May 19–21, 2026
Charlottesville, Virginia
Promoting groundbreaking neuroscience research.
Join us for the 2026 University of Virginia Brain Symposium at the Contemplative Commons building in Charlottesville, VA. The symposium seeks to enhance the UVA neuroscience community through research talks, a poster session & networking events, and other educational opportunities.
The agenda will feature lectures by UVA researchers as well as national and international leaders in basic, translational, and clinical neuroscience research across disciplines.
Explore the Schedule
The 2026 symposium will include 2.5 days of research talks in four thematic areas of neuroscience that represent strengths at the University of Virginia: Systems Neuroscience, Contemplative Sciences & Psychedelics, Maternal Mental Health & Brain Development, and Neurodegeneration.
The event will also include a series of neuroscience TED-Style presentations, special topic presentations in Alzheimer’s Disease and Pain, and a Wednesday afternoon poster session featuring 80+ posters representing neuroscience research across Grounds.
Registration is now closed!
We had overwhelming interest in Symposium registration during the open-registration period and have reached venue capacity.
Registered attendees will receive more information in the days leading up to May 19th.
Unfortunately, due to venue capacity, we cannot offer on-site registration.
Thank you to our Sponsors!
We are excited to partner with three industry organizations for the 2026 UVA Brain Symposium.
Please visit their exhibit booths in the First Floor Gallery of the Contemplative Commons during the event.
Thank you to everyone who has made this event possible, including:
2026 Planning Committee
Stefen Beeler-Duden, PhD
JC Cang, PhD
Austin Cooper, PhD
Kelly Crace, PhD
Xuemei Huang, MD, PhD
John Lukens, PhD
Annie Marchildon
Julie Mollica
Edward Nieh, PhD
Jennifer Payne, MD
Kevin Pelphrey, PhD
J. Kim Penberthy, PhD
Michael Sheehy, PhD
Tara Srivastava
Helen Wang, PhD
Emily Warren, PhD
Elizabeth Wenzel, PhD
Yajun Zhang, PhD
Contemplative Sciences Center
Kelly Crace
Tom Ellis
Cecelia Magargee
Bizzy Hyatt
Kayce Tyler
Brain Institute
Anna Arp
Tanya Evans, PhD
Amy Fansler, MPH
Jaideep Kapur, MBBS, PhD
Brenda Loving
Kimmy Meegan
Ashley Mellon
Katie Pelland
Meghan Puglia, PhD
Chris Sheehan
Megan Wardius
Tesha Westbrook
Questions?
Feel free to contact us using the form, email, or phone.
Email
BrainUVA@uvahealth.org
Phone
(434) 982-5558