Inaugural lecture Prof. Ivana Nikić-Spiegel: Zooming in on neuroinflammation

The inaugural lecture of Prof. Ivana Nikić-Spiegel entitled “Zooming in on neuroinflammation: from molecules to disease ” will take place on Tuesday 10 February on Belval campus.

Presentation

Understanding complex diseases of the nervous system requires insight into how neurons interact with immune and glial cells, and how molecular organisation and dynamics change during disease. This lecture will focus on axonal injury and neuroinflammation, with particular emphasis on multiple sclerosis, and on uncovering what goes wrong at the molecular level when immune–neuron interactions become pathological. 

Addressing these questions requires appropriate tools. By combining chemical biology, protein engineering, and advanced microscopy, it becomes possible to study processes from the molecular to the cellular and tissue levels, revealing axonal structure, dynamics, and interactions in health and disease.

The lecture will highlight how developing and applying new tools at the interface of chemistry, microscopy, and neurobiology can open new perspectives on neuroinflammatory disease mechanisms and help shape future approaches to understanding nervous system pathology.

Biography

Ivana Nikić-Spiegel is a biomedical scientist specialising in neuroscience and chemical biology. She completed her studies in molecular biology and physiology at the University of Belgrade and obtained her PhD in neurobiology from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Her academic path was further shaped by postdoctoral training in chemical biology at EMBL Heidelberg as a Marie Curie and EMBO fellow, followed by an independent group leader position under the DFG Emmy Noether Programme at the Centre for Integrative Neuroscience in Tübingen. 

Her research integrates advanced microscopy, chemical biology, and neuroscience to study the organisation and dynamics of cellular and molecular processes in the nervous system across scales, from living systems to ultrastructure, in health and neurodegenerative disease. In 2025, she was appointed Associate Professor at the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, University of Luxembourg. 

Programme

• 17:00 – Welcome words – Michael Heneka, Director of the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine
• 17:05 – Lecture “Zooming in on neuroinflammation: from molecules to disease” – Ivana Nikić-Spiegel, Associate Prof. in Translational Neuroscience with a focus on biological Imaging
• 17:45 – Q&A
• 18:00 – Cocktail

• Register here