7th UK Preclinical Stroke Symposium
8 & 9 September 2025, Keble College, University of Oxford
registration
Please register HERE
Fees:
£40 - Early Career Researchers (defined as MSc, DPhil or <5 years post-PhD)
£80 - Mid-Career and Senior Researchers (>5 years post-PhD)
£100 - Industry Attendees
Abstract deadline: noon, July 7th, 2025
Late registration fees from August 1st, 2025:
£50 - Early Career Researchers (defined as MSc, DPhil or <5 years post-PhD)
£100 - Mid-Career and Senior Researchers (>5 years post-PhD)
£125 - Industry Attendees
accomodation
Bed and breakfast rooms are available at the conference venue for £108/night. Please book using the following link quoting code PCSS25
Conference dinner
The conference dinner will take place in Keble College Hall, the original venue of choice for the Harry Potter great hall (the college turned it down!). Please join us for dinner and networking on the first evening by adding the dinner option during registration.
Preliminary Programme
Day 1, Monday 8 September 2025
10.00-10.30 Registration & Coffee
10.30-10.45 Welcome from Organising Committee
10.45-11.00 Sponsor talk: Inscopix
11.00-11.45 Flash Talks (10 minutes + 5 minutes QA, speakers selected from submitted abstracts, PhD students only)
Chairs: Prof. Catherine Lawrence and Dr. Paul Holloway
| 11.00 | Myrto Lavda | University of Oxford | Sex differences in stroke recovery in a transgenic rat model with Sry-modification |
| 11.15 | Lana Hassan | University of Strathclyde | The biological response of liquid silk towards inflammatory cells involved in stroke and relevance to its potential use as a regenerative stroke therapy |
| 11.30 | Ragini Kushwaha | University of Tuebingen | Investigating the role of Gai2 and Gai3 in cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury |
11.45-11.50 Sponsor talk: Revvity
11.50-12.20 Flash Talks (10 minutes + 5 minutes QA, speakers selected from submitted abstracts, PhD students only)
| 11.50 | Chiara Ramponi | University of Manchester | Developing caADAMTS13 as a novel pan-stroke therapy |
| 12.05 | Sevgi Yaren Dogru | University of Edinburgh | Investigating white matter alterations and secondary neurodegeneration with MRI imaging and pathology in a mouse model of ischaemic stroke |
12.20-13.30 Lunch
13.30-14.00 Assoc. Prof. Tracy Farr, 'Functional connectivity change in a large animal model of stroke'
14.00-15.00 Flash Talks (10 minutes, speakers selected from submitted abstracts, post-docs only)
Chairs: Dr. Lorraine Work and Assoc. Prof. Yvonne Couch
| 14.00 | Ioana Grigoras | University of Oxford | Neurochemical changes throughout stroke recovery - a longitudinal MRS study in rats |
| 14.15 | Victor Tapia Olivares | University of Manchester | CH25H and 25HC modulate neuroinflammation and promote recovery after intracerebral haemorrhage |
| 14.30 | Andrea DÌaz Pérez | University of Warwick | T2 heterogeneity analysis of the infarcted region reveals a new aspect of cerebroprotection by Suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid in stroke |
| 14.45 | Alba Grayston Morales | University of Manchester | Microglia-derived interleukin-1 alpha and interleukin-1 beta have distinct roles after experimental ischaemic stroke |
15.00-15.30 Coffee
15.30-16.00 Dr. Paul Holloway, 'Adding new dimensions to in vitro models of stroke'
16.00-16.30 Dr. Amin Mottahedin, 'Time of day effects on ischemia-reperfusion injury after stroke'
16.30-16.35 Sponsor talk: Promega
16.35-17.30 Keynote: Prof. Louise McCullough, University of Texas Health, Houston, 'The Importance of Age and Sex in Translational Stroke Research'
17.30-18.30 Posters, Drinks and Networking
19.00 Dinner, Keble College Hall
Day 2, Tuesday 9 September 2025
8.30-9.00 Assoc. Prof. Yvonne Couch, 'Studying metabolism in the rodent brain'
9:00-9:30 Dr. Johannes Boltze, 'STAIR XIII: An Update'
9.30-10.30 Flash Talks (10 minutes, speakers selected from submitted abstracts, PhD students only)
Chairs: Dr. Hilary Carswell and Dr. Kamila Szulc-Lerch
| 9.30 | Joseph Cooper | University of Manchester | Investigating the role of perivascular macrophages and vasculature changes in the chronic stages of intracerebral haemorrhage |
| 9.45 | Snoopy Hazarika | University of Glasgow | Investigating the effect of cerebral ischaemia on the proliferation and localisation of CNS border-associated macrophages |
| 10.00 | Ellen Gray | University of Manchester | Investigating the role of rystemic inflammation in the development of post-stroke cognitive impairment |
| 10.15 | Poornima Geemon | University of Manchester | Utilising zebrafish to study the role of the NLRP3 inflammasome in intracerebral haemorrhage |
| 10.30 | Nicola Gilroy | University of Glasgow |
Roles of the ADMA-DDAH1 pathway in cerebral endothelial dysfunction, ischaemic stroke outcomes, and neurovascular pathology associated with cerebral small vessel disease |
10.45-11.15 Coffee
11.15-11.45 Dr. Kamila Szulc-Lerch, 'Preclinical imaging technologies and animal models in stroke research'
11.45-12.30 Flash Talks (10 minutes, speakers selected from submitted abstracts, post-docs only)
Chair: Dr. Laura McCulloch & Dr. Amin Mottahedin
| 11.45 | Satinderdeep Kaur | University of Sheffield | Targeting brain injury after intracerebral haemorraghe with lipid nanoparticles |
| 12.00 | Aisling McFall | University of Glasgow | Combined targeting of oedema and neuronal plasticity as a new therapeutic framework to treat ischaemic stroke |
| 12.15 | Mary Newland | University of Manchester | Sex-specific effects of IL-1R1 blockade on perihaematomal oedema in a rat model of intracerebral haemorrhage |
12.30-13.00 Dr. Gary Morris, 'New insights into recovery of functional vasculature with the ischemic core after stroke'
13.00-13.30 Sue Sanders, 'Stroke lived experience talk'
13.30-13.45 Prizes and Concluding Remarks
*SYMPOSIUM BOOKLET DOWNLOAD (last updated: September 5th, 2025)
ORGANISING COMMITTEE:
Yvonne Couch, Paul Holloway and Kamila Szulc-Lerch
sponsors:
Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Research UK Thames Valley Network, British Heart Foundation, Charles River Laboratories, Company of Biologists, Guarantors of Brain, Inscopix (Bruker), Oxford Optronix, Promega, Revvity, Thistle Scientific, Transnetyx