Scientific Program

***All names are listed in alphabetical order.

Thursday, 18 June 2026
14:45 - 15:10 Opening & Introduction
  Mesrure Köseoğlu, Nikolaos Grigoriadis, Serkan Özben
15:10 - 17:00 Session 1: Neuroimmunology Across Borders: Regional Data and Challenges
  Chairs: Aysun Ünal, Ivan Milanov, Mesrure Köseoğlu, Nikolaos Grigoriadis, Serkan Özben
15:10 - 15:20 Session Overview and Objectives Aysun Ünal
15:20 - 16:50 National Neuro-Immunology Data Insights
Short country-based presentations highlighting key data and current trends
Melih Tütüncü
Nikolaos Grigoriadis
Altın Kuqo
Enra Suljić Mehmedika 
Jelena Drulović
Ljiljana Radulovic
Mario Habek
Nevena Kamenova
Rodica Ioana Bălaşa
Tatjana Petkovska Boshkova
16:50 - 17:00 Closing Discussion and Common Themes
17:00 - 17:20 COFFEE BREAK 
17:20 - 18:40 Session 2: MS Spectrum: From Immune Heterogeneity to Progression
  Chairs: Ivan Milanov, Murat Terzi, Rana Karabudak
17:20 - 17:40 Multiple Sclerosis: a disease or syndrome? Ayşe Altıntaş
17:40 - 18:00 Revisiting MS Diagnosis: New Criteria and Early Diagnosis Challenges Jelena Drulović
18:00 - 18:20 Understanding Progression in MS: Clinical and Radiological Perspectives Netravati M.
18:20 - 18:40 Neurorehabilitation in MS: The Contemporary Paradigm Dimitar Maslarov
18:40 - 19:10 Moderated Discussion
Moderator: Serhan Sevim                   
Session Fellows: Caner Baydar, İpek Güngör
Panelists:
Nikolay Lazarov Topalov
Tuncay Gündüz                  
Friday, 19 June 2026
08:00 - 09:00 Abstract Sessions: Oral & Poster Presentations
  Moderators
Hall A Ahmet Kasım Kılıç, Şeyda Figül Gökçe
Hall B Ferah Kızılay, Ufuk Aluçlu
Hall C Mustafa Açıkgöz, Selma Aksoy
09:00 - 10:10 Session 3: Neuroimaging: Bridging Clinical Insight and Radiological Patterns
  Chairs: Constantinos Vadikolias, Hüsnü Efendi, Ljiljana Radulovic
09:00 - 09:20 Clinical Pitfalls at the Bedside:
Real-Life Challenges in Differentiating MS, NMOSD, and MOGAD
Yeşim Beckmann
09:20 - 09:40 Pattern-Based MRI Diagnosis:
Imaging Features That Truly Guide Clinical Decision-Making
Rana Karabudak
09:40 - 10:10 Case Discussion 
Moderator: Hüsnü Efendi
Session Fellows: Bedriye Karaman, Pınar Acar Özen
Case Presenters:
Cihat Uzunköprü
Coşkun Kerala

Panelists:
Mustafa Fazıl Gelal
Stefanos Finitsis
10:10 - 11:40 Session 4: Neuro-Ophthalmic Disorders: Clinical and Radiological Decision Making
  Chairs: İpek Midi, Nilüfer Kale İçen, Rodica Ioana Bălaşa 
10:10 - 10:30 Acute Optic Neuritis: Real-World Diagnostic Strategy Joao Lemos
10:30 - 10:50 MRI Patterns That Change Management in Optic Neuropathies Efrosini Papadaki
10:50 - 11:10 Red Flags - When Vision Loss Means Something More Tülay Kansu
11:10 - 11:40 Case Discussion
Moderator: Nilüfer Kale İçen
Session Fellows: Abdulkadir Tunç, Rabia Koç
Case Presenters: 
Eser Buluş
Serkan Emekli

