2026 Barriers of the CNS Gordon Research Conference and Gordon Research Seminar

/ABSTRACT This proposal requests support for partial funding of the 2026 “Barriers of the Central Nervous System (CNS)” GRC and GRS that will be held at Colby Sawyer College, New Hampshire, on June 13-14, 2026 (GRS) and June 14-19, 2026 (GRC). The overall goal of this international conference is to improve understanding of the highly complex cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating the function of the endothelial (e.g., blood-brain barrier (BBB) or neurovascular unit (NVU)) and epithelial (e.g., blood-CSF barrier (BCSFB) and arachnoid) brain barriers in development, maintenance and disease. The 2026 meetings will achieve this goal by covering major aspects of CNS barrier sciences and make a special translational effort to include novel research methodology. Goals include increasing understanding of mechanisms regulating CNS barrier functions, including the blood-brain barrier, blood-spinal cord barrier, blood-retina barrier, neurovascular unit, blood-CSF barrier, in health. This will be coupled with translational efforts to identify novel mechanisms facilitating drug delivery to the brain to treat neurologic diseases. Collectively, these goals are well aligned with NINDS' mission to understand the structure and function of the nervous system and to reduce the burden of neurologic diseases. This interdisciplinary, highly translational knowledge exchange will be fostered by invited talks, daily poster presentations and ample time for non-structured scientific discussions amongst participants. The program will start with a keynote session addressing the selectively permeable nature of the brain barriers. The conference will conclude with a trendsetting keynote session understudied topic of cellular heterogeneity at the CNS barriers. An additional 7 sessions will address: i) CNS barriers in infection and rare diseases, ii) understudied CNS barriers, iii) emerging technologies in CNS barriers, iv) CNS barriers and neuropsychiatric complications, v) CNS barriers across the lifespan, vi) cell-cell communication at the CNS barriers, and, vii) transporters at the CNS barriers. Inclusion of clinicians and industry professionals in the meeting is a critical part of fostering translational discussion, with a particular goal of establishing new collaborations. This application addresses a major public health concern: diseases of the CNS. Instructing young researchers to think of innovative and novel solutions, and to bridge disciplinary interfaces in established laboratories, will advance the capacity to bring new approaches to realize the untapped potential for the treatment of CNS disease. Project Number: 1R13NS147817-01 | Fiscal Year: 2026 | NIH Institute/Center: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) | Principal Investigator: Dionna Williams | Institution: GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCES, East Greenwich, RI | Award Amount: $20,000 | Activity Code: R13 | Study Section: Special Emphasis Panel[ZRG1 SCIL-S (80)] View on NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11319215