The BRAIN Initiative: the national vision for the future of neuroscience is now in doubt | Bill Newsome

Earlier this year, President Obama's signature BRAIN Initiative, which has powered advances in neuroscience for the past 10 years, had its budget slashed by 40%. 

Over the past decade, the BRAIN Initiative made roughly $4 billion in targeted investments in more than 1500 research projects across the country and has dramatically accelerated progress tackling fundamental challenges in neuroscience. As we head into the next federal budget cycle, the future of the initiative remains uncertain. 

Today we take stock of how the BRAIN Initiative transformed neuroscience over the past 10 years, and what the outlook is for the future of the field.

To give us an unparalleled behind the scenes view, we are fortunate to have Bill Newsome with us on the show. A world renowned expert in the brain mechanisms of visual perception and decision-making, Bill co-chaired the original BRAIN Initiative planning committee in 2013 (the same year he became the founding director of the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute here at Stanford). Don't miss this conversation!

Learn More

• About the BRAIN Initiative 
  • NIH BRAIN Initiative website
  • A Leader of Obama's New Brain Initiative Explains Why We Need It (WIRED, April 2013)
  • BRAIN @ 10: A decade of innovation (Neuron, Sept 2024)
  • Reflecting on a decade of BRAIN—10 Institutes and Centers, one mission (NIH BRAIN Blog, Aug 2024)
    
    
• About last year's funding cuts: 
  • Understanding the BRAIN Initiative budget (NIH BRAIN Initiative)
  • $278 million cut in BRAIN Initiative funding leaves neuroscientists in limbo (The Transmitter, April 2024)
  • The Future of BRAIN Initiative Funding Remains Unclear (The Transmitter, July 2024)

Get in touch
We're doing some listener research and we want to hear from your neurons! Email us at at [email protected] if you'd be willing to help out, and we'll be in touch with some follow-up questions.

Episode Credits

This episode was produced by Michael Osborne at 14th Street Studios, with production assistance by Morgan Honaker. Our logo is by Aimee Garza. The show is hosted by Nicholas Weiler at Stanford's Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute. 

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