In This Circular: President | IBRO at FENS2020 | COVID-19 | Journals | Alumni | Open Grants | Community News
Message of Global Solidarity from the IBRO President
Last month, IBRO joined international expressions of solidarity in honor of George Floyd and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement against systemic racism, discrimination, injustice and violence, because we must all be part of the solution.
As the global federation of neuroscience organizations whose primary aim is to bring neuroscience to the world, IBRO is committed to making the field of neuroscience and its resources more accessible, beneficial and inspiring to people everywhere and from any background.
We hope to encourage our members around the globe toward active participation in anti-racist campaigns and movement toward action on inclusion and equity, and the incredible value in diversity – IBRO stands behind our mission in ensuring equal access to neuroscience resources, education and training.
Tracy L. Bale
IBRO President
IBRO will be at the FENS 2020 Virtual Forum participating in a variety of events and programs. And, of course, we’ll have a virtual booth so come visit us in the Exhibition space for a chat!
Saturday, 11 July (all times in BST)
15:00 – 16:30
Special interest event (SiE02): The Brain Debate “Which brains are we studying?”
IBRO President Tracy L. Bale has provided a pre-recorded talk and will be one of the live discussants.
Sunday, 12 July (all times in BST)
9:30 – 10:30
Special interest event (SiE02): How society-owned journals handle your paper
Juan Lerma, Editor-in-Chief of IBRO’s flagship journal Neuroscience, will talk about “What happens to your paper once submitted to a journal.”
Special interest event (SiE12): ALBA-FKNE Panel Discussion: How to negotiate to get what you need
Young IBRO members Zeljka Krsnik (Croatia, Young IBRO Chair) and Aparna Suvrathan (Canada) will be presenting and participating in the live Q&A.
12:00 – 12:45
Special Lecture (SLO3): IBRO-Kemali Prize Lecture – From Pecking order to Ketamine – Neural mechanisms of social and emotional behaviors
IBRO-Kemali Prize winner, Prof. Hailan Hu, from Zhejiang University, China, is the first IBRO-Kemali Prize winner outside of Europe and North America, and will deliver her special IBRO-Kemali Prize lecture. Past IBRO President and current President of the IBRO-Kemali Foundation, Pierre Magistretti, will give an introduction.
18:45 – 20:30
Networking Event (NE04): International Brain Initiative: Facilitating Global Neuroscience Engagement
Learn about the 7 brain initiatives championed by the European Union, the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, China, and Australia. Tasia Asakawa, IBRO Director of Development, Communications & Finance, will provide an overview of the IBI Working Groups. A live Q&A session will take place at the end.
19:00 – 20:00
Networking Event (NE06): ALBA Network Social
Come bring drinks and snacks and meet the ALBA Network, an initiative which aims at promoting equality and diversity in brain sciences.
Monday, 13 July (all times in BST)
9:30 – 10:30
Special interest event (SiE12): Global Research Collaboration
Organized by the European Brain Council in coordination with FENS and IBRO, this event will feature IBRO President Tracy L. Bale as one of the speakers who will talk about the importance of global research collaboration. A live panel and Q&A session will take place at the end.
Special interest event (SiE04): Neuroscience Outreach
Come view our posters and exchange on different approaches to support public outreach and engagement in a virtual discussion.
ALBA Network Talk: Gender in Neuroscience: European specific challenges & solutions by Dr Anna Beyeler Start 10:30 (ALBA Network Ambassador – University of Bordeaux, France)
14:30 –
Open Theatre Session: Global Brain Museum
Brought to you by IBRO and FENS, in collaboration with EPFL, the Global Brain Museum aims to provide the most comprehensive online collection of brain-related archives, objects and resources in order to preserve our world neuroscientific heritage and the histories of the science and people who have created it.
15:30 –
Open Theatre Session: Meet the ALBA Network Ambassadors
Come meet the scientists behind the ALBA Network initiatives and discuss questions related to diversity in brain research. They will talk about issues such as the imposter syndrome: “I love science but I don’t feel like I belong” or “How and when to say ‘No’ to requests for extra services from senior colleagues, chairs and deans”. Meet IBRO President Tracy L. Bale (US) and Young IBRO Member, Aparna Suvrathan (Canada), in person!
Tuesday 14 July (all times in BST)
10:30 –
Meet the Editor: Juan Lerma, Editor-in-Chief of Neuroscience
Discuss your research and hear insights from Professor Juan Lerma, Editor-in-Chief of Neuroscience, the flagship journal of IBRO. BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL.
