What:
The National Institutes of Health’s Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Technologies® Initiative, or The BRAIN Initiative®, is marking ten years of BRAIN-funded scientific advancements. Many innovative tools, resources, insights on neural circuit function, and first-in-human trials have been made possible by BRAIN Initiative researchers over the past decade. The impact of this groundbreaking research is laying the foundation for more precise and targeted treatments for devastating neurologic and neuropsychiatric disorders.
The 10th Annual BRAIN Initiative Conference: Celebrating a Decade of Innovation will convene the BRAIN Initiative community to acknowledge this important milestone. Attendees will come together to discuss and learn about the latest discoveries in neuroscience in the spirit of the Initiative’s ambitious mission to revolutionize our understanding of the human brain and to accelerate this knowledge into the development of innovative technologies to improve how we treat, prevent, and cure disorders of the brain. This conference is open to the public.
This year’s conference features presentations from two distinguished plenary speakers—Drs. Viviana Gradinaru and Liqun Luo—as well as six concurrent symposia designed to address the breadth and depth of BRAIN-funded research projects. Attendees will also be able to join specialty sessions developed to connect the neuroscience research community with BRAIN Initiative staff, colleagues, and partners.
In addition, Dr. John Ngai, Director of the NIH BRAIN Initiative, will moderate a special panel—BRAIN at 10: Building on a Decade of Innovation—comprising prominent voices in the fields of neuroscience and biomedicine. Dr. Francis Collins, former NIH Director who launched the BRAIN Initiative and Drs. Cori Bargmann and William Newsome, co-chairs of the BRAIN 2025 Report working group, will discuss the initial framing of the NIH BRAIN Initiative and the advances that were made in its first decade. Dr. Edward Chang, a BRAIN-funded investigator from the University of California, San Francisco, and Dr. Caroline Montojo, President and CEO of the Dana Foundation, a BRAIN Initiative Alliance member, will provide complementary perspectives looking ahead at the next 10 years and beyond for neuroscience, neurotechnologies and the power of BRAIN Initiative innovations in driving discovery toward cures.
When:
June 17 – 18, 2024
Two-day 10th Annual BRAIN Conference programming including plenary talks, posters, symposia sessions, specialty talks, and networking opportunities.
BRAIN at 10: Building on a Decade of Innovation panel
Monday, June 17, 2024, 4:45 p.m. ET – 6:15 p.m. ET
Where:
A hybrid event at Bethesda North Marriot, Rockville, MD and virtual.
Who:
John Ngai, Ph.D., director, NIH BRAIN Initiative
To arrange an interview, please contact NINDS Press Team.
Registration
Advanced in-person registration is closed. Visit the Conference website to view the full agenda and register to attend virtually. If you are a member of the press and interested in onsite attendance, please contact Yasmin Kloth, Chief of Communications and Outreach for the NIH BRAIN Initiative.
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About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit the NIH webpage.
The NIH BRAIN Initiative, a multidisciplinary collaboration across 10 NIH Institutes and Centers, is uniquely positioned for cross-cutting discoveries in neuroscience to revolutionize our understanding of the human brain. By accelerating the development and application of innovative neurotechnologies, The BRAIN Initiative® is enabling researchers to understand the brain at unprecedented levels of detail in both health and disease, improving how we treat, prevent, and cure brain disorders. The BRAIN Initiative involves a multidisciplinary network of federal and non-federal partners whose missions and current research portfolios complement the goals of the NIH BRAIN Initiative.