Rethinking Neurodegeneration - Challenging established paradigms and exploring new paths

Neurodegenerative diseases and dementia are a dramatic burden for our aging societies. While the age-associated demise of neurons leading to dementia has been intensively studied for decades, the individual causes of degeneration are not fully understood. Consequently, causative therapies or a cure are still missing. Although dementia-associated diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Frontotemporal Dementia exhibit substantial heterogeneity at multiple levels – including genetics and affected brain regions – an increasing number of shared mechanistic pathways are being identified. These findings raise the possibility that “dementia” may represent a continuum of pathological processes rather than a collection of distinct disease entities. For instance, most Alzheimer’s disease cases are currently described as mixed pathologies, as they involve the deposition of several proteins that are found in various types of neurodegenerative disorders; examples are the deposition of amyloid beta, tau, alpha-synuclein, or TDP-43.

The Herrenhausen Conference “Rethinking Neurodegeneration – Challenging established paradigms and exploring new paths” aims to address these complexities from a broad and interdisciplinary perspective. It will provide an unbiased perspective on neurodegeneration, the multifactorial risk factors, and aging from the standpoint of molecular and cellular biology as well as human genetics, epidemiology, and clinical research. It will bring together experts in neurodegeneration, dementia and aging research to present their perspectives, creating a unique opportunity for new and unprecedented synergies. Moreover, this conference aims to move beyond the beaten paths encouraging broader perspectives and outside-the-box thinking, potentially driving a paradigm shift. Given that neurodegeneration and dementia are multifactorial and age-associated conditions, they need to be explored accordingly. The conference also includes contributions from early career researchers and encourages young scientists to broaden their perspectives on long-standing medical challenges.

In many ways, “Rethinking Neurodegeneration - Challenging established paradigms and exploring new paths” reflects the spirit of the famous quote attributed to Max Planck: “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”.

Travel grants and poster presentations for early career researchers

• Application link for travel grants 

We award up to 10 travel grants to PhD-/MD-students and postdoctoral researchers. The grants are intended to support early career researchers whose work relates to the scientific themes of the conference and who wish to actively contribute to the interdisciplinary exchange on neurodegeneration and dementia research.

Applications will be evaluated based on scientific quality, originality, relevance to the conference topics, and the potential contribution to interdisciplinary discussion.

The application deadline is September 30, 2026. All applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application mid October 2026.

Registration

• Registration link for participants

Registration will open at the end of July 2026. There is no attendance fee, but prior registration is mandatory.

The number of participants is strictly limited and attendance subject to selection by the organisers. The registration deadline is November 1, 2026. Your attendance will be confirmed by mid November 2026.

Program

A detailed program will be uploaded in September 2026. The conference will be held in English.

Scientific Committee

• Christian Behl
  Institute of Pathobiochemistry, University Medical Center 
  of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz - Mainz, Germany
• Jürgen Götz
  Queensland Brain Institute
  The University of Queensland - Brisbane, Australia
• Tia Powell
  Department of Epidemiology & Population Health & Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
  Albert Einstein College of Medicine - New York, USA

Confirmed Speakers

You can find all confirmed speakers in the downloadable document.