The Edward R. and Anne G. Lefler Center for the Study of Neurodegenerative Disorders supports this symposium with an endowed fund, and the symposium provides a forum to feature advances in the field and to facilitate discussion among faculty, fellows, students and other interested parties.

The Lefler Symposium is observing its 25th Anniversary in 2023! Please join us on Monday, November 20th for a program of talks by past and current Lefler Fellows, and a keynote by Dr. Liqun Luo. Celebratory reception to follow.

Current Lefler Fellow:
Xingjie Stephen Zhang
Postdoctoral Fellow, Andermann Lab, BIDMC and Harvard University

Past Lefler Fellows:
Paul Greer
Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School

Yao Chen
Assistant Professor, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine  

Past keynote presenters:

  • 2022: Emery Brown
  • 2019: Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz
  • 2018: Thomas Südhof
  • 2017: Connie Cepko, Harvard Medical School
  • 2016: Richard Tsien, New York University
  • 2015: Krishna Shenoy, Stanford University
  • 2014: Ben Barres, Stanford University School of Medicine
  • 2013: Jeremy Nathans, Johns Hopkins University
  • 2012: David Ginty, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
  • 2011: Roberto Malinow, UCSD
  • 2010: Fred H. Gage, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies
  • 2009: Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, University of California, San Diego
  • 2008: Mark F. Bear, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • 2007: Eric Nestler, UT Southwestern Medical Center -Recording of 2007 Lefler Lecture (requires Real Media player)
  • 2006: 10th Anniverary Celebration Symposium -"Birth, Death, and Repair in the Brain", Arturo Alvarez-Buylla, UCSF, Christopher Henderson, Columbia University, Susan McConnell, Stanford University, Dennis Selkoe, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Gerald Fischbach, Columbia University
  • 2005: Susan Lindquist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • 2004: Robert H. Brown, Jr., Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital
  • 2003: H. Robert Horvitz, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • 2002: Lawrence S.B. Goldstein, University of California, San Diego
  • 2001: Huda Zoghbi, Baylor College of Medicine
  • 2000: Allison Doupe, University of California, San Francisco
  • 1999: Kenneth Fischbeck, National Institutes of Heatlh
  • 1998: Stanley Korsmeyer, Harvard Medical School/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute