Scientific Theme Operation Guidelines
• The keynote/keynote symposium talks, and in-person speakers' presentations will be
scheduled in real-time within the RegPep23, August 15-19, 2021. Details TBA on July 31st.
• Virtual presentations of speakers who are unable to attend the meeting in-person will be
available on the conference website, passcode guarded, starting on August 9th, 2021, for
RegPep23 delegates' viewing.
• Each scientific theme will be represented in the RegPep23 world congress, with a hybrid
30min-long session for discussion and Q&A. Speakers and poster presenters, in-person or
via Zoom, are required to be the panelists, as well as the appointed discussants.
Diego Bohorquez (Duke University, USA): A gut sense for calories
Wei Ying (UCSD, USA): DRIg+ macrophages prevent gut microbial DNA-containing extracellular vesicle effects
Duan Chen (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway): Neural signaling modulates metabolism of gastric cancer
John Furness (Florey Institute, Australia): Dopamine and ghrelin receptor coexpression and interaction in defecation centers within the spinal cord
Posters: to be announced
Lead discussant: Sushil Mahata
Marisela Morales (NIDA, NIH, USA): Fast and slow co-transmission in brain modulatory systems
Melissa Chee (Carlton University, Canada): MCHR1-mediated control of locomotion
Eiden E. Lee(NIMH, NIH, USA): PACAP-glutamate co-transmission in brain circuits
Andrew Gundlach (Florey Institute, Australia): Relaxin-3/GABA neurons in the nucleus incertus: brainstem modification of behavior
Posters: to be announced
Lead discussant: Limei Zhang
Patrick Sexton (Monash University, Australia): Mechanisms of signaling in G protein-coupled receptors
Corinne Bousquet (INSERM Toulouse, France): Somatostatin signaling in pancreatic cancer
Hélène Castel (University of Rouen, France): Biased signaling at the urotensin II receptor
Wenqin Xu (NIMH, NIH, USA): RapGEF2-dependent signaling by family B peptide receptors
Robert Millar (University of Pretoria, S. Africa): Rescue of function of mutant human GPCRs in the HPG axis
Posters: to be announced
Lead discussant: Andrew Gundlach
Victor Navarro (Harvard Medical School, USA): Upstream neuropeptides in HPG axis pulse generation
Rosie Brown (Otago University, New Zealand): PRL in MPOA and nursing behavior
Erik Hrabovszky (KOKI, Hungary) The kisspeptin system in reproduction and emotions
Colin Brown (Otago University, New Zealand): Peptides modulating physiological responses in pregnancy
Simone Meddle (University of Edinburgh, UK): Seasonal breeding in birds: Environmental regulation of the neuroendocrine and behavioural systems.
Ryoichi Teruyama (Louisiana State University): Sex hormones and the behavior of neurosecretory neurons.
Alexandra Castillo-Ruíz (Georgia State University, USA): Effects of birth mode on vasopressin and oxytocin neurons of the hypothalamus
Posters: to be announced
Lead discussant: Ruud Buijs
Peng Li (University of Michigan, USA): A peptidergic control circuit for sighing
Ruud Buijs (UNAM, Mexico): Role of vasopressin in daily setting of the outputs of the SCN clock
Carolina Escobar (UNAM, Mexico): Circadian rhythms and promotion of metabolic health
Eva Soto (UNAM, Mexico): Liver-brain axis underlies circadian anti-inflammatory reflexes
Posters: to be announced
Lead discussant: Mike Ludwig
Valery Grinevich (Central Institute for Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany): How does a single neuropeptide elicit pleiotropic behavioral and metabolic effects?
Luis Paiva (Universidad Austral de Chile, Chile): Insulin signaling on oxytocin neurons.
Mike Ludwig (University of Edinburgh, UK): Vasopressin in olfactory and visual processing)
Mathew Paul (SUNY at Buffalo, USA): Social development and vasopressin
Andrés Quintanar-Stephano (Universidad de Aguascalientes, Mexico): The role of vasopressin as an immunoregulatory hormone)
Yoichi Ueta (University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan): Transgenic approaches to reveal physiological role of central vasopressin system
Posters: to be announced
Lead discussant: Colin Brown
Luis De Lecea (Stanford University, USA): Optogenetic control of neuromodulatory circuits in brain states
Nicholas Betley (University of Pennsylvania, USA): Peptidergic signaling in a hypothalamus to hindbrain circuit prioritizes hunger over pain
Joanna Dabrowska (Rosalind Franklin University, USA): Oxytocin, fear memory, and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis
William Giardino (Stanford University, USA): Extended amygdala neuropeptide circuits driving arousal, affect, and addiction
Limei Zhang (UNAM, Mexico): New vista of Calyx of Held-like synapse in telencephalon from rumbencephalic glutamate-peptidergic long range HiFi pathway for threat coping
Posters: to be announced
Lead discussant: James Blevins
James Blevins (University of Pennsylvania, USA) Oxytocin treatment for obesity in rodents and primates
Margarita Curras-Collazo (UC Riverside, USA) Oxytocin dysregulation in diabetogenic conditions induced by soybean oil diets
Danilo Lustrino (Federal University of Sergipe, Brazil) Anabolic and anti-catabolic effects of oxytocin on skeletal muscle protein metabolism
Mary Lee (NIDA, NIH, USA) Evidence of central signaling after systemic administration of oxytocin
