This award supports an international meeting to coordinate the numerous independent large-scale brain projects that are now underway in many different countries. NSF has the congressional charge to lead the coordination of international Brain Projects, and this meeting will serve as a critical step toward the establishment of a Global Brain Initiative, replicating the success of the Human Genome Projects and other international worldwide scientific collaborations. The meeting will host over 400 US and international attendees, at Rockefeller University in association with the nearby United Nations General Assembly, and feature as speakers a group of international scientists and administrators from all the major brain projects around the world. The potential broader impacts of coordination among these projects for advancing neuroscience, understanding brain function, and improving treatment for neurological disease is immense.
The goal of the meeting is two-fold: 1) to write a platform paper supporting cooperation, to be signed by heads of brain projects worldwide, and 2) to create a committee with representatives from all brain projects to promote collaboration and cooperation. The two organizers led the teams of researchers that launched the US BRAIN initiative, have gathered wide private and public support for this meeting, and are based at two local universities. A diverse group of researchers will participate, and online access to the meeting will assure broad dissemination.
