Programme | Society of Neuroscientists of Africa

Pre-Conference Event

Pre-conference Workshops

Post-Conference Workshops

Wednesday 27th October

Wednesday 27^th October
8:00 – 17:00	Registration
10:00 – 10:45	Welcome & Official Opening Session SONA President/LOC Chair 2021 Brain Bee Awards Keynote Address by Prof. Tracy Bale
10:45 - 11:15	Cocoa Break
11:15 – 12:00	Plenary Talk 1: Prof. Samuel Kombian: CNS drug discovery: In vitro testing of rationally developed novel compounds as potential nootropic agents. Session Chair: Prof. Sadiq Yusuf
12:00 - 14:00	Parallel Symposia 1 & 2
12:00 - 14:00	Symposia 1 Teaching during a pandemic: A Panel Discussion. Organizers: Prof. Sharon Juliano (Main Organiser), Dr. Mahmoud Bukar Maina and Dr. Yunusa Mohammed Garba	Symposia 2 E-BRAINS Symposium Dr. Simisola Akintoye & Prof. Amadi O. Ihunwo
14:00 - 14:45	Lunch
14:45 - 15:30	Plenary Talk 2: Dr. Mie Rizig Session Chair: Prof. Janis Weeks
15:30 - 17:00	Parallel Oral Sessions (Oral presentations @ 10 min/Talk; Q&A Session after all the talks)
15:30 - 17:00	Parallel Oral Session 1 Session Chair: Dr. Priscila K. Mante	Parallel Oral Session 2 Session Chair: Dr. Augustina Charwey-Feli
15:30 - 15:40	Study of pathways concerning neurotransmitters and grey matter atrophy in schizophrenia Dr. Indranath Chatterjee	Headaches in people living with HIV on highly active antiretroviral treatment: clinical features, and quality of life in Cameroon Dr. Daniel Gams Massi
15:40 - 15:50	Impact of antipsychotics on exosome-secreted and inflammation-elicited microRNA, miR-223 that regulates glutamate receptor expression Dr. Stephen Amoah	Brain waves beta-alpha ratio a potential biomarker for studying pediatric atrophic encephalopathy Dr. John-Mary Vianney
15:50 - 16:00	Quercetin reverses memory impairment in scopolamine-induced mice via protection against neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration Mrs. Juliet Olayinka	Language use in psychotherapy for trauma and psychosis patients in Uganda Mr. Noah Stapper
16:00 - 16:10	Alteration of the α5 GABA receptor and 5HTT lead to cognitive deficits associated with major depressive-like behaviors in a 14-day combined stress model Dr. Gwladys Ngoupaye Temkou	Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation In The Management Of Calf Muscle Spasticity In Cerebral Palsy Mrs. Delali Logosu
16:10 - 16:20	Adult brain serotonin deficiency blunts consequences of early life adversity Dr. Benjamin Aboagye	Perceptions and Experiences about Device-emitting Radiofrequency Radiation and the Effects on Selected Brain Health Parameters in Southwest Nigeria Dr. Joshua Owolabi
16:20 – 16:45	Q & A for the session	Q & A for the session
17:00 – 18:30	Akwaaba Reception

