Massachusetts General Hospital’s Neuroscience Day was established to highlight the importance and impact of cross collaboration among all scientists working toward improving brain health. This includes both clinicians and researchers in the fields of neurology, neurosurgery and psychiatry, as well as colleagues from across the hospital and beyond.

The second annual Neuroscience Day took place under the Bulfinch tent earlier this month, with a series of speakers, research presentations and an electronic poster session highlighting recent advances.

William Curry, MD, Joshua Roffman, MD, and Jonathan Rosand, MD, all co-directors of Mass General Neuroscience, stressed the importance of creativity, innovation and collaboration to make strides toward improving brain health.

To support these collaborative research efforts, the Henry and Allison McCance Center for Brain Health at Mass General established a series of Scientific Projects to Accelerate Research and Collaboration (SPARC) awards in partnership with Mass General Neuroscience and the Mass General Research Institute.

The awards are designed to support creative new approaches to treating diseases of the brain and nervous system. Eight SPARC awardees were named this year.

Prior to the start of the poster session, Dr. Roffman shared some exciting news: Mass General is launching an early brain development initiative called Brain Health Begins Before Birth (B4)!

This project will bring together clinicians and researchers from 10 specialty areas to better understand brain development and the effects of environment during a child’s first ten years of life.

“It’s become very clear that the best time to intervene is very early in life—perhaps even before conception—by harnessing the developing brain’s plasticity to forestall these disorders before they begin,” said Dr. Roffman.

About the Mass General Research Institute
Research at Massachusetts General Hospital is interwoven through more than 30 different departments, centers and institutes. Our research includes fundamental, lab-based science; clinical trials to test new drugs, devices and diagnostic tools; and community and population-based research to improve health outcomes across populations and eliminate disparities in care.
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