Policy and Advocacy Events at Neuroscience 2015
Empirical Approaches to Neuroscience and Society Symposium: Statistics and Computation for an Increasingly Quantitative Scientific Future
Organizer/Moderator: Rita Balice-Gordon, PhD
Date & Time: Saturday, October 17, 1:30 - 4:00 p.m.
Location: McCormick Place S100A
The replication of scientific studies is a widely recognized challenge in neuroscience and requires practical solutions that can impact research, funding, publishing, and training. Speakers will discuss best practices in experimental design, statistical rigor, impact on animal use, methodological descriptions, reagent validation and sharing, data sharing, and the impact these have on funding and publishing practices. This symposium will also explore the role of inherent scientific biases and how these might be mitigated to achieve higher standards of reproducibility.
Date & Time: Saturday, October 18, 4-5 p.m.
Location: McCormick Place S504A
SfN is hosting a reception for scientists interested in advocacy at Neuroscience 2015. People like you! Meet other Advocacy Network members and talk about neuroscience advocacy at this year’s meeting featuring Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and members of the 2015 Early Career Policy Fellows class. Save the date for Saturday, October 17 at 4:00 pm in McCormick Place room S504A.
Social Issues Roundtable: Income Achievement Gap: Insights from Cognitive Neuroscience
Organizer/Moderator: John D.E. Gabrieli, PhD
Date & Time: Sunday, October 18, 1-3 p.m.
Location: McCormick Place N229
Educational achievement is highly correlated with economic opportunity. However, the “income achievement gap” – the difference in academic achievement between students from higher- and lower-income backgrounds – is substantial and is growing in the United States and around the world. This roundtable will consider new findings about the brain correlates of the income achievement gap, as well as ideas on how best to support the educational attainment of students from low-income households.
Animals in Research Panel: Proactive Strategies to Increase the Positive Public Perception of Animals in Research
Organizer/Moderator: Michael E. Goldberg, MD
Date & Time: Tuesday, October 20, 12-2 p.m.
Location: McCormick Place N427
Panelists: Jason Goldman, PhD; Michael Mustari, PhD; Dario Padovan, PhD; Rolf Zeller, PhD
Description: As scientists become increasingly visible and engaged with the public through blogs, citizen science, traditional media, and other outlets, there is also increasing interest in open communication to gain public support for animal research and to underscore its critical contribution to scientific and medical progress. This panel will answer questions like: How can scientists and organizations engage the public and speak effectively about animal research? What strategies and venues (both novel and time-tested) are being employed to engage different audiences and how can interested scientists learn and contribute? What challenges exist in this area and how are different groups addressing them?
Public Advocacy Forum: Sports-Related Brain Injuries and Their Ethical, Social, and Neuroscience Considerations
Organizer/Moderator: Anne Young, MD, PhD
Date & Time: Tuesday, October 20, 2-4 p.m.
Location: McCormick Place N229
Panelists: Chris Borland; Cindy Parlow Cone; Dan Gould, PhD; Anne McKee, MD
Repeated concussions and other sports-related brain injuries have been thrust into the center of public attention recently. This forum will look at several aspects of this issue and ask how, or even if, society can reconcile its insatiable appetite for these kinds of activities with the duty owed to those who risk being harmed by them.
Special Presentation: Embracing an Era of Unprecedented Advances in Neuroscience
Date & Time: Tuesday, October 20, 4-5 p.m.
Location: McCormick Place Hall B1
Speaker: Francis Collins, NIH Director
Despite many challenges, the last decade has seen tremendous progress in neuroscience. To support continued progress, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has taken a lead role in implementing the President’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative. The NIH Director will discuss how his agency, working with the neuroscience community, is catalyzing development of technologies to provide dynamic pictures of the brain, both in disease and in health. He will also examine challenges that cut across biomedical disciplines, and reflect upon opportunities for neuroscientists to face such challenges and generate tomorrow’s advances.
