Plenary Speakers

Dr. Carmen Sandi
Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne (EPFL)

The mitochondrial logic of stress vulnerability and resilience

Dr. Tracy Bale
University of Colorado

Extracellular vesicles are key stress communicators

Public lecture

Dr. Cecile Rousseau
Canada Research Chair in Preventing Violent Radicalization, McGill University

Rethinking youth distress and violence in tense times

TUESDAY

16th June 2026

LOCATION: Union Française de Montréal (Google Maps)

5.00-6.00pm Public Lecture - Dr. Cecile Rousseau

session chaired by Dr. Robert Paul Juster, U Montréal

Rethinking youth distress and violence in tense times

6.30pm - late Opening Reception


7.30-8.30am Welcome Coffee & Registration

8.30-10.00am Opening Remarks & Plenary 1 -

Dr. Carmen Sandi - The mitochondrial logic of stress vulnerability and resilience

10.30-12.30pm Symposium 1 - Stress & brain-body interactions

Eric Wohleb University of Cincinnati, USA

Microglial regulation of synaptic plasticity and behavior in stress

Maria Rodriguez Aburto University College Cork, Ireland

Mode of Birth and Brain Barrier Development in Early Life

Scott Russo Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA

Brain-Body Neuroimmune Mechanisms of Stress and Depression

Weronika Tomaszewska Research Network Łukasiewicz – PORT Polish Center for Technology Development, Poland

Decoding resilience: how lipid signals and microglia shape outcomes after Adverse Childhood Experiences

12.30-2.00pm Lunch

2.00-4.00pm Symposium 2 - Understanding the Impacts of Continued Discrimination

Brian Dias Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, USA

Cross-species investigations of legacies of experience

Wendie Marks University of Saskatchewan, Canada

Engaging Indigenous Peoples in preclinical research

Ali Jawaid Łukasiewicz Research Network, Poland

Towards the biological plausibility and biomarkers of intergenerational trauma in genocide-surviving human populations

Alberto Corona Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA

Form Follows Function: Spatially Organized Neuron-Glia Interactions Dictate Habenula Function

4.20-4.50pm Data Blitz

4.50-5.30pm Panel - ‘Our Models in Crisis?’

Discussion lead: Tallie Z. Baram

Panelists: Johannes Bohacek, Serena Dudek, Maya Opendak

5.30-7.00pm Poster Session 1

7.30pm - late Trainee Social Event

WEDNESDAY

17th June 2026

LOCATION: CRCHUM (Google Maps)


THURSDAY

18th June 2026

LOCATION: CRCHUM (Google Maps)

8.00-8.30am Welcome Coffee

8.30-10.30am Symposium 3 - Early-Life Adversity

Mathias Schmidt Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Germany

Multilevel sex-specific neurobiological signatures of early life adversity

Patricia Pelufo-Silveira McGill University, Canada

Insulin-Sensitive Brain–Body Pathways in Early-Life Stress

Jessica Bolton Georgia State University, USA

Early-life adversity alters microglial synaptic pruning of developing stress circuits in a sex-specific manner

Ossama Ghenissa CRCHUM & University of Montreal, Canada

Investigating the role of amygdala astrocytes in early-life stress

10.50-12.50pm Symposium 4 - Translating Insight from Basic Research towards Improved Human Health

Kim Hellemans Carleton University, Canada

A profile-based approach to linking Early-Life Trauma, Current Stress, and Cannabis Use in Emerging Adults

Christian Gaden-Jensen Foundation for Mental Health and Aarhus University, Denmark

Evidence-based Public Stress Reduction Programs in Denmark. The Open and Calm Stepped Care Model

Didier Jutras-Aswad CRCHUM & Université de Montréal, Canada

Stress and Addiction: Integrating Mechanisms to Inform Innovation in Substance Use Disorder Interventions

Matthew Kearney McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA

Mechanisms of Social Fear and Extinction in Mice

12.50-2.30pm Lunch & Poster Session 2

2.30-4.30pm Symposium 5 - Stress & Cognition

Sylvie Lesuis University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Stress and threat memory generalization: molecules and microcircuits

Kate Wassum University of California Los Angeles, USA

Neuronal circuits through which stress disrupts agency and promotes habit.

Frank Meye Utrecht University, Netherlands

Stress-driven plasticity in limbic circuits drives increased intake of food reward

Xin Zhao University of Western Ontario, Canada

Stress vulnerability of retrospective working memory mediated by prefrontal cortex corticotropin releasing hormone in mice

4.45-5.00pm Data Blitz

5.00-5.30pm Panel 'The nature of resilience'

Discussion lead: Michael Meaney

Panelists: Marie-Claude Audet, Kevin Bath, Jim Herman

5.30-7.00pm Poster Session 3


FRIDAY

19th June 2026

LOCATION: CRCHUM (Google Maps)

8.00-9.30am Round table breakfast networking event

9.30-10.45am Plenary 2 -

Dr. Tracy Bale - Extracellular vesicles are key stress communicators

11.00-1.00pm Symposium 6 - Stress & Psychedelics

Michael Wheeler Harvard University, USA

Decoding and targeting neuroimmune cross-talk controlling stress behaviors

Jaideep Bains University Health Network, Toronto, Canada

Sex and context specific effects of psilocybin on the stress axis

Leah Mayo University of Calgary, Canada

The stress of the trip: Exploring interactions between the stress response and psychedelic experience in humans

Axel Rosado Yale University, USA

α₂-Adrenergic receptor modulates 5-HT2A-mediated behavioral effects of MDMA and psilocybin in mice

1.00-1.30pm Closing remarks

1.30pm Lunch

2.30pm Event in Old Montreal