w w w. i b r o . i n f o
IBRO
In this issue:
Funding Career Development Outreach Activities 2 3 4-5
The 8th IBRO World Congress opened with traditional Florentine fanfare, celebrating both Italian heritage and IBRO history.
Amidst the more than 80 scientific lectures, symposia and workshops that took place during the 2011 IBRO World Congress, two sessions were devoted to IBROs 50-year history of promoting neuroscience research around the world. At the Opening Ceremony, past IBRO President and Secretary-General Albert Aguayo provided a highly insightful and enlightening retrospective on IBROs past 50 years, starting with the world and scientific events leading up to IBROs founding in Montreal, Canada. He recounted key milestones, including the launch of the journal Neuroscience, the first IBRO Congress, the establishment of six regional IBRO Committees, and the development of the IBRO training Past IBRO President and Secretary-General programmes, the IBRO Schools and Albert Aguayo opened the Congress with the Visiting Lecture Team Programme. a look back upon 50 years of IBRO Following Dr. Aguayo, current IBRO history and key milestones. President Carlos Belmonte invited past IBRO officers on-stage: Albert Aguayo, Marina Bentivoglio, Masao Ito, Jennifer Lund, Steve Redman, Piergiorgio Strata and Torsten Wiesel. Then on Saturday, July 16, in a symposium led by Gordon Shepherd, with opening remarks by Masao Ito, five eminent neuroscientists highlighted the ways in which IBRO has contributed to world neuroscience from within their region: Tams Freund (Europe), Omar Macadar (Latin America), Sharon Juliano (the United States and Canada), Hitoshi Okamoto (Asia-Pacific), Raj Kalaria (Africa). A very worthwhile, new initiative launched at the IBRO meeting provided additional training for many young neuroscientists who traveled a long way to Italy: the Young Investigator Programme (YIP) allowed 83 young researchers from economically disadvantaged countries to spend one month in European laboratories before participating at the IBRO meeting. (See page 3 for more information on this programme).
Rio de Janeiro chosen as the site of the next IBRO World Congress, in 2015
Prior to the start of the 2011 Congress, the IBRO Governing Council met to consider three outstanding proposals for hosting the 2015 IBRO World Congress. After listening to the three presentations, the Council members held a vote, ultimately selecting Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as the site for the next IBRO World Congress. The 9th IBRO World Congress, to be held for the first time in Latin America, will be an excellent opportunity for fostering neuroscience in the region and also for attracting neuroscientists from around the world to interact with the local neuroscience community, which amounts almost 4,000 members, said Professor Roberto Lent, Universidade Federal do Rio de
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Current IBRO President Carlos Belmonte welcomed past IBRO officers to the stage at the start of the 8th IBRO World Congress.
Fifty Years of
1960
IBRO Council established on July 10, 1960
Geoffry W. Harris, First Secretary
1961
IBRO officially founded on February 16, 1961, in Montreal, Canada
Senate of Canada Bill S-9
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First IBRO meeting in Pisa, Italy
1965
NAS-NRC forms Committee on Brain Sciences to provide a U.S. liaison to IBRO, which evolves into the Society for Neuroscience
IBRO
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IBRONEWS
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Nigerian Rufus Akinyemi, recent recipient of an IBRO Research Fellowship, reports on his year-long project at the Institute for Ageing and Health, Newcastle University, UK: "Bedside to Bench: Post-stroke cognitive dysfunction mechanisms, profile and determinants": Stroke is a leading non-communicable disease all over the world, and current reports suggest that it is assuming epidemic proportions in middle- and low-income countries. About 30% of stroke survivors ultimately develop vascular dementia even though the exact mechanisms are yet poorly understood. Moreover, much of what is known about the epidemiology, natural history and neurobiology of post-stroke cognitive dysfunction have had little contribution from sub-Saharan Africa. With this background and my training in clinical neurology as well as being a witness of the evolving epidemiology of stroke and its short- and long-term consequences in sub-Saharan Africa, I took up the prestigious IBRO Research Fellowship under the tutelage of Professor Raj Kalaria, Professor of Cerebrovascular Neuropathology and Deputy Director of the MRC Newcastle Centre for Brain Ageing and Vitality at the Institute for Ageing and Health, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.
IBRO (the International Brain Research Organization) is the global neuroscience federation dedicated to the promotion of neuroscience and communication between brain researchers around the world, with special emphasis on assisting young investigators in the developing world. Incorporated in 1961, IBRO now counts 84 member societies in 61 countries around the world, with a membership of more than 75,000 neuroscientists.
