marvin Minsky), before getting her MDPhD at the University of Toulouse, and training in neurology at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston under Norman Geshwind and at the Boston VA under Harold Goodglass. Dr. Vaina is currently Professor of Neurology, Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience at Boston University and on the faculty faculty at Harvard Medical School, Departments of Neurology&Radiology. She is Director of Brain and Vision Laboratory (BRAVI) (http://www.bu.edu/bravi/) at Boston University and co-director of the Neurology of Vision Laboratory (NOVI) at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard medical School.She worked at New England Rehabilitation Hospital, Young Stroke Unit and Brain Injury Unit , until 1997 when she moved to Massachusetts General Hospital-Neurology Department & Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging. She has served as expert witness defending Brain Injury patients with acquired cognitive and perceptual deficits.

Lucia-Maria Vaina's research interest are in the diagnosis and rehabilitation of perceptual and cognitive deficits caused by stroke and traumatic brain injury.

Dr. Baudry is an internationally known neuroscientist, and is one of the 100 ISI Highly Cited neuroscientists in the world. After graduating from the prestigious Ecole Polytechnique in Paris in 1971, Dr. Baudry obtained a PhD in biochemistry at the University of Paris VII in 1977, under the direction of professors J.C. Schwartz and J.P. Changeux, two of France’s most distinguished neurobiologists. He moved to the United States in 1978 for a postdoctoral period with Professor Gary Lynch at the University of California, Irvine, and remained at UCI as an associate professor until 1989, when he joined USC. He was the Professor of Departments of Biological Sciences, Neurology and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Southern California (USC) till 2012 before joining Western University. Michel Baudry is currently the dean of the Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences at Western University of Health Sciences. In collaboration with Lynch, Dr. Baudry developed a biochemical theory for learning and memory that remains one of the most widely accepted theories in the field. His research is directed at understanding the molecular mechanisms of learning and memory, as well as those involved in neurodegenerative processes underlying numerous brain diseases. He is member of American Neuroscience Society, International Society of Neurochemistry, Fellow of the World Innovation Foundation. He has published more than 350 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals and is reviewing manuscripts for a wide range of journals.

Dr. Michel Baudry's research interests include: Mechanisms implicated in long-term synaptic potentiation and depression in hippocampus and other brain regions Regulation of glutamate receptors Role of oxygen free radicals in central nervous system Mechanisms underlying selective neuronal degeneration Computational neuroscience

Dr. Han-Xiang Deng is a Research Professor in the Department of Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University. He has completed his PhD from Hunan Medical University in 1983. His research includes the Understanding the mechanism of neurodegenerative diseases such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. He has authored around 100 publications across the key areas of Neurology & Neurophysiology.

Dr. Han-Xiang Deng's research interests include: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Cell Biology Genetics Neurogenetics Neuromuscular Disorders

Dr. Irene Litvan is the Tasch Endowed Chair of Parkinson Disease Research at the University of California San Diego, Professor of Neurosciences and Director of the UCSD National Parkinson Foundation Movement Disorder Center of Excellence. Her major research goals are to better understand the causes, find biological markers and identifying novel neuroprotective treatments for patients with neurodegenerative disorders with parkinsonism or dementia. She is a movement disorder specialist, behavioral neurologist and neuroepidemiologist with more than 25 years of experience conducting clinical trials and leading multidisciplinary and multisite clinical studies. Dr. Litvan received the National Institutes of Health merit award for leading international multicenter studies to evaluate and improve the clinical diagnostic criteria of parkinsonian neurodegenerative disorders. In addition to being senior editor of 4 books, Dr. Litvan has published more than 250 peer-reviewed articles and chapters. She is a fellow of the American Neurological Association and American Academy of Neurology. She serves on many boards and committees of the International Parkinson Disease and Movement Disorder Society, World Federation of Neurology, and medical scientific boards. She was the local chair and co-chair of the 19th International Parkinson Disease and Movement Disorder Society. She is committed to mentor students, residents, fellows and junior faculty to become clinical translational scientists. Her research stresses “bench to bedside” diagnosis and treatments and “hospital to community” interdisciplinary translational therapies.

Dr. Irene Litvan’s research interests include: Neurodegenerative Disorders Movement Disorders Parkinson's Disease Dementia