Preliminary programme

Day 1: Organotypic Retina Cultures – Foundations & Setup

Morning Session: Basics & Methodology

•      9-9.15: Welcome and event organization: Henri Leinonen

Lecture session 1: Introduction to Organotypic Retina Cultures

•      9.15-10.00: History, basics, and key applications 1/2: Blanca Arango-Gonzalez

•      10.00-10.45: History, basics, and key applications 2/2: Blanca Arango-Gonzalez

•      10:45-10:50: Short break  

•      10:50-11:35: Development of serum free organotypic retinal explant cultures: A historical overview: François Paquet-Durand

LUNCH BREAK 11.35-12.30

Lecture session 2: Experimental Setup & Best Practices

•      12.30-13.15: Dissection, media composition, and maintaining tissue viability in rodent: Catherine Hottin

•      13.15-14:00: Primate and porcine ex vivo retinas: Ana Almansa García, Frans Vinberg

Afternoon Session: Keynote and flash talks

•      14.05-15.00: Keynote lecture 1: Ocular drug delivery

•      15:00-15.30 Selected abstract flash talks (1-10)

COFFEE BREAK 15.30-16:00

Evening Session: Scientific Publishing in Retinal Research

•      16:00-16:30 FEBS Press Representative (Daniela Ruffell, PhD)

Lecture session 3: Writing & Publishing High-Impact Research

•      16.30-17.30 Choosing the right journal, structuring a manuscript, and responding to reviewers: Raunak Sinha, Henri Leinonen(other PIs)

Workshop 1: Manuscript Abstract & Figure Preparation

•      17.30 à: Participants can receive feedback on pre-submitted materials

18.00- POSTER SESSION 1  & GET-TOGETHER  & EVENING SOCIAL

Evening Session: Scientific Publishing in Retinal Research

• Lecture session 3: Writing & Publishing High-Impact Research
• 15.30-16.15 Choosing the right journal, structuring a manuscript, and responding to reviewers
• Workshop 1: Manuscript Abstract & Figure Preparation
• 16.15-17.00: Participants can receive feedback on pre-submitted materials

17.00- POSTER SESSION 1  & GET-TOGETHER  & EVENING SOCIAL

Day 2: Applications in Disease Modeling & Drug Testing

Lecture session 4: Disease models, Organotypic Cultures and Therapeutic aspects

•      9.00-9.45: Inherited retinal degenerations: Francois Paquet-Durant

•      9.45-10.30: Age-related macular degeneration: Alexa Klettner

•      10.30-10.40 short break

•      10.40-11.25: Diabetic retinopathy and oxidative stress: Maria Miranda

•      11.25-12.10: Glaucoma: Elena Vecino

LUNCH BREAK 12.10-13.00

•      13:00-13:45 Special lecture: Adult Müller glia cultures: Xandra Pereiro

•      13.45-14. 15: Selected abstract flash talks (11-20)

Afternoon Session: Tutorial session 1

•      14.15-15.45: Demo/tutorial Session: Virtual set up of explants. Discussion of all things that go wrong, points of extra care, common pitfalls and troubleshooting. Coordinators: Xandra Pereiro, Antolin Canto, Catherine Hottin, Ana Almansa Garcia

COFFEE BREAK 15.45-16.15

Evening Session: Grant Writing & Funding Strategies

Lecture session 5: Writing Competitive Grant Applications

•      16.15-17.00: Structuring proposals for funding agencies (e.g., ERC, NIH, Marie Curie): Petri Ala-Laurila, Frans Vinberg (other Pis)

•      Workshop 2: Developing a Winning Grant Proposal

•      17.00- Participants can get feedback on presubmitted research proposals

17:15- POSTER SESSION 2 with SNACKS

Day 3: Organotypic Retina Cultures in testing advanced therapy and drug delivery aspects

Lecture session 6: Gene therapy and RNA approaches

•      9:00-9:05: CONFERENCE PICTURE, BE THERE!