Panelists:
Kadriye Ağan Yıldırım
Silviya Cherninkova 
11:40 - 12:00 COFFEE BREAK
12:00 - 13:00 Session 5: Plenary Lecture : Autoimmune Encephalitis  
  Chairs: Murat Kürtüncü, Sashka Zhelyazkova
12:00 - 12:45 Antibody-Mediated Encephalitides as Individual Disorders: Multidisciplinary Implications Based on Immune Targets. Josep Dalmau
12:45 - 13:00 Q&A 
Session Fellows: Bengü Altunan, Mehmet Demir
13:00 - 14:00 Lunch 
14:00 - 15:10 Session 6: MS Therapeutic targets update: B cells, microglia and oligodendrocytes
  Chairs: Ayşe Sağduyu Kocaman, Eva Kesidou, Gülşen Akman
14:00 - 14:20 B Cell Depletion and Beyond: Therapeutic Implications in MS Panos Stathopoulos
14:20 - 14:40 Microglial Activation and Its Role as a Therapeutic Target in MS Domna Karagogeos
14:40 - 15:00 Oligodendrocyte Biology and Remyelination Strategies in MS Paschalis Theotokis
15:00 - 15:10 Q&A
Session Fellows: Duygu Arslan Mehdiyev, Meryem Tuba Sönmez
15:10 - 16:40 Session 7: The Immunotherapy Era: Oncologic Indications and Neurological Complications
  Chairs: Cem Ar, Dimitrios Dionysopoulos, Uğur Uygunoğlu
15:10 - 15:30 What is neuro-oncology and why should a neurologist consider it? Evangelia Razis
15:30 - 15:50 Immune Effector Cell Therapies (CAR-T, TIL): Mechanisms of Action and Clinical Indications Evdoxia Hatjiharissi
15:50 - 16:10 Why and How Neurologists Should Care: Neurological Syndromes Related to Immunotherapies Merve Hazal Ser
16:10 - 16:40 Moderated Discussion
Moderator: Uğur Uygunoğlu 
Session Fellows: Bade Güleç, Damla Çetinkaya Tezer
Panelist:
Dimitrios Dionysopoulos
16:40 - 17:00 COFFEE BREAK 
17:00 - 18:15  Session 8: Keynote Lecture: Behçet's Disease - Systemic and Neurological Management
   Chairs: Uğur Uygunoğlu    
17:00 - 17:30 Systemic Behçet Disease
An Overview of Pathogenesis and Multisystem Involvement
Thedoros Xenitidis
17:30 - 18:00 Neuro-Behçet Disease
Neurological Phenotypes, Diagnostic Challenges, and Management Strategies
Aksel Siva
18:00 - 18:15 Q&A 
Session Fellows: Burcu Karpuz Seren, Keriman Oğuz
Saturday, 20 June 2026
08:00 - 09:00 Abstract Sessions: Oral & Poster Presentations
  Moderators
Hall A Gülnür Tekgöl, Özgül Ekmekçi
Hall B Gürdal Orhan, Semra Mungan
Hall C Tahir Kurtuluş Yoldaş, Yılmaz İnanç
09:00 - 10:30 Session 9: Biomarkers in Autoimmune Neurology: From Laboratory to Clinical Practice
  Chairs: Ayşe Nur Yüceyar, Enra Mehmedika Suljic, Tatjana Petkovska Boshkova
09:00 - 09:20 Modern CSF Interpretation:
OCB, Kappa Index, and Quantitative Immune Markers
Aliki Ioakimidou
09:20 - 09:40 Autoantibody Testing in CNS Demyelinating Pathologies:
Accuracy, Pitfalls, and Clinical Value
Atay Vural
09:40 - 10:00 OCT and Visual Pathway Damage in CNS Autoimmune Diseases Friedemann Paul
10:00 - 10:30 Moderated Discussion
Moderator: Erdem Tüzün
Session Fellows: Gülgün Uncu, Sami Ömer Hoca
Panelists:
Charis Alexopoulos
Gökçen Gözübatık Çelik
10:30 - 10:50 COFFEE BREAK
10:50 - 12:00 Session 10:  Infection and Immunity: Post-Infectious Neurological Complications
  Chairs: Ayşe Sağduyu Kocaman, Ioannis Iliopoulos, M.V.Padma Srivastava
10:50 - 11:10 Autoimmunity caused by systemic infections  Murat Akova   
11:10 - 11:30 Post infectious autoimmune neurological complications Nikolaos Grigoriadis
11:30 - 12:00 Case Discussion
Moderator: Ayşe Sağduyu Kocaman
Session Fellows: Ali Özhan Sıvacı, Nazlı Gamze Bülbül
Case Presentations:
Dragan Cibrev
Katerina Varka