Thursday 28th October

Thursday 28^th October
8:30 – 17:00	Registration
9:00 – 10:00	Plenary Talk 3: Mr. Chakah Fattah – Global Imperative- Improving African Partnerships in Brain Science and Brain Health Initiative Session Chair: Prof. Victor Bamidele Owoyele
10:00 – 11:00	Parallel Sessions (Oral presentations @ 10 min/Talk; Q&A Session after all the talks)
10:00 – 11:00	Parallel Oral Session 3 Session Chair: Dr. Kennedy Edem Kukuia	Parallel Oral Session 4 Session Chair: Dr. Irene Kretchy
10:00 - 10:10	Quercetin Attenuates Lead-induced Memory Impairment, Beta Amyloid Deposition and Degenerative Changes in Hippocampus of Wistar Rats Mr. Musa Iliyasu Omoyine	Neurodegeneration in Streptozotocin-induced Diabetic Rats is attenuated by Treatment with Ethanolic Leaf Extract of Chrysophyllum albidum Dr. Chika Anna Idaguko
10:10 - 10:20	Quercetin mitigates scopolamine-induced memory dysfunction: Impact on oxidative stress and cholinergic mechanisms Mrs. Juliet Olayinka	Antinociceptive effect of Ehretia cymosa leaves in Streptozotocin-induced diabetic neuropathy in Sprague Dawley rats Ms. Audrey Akyea Eklemet
10:20 - 10:30	Effect of Moringa supplemented diets on cognitive dysfunction, neurochemical deficits and upregulated Nrf2 expression in diabetic rats treated with acarbose Mr. Idowu Oyeleye	A Neuropharmacological Assessment of the Natural Tetranorterpenoid, Methyl Angolensate, in Mice Models of Neuropsychiatric Disorders Mr. Silas Acheampong Osei
10:30 – 10:40	Computational analysis of functional coding/non coding single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPS/indels) in human neurog1 gene Dr. Shimaa Mahalah	A Preliminary Investigation of Resveratrol on Nociceptive Thresholds In Rotenone Model Of Parkinson’s Disease In Mice Dr. Ahmed Sherif Isa
10:40 – 11:00	Q & A for the session	Q & A for the session
11:00 – 11:30	Cocoa Break
11:30 – 13:30	Parallel Symposia 3 & 4
11:30 – 13:30	Symposia 3 Neuroimmunology Symposium Organizers: Prof. Willias Masocha and Prof. Roberto Furlan	Symposia 4 Socio-Cultural Practices and Neurodevelopmental/Neurodegenerative Diseases. Organizers: Dr. Moses Ekong and Dr. Olaitan Asuquo
13:30 – 14:30	Lunch Break
14:30 – 15:15	Plenary Talk 4: Prof. Zul Merali Session Chair: Dr. Augustina Charwey-Feli
15:15 – 15:45	SPONSORS SLOT – Roche Pharma
15:45 – 16:00	Cocoa Break
16:00 – 17:25	Parallel Sessions (Oral presentations @ 10 min/Talk; Q&A Session after all the talks)
16:00 – 17:25	Parallel Oral Session 5 Session Chair: Dr Oritoke Aluko	Parallel Oral Session 6 Session Chair: Dr Isaac Tabiri Henneh
16:00 - 16:10	Ascorbic acid Improves behavioural deficits induced by bisphenol-A neurotoxicity in wistar rats. Mr. Michael Ehinmowo	Rodent Experimental Model of Konzo: Characterization of Motor Impairment and Neurodegeneration after Cassava Neurotoxicity in the Rat Dr. Lekpa David
16:10 – 16:20	Bromocriptine protected rat brain from acute ischaemic brain injury induced by bilateral common carotid artery occlusion Dr. Olatunde Owoeye	Chronic administration of cryptolepine nanoparticle formulation alleviates seizures in a neurocysticercosis model Dr. Paulina Antwi
16:20 – 16:30	Neuroinflammatory and neurogenesis perturbations in the hippocampus of male Sprague Dawley rats treated with alcohol and combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) Mrs. Jaclyn Asouzu Johnson	Synedrella nodiflora extract decreases seizure intensities via GABAergic pathway. Mr. Vincent Aboagye
16:30 – 16:40	The Role of Ascorbic acid on Mercury Induced Hippocampal Damage and Memory impairments in rats. Mr. Animoku Abdulrazaq	Anticonvulsant activity of the whole plant extract, fractions and selected compounds of Synedrella nodiflora (L) Gaertn in zebrafish seizure model Ms. Elizabeth Dogbey
16:40 – 16:50	A study on neurological effects of marijuana and codeine intake on the prefronto-hippocampal cortex of adult male Wistar rats Dr. Adejoke Elizabeth Memudu	Aggregates of RNA Binding Proteins and ER Chaperones Linked to Exosomes in Granulovacuolar Degeneration of the Alzheimer’s Disease Brain Mr. Alfred Yamoah
16:50 – 17:00	Ascorbic Acid Enhances Nicotine Neuroprotective Roles in Transferrin-Mediated Neurotoxicity Mr. Ismail Gbadamosi
17:00 – 17:30	Q & A for the session	Q & A for the session
18:00 – 19:00	IBRO Alumni Meet and Greet & Reception Prof. Amadi, Prof. Evelyne Sernagor, Dr. Thomas Tagoe