•      9.05-9.50: Testing AAV vectors, CRISPR-based approaches, and alternative gene-editing tools: Yuanyuan Chen

•      9.50-10.25: RNA interference, RNA therapeutics: Marco Bassetto

•      Short break 10.25-10.30

Late morning/Afternoon Session: Ocular drug delivery

10.30-11.30: Keynote 2 – Biochemistry at the Core of Retina

Research: Past, Present, and Future

LUNCH BREAK 11.30-12.30

Lecture session 7: Studying barriers and  Drug Delivery

with Tissue Cultures

•      12:30-13:15: Porcine Single-Eye Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cell Culture for Barrier and Polarity Studies (1/2): Alexa Klettner

•      13.15-14.00: Studying drug delivery with explaints: Blanca Arango-Gonzalez

Evening Session: Industry & Venture Science in Retinal Research

•      14:00-14.45: Industry roles for retinal researchers, biotech innovation, and venture science: Jukka Puoliväli, Giedrius Kalesnykas

COFFEE BREAK 14:45-15:15

•      15.15-16.00: Spinning off from academia and start ups: Teemu Turunen, Frans Vinberg

•      16.00-16.30: How to attract angel investors or venture capital: TBD

•      16.30-18.00: FREE TIME

18:00-late: LAKE KALLAVESI CRUISE & NETWORKING

Day 4: End-point assays + functional testing in living retinas

Lecture session 9: Conventional end-point assays in organotypic retina culture experiments

•      9-9.45: Histology/IHC staining and & microscope: challenges and common pitfalls Catherine Hottin, Ana Almansa Garcia, François Paquet-Durand, Blanca Arango-Gonzalez

•      9:45-10:30: Apoptosis and other sensitive cell death assays Catherine Hottin, Ana Almansa Garcia, François Paquet-Durand, Blanca Arango-Gonzalez

•      Break 10:30-10:40

•      10:40-11:25 Assays with homogenates: Immunoblots, qPCR, ELISA etc: Henri Leinonen lab

•      11:25-12:10 Preparation for omics (RNA-seq, proteomics etc.) Henri Leinonen Lab

LUNCH BREAK 12.10-13.00

Lecture session 10: Electrophysiology / Functional Analysis

•      13.00-13.45: Ex vivo electroretinogram: Teemu Turunen

•      13:45-14:30: Patch-clamp: Petri Ala-Laurila

•      14:30-15:15 Single-cell recordings from photoreceptors: Raunak Sinha

COFFEE BREAK 15.15-15.45

•      15.45-16:30: Selected abstracts flash talks (21-30)

•      16:30-17:00 FEBS Representative Jan Riemer

Evening Session: Choosing the Right Postdoc & Career Paths

•      17:00-18:00 Panel Discussion: Surviving & Thriving in a Postdoc Position – young generation PIs

Insights from Pis. Including: Academia vs. Industry, key considerations, networking, and career trajectory planning

18.00 - POSTER SESSION 3 with SNACKS

Day 5: The Retina as a Model for Neuroscience Applications

9.00-9:50 Keynote lecture 3: Critical Factors for Success in Retinal Research: A Personal Perspective

•      Short break 9:50-10:00

Lecture session 11: The Retina as an Accessible Model for neuroscience and CNS Research

•      10-10.45: Synaptic transmission: Frans Vinberg

•      10:45-11:10 Complex neuronal circuits: Petri Ala-Laurila

LUNCH BREAK 11.10-12:00

•      12:00-12:20 Complex neuronal circuits: Raunak Sinha

•      12.20-13.05 Synaptic plasticity: Henri Leinonen

•      13:05-13:15: Short break

Afternoon Session:

Demo/tutorial Session based on video material:

•      13.15-14.00: Neuronal Activity Recording in Isolated Retinas: TBD

COFFEE BREAK 14.00-14.30

•      14.30-15.30 Group discussion: Ex vivo versus in vivo – opportunities, challenges and pitfalls: everyone, what did we learn during this week?

•      Awards ceremony and pictures

15.30-16.00: Event conclusion and future ideas