Pawel Olszewski (University of Waikato, New Zealand) Oxytocin as a pharmacological tool to regulate meal size
Posters: to be announced
Lead discussant: Joanna Dabrowska
Geert Van den Boogaart (Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute (GBB), The Netherlands): Catestatin controls gut immune homeostasis and microbial composition)
Sushil Mahata (UCSD, USA): Regulation of immunometabolism by catestatin)
Posters: to be announced
Lead discussant: Pawel Olszewski
Thomas Cunningham (UNT Health Science Center, USA): Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in cardiovascular regulation and salt balance)
Paul J. Marvar (George Washington University, Washington D.C., USA): Angiotensin II in emotional flexibility and fear-based disorders
Enrique C. Guerra (UNAM, Mexico): ACE2 and its down-stream peptides of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19
Posters: to be announced
Lead discussant: Ki Goosens
Dick F. Swaab (Netherlands Institue for Neuroscience, The Netherlands): Sexual differentiation of the human brain
Alexa Veenema (Sex differences in the juvenile and adult vasopressin system in the regulation of social behavior)
Geert De Vries (Georgia State University, USA) Sex differences in the brain seen from whole-body perspective
Vito Hernandez (UNAM, Mexico) Aging and GABAergic transmission in limbic system: testosterone and neuropeptides
André Mecawi (Universidade Federal de Sáo Paulo, Brazil): Estrogen control of neurohypophyseal gene expression and hormone secretion
Posters: to be announced
Lead discussant: Arpad Dobolyi
Inga Neumann (Univ. Regensberg, Germany): Interactions of oxytocin and the HPA axis
Ki Goosens (Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai, New York, USA) Ghrelin signaling in the brain and its effects in central stress circuits
Peter Duncan (University of Edinburgh, UK) Corticotroph plasticity in stress: at the brain-endocrine interface
Sunny Z. Jiang (NIMH, NIH, USA) Behavioral significance of conditional ablation of PACAPergic projections in the brain
Gil Levkowitz (Weizmann Institute, Israel): Peptidergic modulation of stress response in zebrafish
Valentina Sabino (Boston University School of Medicine, USA): Neuropeptides and anxiety: Actions of CRH and PACAP in central amygdala
Posters: to be announced
Lead discussant: Eiden E. Lee
Arpad Dobolyi (Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary) TIP-39: a peptide with multiple neurotransmitter actions related to aversive stimulus processing
Sung Han (Salk Institute, USA) Brainstem opioidergic pathways that mediate pain-breathing interaction
Xiaoke Chen (Stanford University, USA): Thalamic control of opioid-associated memory
Posters: to be announced
Lead discussant: Tom Cunningham
Carmen Sandi (Brain and Mind Institute, EPFL, Switzerland) Neural circuits linking stress, anxiety and motivation
Alistair Ferguson (Queen’s University, Canada) CVOs as sensor and integrators for ingestive behaviors
Scott Kanoski (University of Southern California, USA) Melanin-concentrating hormone and appetitive processes
Emily Noble (University of Georgia, USA) Central oxytocin in social and reward-based feeding
Lead discussant: Teresa Morales
Francesco Ferraguti (Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria): Cortical VIP interneurons and salience broadcasting
Jing Lu (Zhejiang University, China): Hypocretin/orexin system in schizophrenia
Xiao-dong Wang (Zhejiang University, China) Tactile modulation of memory and anxiety requires dentate granule cells along the dorsoventral axis
Posters: to be announced
Lead discussant: Dora Zelena
Chun-Xia Yi (Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, The Netherlands): Hypothalamic neuron-glial interaction in metabolic disorders
Dora Zelena (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary): Tissue inflammation and insulin resistance
Teresa Morales (UNAM, Mexico): Protective effects of prolactin in neurotoxin-hippocampal injury
Rogelio Hernandez-Pando (INNSZ, Mexico): Neuroimmune activation during experimental pulmonary tuberculosis
Mario Zetter (UNAM, Mexico): Early life stress and neuropeptides-microglial role in neurodevelopment
Posters: to be announced
Lead discussant: Inga Neumann
Theme X: Scientific publishing: obligations and opportunities
An exploration of how our scientific community can support the journals that truly fulfill the mission of advancing science communication for all scientists
Lead discussants: Julian Mercer, Bob Millar, Dave Grattan, Gareth Leng: current and past editors-in-chief, Journal of Neuroendocrinology, the IRPS official journal.
Willis K (Rick) Samson, Editor-in-Chief, American Journal of Physiology -Regulatory, Integrative, and Comparative Physiology, and incoming Distinguished Member of IRPS
Theme Y: Neuropeptides and receptors in epilepsy & neural excitability
Chaired by: George Fink and Tomas Hökfelt
Theme Z: Challenges for the field in the next 10 years
Chaired by: Lee Eiden and Greti Aguilera
IRPS General Assembly Distinguished Members recognition
Greti Aguilera
Jose Antunes-Rodrigues
Sue Carter
Luis de Lecea
Richard DiMarchi
George Fink
John Furness
Hal Gainer
Tomas Hökfelt
Jens Juul Holst
Bob Jensen
Gareth Leng
Maurice Manning
Bob Millar
John Morris
Quentin Pittman
Jens Rehfeld
Rick Samson
Dick Swaab
