The symposium will be held in the morning of June 19th 2026 at Neurocampus facilities in Bordeaux immediately following the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) annual meeting. It builds on the success of our previous events: a satellite meeting held during the Brain & Brain PET and BrainPET conference in Glasgow in May 2022 and a first dedicated symposium held in Munich in May 2024.
The main topic of this symposium is investigation of best practices in molecular data processing and analysis. Outcomes of the symposium will facilitate not only more accurate and informative analysis approaches, but also promote more consistent analysis of multicentre studies. A white paper describing the outcomes is planned.
PLEASE JOIN US AND HELP SHAPE THE FUTURE OF MOLECULAR CONNECTIVITY
The welcome desk will open on June 19th at 8:00 and the symposium will start at 8:30 with welcome notes by the symposium chairs.
While in-person presence is preferred, a personal link to connect virtually will be sent to all those who register.
We have assembled a superb list of speakers with the preliminary program listed below. The symposium will provide a forum for a vibrant exchange of ideas with the aim of significantly contributing to defining best practices in data analysis in this rapidly evolving field. Please join us in this very important effort. Any updates will be posted on our website and communicated in the newsletter – stay tuned!
8:30 – 08:40 Welcome & Introduction by the organizers
08:40 – 09:10 (30 min) Molecular connectivity in the broader context of fMRI and other modalities –Bratislav Misic, McGill University (Canada)
09:10 – 9:30 (20 min) Introduction to molecular connectivity and nomenclature in the context of the Delphi study – Sharna Jamadar, Monash University (Australia)
9:30 – 9:50 (20 min) Overview of commonly used methods for assessment of molecular connectivity with emphasis on technical aspects that require discussion – Mattia Veronese, University of Padua (Italy)
09:50 – 10:10 (20 min) Preprocessing: Data harmonization, PVC, normalization – Martin Nørgaard, University of Copenhagen (Denmark)
10:10 – 10:30 Coffee break
10:30 – 10:50 (20 min) General prerequisites (population heterogeneity, statistical power), minimum number of subjects for inter- and intra-subject estimation – Arianna Sala, Université de Liège (Belgium)
10:50 – 11:10 (20 min) ROI-level estimation metrics: partial or Pearson correlation, Euclidean Similarity – Tommaso Volpi, Yale University (USA)
11:10 – 11:30 (20 min) Voxel-level estimation: SSM-PCA vs. ICA (which method and when? selection of components), seed-based correlation – Matthieu Doyen, Université de Lorraine (France)
11:30 – 11:50 (20 min) Best practices for merging molecular, functional information and clinical info – Vince Calhoun, GSU, GATech, Emory University (USA)
11:50 – 12:10 (20 min) Statistical robustness (bootstrapping, corrections) – Chris Habeck, Columbia University (USA)
12:10 – 13:00 Summary and plan for future steps
Places are limited. Please register now to secure a spot. There are no registration fees.
We would like to thank our sponsors for their support!
Please contact admin@molecularconnectivity.com for any questions.