The presentation, entitled "Tackling Human Neurological Disorders via Neuro-Immune Lens: Harnessing the Power of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells-based Brain Organoids and Hunan-mouse Chimeras" is sponsored by Purdue's Center for Paralysis Research and Plexon Neurotechnology Systems.

Abstract: Human neurological disorders affect more than one billion people globally. Due to a limited understanding of disease mechanisms, many neurological disorders still lack effective treatments. Recent advances in human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) technology provide a unique opportunity to study human diseases using human cells, which can potentially circumvent translational failures caused by species differences in animal models. Notably, Dr. Xu recently successfully developed a hiPSC-based human cell-centric disease modeling paradigm, including 3D brain organoids in vitro models and human-mouse chimeric brain in vivo models, enabling the study of human neurons and microglia with high fidelity. Dr. Xu has been leveraging these models to elucidate the mechanisms of human neurons and microglia and neuro-immune interactions in neurological disorders, such as Down Syndrome and associated early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Bio:-Dr. Xu earned his PhD in neuroscience at the University of Science and Technology of China in 2015, invedstigating molecular mechanisms of neurological disorders using animal models. For postdoctoral training, he utilized hiPSC models to tackle neurological disorders and developed novel hiPSC models, such as brain organoids and human-mouse chimeras, for investigating human neurons and microglia functions in neurological disorders. He joined the Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, as a tenure track assistant professor in 2022. Dr. Xu's laboratory aims to develop advanced hiPSC models and investigates the molecular and cellular mechanisms of human brain development and pathogenesis of neurological disorders (such as Alzheimer's disease and autism), focusing on human neurons, microglia, vasculatures and their interactions using hiPSC models.

Zoom link: https://bit.ly/3QN4YhL