Speaker articles

Take a look at what our invited speakers have published recently and chat to them about their research at the symposium in Shenzhen, April 2025.

Keynote speaker

Sadaf Farooqi, University of Cambridge, UK
Loss of transient receptor potential channel 5 causes obesity and postpartum depression

Matthias H. Tschöp, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany
Transforming obesity: The advancement of multi-receptor drugs

Speakers

Ivan de Araujo, Max Planck Institute, Germany
Stress-sensitive neural circuits change the gut microbiome via duodenal glands

Jens Brüning, Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research, Germany 
Nutrient-sensing AgRP neurons relay control of liver autophagy during energy deprivation

Peng Cao, National Institute of Biological Sciences, China
The gut-to-brain axis for toxin-induced defensive responses

Henning Fenselau, Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research, Germany 
A synaptic amplifier of hunger for regaining body weight in the hypothalamus

Yu Fu, A*STAR, Singapore 
Plastic and stimulus-specific coding of salient events in the central amygdala

Cristina García Cáceres, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany  
Neuroendocrine gut–brain signaling in obesity

Nozomi Nishimura, Cornell University, USA  
Vascular oxidative stress causes neutrophil arrest in brain capillaries, leading to decreased cerebral blood flow and contributing to memory impairment in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease

Vincent Prévot, Inserm, France  
Tanycytes control hypothalamic liraglutide uptake and its anti-obesity actions

Carlos Ribeiro, Champalimaud Foundation, Portugal  
The neuronal logic of how internal states control food choice  

Lin Tian, Max Planck Florida Institute, USA  
Unlocking opioid neuropeptide dynamics with genetically encoded biosensors

Ye Tian, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Mitochondrial-to-nuclear communication in aging: an epigenetic perspective

Liping Wang, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China  
An iterative neural processing sequence orchestrates feeding

Xiaohong Xu, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, China  
A circuit from the ventral subiculum to anterior hypothalamic nucleus GABAergic neurons essential for anxiety-like behavioral avoidance

Jintai Yu, Fudan University, China
Atlas of the plasma proteome in health and disease in 53,026 adults

Lori Zeltser, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, USA  
A framework for developing translationally relevant animal models of stress-induced changes in eating behavior

Wenwen Zeng, Tsinghua University, China
Sympathetic nerve-enteroendocrine L cell communication modulates GLP-1 release, brain glucose utilization, and cognitive function