I look forward to making significant contributions to neuroscience research, education and capacity building in Africa and beyond in the years ahead.
My work, in the course of the fellowship, centered on investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms of cerebral injury and cognitive impairment after stroke. The results suggest that hippocampal neurodegenerative and vascular pathologies interact with synaptic densities, neuronal volumes (and possibly other yet to be identified variables) to determine the cognitive trajectory after stroke, and that higher hippocampal synaptic density and neuronal volumes (possibly signatures of higher cognitive reserve) may protect against or delay the onset of dementia after stroke. With the research fellowship, I also spearheaded the setting up of a longitudinal study to investigate the profile, determinants and outcome of cognitive dysfunction in a cohort of Nigerian stroke survivors in collaboration with the established Newcastle COGFAST Project. The pilot study revealed cognitive dysfunction in 28% of 42 stroke survivors, while the main study is currently in progress. In addition, the fellowship period afforded me the opportunity of effective networking and contribution to the growth of African Neuroscience. The IBRO Alumni-Nigeria group was inaugurated to network and coordinate young Nigerian neuroscientists who have participated in IBRO programmes. I also served as editor, and contributed two review articles to an IBRO-sponsored special Neuroscience Edition of a growing African journal Archives of Ibadan Medicine. In all, the fellowship period has been a great leap in my development and progress as a neurophysician-scientist, and I look forward to making significant contributions to neuroscience research, education and research capacity building in Africa and beyond in the years ahead.
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The IBRO Visiting Lecture Team begins courses in parts of the world where no established neuroscience programmes exist
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IBRO forms six regions, with representation on the IBRO Executive Commitee
1987
IBRO Alumni celebrated during the 2011 IBRO World Congress in Florence
During the 8th IBRO World Congress, alumni of IBROs training and funding programmes enjoyed several opportunities to share their research and connect
Alumni lecturers at the IBRO World Congress Alumni Symposium, Florence, Italy
What will you remember the most from your Young Investigators Programme experience? The day I was able to independently carry out a series of experiments to determine the effect of insulin on glycogen storage in cultured astrocytes without any assistancethat felt good. Another memory was the day a member of the lab got his research work published in the Journal of Neuroscience and the entire lab, including Prof. Magistretti, all came out to attend a party at the lab to celebrate the success. Such team spirit is commendable, and I could see the unity of purpose that exists within the lab members. After your short-stay visit, how was your experience at the IBRO World Congress in Florence? The IBRO World Congress was superb, the biggest congress I have ever had the privilege of attending, with so many great and senior researchers in attendance and diverse scientific sessions and symposia of the most outstanding research I had ever seen. The World Congress was the icing on the cake of the YIP experience. Jitendra Sinha spent a month at Marina Bentivoglios laboratory at the University of Verona, Italy, and since then with YIP participant Shampa Ghosh has created a Facebook page for all the IBRO Young Investigators to stay connected. Research Focus: DNA oxidation lesions, oxidative stress, magnetic resonance spectroscopic studies, neuronal and glial profiling and IGF1 and BDNF signaling pathways involved in ageing What were your first impressions of your host lab and the research team, when you first arrived? I was very excited to visit a foreign lab related to my research focus. On the first day, Prof. Jitendra Sinha, from the National Institute of Nutrition in Hyderabad, Marina introduced me to all the lab members India, with his host, Marina Bentivoglio. and spent a lot of time with me discussing in details regarding the research work to be done. She even arranged a brain-storming session for my research work on the WNIN obese mutant rats that have reduced longevity, which helped me in designing future experiments. What did you learn at your host lab that will be helpful to your current or future research? I learned preparation of brain tissues for immunohistochemical examination under compound and confocal microscopy. I also learned to create LPS-induced inflammatory mice model and basics of MRI, and got the opportunity to learn how to write scientific abstracts and papers. What impact do you think you may have made upon the staff at your host lab? The staff at my host lab was very cooperative and well-trained in the techniques. They taught me each technique in detail and helped me a lot in troubleshooting, also. They showed a lot of interest in the unique animal model that I am working on. Through interactive scientific discussions, we all benefitted in one way or the other. They became like an extended family to me.
