Abstract
The Little Brain Big Brain meeting was established more than 30 years ago as an opportunity for early career researchers to meet, present and discuss exciting new developments in the field of enteric neuroscience and neurogastroenterology. Crucially, the meeting is organized by young investigators, for young investigators. In this Viewpoint, past attendees and organizers of the Little Brain Big Brain meeting discuss their research interests, share their experience with this unique meeting and provide insights into progress in the field of enteric neuroscience and neurogastroenterology and its future outlook.
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Acknowledgements
Work presented by M.T.R. at LBBB 2024 and discussed here was performed in the Furness lab, University of Melbourne, Australia. K.A.S. would like to thank B. Gulbransen, Michigan State University, USA, for his insights.
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Anoohya Muppirala received her bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience from Kenyon College in 2019, after which she went on to pursue her graduate studies at Harvard University, USA, in the Program of Neuroscience. Here, she worked in Meenakshi Rao’s lab at Boston Children’s Hospital to explore glial biology in the enteric nervous system. She is now continuing to pursue her interests in the enteric nervous system at Genentech as a postdoctoral fellow. LinkedIn: Anoohya Muppirala
Mitchell T. Ringuet completed his PhD studies in John Furness’ laboratory (work referenced here) at the University of Melbourne, Australia, before moving on to a postdoctoral position with Scott Mueller to investigate neuroimmune interactions following viral infection, also at the University of Melbourne. He is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, working under the supervision of Mette Rosenkilde. His emerging research work is focusing on the use of small hydrophobic proteins to shuttle peptides and small molecules across the blood cerebrospinal fluid barrier via the class B2 adhesion GPCR, GPR125. LinkedIn: Mitchell Ringuet
Alain J. Benitez is a Research Assistant Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania and the Clinical Research Director for the Lustgarten Center for GI Motility at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Benitez’s research seeks to understand how diet, bowel motility and the gut microbiome/metabolome contribute to symptoms in children with irritable bowel syndrome, applying a whole-person approach and novel non-invasive tools. X: @Alain_J_Benitez
Kristen Smith-Edwards is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, USA. Her laboratory seeks to understand the neural circuit mechanisms and transduction pathways that regulate gastrointestinal motility, pain and inflammation. LinkedIn: Kristen Smith-Edwards; Bluesky: @ksmithedwards.bsky.social
Keith Sharkey is Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Canada. For his contributions to neurogastroenterology, he was recently elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. His laboratory is focused on understanding the neural control of the gastrointestinal tract and brain–gut interactions in health and disease.
Nathalie Vergnolle is a gastrointestinal pharmacologist. Initially recruited as a faculty at the University of Calgary (Canada), she joined the INSERM (France) in 2007, where she created and is the current director of the Digestive Health Research Institute. Her research has contributed to identifying the major role of protease signals in inflammation and visceral pain.
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A.N.M. is now employed by Genentech, a for-profit company. A.J.B., M.T.R., K.M.S.-E., K.A.S. and N.V. declare no competing interests.
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Related links
Benitez lab: www.research.chop.edu/people/alain-j-benitez
Gut Cell Survey: https://www.gutcellatlas.org/index.html
Legacy of the blue monkey: https://www.lbbb2024.org/the-legacy-of-the-blue-monkey/
Little Brain Big Brain meeting: https://www.lbbb2024.org/
Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayo.edu/research/centers-programs/enteric-neuroscience-program/overview
Meenakshi Rao’s lab: https://raolab.hms.harvard.edu/
Mouse Brain Atlas: http://www.mousebrain.org
Sharkey lab page: https://cumming.ucalgary.ca/labs/Sharkey
Smith-Edwards lab: https://www.mayo.edu/research/faculty/smith-edwards-kristen-m-ph-d/bio-20534839
Vergnolle lab: http://www.irsd.fr/equipe-1--signaux-proteolytiques-dans-lintestin.html
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Muppirala, A.N., Ringuet, M.T., Benitez, A.J. et al. Next-generation enteric neuroscience — fostering the future of the field. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 22, 673–679 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-025-01102-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-025-01102-7
