The Florida Symposium on the BRAIN Initiative – 2014

Brain

On January 16, 2014, The McKnight Brain Institute (MBI) at the University of Florida hosted the Florida Symposium on the Brain Initiative. This symposium, in collaboration with The Scripps Research Institute of Florida and the University of Miami, focused on identifying and enhancing our competitive edge through information exchange and collaboration.

The event, held at the MBI’s DeWeese Auditorium featured as keynote Professor Emery Brown, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School and MIT, and member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Please click here to view or download the BRAIN Symposium Program, or here to download the BRAIN Symposium Flyer.


History: The BRAIN Initiative

On April 2, 2013, President Obama launched the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neuro technologies) Initiative to “accelerate the development and application of new technologies that will enable researchers to produce dynamic pictures of the brain that show how individual brain cells and complex neural circuits interact at the speed of thought.”  Funding will stem from the NIH, DARPA, and the NSF, as well as a host of private entities. The aims of this collaborative initiative are multi-fold and cross-discipline.

The most recent NIH Interim Report identifies nine high-priority foci for the BRAIN Initiative in 2014, including the generation of a census of cell types, establishment of structural maps, development of large-scale neural network recording capabilities, and innovation in the procurement and processing of the prodigious amounts of data expected to be generated.

As a comprehensive, collaborative center for fundamental, clinical and translational research and education, the McKnight Brain Institute (MBI) at the University of Florida is well suited to contribute to all of these goals. 

In cooperation and participation with other UF entities, the MBI counts 300+ Faculty across 51 academic departments.

Already extensive, the ability to contribute to the BRAIN Initiative and leverage data and knowledge to advances in treatment will only increase with the MBI’s strategic efforts to further engage researchers both on and off campus. The McKnight Brain Institute looks forward to contributing to this initiative.

 

Federal websites related to the BRAIN Initiative:

http://www.nih.gov/science/brain/

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=127477

http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2013/04/02.aspx

http://www.cccblog.org/2013/12/02/darpa-announces-two-programs-as-part-of-white-house-brain-initiative/