with others from all over the world, at all career levels and within all areas of neuroscience. On July 15, 2011, a special symposium featuring IBRO Alumni took place, titled "Molecular and systems neurobiology in development and disease: contributions from IBRO Alumni worldwide," which was chaired by IBRO Alumni Committee Chair Susan Sara and IBRO Secretary-General Pierre Magistretti. Four IBRO Alumni presented their research and highlighted how their training and support received from IBRO has made a difference so far in their career: Bence Racz, St. Istvan University, Budapest, Hungary (CEERC) Molecular architecture of the hippocampal dendritic spine Elisabeth Ngo Bum, University of Ngaoundere, Cameroon (ARC) Herbal compounds in the treatment of psychiatric disorders: The aqueous extract of leaves of Piliostigma reticulatum possesses anxiolytic and antipyretic activity in mice Abbas Haghparast, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran (APRC) Herbal compounds in the treatment of drug abuse: Fruit essential oil of Cuminum cyminum attenuates morphine-induced conditioned place preference Cristina Guatimosim Fonseca, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil (LARC) In search of organizing principles during synapse elimination: Correlation between motoneuron size and position at spinal cord and motor unit innervation patterns.
Chilean neuroscientist Pedro Maldonado (second from right) catches up with young researchers from Latin America at the IBRO Alumini Party in Florence, Italy.
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Later in the evening, more than 350 IBRO Alumni and Friends gathered at The Loft, a stylish indoor/outdoor venue in Florences Piazza del Carmine, for a very pleasant evening of socializing and enjoying regional Tuscan cuisine, wine and prosecco. Each year, IBRO organizes an Alumni Party to provide a casual and fun way for IBRO Alumni who perhaps met through an IBRO School to reconnect and to meet others with whom they could potentially collaborate in doing future research, as well as for IBRO volunteers and friends to see familar faces and to meet many of the inspirational young researchers whose careers IBRO has touched through its funding and educational programmes. In addition, an IBRO Alumni Poster contest took place during the IBRO World Congress to acknowledge and reward the first-authors of the best posters and research projects coming from IBRO Alumni, across all of the IBRO regions. Out of 96 entries, the four finalists were Shaimaa Amin (Egypt), Aline Campos (Brazil), Narges Hosseinmardi (Iran) and Giulio Pergola (Germany).
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2nd IBRO World Congress in Budapest, Hungary
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Neuroscience journal acquired by Elsevier Publishing
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3rd IBRO World Congress in Montreal, Canada
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IBRO expands to 25,000 members worldwide
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4th IBRO World Congress in Kyoto, Japan
IBRO Women in World Neuroscience (WWN) Committee initiates educational and mentoring opportunities
The IBRO Committee on Women in World Neuroscience (WWN) has been active in its mission to improve career development, mentoring and networking opportunities for women neuroscientists around the world, with special attention to women in disadvantaged regions. The Committee experienced a change in leadership in early 2011 and bid farewell to Dr. Judy Illes, founding member and first Chair of the committee. Dr. Illes passed the torch to Dr. Emmeline Edwards, Director of Division of Extramural Research, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), a component of the National Institutes of Health, USA. The following faculty and trainees received WWN funding over the past year: Professor Nouria Lakhdal-Ghazal for conducting the African Neuroscience Emmeline Edwards, chair of the School titled Brain Function and IBRO WWN Committee Dysfunction; Professor Elaine A. Del Bel for organizing a Satellite WWN meeting of the Brazilian Neuroscience Society; Professor Fatima Shad Kaneez for sponsoring a symposium titled Role of Female Neuroscientist in Telemedicine in Brunei; Professor Liliana Francis Turner for developing the course titled Experimental Neuroscience course of Tolima; Drs. Rae Silver, Kathie Olsen & Emmeline Edwards for organizing a WWN Forum titled Roadmap for Addressing Sex Differences in Pain Management; Professor Zalina Ismail for support of a workshop for female neuroscientists in Malaysia titled Transdisciplinary Workshop in Neurosciences : The Impact of Women Neuroscientists within the Community; Professor Illana Gozes & Professor Orly Weinreb for holding a WWN Mini-symposium in Israel at the International VIPPACAP Symposium; Dr. Jean King & Professor Orly Weinreb for organizing a workshop at the IBRO 8th World Congress titled Funding Opportunities for international Collaborations and Fellowships. Additionally, the IBRO WWN Committee will be hosting its second Mentoring Circle during the 2011 Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington, USA, which provides a networking and mentoring venue to the IBRO travel grant awardees. Also during SFN 2011, WWN will co-sponsor some events on career advancement with the Society for Neuroscience Professional Development Committee. The Committee has continued to stay connected to the expanding network of IBRO Women in World Neuroscience on Facebook and by frequent updates on the WWN webpage.
