BRC Symposium 2026

Description

 

The 20th Annual Botulinum Research Symposium will be held on July 22-24, 2026.

Theme: Evolution in Botulinum Neurotoxin for Sciences and Medicine

Tentative Program & Speakers:

Wednesday, July 22, 2026, 7 PM (US-EST)

        • Pre-Symposium get-together and dinner
        • Preview of a documentary on Billion-Year Botulinum Journey
        • Magic show and live music

Thursday – Friday, July 23-24, 2026, 8 AM – 2 PM (US-EST)

        • DasGupta Memorial Lecture - Jordi Molgo, University of Paris-Saclay, “Synaptic Remodeling at Mature Neuromuscular Junctions During the Action of Botulinum Neurotoxins”
        • Inaugural Symposium Speech - Min Dong, Harvard Medical School, “A Parallel World: Homologues of Classic Bacterial Toxins”
        • Distinguished Dinner Speech - Robert Hall, Former Program Officer at NIH, “A Tale of Two Botulism Outbreaks”
        • Panel Discussion [Thursday, July 23, 2026] – “Advancing Creative Research in Botulinum Biotechnology and Medical Use”
          • Chair: Brenda Wilson
          • Panelists: John Bogdan, Andrew Ress, Klaus Fink, Raj Kumar, Will Rondeau, and Gary Borodic
        • Presentations (as of 7/1/2026)
          • John Bogdan (Valaria/Corvent Medical) – “Identification and Use of Peptides as Potent Inhibitors of Toxin Activity”
          • Andrew Ress (Liv Plastic) – “Differentiating from Autoimmune Diseases Such as Myasthenia Gravis and Guillain-Barré”
          • Raj Kumar (NBRC) – “Engineering a Clostridium-Based Platform for Tetravalent Dengue Vaccines”
          • Lei Wang (Prime Bio, Inc.) – “NAPs and Cytokines”
          • Gary Borodic (Harvard Medical School) – “Botulinum Treatment of Macular Disease”
          • Surendra Sharma (UTMB) – “Programming of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the Mother’s Womb: Can Botulinum Toxin Be Used to Inhibit or Treat ASD During Pregnancy or in the Offspring?”
          • Scott Willett (Pentrax) – “Engineering Pentraxins to Treat BoNT Intoxication”
          • Bal Ram Singh (NBRC) – “Evolution-Driven Impacts of Clostridium Botulinum and Botulinum Neurotoxins”
          • Pranav Choksi [rep] (Gufic) – “Latest on the Effective Use of Stunnox and Zarbot, the Type A Botulinum Toxin Products”
          • Ghuncha Ambrin (UCal) - TBA
          • Klaus Fink (Merz Pharma) - TBA
          • Milan Tomic (Albrem Biopharma) – TBA
        • Panel [Friday, July 24, 2026] – “Role of Botulinum in Evolution of Human Treatment”
          • Potential panelists may include Gary Borodic, Andrew Ress, Karen Bunting, Lance Steward, Klaus Fink, and Shuowei Cai

Venue: Wamsutta Club, 427 County St, New Bedford, MA, and Zoom Meeting Room (link to be distributed)

Registration: Please use the link below to register for in-person or virtual attendance.

Hotel Information: Residence Inn by Marriott New Bedford Dartmouth, 181 Faunce Corner Road, North Dartmouth, MA 02747 (508) 984-5858