Message From the President: Stronger Together at Neuroscience 2025
John H. Morrison
This past year has tested our community in ways few could have anticipated. Funding disruptions to fellowship programs, labs, and research institutions have resulted in delayed or lost projects and threatened careers. Shifting policies have raised troubling questions about who is encouraged to become scientists. The government shutdown brought communication with funding agencies and critical work to a standstill. Yet through it all, our community has remained resilient.
We’ve been able to weather this storm so far because we have stood together. From an organizational standpoint, SfN’s advocacy efforts — both independently and as part of a larger coalition — have helped protect research funding. As individuals, our collective fundraising efforts reached an all-time high, allowing us to support a record 497 trainees to attend Neuroscience 2025 via the Trainee Professional Development Awards (TPDAs). We have pushed back, and will continue to push back, the forces arrayed against our neuroscience community.
Now, we turn toward Neuroscience 2025, our community’s largest annual gathering. Despite pressures on attendance, this annual meeting is shaping up to be robust. With more than 11,000 abstracts and 1,100+ late-breaking abstracts submitted, the desire to come together is clear.
Why? Because together, all 20,000+ of us are strong. Together, we strengthen each other’s resolve. We see this in small groups, like those organized through Neuroscience Networking Events. In large gatherings such as the poster hall, where our collective energy and exchange of ideas spark collaborations and inspiration, the sense of renewal is impossible to miss.
To maximize your renewal in San Diego, use the Neuroscience Meeting Planner (and its Curated Itineraries), as well as the Neuroscience 2025 Mobile App to navigate overlapping sessions, talks, and social events.
Whatever challenges are facing you, your labs, your science, your institutions — bring them with you to San Diego.
And I know that not everyone can join us in person. For those unable to travel, the Neuroscience 2025 Virtual Component offers livestreamed lectures and virtual posters, with content available for a full month after the annual meeting ends.
Whatever challenges are facing you, your labs, your science, your institutions — bring them with you to San Diego. Share them with your peers. Listen to the challenges weighing on others. And when it’s time to return home, I know those challenges will seem a little smaller, your determination will be strengthened, and your sense of purpose will feel renewed.
I look forward to sharing with you a restorative Neuroscience 2025.