Panelists:
Canan Yücesan
Meral Seferoğlu
12:00 - 14:00 LUNCH
14:00 - 15:20 Session 11: Muscle and Neuromuscular Junction – Optimization in Clinical Practice.   
  Chairs:Blerim Myftiu, Nejdet Karlı, Ufuk Emre Toprak 
14:00 - 14:20 Inflammatory Myopathies: Update on Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, and Therapy Piraye Oflazer
14:20 - 14:40 Management of Refractory MG: When Standard Therapies Fail Ivailo Tournev
14:40 - 15:00 Precision Immunology in Myasthenia Gravis: From Mechanisms to Targeted Therapies Hacer Durmuş Tekçe
15:00 - 15:20 Early experience with FcRn inhibitors in Myasthenia Gravis - clinical insights from Bulgaria Dimitar Taskov - Izabel Antova
15:20 - 15:50 Case Discussion 
Moderators: Necdet Karlı 
Session Fellow: Emel Oğuz Akarsu, Nedim Ongun
Case Presentations:
Ayça Gül Güngördü 
Pınar Özçelik

Panelists:
Ayşe Çağlar Sarılar  
Sezin Alpaydın Baslo
15:50 - 17:20 Session 12: Peripheral Nerve – Challenging Immune Mediated Neuropathies           
  Chairs: Füsun Mayda Domaç, Nurten Adatepe Uzun
15:50 - 16:10 CIDP: Evolving Diagnostic Criteria, Clinical Variants, and Treatment Strategies Yeşim Parman
16:10 - 16:30 Beyond CIDP: Autoimmune Nodopathies and Inflammatory Mimics Ebru Can Kurt
16:30 - 16:50 Paraproteinemic and Paraneoplastic Neuropathies: A Multidisciplinary Perspective Panayotis Zis
16:50 - 17:20 Moderated Discussion
Moderator: Ayşegül Gündüz
Session Fellows: Berin İnan, Doruk Arslan
Panelists:
Arman Çakar
Ayşe Münife Neyal 
17:20 - 17:40 COFFEE BREAK 
17:40 - 18:50 Session 13: The Complement System in Neuroimmunology: From Mechanisms to Clinical Decisions
  Chairs: Alev Leventoğlu, Mario Habek, Sibel Canbaz Kabay
17:40 - 18:00 Complement Activation in Autoimmune Neurology
Pathophysiology and Clinical Relevance
Elma Evangelopoulos
18:00 - 18:20 Complement-Targeted Therapies in Neuroimmune Diseases
Current Approaches in MG and NMOSD
Meryem Aslı Tuncer
18:20 - 18:50 Moderated Discussion
Moderator: Sibel Canbaz Kabay
Session Fellows: Hazal Ceren Manazoğlu, Melike Ercan
Panelists:
Emine Belgin Koçer
Serkan Demir
Sunday, 21 June 2026
08:30 - 09:30 Abstract Sessions: Oral & Poster Presentations
  Moderators
Hall A Bilgin Öztürk, Funda Uysal Tan
Hall B Dürdane Aksoy, Saltanat Mert
Hall C Mustafa Çam, Serkan Özben
09:30 - 11:00 Session 14: Women's Health and Lifestyle Factors in Autoimmune Neurology
  Chairs: Gençer Genç, Serpil Demirci, Yusuf Taman
09:30 - 09:50 Pregnancy Planning and Treatment Optimization in MS Münire Kılınç
09:50 - 10:10 Obesity, Metabolism, and Immune Modulation: Emerging Roles of GLP-1 Receptor Agonists ? Meral Mert
10:10 - 10:30 The Role of Sleep in the Pathophysiology of Autoimmune Disorders and Multiple Sclerosis Gülçin Benbir Şenel
10:30 - 11:00 Case Discussion 
Moderator: Gençer Genç 
Session Fellows: Esra Taşkıran, Zeynep Özdemir
Case Presenters:
Nikolaos Mitsoudis
Sena Destan Bünül 
Panelists:
Özlem Taşkapılıoğlu
Selma Šabanagić-Hajrić
11:00 - 11:10 Closing Remarks - Aysun Ünal, Mesrure Köseoğlu, Nikolaos Grigoriadis, Serkan Özben
11:10 - 13:00 Roundtable Session:  Founding Meeting: Building a Regional Neuroimmunology Network (Closed)
  Moderator: Aysun Ünal, Mesrure Köseoğlu, Yasemin Ekmekyapar Fırat
  Proposal of joint multicenter datasets and future collaborations
  Proposal for future real word clinical multicenter studies Bengü Altunan - Mehmet Demir - Mehmet Fatih Yetkin - Mesude Tütüncü