The Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) forum 2022 took place in Paris, from 9 to 15 July. This event gathers nearly 8,000 neuroscientists from 92 countries. Twenty-two plenary and special lectures were given in 8 conferences room, about various topics in neurosciences, like brain imaging methods, brain development (synapse formation, etc.), neurodegenerative diseases (in particular Alzheimer disease), glial cells, gut microbiome impact on cerebral dysfunctions, stem cell-based researches, drug discovery in rare diseases, etc.
An interesting debate about “phasing out animal research: a justified worry for neurosciences” highlights the concern of scientist face to the growing limitation of animal testing. However, the new legislations to reduce animal testing are not the only issue: the 90% of failure in clinical trials points also the need to develop more predictive preclinical models. That’s why HCS Pharma has developed BIOMIMESYS® hydroscaffold™, a hyaluronic-acid based matrix for in vitro 3D cell culture to mimic the ECM.
This disruptive technology was presented in Véronique’s poster about the importance of microenvironment in cerebral in vitro models for phenotypic screening. Despite the huge number of presented posters (more than 4,800!), we had the pleasure to discuss with numerous scientists around our poster, showing that the microenvironment is a topic of growing interest. Indeed, the matricial microenvironment, also known as the Extracellular Matrix (ECM), is a key element in health and diseases, and should be considered carefully both in research and in drug discovery.
If you missed the congress or if you did not have time to come and see the poster, you can find it here. Feel free to contact us for any questions!
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