ANS2025 - Australasian Neuroscience Society 43rd Annual Scientific Meeting

Towards the end of last year, Nathalie, Shaam, Margaux, Sara and Hiral attended the 43rd Australasian Neuroscience Society (ANS) Conference, held in Hobart, Tasmania from 30 November to 3 December 2025. The conference brought together researchers, clinicians, and industry professionals from Australia and New Zealand to discuss cutting-edge advances across neuroscience, including neuromodulation, neuroinflammation, and neural circuitry.

The Dehorter lab was proudly represented across both oral and poster sessions, with several outstanding achievements.

The conference opened with Nathalie presenting in one of the first symposia, The Brain’s Neuromodulatory Yin–Yang: Dopamine and Acetylcholine in Learning and Disease. Her talk, “Early disruptions in neuromodulatory signalling in a novel immune-induced mouse model of Parkinson’s disease,” highlighted our current work using in vivo fibre photometry to quantify acetylcholine release during cognitive and motor tasks in the lab’s established immunological mouse model of Parkinson’s disease.

From left to right: Hiral, Shaam, Nathalie, Margaux, and Sara in Hobart for the 2025 ANS conference.

Shaam was selected as one of few applicants to give an oral presentation titled “Neurokinin 3 Receptor-induced resetting of neurodevelopmental trajectory prevents the core traits of autism spectrum disorder in mice.” In recognition of this work, she was awarded Best Oral Presentation by an Early–Mid Career Researcher.

Continuing this success, Margaux was awarded Best Poster by an Early–Mid Career Researcher for her poster presentation.

Sara and Hiral also presented posters on their respective honours projects, contributing to a strong and visible presence of the lab.

In addition to the main symposia, Nathalie and Hiral attended the satellite meeting, Cellular and Molecular Advances in Neurodegeneration (CAMAND), where they delivered oral and poster presentations, respectively.

Overall, the conference was a highly rewarding experience, providing a valuable platform to engage with emerging research, and highlighting both the breadth of work within the Dehorter lab and in Australasia generally. Here's hoping we can showcase even more exciting findings and breakthroughs at ANS 2026!

Shaam (left) and Margaux (right) brandishing their well-deserved best presentation awards.