What to know about the 2025 ASXL Research Symposium
From Sunday, October 19 to Monday, October 20, 2025, the ASXL Rare Research Endowment (ARRE) Foundation will host the ASXL Research Symposium at Simmons University in Boston, Massachusetts. This annual gathering brings together scientists and clinicians from around the world who are conducting groundbreaking research on the ASXL-related disorders, which include Bohring-Opitz Syndrome (ASXL1), Shashi-Pena Syndrome (ASXL2), and Bainbridge-Ropers Syndrome (ASXL3).
This year, we anticipate welcoming 50 attendees, including 17 invited speakers and 12 travel grant recipients, some of whom are early-career researchers receiving support to present their work on ASXL biology and neurodevelopment.
While this year’s scientific meeting is for researchers and clinicians, it has powerful implications for our entire ASXL community.
Focus on mechanism of disease, treatments, and care
The ASXL Research Symposium is designed to drive progress in basic, translational, and clinical research. The ultimate goal is to build a strong foundation of scientific knowledge upon which future treatments, standards of care, and clinical trials can be developed.
This year’s agenda includes:
A full day of basic and translational science talks, including molecular mechanisms and functions of ASXL proteins, transcriptional regulation, and chromatin remodeling
Three interactive workshop sessions, designed to make the most of our time with experts and tackle unanswered, foundational questions in biochemistry and molecular biology, developmental and translational biology, and clinical research
A dedicated poster session, showcasing the work of early-career researchers and trainees
A half-day of clinical research presentations focused on enhancing the understanding of the natural history of ASXL-related disorders, and on developing meaningful, measurable clinical endpoints in areas such as development, cognition, speech, and motor function
Some clinical presentations will include new insights and data collected from family research participants at the 2024 ASXL Family Conference, underscoring the impact of our community’s direct involvement in research.
Researchers attending represent a wide range of fields—including epigenetics, chromatin remodeling, transcriptional regulation, Wnt signaling, HOX gene regulation, and rare pediatric neurodevelopmental disorders like intellectual disability, autism, and epilepsy.
By gathering experts with diverse but complementary expertise, the ASXL Research Symposium serves as a valuable forum for sharing knowledge, building collaborations, and accelerating progress. This highly collaborative and intimate environment has already led to important advances—such as the publication of ASXL GeneReviews articles and the development of syndrome-specific symptom charts. The work that emerges from this meeting will further support the path toward future clinical trials and treatment development.
What’s next
The 2025 ASXL Research Symposium is a professional meeting for scientists and research professionals. Families will have their next opportunity to connect in person—with each other and with researchers and clinicians—at the 2026 ASXL Family Conference, which will take place alongside the next public-facing ASXL Research Symposium.
If you are a scientist or clinical researcher working in genetics, epigenetics, neurodevelopmental disorders, or related fields, we invite you to join us in Boston this October. Your participation and partnership are essential to driving research forward.
In the months ahead, we’ll be highlighting some of the early-career scientists attending this year’s event—and sharing updates on the discoveries and conversations we’re most excited about.
To learn more about the symposium or view the latest agenda, visit: https://www.asxlconference.org/symposium-program
