Also, we have impacted policy and pioneered the G20 World Brain Mapping and Therapeutics Initiative. We have shaped Obama’s brain initiative. Basically, we’re part of the group that pushed for the brain initiative, which puts $500 million into brain research.

DOTmed News: What are going to be some of the hot topics at this year’s meeting?


BK: The hot topics are advanced neurological trauma for compact casualty care, advanced spinal cord research — we actually include spinal cord in brain mapping because you can’t map the brain without the peripheral nerve and the spinal cord. Stem cell is a hot topic, nano-neuroscience, artificial intelligence and big data, biomaterials, and some sessions from the Los Almos National Lab on genomics and proteomics. And that’s just to name a few on the program which is currently online.

DOTmed News: What advice would you have for someone attending for the first time?

BK: I think this is the world’s finest think-tank in neuroscience. It’s unlike any other meetings, they will realize how much of a gap exists between the disciplines of physical and medical sciences, and try to take ideas from those disciplines and bring them to neuroscience. There will be a lot of scientists from NASA and national labs, military scientists, aeronautic space engineers, material scientists, computer scientists, all coming together and trying to tackle the topic of brain discovery and disease.

DOTmed News: What are you most anticipating for this year’s meeting?

BK: If you take a look at the profile of our keynote speakers, there are ten of them, those keynote speakers set the tone for the entire convention.
Each one presents a section of the convention and that covers an area.

Read Admiral Raquel C. Bono talks about brain trauma, then 70 scientists from the US military talking about brain trauma, Dr. Michael W. Weiner is talking Alzheimer, then 80 scientists talking about Alzheimer and dementia; Dr. Nan Sauer from the Los Alamos National Lab is talking about the importance of engaging National Labs in Brain Mapping research and partnership with SBMT; Dr. Jakob Van Zyl will be talking about the past 15 years track record of collaboration between NASA and SBMT members, and their impact on the brain mapping and therapeutics, and Congressman Fattah is going to talk about President Obama’s BRAIN Initiative as well as SBMT’s G20 World Brain Mapping and Therapeutic Initiative, and the Fattah Neuroscience Initiative.

DOTmed News: Is there anything else you want to mention?

BK: I want to invite all foundations and associations that are engaged in neuroscience to participate in this convention. I would also like to let you know that the thirty top industry leaders will be exhibiting at this convention and on Friday afternoon we will have a session on commercialization with investors; the idea is that we connect business leaders with scientists and cover the “valley of death” in science so we facilitate spin-offs and commercialization of advanced research presented in this and future conventions; that session is sponsored by National Center for NanoBioElectronics.

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