This public education booklet may be downloaded, free-of-cost, on the IBRO Web site.
The purpose of this booklet is to improve public understanding and awareness of the brain and the importance of brain research. Via the IBRO Website, chapters may be downloaded for all 22 translations, and full versions of the translations are also available online. For free access, go to www.ibro.info, and click on Brain Campaign in the left column.
IBRO Alumni Committee creates visibility and connections for young neuroscientists
Committee Chair Susan Sara reports: The major initiative of the Alumni Committee in the past year has been to organize a series of alumni symposia within regional and international meetings. At the 2010 Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Diego, USA, the IBRO community heard how their Cold Spring Harbor and Woods Hole School experience boosted the careers of three scholars who attended, through the generosity of the SfN International Affairs Committee/ US-Canada Regional Committee. Contributors were JingLing Zhu (China), Valeria della Maggiore (Argentina) and Musa Mabandla (South Africa). The symposium was followed by a reception for Alumni and IBRO volunteers. IBRO Alumni from the ARC region contributed a symposium at the Society of Neuroscientists of Africa (SONA) meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Fleur Howells (South Africa), Samson Gwer (Kenya), Musa Mabandla (South Africa) and Rufus Akinyemi (Nigeria). Alumni of IBRO Schools in the APRC region competed for poster prizes at the Federation of AsianOceanian Neuroscience Societies (FAONS) meeting in Lucknow, India. Prizes were awarded to Preethi Hegde (India), Hossein Azizi (Iran), Mohammad Javan (Iran), Pretty Garg (India) and Proshanto Saha (India). At the 8th IBRO World Congress of Neuroscience in Florence, Italy, a symposium consisting of four speakers, one each from the ARC, LARC, APRC and CEERC, was presented to an audience of about one hundred. (See IBRO Alumni celebrated during the 2011 IBRO World Congress in Florence, on page 3.) At the NEURONUS 2011 Conference in Krakow, Poland, the IBRO Alumni Committee contributed financial support to invite two outstanding Alumni from FENS-IBRO Schools as plenary lectures: Johannes Letzkus (Switzerland) and Alexandra Constantinescu (Romania). The IBRO Alumni Committee also funded Adriadna Cubo, from Cuba, to attend the FENS-IBRO Development and plasticity of cortical representation School in Bertinoro, Italy, where she was named top student by the faculty. In the same manner, Olowabli Rotimi from Nigeria, attended the FENS-IBRO Metabolic aspects of chronic brain diseases School in Gunzburg, Germany. With the help of the Schools organizer, Patrick Weydt, he will investigate ways in which his European school contacts might be used to impact neuroscience in Nigeria.
At the 2011 SONA meeting, IBRO Alumna Fleur Howells (South Africa) presented on the topic "Neural patterns of childhood trauma: An electroencephalographic study of healthy controls.
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IBRO Schools Programme launched
1999
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Launch of the IBRO website
2002
The re-launched IBRO Visiting Lecture Team Programme holds its first course in Tehran, Iran
John Nicholls teaching VLTP course in Cameroon
School and conference aimed IBRO Inter-Regional Activities Initiative to strengthen neuroscience already connecting future leaders in world network in Middle East and neuroscience North Africa
Despite an aging population and increased prevalence of neurological disease such as Alzheimers, there remains a huge shortage of specialized neurologists and neuroscientists in the Middle East. To help improve this situation, IBRO has collaborated with the United Arab Emirates University Neuroscience Group, other Universities in the region, and Arab Expatriate neuroscientists on several initiatives aimed at promoting and supporting the training of neuroscientists and neuroscience research in the region. The first of these included the organization of a neuroscience school and conference at the Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, UAE University. The IBRO-UAE Neuroscience School Fundamentals of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, which took place from January 30 to February 5, 2011, brought together 32 students, clinicians, and expatriate scientists from different countries in the region, including Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman,
At the IBRO Governing Council meeting held on November 13, 2010, in San Diego, USA, IBRO President Carlos Belmonte and Secretary-General Pierre Magistretti announced plans for the "IBRO Inter-regional Activities Initiative." The time is now ripe, in our increasingly globalized neuroscience community, for the development of an Inter-Regional Activities Program with the specific goal of promoting the creation of personal and scientific ties between the new generations of scientists, said Professor Belmonte. Professor Monica Di Luca, the former Chair of the IBRO Western Europe Regional Committee, was appointed as the chair of this emerging committee. In addition to facilitating inter-regional collaboration for IBRO Schools, Prof. Di Luca will also oversee future Young Scientists Visiting Programmes, organized around major neuroscience meetings, to put PhD students from lessfavored countries into contact with centers in other regions, in which intensive and high quality brain research is performed. Within the past year, the inter-regional strategy has been carried out in two neuroscience schools: the IBRO Advanced Neuroscience School held on Reunion Island in November 2010, involving the AsiaPacific, Western Europe, and Africa Regional Committees; and the 2nd UAE-IBRO Neuroscience School in the Middle East (February 2011), involving the Africa and Asia-Pacific Regional Committees. Also, the launch of the IBRO Young Investigators Programme in connection with the 8th IBRO World Congress in Florence, Italy, earlier this year provided a basis upon which to build short-stay laboratory-visit programmes in the future.