Friday 29th October

Friday 29^th October
8:30 – 17:00	Registration
9:00 – 9:45	Plenary Talk 5: Dr. Albert K Akpalu: Neuroinfections in West Africa Session Chair: Prof Evelyne Sernagor
9:45 – 11:45	Parallel Symposia 5 & 6
	Symposia 5 Environmental effects on CNS neurodevelopment and adult function and structure. Organizers: Prof. Sharon Juliano and Dr. Francis Tanam Djankpa	Symposia 6 Environmental neurotoxicity and therapeutic potentials of natural agents. Organizer: Dr. Zainab M. Bauchi & Dr. Abubakar Sadeeq Adamu
11:45 – 12:00	Cocoa Break
12:00 – 14:00	IBRO Global Engagement and Outreach Event Panel Discussion – Drug Addiction: Comparing National Responses in African Countries. Organizer: Prof. Amadi O. Ihunwo Speakers: 1. Dr. Umar Musa (Nigeria) Title: Ensuring availability of Narcotics and Controlled Medicines for Medical and Scientific Purposes: The Legal and Regulatory Framework in Nigeria" 2. Professor Lukoye Atwoli (Kenya) Title: Substance Use Research in East Africa 3. Dr. Zeinab Kone (Mali) Title: Drug Abuse of Benzodiazepines Among Epileptic Patients in Mali 4. Dr. AO Charway-Felli (Ghana) Title: Some Perspectives on Drug Addiction from Ghana Invited Panelists: Honourable Kwaku Agyemang-Manu. Minister of Health, Ghana. Mr. Francis Torkornoo. Ag Director, Narcotics Control Commission (NCC) Ghana Mrs. Delese Mimi Darko. Chief Executice Officer, Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Ghana.
14:00 – 14:45	Lunch Break
14:45 – 15:30	Plenary Talk 6: Prof. Bruno Frenguelli Session Chair: Prof. Samuel Kombian
15:30 – 16:00	SPONSORS’ SLOT – Janssen Pharmaceuticals
16:00 – 17:00	Parallel Sessions (Oral presentations @ Q&A Session after all the talks)
	Parallel Oral Session 7 Session Chair: Dr. Gwladys Ngoupoye Temkou	Parallel Oral Session 8 Session Chair: Dr. Benjamin Aboagye
16:00 – 16:10	The Neuroprotective effects of Combretum molle methanolic leaf extract in the brain of D-galactose induced aging rat model. Mrs. Thandi Mamorapelo Dorothy Fasemore	Estradiol plus levonogestrel combination influences hypothalamic morphology – a histological and Immunohistochemical study Ms. Agnes Nwakanma
16:10 – 16:20	Solanum vegetables improve dysregulation in redox status, and expressions of antioxidant, proapoptotic, proinflammatory-like acetylcholinesterase genes in Aluminum-induced neurotoxic Drosophila melanogaster Mr. Opeyemi Ogunsuyi	Increased hippocampal neuronal count and serum BDNF levels underlie the synergistic antidepressant effect of iron-citalopram and iron-imipramine combinations in mice. Dr. Kennedy Edem Kukuia
16:20 – 16:30	N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) enhances synaptophysin expression this alleviates motor dysfunction and anxiety like behaviours Dr. Adejoke Elizabeth Memudu	Mallotus oppositifolius extract reduces suicidal tendencies and prevents suicide in pCPA-induced models of aggression Mr. Frimpong Appiah
16:30 – 16:40	Gross Structure and Distribution of Thoracic Spinal Nerves to Skeletal muscles of the African Giant Rat (Cricetomys gambianus) Mr. Sunday Maidawa	Scopolamine-Induced Memory Impairment in Mice: Neuroprotective Effects of Carissa edulis (Forssk.) Valh (Apocynaceae) Aqueous Extract Ms. Fanta Yadang Sabine Adeline
16:40 – 17:00	Q & A for the session	Q & A for the session
17:00 – 18:00	SONA Exco & Governing Council Meeting
18:00 – 19:00	Sponsors’ Cocktail

Saturday 30th October

Saturday 30^th October
8:30 – 12:00	Registration
9:30 – 10:30	Plenary Talk 7: James Kimani Award Lecture – Dr Lihle Qulu – The Neuroscience of Sexual Violence: A Translational Approach Session Chair: Prof. Martha I. Davila Garcia
10:30 – 11:00	Cocoa Break
11:00 – 13:00	Parallel Symposia 7 & 8
	Symposium 7 Science Communication Workshop. Organizers: Dr. Thomas Tagoe and Dr. Mahmoud Bukar Maina	Symposium 8 Women in Neuroscience Symposium Organizers: Dr. Chinna Orish and Prof. Martha Isabella Davila-Garcia
13:00 – 13:45	Lunch Break
13:45 – 15:45	Public Engagement Activity/Guided Tour	Virtual Poster Session – Online Engagements with Poster presenters
15:45 – 16:30	Plenary Talk 8: Prof. James Adjaye: Modelling Late onset Alzheimer’s disease using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells
16:30 – 18:30	SONA AGM and Election and Closing LOC Chair/ SONA Secretary General
19:00 – 20:30	SONA Conference Banquet

Preliminary Programme