Boston meeting brought scientists and industry leaders together to discuss disease mechanisms, advanced models, and research funding pressures.
The ELRIG neuroimmunology forum, held at Merck Research Laboratories in Boston this summer, brought together leading scientists, industry executives, and early-career researchers to discuss the growing role of neuroimmune mechanisms in drug discovery.
The program focused on how microglia, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and infiltrating immune cells contribute to neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis.
Alongside target biology, sessions explored how tools such as proteomics, transcriptomics, spatial biology, iPSC-based 2D and 3D cultures, and humanized mouse models are being used to better understand disease mechanisms and identify druggable targets.
Spotlight on neuroinflammation and inflammaging
For Swarna Balasubramanian, director of Search & Evaluation at AstraZeneca and forum co-director, the day underscored two emerging priorities for the field. “The importance of neuroinflammation, and also inflammaging, are the two main things in the context of neurodegeneration,” she told DDN. “These two are just emerging, and I want more people to work on it and do research.”
Inflammaging is the gradual buildup of chronic, low-grade inflammation that occurs as we age. This persistent inflammation can disrupt cellular health and contribute to neurodegenerative diseases. Balasubramanian added that this process can persist unnoticed for decades before its effects become apparent. “There is a low-grade inflammation that has been happening for a really long time, and that is affecting the cells.”
Balasubramanian noted that while Alzheimer’s disease rates are rising, the trend reflects more than just an aging population. “Earlier, people used to label it as dementia, associated with aging. We really didn’t categorize it as exactly what it is, but now we have a much better understanding of Alzheimer’s disease. We can detect it early, and there are also companies running clinical trials supporting that,” she said.
She added that extended lifespan brings both opportunity and challenge. “What some of the startups are beginning to think about is a healthier lifespan — not only living longer, but targeting and tackling diseases like Alzheimer’s. Inflammaging is one area many people are beginning to think about, not just from the neurodegeneration perspective, but even for vaccine response in older populations, as well as the increase in other disease conditions as we age.”
Rethinking glial biology
Matt Fell, Executive Director of Neuroimmunology at Merck and forum co-director, emphasized how thinking in neuroscience has shifted over the past quarter-century.
“Someone who started out 25 years ago … back then, everyone would talk about glia, ‘what do they do? They just hold the brain together,’” he said. “Now we’re understanding these cells are not just innocent bystanders — they’re actively playing a role in disease and in the progression of the disease.”
Fell noted growing evidence that the central nervous system is not as cut off from the body’s peripheral systems as once thought. “The brain is not completely isolated from the peripheral immune system… it’s opening up incredible opportunities to deliver therapeutics for CNS disorders.”
On the question of when inflammation takes root, Fell suggested it starts earlier than many realize. “I think you can probably go back to midlife, where you’re starting to see some of this inflammaging coming — you’re not handling protein clearance as well, your immune system is becoming increasingly overactive as you age, and that’s leading to imbalances in protein clearance and other mechanisms.”
Funding pressures and research infrastructure
Both co-directors addressed concerns about US research funding. Fell, based in the Boston/Cambridge hub, warned that reductions in academic funding threaten the ecosystem’s health.
“Boston/Cambridge is a hub for biotechnology and pharma, but it’s a huge ecosystem,” he said. “A lot of the work on the initial target validation or early targets or the biology is done by academic institutions. They’re also doing a lot of training for scientists, whether they stay in academia or come into industry. Cutting the funding to these groups is problematic and will have a negative effect downstream.”
Merck and other companies recently participated in a “pharma fly-in” to Massachusetts legislators to stress the downstream impact of these cuts. “It has a knock-on effect,” Fell said, “because if we don’t do this work independently, without outside pressures, we lose critical early science.”
Balasubramanian said AstraZeneca’s global footprint helps the company adapt. “We have a presence pretty much in most countries across the globe… our goal is to get the drugs faster to the patients who need it, and we are doing what we can in this environment in order to achieve that objective,” she said. “We’re making sure we are prepared for whatever is to come and taking advantage of our global presence. For instance, we have manufacturing we’re building in the US and manufacturing in other countries, so we can tackle local supply chain needs if we have to.”
Free access as a differentiator
Saleha Patel, ELRIG chair, said the organization’s free-to-attend model has been central to its growth in the UK and Europe — and was a key reason for bringing the meeting to Boston.
“Over the years, as ELRIG has grown … we’ve had more attendees from the US who wanted something similar,” she said. “We bring high-quality science, but also offer all our meetings free of charge to delegates. That accessibility, especially in an industry where conference fees are really high, is a model that’s served us well within Europe and is something our community wants more of across the world.”
Patel said smaller, focused meetings like the Boston forum are designed to connect researchers in emerging areas of science. “How do we enable that community to come together? How do we make those connections and get those individuals to collaborate and innovate? That’s what ELRIG is here to do.”
Technology frontiers
Speakers also looked to the future of neuroimmunology research tools. Fell pointed to the adoption of more complex human-derived cellular systems as “inflection points” for advancing discovery, moving beyond the limitations of simple neuron cultures and some animal models.
Balasubramanian highlighted AstraZeneca’s push into bispecific and multispecific antibodies, as well as small molecules with biologic-like efficacy. “If we can provide that biologics-like efficacy instead of an injection via a pill, then we can really be at the forefront of this area,” she said.
Patel, now at Constructive Bio, described how engineering biology — from synthetic organisms to non-canonical amino acids — could reshape drug discovery. “It’s opening up a lot of opportunity to drug targets that previously have been undruggable, and also bring therapeutic options in a more cost-effective and sustainable way,” she said.
Technological advances like these are transforming neuroimmunology research and opening new pathways to more effective and accessible treatments for complex diseases.