"While several of IBROs regional committees have already been working together to organize inter-regional schools and laboratory exchanges, this new initiative will aim to promote inter-regional activities from IBRO Central, with the schools activity being most important," said Professor Magistretti. "We want to bring brilliant students together so that they can interact at a global level and work collaboratively in the future."
The neuroscience school held prior to the 1st Middle-East Neuroscience Conference assembled students and faculty from throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa, including several expatriate faculty members from abroad.
Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, UAE, and Yemen. Following the School, the 1st IBRO Middle-East Neuroscience Conference was held from February 7 to 9, 2011, at the Al Ain Hilton Hotel, drawing more than 400 researchers and other scientists.
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Electron tomography of cultured hippocampal neurons is subject of 2010 Neuroscience Cover Competition winner
The winning cover of IBROs annual Neuroscience cover competition for 2010 is from an article by CP Arthur, C. Dean, M. Pagratis, M. Chapman and MH Stowell. The article, titled Loss of synaptotagmin IV results in a reduction in synaptic vesicles and a distortion of the Golgi structure in cultured hippocampal neurons, was published in Neuroscience, Volume 167 (2010), Issue 1, pp 135-142. The winning cover featured surface rendering of the full three-dimensional tomographic reconstruction of SytIV -/- synapse generated using the IMOD software program (presynaptic membrane [blue], postsynaptic membrane [yellow], mitochondria [red], synaptic vesicles [green]). Dr. Stowell, from the Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCD Biology) program at the University of Colorado, USA, describes the research behind the paper and the technique behind the image: The work presented in [this] paper examines the structural nature of synaptic transmission and the proteins involved in neurotransmitter release. The study was conducted using electron tomography of cultured hippocampal neurons. Tomographic reconstructions of the hippocampal synapse were modeled (segmented) using the software package IMOD. The cover image was created by exporting the segmented and meshed geometry of the synaptic cleft from IMOD as a VRML file. Graham Johnson, a medical illustrator, imported the VRML file into the professional 3D software application Cinema 4D. He used this software to add a 6nm thickness to the cell membranes to insinuate bilayers and to make their cut edges clearly visible. He created transparent colored textures for each organelle, applied lights to the scene, and rendered the model with a technology called ambient occlusion to clearly define the organization of the vesicles in 3D space.
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6th IBRO World Congress in Prague, Czech Republic
2003
2003
Launch of the IBRO Brain Campaign
2004
The FENS-IBRO European Neuroscience Schools Programme is launched
Marina Bentivoglio, Pierre Magistretti, Abdul Mohammed and Krister Kristensson, at the 2011 SONA meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The First IBRO-KIST School of Neuroscience in Seoul, Korea, allowed participants to explore the latest techniques in systems neuroscience.
Participants and leaders organize the field work at night during the 1st Caribbean School of Neuroethology, an IBRO-LARC School, held in Havana, Cuba, in May 2011.
Alexandra Constantinescu (left), from the Carol Davila Medical School in Bucharest, Romania, and Tea Speljko (right), from the Croatian Institute for Brain Research, have traveled to UK laboratories in Oxford and Manchester, respectively, through IBRO's InEurope short-stay programme.
