View the preliminary program
CAN Public lectures: Sunday May 17 afternoon
Day 1: Monday May 18, 2026
| 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM | CAN Satellite symposia |
| 5:00 – 5:15 PM | Welcome and Opening Remarks CAN President Douglas Zochodne |
| 5:15 – 6:15 | Presidential Lecture: Clifford J. Woolf (Harvard Medical School , F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center at Boston Children’s Hospital) |
| 6:15 – 8:00 | Opening Reception |
Day 2: Tuesday, May 19, 2026
| 8:30 – 10:15 AM | Plenary symposium 1 Single-cell approaches for novel biological insight Chair: Shreejoy Tripathy (CAMH, University of Toronto, Canada) Speakers: Kristen Brennand (Yale School of Medicine) Corina Nagy (Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University) Shreejoy Tripathy (CAMH, University of Toronto) |
| 10:15 – 10:25 | Partner update |
| 10:25 – 10:45 | Coffee break Posters/exhibits |
| 10:45 – 11:00 | Brain Star Award winner talk |
| 11:00 – 12:00 | Featured Plenary speaker 1: Keri Martinowich (Lieber Institute) Circuit function and control of behaviors relevant for neuropsychiatric disorders |
| 12:00 – 1:30 | Advocacy lunch |
| 1:30 – 3:00 | Symposia 1-4 |
| 3:15 – 3:45PM | Trainee Power Pitch Session |
| 3:45 – 5:15PM | Coffee break Poster session 1 / exhibits 3:45 – 4:15 Partner session (NSERC) |
| 5:15 – 5:45 | New investigator award lecture |
| 5:45 – 6:45 | Brain Prize lecture Michelle Monje (Stanford University) |
| 7:30 – 9:30 | CAN Student Social |
Day 3: Wednesday, May 20, 2026
| 8:30 – 10:15 AM | Plenary symposium 2 Computational modeling in theory-driven discovery Chair: Paul Masset (McGill University) Speakers: Richard Naud (University of Ottawa) Paul Masset (McGill University) Andreea Diaconescu (Krembil, CAMH, University of Toronto) |
| 10:15 – 10:25 | Partner update |
| 10:25 – 10:45 | Coffee break Posters/exhibits |
| 10:45 – 11:00 | Brain Star Award winner |
| 11:00 – 12:00 | Featured Plenary speaker 2 Adam Kepecs (Washington University School of Medicine) Computational and neurobiological processes underlying cognition and decision-making |
| 12:00 – 1:30 | CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee Showdown |
| 1:30 – 3:00 | Symposia 5-8 |
| 3:00 – 3:30PM | Trainee Power Pitch Session |
| 3:30 – 5:00 | Coffee break in Poster Hall Poster session 2 & Exhibits |
| 5:00– 6:00PM | Keynote lecture Catharine Winstanley (UBC) |
| 6:00 – 7:00PM | EDI Session OR Careers switch |
Day 4: Thursday, May 21, 2026
| 8:30 – 10:15 A.M. | Plenary symposium 3 Neural mechanisms of internal states Chair: Rutsuko Ito (University of Toronto, Scarborough) Speakers: Jessica Osterhout (University of Utah) Rutsuko Ito (University of Toronto, Scarborough) Adrian Owen (University of Western Ontario) |
| 10:15 – 10:25 | Partner update |
| 10:25 – 10:45 | Posters/exhibits Coffee break |
| 10:45 – 11:00 PM | Brain Star Award winner |
| 11:00 – 12:00 | Featured Plenary speaker 3 David J. Anderson (Caltech) Neurobiology of emotion |
| 12:00 – 1:30 PM | CAN-ACN Annual General Meeting of members Career Networking event Lunch on own |
| 1:30 – 2:00PM | Trainee Power Pitch Session |
| 2:00 – 3:30 | Poster session 3 & Exhibits |
| 3:30 – 5:00 | Symposia 9-12 |