IBRO Journals
Special Neuroscience issue honoring Ricardo Miledi (1927-2017)
Miledi, a world-renowned Mexican neuroscientist, whose long list of contributions to the field include the calcium theory of neurotransmitter release, the molecular mechanisms of supersensitivity, the homeostatic control of presynaptic neurotransmitter release and the use of frog oocytes to study ion channel and neurotransmitter receptors, among many other original findings.
IBRO was especially indebted to him for providing the foundation upon which our Latin American Training Program was built in partnership with the Society for Neuroscience and the Grass Foundation.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/neuroscience/vol/439/suppl/C
Research on brain health has identified lifestyle factors that serve to protect individuals from cognitive decline with age. Lifestyle changes in physical activity and dietary pattern are emerging as strategies that improve prospects of stress management and sleep quality, suggesting underlying brain training that counters cognitive decline. Improvements in cognitive flexibility, muscle function, cardiorespiratory fitness, and overall quality of life are therefore assessed as telltale and measurable signs indicative of effective lifestyle interventions.
In this Special Issue, we aim to address the impact of lifestyle factors on mental health, with focus on association between causative neurobiology mechanisms and clinical outcomes. A number of colleagues in the field have indicated commitment to contribute manuscripts to this Special Issue. To reach a broader audience in such a diverse field, we cordially invite you to submit original articles or topical reviews that reflect the latest advancement on the theme of “Neuroscience & Lifestyle: From neurobiology to mental health”.
Deadline: 31 August 2020
Dr. Ifeoluwa Oluleke Awogbindin, Department of Biochemistry, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, was awarded a 2019 IBRO-ARC Bursary to work with Dr. Marie-Ève Tremblay at the Université Laval in Québec, Canada.
IBRO is thrilled that this new collaboration resulted in Dr. Awogbindin’s first publication: “Remodeling microglia to a protective phenotype in Parkinson’s disease?” in Neuroscience Letters.
The COVID-19 pandemic has by now affected everyone, including the global neuroscience community. To capture the experiences of different brain researchers around the world, IBRO has launched its “COVID-19 Series: Global Neuroscience Experiences,” a collection of video interviews featuring personal perspectives from our community. We hope that this will serve as an inspiration and acknowledgement of the commitment and solidarity of scientists during such challenging times.
Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, many 2020 IBRO/Dana Brain Awareness Week (BAW) events had to be postponed. However, a few events were able to continue and you can see some here!
Top left & right: University of Port Harcourt Neuroscience Group, Nigeria
Bottom left & right: University of Dschang, Cameroon
Bottom center: Bingham University, Nigeria
Open Grants: http://ibro.org/open-grants/
Annual Grants Calendar: https://ibro.org/ibro-grants-calendar/
General Information about all grants: https://ibro.org/grants/
The British Neuroscience Association (BNA) is proud to announce that its journal, Brain and Neuroscience Advances, is now indexed in PubMed Central.
The journal plays a major role in the BNA’s credibility in neuroscience campaign, by way of being fully open access, publishing null results and Registered Reports, and using CRedIT and Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) badges, all features which help the publishing process support reproducibility, replicability and reliability in science.
Being indexed means researchers will be able to choose a journal that promotes all these things as well as being fully visible on PubMed.
More generally, indexing will mean the journal is instantly accessible to the scientific community, widening its scope and readership. Importantly, it also means that all articles published since its launch, along with all future articles, will now be listed on databases such as PubMed.
Read about the impact of Covid-19 on the neuroscience field, the race among scientists to understand the virus’ effects on the brain, the growing impact of emotional intelligence in education and the workplace, and how osteocalcin—a hormone released by our bones—plays a crucial role in survival. Subscribe for free at Dana.org/subscribe.
One of EBC’s key drivers is to raise awareness of brain disorders and for those living with these conditions. For this reason, we would like to build a stronger voice for basic neuroscience and the research that goes on “behind the scenes” to learn more about the underlying causes for different brain disorders and their treatments, as well as the research that is conducted to gain insight on the mechanisms behind the disease.
This first video in the series explores Parkinson’s disease, a complex, progressive nervous system disorder that affects movement.
Watch the video on the EBC YouTube channel.
The FENS 2020 Virtual Forum is taking place live on 11-15 July 2020: don’t miss your chance to explore the latest neuroscience discoveries and develop your skills!
