📅Date: February 10-12, 2026

📍Cittadella Universitaria di Monserrato, University of Cagliari (UniCA), Italy

Organised by Paola Fadda, Department of Biomedical Sciences, UniCA; Liana Fattore, CNR Institute of Neuroscience (IN-CNR), Cagliari

This School will provide students and the general audience with a comprehensive overview of current research in the emerging field of environmental pollution and brain functions. Most speakers are currently working on the European MSCA-SE Project PsyCoMed (Psychiatric disorders and Comorbidities caused by pollution in the Mediterranean area) and will present new evidence of how pollutants can:

• Enter the brain blood barrier during development and adulthood,
• Cross the placenta barrier to severely impact neurodevelopment in offspring,
• Alter behavior and emotional states,
• Induce neuroinflammation and oxidative damage
• Cause epigenetic changes and microbiota imbalance.

Academic experts from prestigious universities and research institutes from Europe (University of Bordeaux, CNRS-Nice, Universitat Jaume I-Castellòn), North Africa (University of Tunis, University of Alexandria) and Australia (Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health) will work with Italian (University of Florence) and local (UniCA, CNR-Cagliari, CRS4-Pula) experts to illustrate and discuss how different animal models (i.e., mice, rats, drosophila, zebrafish, bees) can be used to study the effects of pollutants on brain and behavior. The program also includes two advanced workshops with both theoretical and practical training sessions, one focused on AI-based tools (i.e., Deep-Lab-Cut and SIMBA) to study the impact of pollutants on behavior, and a second one focused on molecular docking techniques and their applications in the field.

You can find the full program here: Winter School on Pollution & Mental Health (10-12 Feb 2026)