Poster Fair

Thursday, November 5, 2026
3:00-5:00 p.m., John D. Wiley Conference Center Breakout Space, Second Floor, North Tower
Catered reception and bar service.

Symposium

Friday, November 6, 2026
8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Friends of the Waisman Center Auditorium, First Floor, West Annex

Schedule:

Thursday, November 5, 2026
3:00-5:00 PM Down Syndrome Research Poster Fair, Wiley Breakout Space
Catered reception and bar service.

Friday, November 6, 2026
8:30 AM Continental Breakfast
9:00 AM Welcome & Introductions/Presentation of gift to family by Brad Christian
Qiang Chang, PhD, Director
Annie Dewey and the Dewey Family

9:15 AM Inaugural Dewey Family Down Syndrome Lecture – Introduction by Annie Dewey, moderated by Anita Bhattacharyya
“The Interferonopathy of Down Syndrome: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Applications”
Joaquin Espinosa, PhD
Executive Director, Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome
Professor, Department of Pharmacology
The University of Colorado

10:15 AM Break

10:30 AM Waisman Center Down Syndrome Research Highlights #1
Moderated by Sigan Hartley
3 talks (30 minutes each)

“Mapping the First Years: Quantitative MRI and the Developing Brain”
Doug Dean, PhD, Associate Professor, Pediatrics
The brain undergoes remarkable growth during the first years of life that is fundamental for establishing brain connectivity and enabling behavior and cognitive function. Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging techniques offer an exciting opportunity to measure and track quantities sensitive to underlying tissue microstructure. This presentation will highlight recent advancements in imaging infants and young children and describe how much quantitative MRI techniques can be leveraged to improve our understanding of early brain and behavioral development in DS.

“Molecular and Cellular Processes Disrupted in the Early Postnatal Down Syndrome Prefrontal Cortex”
Andre Sousa, PhD, Associate Professor, Neuroscience
Down syndrome is the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability and is characterized by early-onset delays in motor, cognitive, and language development. The molecular mechanisms underlying these neurodevelopmental impairments remain poorly understood. To address this, we utilized single-nucleus multiomic sequencing to simultaneously profile gene expression and chromatin accessibility in the Down syndrome prefrontal cortex during early postnatal development, a critical period for synaptogenesis, neural maturation, and developmental neuroimmune interactions. Our findings reveal widespread dysregulation of chromatin accessibility and gene expression, with deficits spanning metabolic and synaptic pathways, oligodendrocyte lineage progression, and a pronounced neuroinflammatory signature. Our molecular atlas of Down syndrome neuropathology at a critical stage of brain development, highlights convergent neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative pathways and informs potential targeted therapies for Down syndrome-associated neuroinflammation.

“Human Stem Cell Modeling of Neurodevelopment in Down syndrome”
Anita Bhattacharyya, PhD, Associate Professor, Cell and Regenerative Biology
Human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) modeling is critical for defining cellular and molecular underpinnings of both neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration in Down syndrome to preserve the human specific genetics and genomics of trisomy 21 and the unique aspects of human brain development that are otherwise inaccessible. Using these models, we identify disrupted processes in neurogenesis and neuronal synaptogenesis as well as metabolic changes that recapitulate aspects of brain development and potentially early neurodegeneration in Down syndrome.

NOON Lunch

1:00 PM WARF Therapeutics Seminar – Introduction by Sigan Hartley
“The Current State of Clinical Trials for Down Syndrome Associated Alzheimer’s Disease”
Michael S. Rafii, MD, PhD
Medical Director, Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute
Professor, Clinical Neurology, Keck School of Medicine
University of Southern California

2:00 PM Break

2:15 PM Waisman Center Down Syndrome Research Highlights #2
Introduction by Danny Chafetz, Moderated by Brad Christian
4 talks (30 minutes each)

“Associations Between Auditory Abilities, Cognition and Brain Structure in Individuals with Down Syndrome”
Ruth Litovsky, PhD, Oros Family Chair & Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders
Hearing impairments are reported to be strikingly common in individuals with Down syndrome, however, interventions and guidelines are lacking. We aim to understand the connection between brain differences in DS and the cognitive phenotype of DS, or the ways in which hearing loss and/or auditory processing differences are related to cognitive functioning and the underlying brain structural pathways. We focus on auditory measures associated with real-world functioning – understanding speech in noisy environments and identifying locations of sound sources. In adults with DS, auditory processes associated with the localization of sound appear to be a relative strength compared with those associated with speech recognition. In children, both speech recognition and localization abilities are emerging. Hearing loss and auditory working memory impairments contribute to difficulties in speech recognition in noise. Preliminary findings on associations with brain structural pathways and auditory function may reveal areas for focusing further investigation.

“Building Communication: Early Language and Caregiver Support in Down Syndrome”
Audra Sterling, PhD, Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders
Children with Down syndrome experience lifelong challenges in communication that emerge early in development. At the same time, their communication profiles are characterized by important areas of strength, such as the use of gestures, alongside areas of difficulty, including delays in spoken language and grammatical development. Understanding how these early communication skills develop—and how caregivers support them in everyday interactions—is critical for identifying opportunities to promote language development. In this talk, I will present findings from three studies examining early communication in young children with Down syndrome and the role of caregivers in supporting language learning. The first examines how parents respond to and build upon children’s gestures during parent-child interactions. The second explores shared book reading as a context for caregiver language support and child language learning. Finally, I will present preliminary findings from a recently completed NIH-funded study that used remote technology to collect parent-child language samples in families’ homes. Together, these studies highlight the importance of examining early communication within the everyday interactions and contexts in which children learn language.

“Establishing an Alzheimer’s Disease Biomarker Clock in Down Syndrome Using Positron Emission Tomography and Plasma Analytes”
Matt Zammit, PhD, Waisman Center Brain Imaging
Through the integration of PET imaging, plasma biomarkers, and longitudinal clinical data, his research seeks to determine when key pathological changes emerge and how they evolve throughout the disease course. As Principal Investigator of the NIH-funded RF1 AG094739 study and leader of the PET imaging component of the Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials Consortium–Down Syndrome (ACTC-DS), he develops biomarker-based models of disease progression that can identify optimal windows for therapeutic intervention, improve participant selection for clinical trials, and advance precision medicine approaches aimed at preventing or delaying dementia in this high-risk population.

“Cardiometabolic Health and Brain Aging in People with Down Syndrome”
Sigan Hartley, PhD, 100 Women Distinguished Chair, Professor, School of Human Ecology
People with Down syndrome have a 90% lifetime risk for Alzheimer’s Disease. However, there is important variability in the age of onset of Alzheimer’s disease pathology and symptomology. Recent findings on the connection between cardiometabolic health factors – including weight, hyperlipidemia, and physical activity – and the timing of biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease pathology and clinical symptoms in adults with Down syndrome enrolled in the Alzheimer’s Biomarker Consortium-Down syndrome (ABC-DS) will be presented. Implications for primary and secondary lifestyle prevention trials as a complement to anti-amyloid therapies to delay or prevent Alzheimer’s disease will be discussed.

“INCLUDE Collaboration for Down Syndrome Progress (CDP)”
Maria Stanley, MD, Director, Waisman Center Clinics
The INCLUDE-CDP is an NIH-funded research initiative focused on understanding and improving the health outcomes of people with Down syndrome across their lifespan. The Waisman Center is collaborating with other clinical sites located across the U.S. and in Latin America to collect clinical, cognitive, behavioral, environmental and imaging and biofluid data on a large cohort of children and adults with Down syndrome. An overview of the CDP and current enrollment will be presented.

4:30 PM Closing Remarks