Poland; and the 6th International Workshop, "Sleep as a Window to the World of Wakefulness," organized by the Russian Somnological Society in Moscow, Russia, from October 17 to 19, 2011. CEERC, along with the IBRO Alumni Committee, was involved in planning the first IBRO Young Neuroscience Forum Neuronus in Krakow, Poland, April 15-17, 2011, organized by students for students.
Protemica Avanzada aplicada a Estudios del Sistema Nervioso; organized by O. Alzate (Colombia), April 12 -16. 8) Designing and building microscopes for neuroscience research; organized by C. Morgado Valle (Mexico), March 28 -April 1. 9) LIV Congreso Nacional de Ciencias Fisiolgicas; organized by C. Escobar (Mxico), Sept. 10-14. 10) Neural Basis of Maternal Motivation: Relationship and coordination with other social motivational systems; organized by D. Olazabal (Uruguay), Sept. 3-5 . 11) Bases de la electrofisiologa y del imaging: de la teora a la prctica; organized by G.Lanuza (Argentina), Oct. 19-20. 12) Molecular tools for the study of integrative neurophysiology; organized by M.Cambiasso (Argentina), Dec. 5-8. 13) (Re) consolidacao da memoria e suas nuances: uma janela para a plasticidade; organized by L. Alvares (Brazil), August 24. LARC also awarded up to 1000 each for intra-regional exchanges and travel grants within the Latin America region. In
2007
7th IBRO World Congress in Melbourne, Australia
2008
IBRO forges link with the Dargut and Milena Kemali Foundation and holds first Inter-regional School in Dargut Kemali (left) and Naples, Italy
Carlos Belmonte (center)
2008
Formation of IBRO Women in World Neuroscience (WWN) Committee
Judy Illes, founding chair of WWN
2010
The IBRO Inter-Regional Activities Initiative is launched to further enhance crossregional collaboration
The 4th Teaching Tools Workshop took place in Cape Coast, Ghana, in September 2011, drawing participants from 11 African countries.
mission (such as the Hispaniola School). The US-Canada Regional Committee is dedicated to the dissemination of knowledge to the world's neuroscientists; the promotion of research and professional training activities across international borders; and the enhancement of public awareness of neuroscience worldwide. The goal of the committee is not to duplicate activities of the other IBRO Regional Committees, but to provide new opportunities and activities not currently offered by other parts of IBRO. The USCRC worked with the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) course instructors to identify and encourage highly qualified and motivated research trainees from developing countries to apply for admission to summer neuroscience courses at the MBL and CSHL. This initiative is referred to as the IBRO Fellows Program. In 2011, five MBL fellowships and four CSHL fellowships were awarded. The 5th Canadian School of Neuroscience on Neurodegenerative Disorders and Brain Trauma took place in Montreal and Quebec City from May 23 to June 4. This North American/Canadian School of Neuroscience supports the idea that developed countries should become the base for international neuroscience education. The Schools organizing committee, in consultation with members of the IBRO Regional Committees for Africa (ARC) and Latin America (LARC) selected 12 students from over 125 applicants. The students included graduate students, postdoctoral trainees and junior staff and originated from Cameroon, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Argentina, Cuba, Costa Rica, and Mexico. The USCRC has focused much of its international efforts on the Teaching Tools Neuroscience Workshops in Africa, with 2011 Teaching Tools Workshop held at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, from September 12 to 16. The course was directed by Sharon Juliano, in collaboration with the ARC. After the success of the 2010 Hispaniola School of Neuroscience "Trauma and the Brain," in Santiago, Dominican Republic the USCRC, along with the Society for Neuroscience and the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Team, decided to support a follow-up Advanced Workshop. Participants were the committed alumni of the 2010 Hispaniola School of Neuroscience. This workshop went into depth on topics related to neurobiology that will allow the enhancement of the current teaching activities and the development of materials to be used in teaching and dissemination in Haiti. In addition, a mentored practicum that will involve collection of data related to neurotoxic exposure will be extremely useful in exposing students to what research is about, and the resources available to them.