The scientific programme features sessions, debates and symposia with live Q&A, interactive posters and live chats and much more! Registration gives you access to all the presentations and posters for up to 3 months after the Forum. We are delighted to include more than 4,500 delegates, including the recipients of the ALBA-FKNE-YIBRO Diversity Grants which received the support of FENS.
Join us and register now: https://forum2020.fens.org/
Ageing and Dementia Research Group, Sultan Qaboos University
New prestigious book series on Nutritional Neuroscience (first in kind in this area) launch
A new prestigious book series titled “NUTRITIONAL NEUROSCIENCE” (ISSN: 2730-6712) which would be the first in kind in this title published by Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd will be launched on 24th July 2020. Dr. Mohamed Essa, Associate Professor of Nutrition, SQU will be the Editor in Chief for this series. He is an expert in the field of Nutritional Neuroscience and he has published more than 150 papers, 54 book chapters and 11 books. Dr. Essa is also Editor-in-Chief for International Journal of Nutrition, Pharmacology, Neurological Diseases published by Wolters & Kluwer, USA. Dr. Essa is also acting as an Editor for Frontiers in Neuroscience, Science Documents, Frontiers in Bioscience, Academic Editor for Bio Med Research International and Associate Editor for BMC complementary and alternative medicine, etc.
The program will start with an introduction by the editors from Springer Nature followed by welcome address by Prof. Abdullah Al-Sadi, Dean of CAMS, SQU and Dr. Mohammed Al-Khusaibi, HOD, FSN, SQU. Then, details about this book series and its importance will be provided by the Series Editor Dr. Mohamed Essa. Then there will be a series of small scientific talks on this new emerging field by Dr. Mohammed Akbar, NIH, USA, Dr. Meena Shakarkar, University of Saskatchewan, Canada, Prof. Samir Al-Adawi from SQU, Oman, Dr. Walid Qoronfleh, from WISH, Qatar, Dr. Mohammed Salama from Mansoura University, Egypt and Dr. Wael Mohamed from Islamic International University, Malaysia. After that, this prestigious book series will be officially launched by Prof. Rahma Al-Mahrooqi, DVC- Research, SQU, Oman. Finally vote of thanks will be provided by the Springer nature people.
As an Editor-in-Chief of this series, Dr. Essa is glad to invite authors or editors from Oman, GCC and worldwide. It will be a webinar (either Zoom or some other platform) offered by Springer Nature. Dr. Essa also mentioned that this is a permanent book series aiming for 50-60 books in 10 years’ time. The chapters will be indexed in Pubmed and SCOPUS. More information about this book series is available on this link https://www.springer.com/series/16639.
To register, please follow the linkhttps://register.gotowebinar.com/register/3691345716221823759
The 38th Annual Meeting of Indian Academy of Neurosciences (IAN) is being organized as an E-CONFERENCE during October 4-7, 2020. Every year large number of neuroscientists join and contribute to the success of annual meetings from all over globe. The program includes cutting edge symposia in various discipline of neuroscience, plenary lectures and young scientist colloquium. The organizers warmly welcome your participation in IAN 2020.
For more details please visit the Academy website and the Conference website.
International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility
INCF is proud to support two large virtual training initiatives taking place this summer, the Neuromatch Academy and the NeuroHackademy, by providing TrainingSpace and Neurostars to support these courses by making course lectures available and providing dedicated space on our Q&A forum Neurostars.
INCF is hosting a Special Interest Event at FENS Forum on July 15th – make sure to tune in for a discussion about the benefits and challenges of open and FAIR neuroscience! https://forum2020.fens.org/event/sie17-21st-century-global-neuroscience-collaboration-sculpting-a-fair-and-open-landscape-1200-1330/
Save the dates for Neuroscience2021, when the Japan Neuroscience Society Annual Meeting will be held jointly with the 1st CJK International Meeting in Kobe, July 28-31, 2021.
Lithuanian Neuroscience Association
MNS2021 aims to further scientific collaborations and friendships among Mediterranean students and scientists with international colleagues in the beautiful pearl of Adriatic Dubrovnik in early summer.
Polish Neuroscience Society
We are pleased to announce that the 2021 FENS Regional Meeting (FRM), jointly organized by the Polish Neuroscience Society and the Lithuanian Neuroscience Association, will take place between 25th and 27th of July 2021 in Krakow, Poland. The Meeting will bring together presentations of the latest advances in neurosciences, from molecular mechanisms underlying neuronal activity to neurophysiology of complex human behaviors. More information on the FRM 2021 webpage: https://fensfrm2021.pl/ .
