Inflamma­tory Brain Disorders
Conference 2026

Anna Conkey

Executive Director and Founder, Neuroimmune Institute and Neuroimmune Foundation

Sam Pleasure, MD, PhD

Professor, Department of Neurology, UCSF; Co-Director, Center for Encephalitis and Meningitis, UCSF

Lawrence Steinman, MD

Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine

Russell Dale, MBChB, MRCP, PhD

Professor of Paediatric Neurology and Paediatric Neurology Research, University of Sydney

Susanne Bejerot, MD, PhD

Professor of Psychiatry, Örebro University, School of Medical Sciences

Immunotherapy with Rituximab for Schizophrenia and OCD

Kevin J. Tracey, MD

President and CEO, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research; Professor, Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research; Karches Family Distinguished Chair in Medical Research and Professor, Molecular Medicine and Neurosurgery, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell; Executive Vice President, Research, Northwell Health

Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Neuroimmunology: From the Lab to the Clinic

Terrence Thomas, MD, MMed (Paed), MRCPCH

Paediatric Neurologist and Head, Neurology Service, Department of Paediatrics Chief Medical Informatics Officer, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore; Adj. Associate Professor, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University

Seronegative Encephalitis: Pearls and Pitfalls in Diagnosis

Alessandro Colasanti, MD, PhD

Associate Professor (Reader) in Biological Psychiatry, Research Lead, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex; Consultant Psychiatrist, NHS OpCourage Veterans Mental Health, Immunopsychiatry Research Clinic, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Targeting Neuroimmune and Neurometabolic Dysregulation in Mood Disorders: From Novel Brain Imaging to Personalised Clinical Care

Rajat Gupta, MBChB,  FRCPCH

Consultant Paediatric Neurologist and Lead Consultant, Neurorehabilitaion Service, Birmingham Children’s Hospital; Honorary Professor, Aston University and University of Birmingham; Head of Specialist Clinical Teaching Academy and Deputy Curriculum Lead Paediatrics, University of Birmingham

PANS/PANDAS (Topic Details: TBA)

Terry Harville, MD, PhD

Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Services, and Internal Medicine; Medical Director, HLA and Histocompatibility Laboratory; Medical Director, Immunogenetics and Transplantation; Laboratory Medical Director, UAMS ABG Laboratory, The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Complicated Patient with PANS/PANDAS: “Long” Evaluation and Successful Treatment

Lauren Breithaupt Langston, PhD

Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital

Bringing Clarity to Controversy: A Precision Psychiatry Approach to Pediatric Neuroimmune Psychiatry

Steven A. Kushner, MD, PhD

Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University; Psychiatrist and Research Scientist, New York State Psychiatric Institute; Co-Director, Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Center for Precision Psychiatry & Mental Health

Expanded Diagnostic Testing in the New York State Public Mental Health System

Joshua Ryan Smith, MD

Director, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Medical Director, MEND Clinic at Vanderbilt; Co-medical Director, Neuromodulation Service Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital; Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Pharmacologic and Neuromodulatory Management of Catatonia in Children and Autistic Individuals

Livia De Picker, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Immunopsychiatry, University Psychiatric Hospital Campus Duffel, Belgium, University of Antwerp, Belgium; BCNBP President, ECNP Immuno-NeuroPsychiatry Chair, EFPT Alumnus

Inflammation-Based Stratification for Psychiatric Treatments

Ryan Kammeyer, MD

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology, Children’s Hospital Colorado

Neuropsychiatric Manifestations of Systemic Rheumatologic Disease

Ahmed Obeidat, MD, PhD

Associate Professor, Vice Chair of Academic Affairs, Chief, Section of Neuroimmunology and MS, Founding Director, Neuroimmunology and MS fellowship, Department of Neurology, The Medical College of Wisconsin; Vice President, the Wisconsin Neurological Society

Hashimoto Encephalopathy

Christopher Bartley, MD, PhD

Chief of the Translational Immunopsychiatry Unit, NIMH, NIH*
* Dr. Bartley is serving in his personal capacity.

Self-Reactive and Anti-Pathogen Antibody Profiles in Children with PANDAS Before and After Treatment with IVIg

Jennifer Frankovich, MD

Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Rheumatology; Director of PANS Research Program – Stanford University School of Medicine

Youth with Neuropsychiatric Deteriorations and Concurrent Systemic Inflammation (PANS and ASD Regressions) – Data from Clinical Assessments and Treatment Approaches

John Pluvinage, MD, PhD

Physician-Scientist, Department of Neurology, UCSF

Autoimmune Regulation of Cognition

John Gaitanis, MD

Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Clinician Educator, Brown University School of Medicine; Director of Child Neurology, Brown Medical School; Pediatric Neurologist, Hasbro Children’s Hospital

PANS and Neurodevelopmental Regression in Autism Spectrum Disorders