The Generative Brain

PRION, the annual international congress on prion and protein misfolding diseases (co-organised by the NeuroPrion Association, since 2004)

The Prion congress is the yearly international meeting of the prion research field, started in Paris in 2004 alongside the EU NeuroPrion network of excellence and co-organised since then by the NeuroPrion Association, which gives 300 to 900 attendees per meeting. It has run every year since 2004 except 2020 and 2021, when COVID-19 forced the Goettingen meeting to be postponed twice; recent editions were Goettingen (2022), Faro (2023), Nanchang (2024) and Buzios in Rio de Janeiro state (2025). The 2026 edition, Prion 2026, is announced for 10 to 14 November 2026 at the Palazzo della Gran Guardia in Verona, Italy, organised by Gianluigi Zanusso (Verona), Emiliano Biasini (Trento) and Giuseppe Legname (SISSA, Trieste). For the atlas it matters as the place where drug programmes, new assays and trial plans are first shown, often a year or more before a paper; several atlas entities already rest on Prion 2024 and Prion 2025 abstracts seen only as excerpts. Information only, not medical advice.

Key facts

  • The NeuroPrion Association says it has co-organised the main annual Prion congress every year since 2004, with 300 to 900 scientists attending each meeting, and that more than 1,000 scientists have joined the association.
  • The series grew out of the EU network: at the 2004 launch the Commission listed an annual world prion congress open to researchers and the public among NeuroPrion's aims, and the first meeting was held in Paris from 24 to 27 May 2004.
  • The Prion 2026 site lists past editions as Paris 2004, Duesseldorf 2005, Turin 2006, Edinburgh 2007, Madrid 2008, Halkidiki 2009, Salzburg 2010, Montreal 2011, Amsterdam 2012, Banff 2013, Trieste 2014, Fort Collins 2015, Tokyo 2016, Edinburgh 2017, Santiago de Compostela 2018, Edmonton 2019, Goettingen 2022, Faro 2023, Nanchang 2024 and Rio de Janeiro 2025, with no entries for 2020 or 2021.
  • Prion2020/22 ran from 13 to 16 September 2022 at the University of Goettingen after two COVID-19 postponements, with scientists from 27 countries, 44 oral presentations, 223 posters, four pre-conference workshops and sessions organised by patient and family groups; the report calls it the largest annual research conference on prion and protein misfolding diseases.
  • Prion 2023 was held in Faro, Portugal, opening on 16 October 2023, with the NeuroPrion Association.
  • Prion 2024 ran from 23 to 27 October 2024 in Nanchang, China, with nearly 300 attendees from 17 countries, 70 invited talks, 21 selected oral presentations and poster prizes for 16 early career researchers. It was sponsored by the NeuroPrion Association, Nanchang University, China CDC and a branch of the Chinese Neuroscience Society, marked the association's 20th anniversary, and opened with a keynote by Stanley Prusiner.
  • Prion 2025 ran from 3 to 7 November 2025 at a hotel in Armacao dos Buzios, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, with abstracts published on proceedings.science under an ISBN (search excerpt only; the site returned 403).
  • Prion 2026 is announced for 10 to 14 November 2026 at the Palazzo della Gran Guardia in Verona, with regular registration open until 15 October 2026 and, when the site was re-opened on 21 October 2026, late registration open until 26 October 2026; the site names an organising committee of Zanusso, Biasini and Legname and does not mention NeuroPrion.
  • A pharmaceutical industry event compliance registry lists Prion 2026 in Verona as an in-person event run by the Italian events firm BIBA Tour SRL, submitted on 24 July 2026 and assessed as compliant on venue, programme and hospitality criteria; it gives the dates as 11 to 14 November rather than the 10 to 14 November on the congress site.
  • Atlas entities that cite congress abstracts include the Gate Bioscience Molecular Gate programme (Prion 2024 and Prion 2025), the Trento PPI-FIT degrader programme (Prion 2025) and Nano-QuIC on Norwegian cervids (Prion 2025), all read only as search excerpts because the abstract pages block automated access.
  • Prion 2014 in Trieste included a public session for families and the public on 26 May 2014, where the Italian patient association AIEnP spoke alongside ISS and veterinary scientists.

Timeline

  1. 2004First congress opens in Paris (to 27 May), alongside the launch of the NeuroPrion network.
  2. 2014Prion 2014 in Trieste holds a public session with the Italian patient association.
  3. 2020The Goettingen meeting is postponed, and postponed again in 2021, because of COVID-19.
  4. 2022Prion2020/22 opens in Goettingen.
  5. 2023Prion 2023 opens in Faro, Portugal.
  6. 2024Prion 2024 opens in Nanchang, China, the association's 20th anniversary.
  7. 2025Prion 2025 opens in Buzios, Brazil.
  8. 2026Prion 2026 Verona submitted to an industry event compliance registry.
  9. 2026Prion 2026 scheduled to open in Verona, Italy (to 14 November).
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