Please join us for two upcoming virtual meetings: The Multi-Council Working Group meeting on May 22, 2020, and the sixth annual BRAIN Initiative® Investigators meeting on June 1-2, 2020.
We hope that everyone remains safe and healthy during the evolving coronavirus public health crisis. As you may know, many of our upcoming meetings will now be held virtually.
Multi-Council Working Group meeting – Friday, May 22, 2020
This Friday, the NIH BRAIN Initiative Multi-Council Working Group (MCWG) will convene to discuss the current status of the initiative and its future. This meeting will feature updates from Dr. Joshua Gordon, NIMH Director, Dr. Walter Koroshetz, NINDS Director, and Dr. John Ngai, the NIH BRAIN Initiative Director Designee. NIH staff will present two concept clearances on BRAIN resources for cell-type specific access and manipulation across species, and new technologies for brain microconnectivity analysis. The open session will begin at 12:00 PM (ET) and can be viewed via videocast. For more information, please see the MCWG meeting webpage.
BRAIN Initiative® Investigators Meeting – Monday, June 1, and Tuesday, June 2, 2020
The sixth annual BRAIN Initiative® Investigators Meeting will take place as a free two-day virtual meeting on June 1st and 2nd. The meeting will convene BRAIN Initiative awardees, staff, and leadership from contributing federal agencies, representatives and investigators from non-federal organizations, and members of the public. The virtual conference experience will enable an interactive forum for discussing exciting scientific developments, hearing plenary addresses from scientific speakers, and forging potential new collaborations through networking opportunities.
The meeting will include a Welcome message from the newly appointed Director of the NIH BRAIN Initiative, Dr. John Ngai, as well as an interview of Dr. Ngai conducted by NIH Director, Dr. Francis Collins. Plenary speakers will include Drs. Rachel Wilson, Eve Marder, Edward Chang, and Xiaowei Zhuang. There will be eight topical symposium sessions throughout the meeting covering various topics in neuroscience, ranging from electrode tool development and advances in neurotechnologies for human research, to expanding species diversity and connectomics capabilities. The meeting will also feature a neuroethics discussion on COVID-19 and science communication workshops, including one on social media for scientists. Lastly, on the second day, we will announce the winners of the 2020 Show Us Your BRAINS! Photo and Video Contest.
Importantly, the virtual meeting will still feature many of the exciting parts of our in-person meetings (apart from real life face-to-face interaction)! Attendees can interact with speakers and one another via chat boxes throughout the virtual space and participate in public chats on hot topics like neuroethics and team science in the networking lounge. The virtual meeting will also include poster halls and exhibitor booths. Posters, exhibit materials, broadcasts, and resources will be available on-demand after the meeting.
We are still in the process of finalizing the meeting program. For the most up-to-date information, please visit the meeting website.
Meeting registration is still open! Please register here to attend (our first ever) virtual event!