The Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnology® Initiative, or The BRAIN Initiative®, is an ambitious national science program designed to help us understand the world's most complex computer—the human brain. The technologies developed and tested in the BRAIN Initiative have revolutionized the study of brain circuits that underly human behavior and neurological, mental health, and substance abuse disorders. NINDS and the National Institute of Mental Health provide joint leadership of the BRAIN Initiative with support from eight additional participating NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs). This year, the BRAIN Initiative is marking a milestone—10 years of advancing neuroscience and neurotechnology research by funding innovative projects.
Recently, I shared a BRAIN Blog post with insights into what makes the BRAIN Initiative unique, how it has impacted NINDS’s mission throughout the last ten years, and how it has changed the field of neuroscience by allowing scientists to embrace the complexity of the brain. This post kicked off a special ‘BRAIN at 10’ blog series, where the Directors of each NIH IC that partners with the BRAIN Initiative are sharing their perspectives on the impact BRAIN has made within their IC missions. Read previous and upcoming posts from this series on The BRAIN Blog.
On June 17-18, 2024, NIH will host the 10th Annual BRAIN Initiative Conference. The BRAIN Initiative Conference convenes BRAIN Initiative awardees, staff, and leadership from partnering federal and non-federal agencies, and is open to everyone interested in neuroscience and BRAIN-funded research. This year’s conference is an opportunity to reflect on advances made by a decade of BRAIN-funded research and to look toward the future. The event will take place virtually and in person in Rockville, Maryland.
The conference follows last year’s successful hybrid format, with more than 2,500 people registered for this year’s event. I am grateful for this dedicated time to connect and collaborate across the neuroscience and BRAIN Initiative communities, and I look forward to invaluable networking opportunities. In-person registration is closed, but you can still register on the conference website to attend virtually.
This year’s agenda includes the following plenary talks:
- “Deconstructing the Serotonin System in the Mouse Brain” by Liqun Luo, Ph.D., Professor of Biology and Professor of Neurobiology at Stanford University
- “BRAIN at 10 – Building on a Decade of Innovation” panel featuring moderator John Ngai, Ph.D., Director of the NIH BRAIN Initiative; Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., former NIH Director; Cori Bargmann, Ph.D., and William Newsome, Ph.D., co-chairs of the BRAIN 2025 Report working group; Edward Chang, M.D., BRAIN-funded investigator at University of California San Francisco; and Caroline Montojo, Ph.D., CEO of the Dana Foundation
- “Blood-Brain Barrier: Friend and Foe” by Viviana Gradinaru, Ph.D., Professor of Neuroscience and Biological Engineering at California Institute of Technology
In addition, attendee-organized symposia sessions are an exciting chance to learn about emerging and timely topics for the BRAIN community. This year’s symposia are:
- High-density and High-resolution Neurophysiology to Reveal Local Microcircuits in the Human Brain
- Imagining Outside-the-Toolbox: Novel Solutions for Large Scale and Deep-Tissue Imaging
- Music: Building “Bridges” in the Brain
- Advancing Participant Engagement in BCI Research: Who, Why, and How?
- Building on BICCN: Alzheimer’s Disease Multimodal Atlasing Projects (AD-MAPs)
- BRAIN Informatics in the AI Era
There will also be several specialty sessions organized by federal and non-federal organizations, including BRAIN Initiative Alliance partners. These sessions include:
- BRAIN and the Future of Computing: Emerging Perspectives on Embodied NeuroAI Research
- Bringing Your Neurotechnology to Life: Topics on Translation
- Fostering Inspiration and Engagement Through Outreach, Noggins, and Art
- Technology and Resource Dissemination: Best Practices and Lessons Learned
- Brain Behavior Quantification and Synchronization (BBQS) – Laying the Foundation for a New Data and Knowledge Ecosystem
Along with these symposia and specialty sessions, eight Scholar Spotlights representing the neuroscience and neuroethics vanguard will present their latest advances in one-minute lightning talks. The conference also includes several opportunities for attendees to engage with poster presenters, exhibitors, speakers, peers, and funding organizations. This year’s agenda incorporates three poster sessions with presenters sharing their science in person and virtually. Also, be sure to visit a selection of in-person and virtual exhibit booths to learn about the exciting scientific endeavors of participating organizations.
For in-person attendees, on Sunday, June 16, the event, “BRAIN, Neuroscience, and Beyond: Building Our Early Career Community,” will give trainees and early career investigators a chance to socialize and network with one another and BRAIN Initiative staff. This special event will include coordinated networking, mentoring opportunities, and information for all career stages. And on Tuesday, June 18, there will be a “Meet the Funders Networking Session,” an in-person only networking event for trainees and researchers to connect with agency and partner organizations staff to learn about funding opportunities. Meet and mingle with staff from NIH BRAIN’s scientific research areas and representatives from the Dana Foundation, Simons Foundation, and National Science Foundation.
Finally, we will announce the winners of The BRAIN Initiative Photo and Video Contest, an effort in its sixth year for the BRAIN community to showcase eye-catching images and videos from neuroscience research, some using technologies that were developed with BRAIN Initiative support. In the meantime, see the 2023 first place winners below and explore other stunning top entries from the 2023 contest, several of which are featured in the 2024 BRAIN Initiative calendar available to download.
2023 First Place Photo Winner: “Dark Commute at 4am”
This photo shows a confocal image of sparse GCaMP6f-expressing Purkinje cells in mouse cerebellum resembles the industrious contours of pre-dawn commuters. Credit: Silas Busch, University of Chicago.
2023 First Place Video Winner: “Simian Symphony: Ripple Assemblies During Rest”
This video shows related CA1 unit ensembles from wireless Deep Array recordings, sonified by unit and visualized by layer and functional cell type. Credit: Kari Hoffman, Tyler Sloan, and Saman Abbaspoor, Vanderbilt University.
We applaud the program committee and staff who have been hard at work for the last year to plan a successful meeting experience. We are looking forward to sharing this opportunity to highlight the impact BRAIN has made on our understanding of the human brain over the past decade. For more information about the 2024 BRAIN Initiative Conference, please visit the event website. We hope to see you there—either virtually or in person!
Related Resources:
2023 9th Annual BRAIN Initiative Meeting – Open Science, New Tools