Fifth Annual BRAIN Initiative Investigators Meeting

April 5, 2019 • Institute Update

On April 11-13, 2019, approximately 1,500 scientists from many disciplines will attend the fifth annual Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN)® Initiative Investigators Meeting in Washington, DC. This meeting convenes BRAIN Initiative awardees, staff and leadership from the contributing federal agencies, as well as representatives and investigators from participating non-federal organizations, members of the media, public, and Congress. This open meeting provides a forum for discussing scientific developments and potential new directions, and to identify areas for collaboration and research coordination.

“The BRAIN Initiative Investigators Meeting is an opportunity to learn more about the latest advances in understanding neural circuits and speak with the investigators who are making landmark discoveries and developing transformative technologies,” said Joshua A. Gordon, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Institute of Mental Health, which co-leads the BRAIN Initiative. “It is a fantastic venue to explore and discuss all of this exciting research aimed at understanding the brain.”

This year’s meeting features an exciting program of events, including plenary sessions from an excellent set of speakers, including Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, who will moderate a town hall with the NIH Advisory Council to the Director (ACD) of the BRAIN Initiative Working Group 2.0 and the BRAIN Neuroethics Subgroup.

At this year’s meeting, for the first time, attendee-organized symposia will highlight emerging areas of focus in the BRAIN Initiative. Some of these topics will include:

Bridging Animal and Human Brain Research with fMRI
Emerging Technologies in Studying Spinal Cord Circuitry and Dynamics
Advances in Mapping Neural Connectivity
Neuropharmacology at the Age of the BRAIN Cell-Census

Along with these symposia, Research Highlight Talks will provide platforms for BRAIN Initiative awardees to discuss their latest scientific advances.

The 2019 meeting will also host a three-part science communications series where experts will lead workshops on talking about BRAIN science to various audiences like the public, members of the media, and through social media. This series will feature:

Jon Hamilton, NPR Correspondent, Science Desk
Betsy Stark, an Emmy Award-winning journalist and former ABC News Business Correspondent
Rohan Verma, Vice President at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide

Before the meeting, researchers engaged in the BRAIN Initiative had the opportunity to submit their most eye-catching scientific images and videos for the Show Us Your BRAINS! Cool Picture & Video Contest. The contest winners will be announced at the meeting on Saturday, April 13.

For more information about the 2019 BRAIN Initiative Investigators Meeting, please visit the meeting website. Registration is free and will be available on-site.

For those who are unable to attend in person, the sessions will be videocast and archived and will be available for streaming on the NIH Videocast website.