As we approach the end of another remarkable year at the MBI, I am excited to reflect on some significant developments that highlight our ongoing commitment to advance our neuroscience and neuromedicine community. Our new Brains & Bagels seminar series launched this semester with great success, fostering new collaborations and stimulating innovative thinking about novel model systems. In addition, we are thrilled to continue the expansion of our research cores, enhancing our capacity to facilitate your science and keep our community at the forefront of discovery.

This past year has been filled with incredible breakthroughs, thanks to your dedication and hard work in the lab, clinic and beyond. As the year comes to a close, I hope you might also consider making a gift to the MBI — or encouraging others in your network to do so. Your generosity at any level of support helps fuel our mission and ensure that we can sustain and accelerate our work to improve brain health and combat brain disorders. Visit our Giving Page to see how you can make a difference.

As we celebrate this holiday season, I extend my warmest wishes to you and your loved ones. Thank you for your continued support and belief in our work. Together, let’s make the coming year our most impactful one yet!

Warm regards,
Jen Bizon

• We offer rolling funding to support our members. Check out some of the current opportunities:

  • The MBI Professional Development Fund supports graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty in advancing their neuroscience careers by funding a wide range of professional development activities.
    
    
  • The MBI HiPerGator Research Fund supports hypothesis-generating research projects that leverage the computational resources of HiPerGator, providing a one-time or annual match to cover costs associated with storage, CPU and GPU usage.

• The first phase of the building-wide electrical upgrade project is complete, and the next phase will begin over the next few weeks. These upgrades will resolve the recurring power outages that we have experienced over the past few months

• We are following UF mandates that restrict e-bikes and e-scooters from entering its buildings due to fire and accident risk. Please park and secure them in the designated areas around the MBI. Click here for more information about UF’s policy.

• Please contact Dr. Ashok Kumar (kash@ufl.edu) for matters relating to the MBI’s general equipment and resources, such as backup freezers and refrigerators, autoclaves, hoods, etc. 

• We continue to expand our research cores, which are specially designed to support the research efforts of MBI members. Explore our Technology and Shared Resources page to learn more.

• We continue to offer access to Biorender as a complimentary service to MBI members who are PIs. Licenses are limited and allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Click here to request access. 

• The North Central Florida Society for Neuroscience will present two events this spring:
  

  • The Alachua County Brain Bee will be held on Saturday, Jan. 31 at the MBI. It's a free, all-day neuroscience-based Q&A competition for area students ages 13-19. Please encourage students you know to apply — the winner will have an opportunity to advance to the national competition. 
    
    
  • The North Central Florida Society for Neuroscience Chapter Conference will be held on Friday, Feb. 27, featuring keynote speaker Geoffrey Schoenbaum, M.D., Ph.D. Click here to learn more.

• Check out the new webpage for Neuro(PD)², a postdoc-led organization supported by the MBI and dedicated to empowering postdoctoral researchers in neuroscience and related fields.
  

• If you are an MBI member who leads a lab and would like a photo of your group, please sign up for a free team photo here. 

• Do you have an upcoming paper you’d like promoted to a wide general audience? Please remember to list the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida as an author affiliation on your publications and submit a publicity request here.

• Check out our Member Communications Resource page, which now includes customizable digital templates for flyers, a PowerPoint presentation, digital graphics and versions of our logo to use on your presentations. 

• The MBI and the Department of Neuroscience were happy to welcome over 150 attendees to our recent alumni, friends and faculty reception at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Diego. Thank you for attending this gathering!

• During this generous time of the year, many people are considering making year-end contributions to causes close to their hearts. Please consider sharing about your work and the ways the McKnight Brain Institute supports you. Follow this link to learn more about how to make a gift that advances neuroscience research and education across UF.

• Connect with MBI Senior Development Director Caitie Deranek Stewart at stewartc1@ufl.edu or 574-238-2282 to identify grant opportunities, build relationships with funders and support your applications for non-governmental grants.