Mediterranean neuroscientists, in their last year of their Doctoral degree or during their early post-doctoral stage, can attend the Society meeting and visit French laboratories in their quest for a post-doctoral position. This year, WERC assisted in the funding of three fellowships to students from Brazil and Argentina, and seven students from Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. To further support intra-European mobility, WERC continued the InEurope Programme as a joint activity with CEERC; supported young neuroscientists with travel grants to participate in the IBRO World Congress in Florence; and cooperated with CEERC and FENS in the FENS-IBRO European Neuroscience Schools programme. At the end of 2010, an Inter-Regional activity of the Africa and the Western Europe regional committees, with the participation of Asian/Pacific Regional Committee, took place on Reunion Island: the IBRO School of Neuroscience Neurobiology of Infectious Diseases: A View for Global Neuroscience. Finally, WERC supported the initiative by Micaela Morelli (WERC member), Laurent Fagni and Marina Pizzi to arrange, on the occasion of the 8th IBRO World Congress in Florence in July 2011, short stays in European laboratories of young investigators from countries with limited resources. This program has been very successful and is providing the opportunity for young investigators to participate in laboratory work to gain knowledge of innovative techniques and establish personal contacts with researchers of the WERC region.
APRC Shigang He (China) Nancy Ip (Hong Kong) Keiji Tanaka (Japan) Shubha Tole (India) ARC Musa Mabandla (South Africa) Paul Manger (South Africa) Adesola Ogunniyi (Nigeria) Nilesh Patel (Kenya) LARC Luis Aguayo (Chile) Jaime Eugenin (Chile) The term of membership of IBROs Regional Committees is four years, with half the membership replaced every two years. Members may be re-elected once.
IBRO members:
Please update your details in the IBRO Members database for the latest information about IBRO's activities: www.ibro.info
2011
1st IBRO Middle East Neuroscience Conference, held in Al Ain, UAE
2011
Future endeavours: IBRO joins Global Advocacy Project
Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
2011
8th IBRO World Congress in Florence, Italy
Rio de Janeiro
Janeiro, who presented the winning bid. In addition, Rio de Janeiro will have hosted the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and will be preparing for the Olympics in 2016 world-class events which will provide the city with the infrastructure needed to reach a record number of participants." Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, is the third largest metropolitan area in South America and boasts an extensive network of hotels and hostels as well as myriad touristic and cultural opportunities. The Brazilian Society for Neuroscience and Behavior (SBNeC) is a 35-year-old association with nearly 4000 members working in the various fields of neuroscience. SBNeC has organized an annual meeting since its foundation and was responsible for coordinating the First IBRO-LARC Congress of Neurosciences for Latin America, Caribbean and Iberian Peninsula (I NeuroLatAm) in 2008, which congregated more than 2,400 attendees from 30 different countries. During this meeting, a Latin-American Federation for Neuroscience (FALAN) was created, officially formalized in 2009. FALAN now counts 10 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean as founding members, and Portugal and Spain as associate members. Neuroscience in Brazil benefits from an increasing national investment in science in the last decade that has positioned Brazil as the 13th country in number of papers published in international journals. This progressive scenario provides a fertile environment for young students interested in science, in general, and neuroscience, in particular.
The aim of the Conference was to bring together neuroscientists from the Middle East, North Africa and the rest of the world to discuss the advances in the field of basic and clinical neuroscience, presenting a balance between the recent advances in basic neuroscience research and treatments of psychiatric and neurological disorders. The conference provided local scientists with the opportunity to network and establish collaborations with leading international scientists in the field as well as expatriate neuroscientists from the region. According to IBRO Secretary-General Pierre Magistretti and the organizers of the Middle East School and Conference, the neuroscience community that exists within the Middle East, while fragmented, is highly dedicated and eager to help pave the way for improved infrastructure and development programs for future generations of neuroscientists. A milestone meeting took place on the eve of the Conference, forming the First Transitional Committee for the IBRO Middle East & North Africa Chapter. Additionally, the second IBRO MiddleEast Neuroscience Conference is being planned for 2013, in Beirut, Lebanon.
the visual system; neural development, degeneration and regeneration; and mechanisms of plasticity. The students, from undergraduates to graduates to post-docs and regardless of their university, were eagerly immersed in the struggle to grasp the breadth and depth of neuroscience faced by all beginners. The lecture team consisted of Professor U.J. McMahan, Kenneth Muller (University of Miami School of Medicine, USA), John Nicholls, Richard Rotundo (University of Miami School of Medicine, USA), and Shlomo Rotshenker (Hebrew University Medical School, Israel).
The IBRO Visiting Lecture Team at Arba-Minch University, Ethiopia, in November 2010.
2011
IBRO now counts 84 member societies in 61 countries around the globe, with a membership of more than 75,000 neuroscientists
Fifty Years of
IBRO
1961
2011