Professors Paul Weiss and Anne Andrews were among a group of UCLA guests invited to the White House on April 2 for President Obama’s introduction of the BRAIN Initiative.
BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative will fund research on new ways to treat, cure and prevent various brain disorders, such as Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, schizophrenia, and traumatic brain injury.
Chancellor Gene Block, Vice Chancellor for Research James Economou, and Professor Kelsey Martin, chair of biological chemistry and head of a group that is encouraging collaboration among the campus’s neuroscience community, also attended the event. President Obama’s proposed 2013-14 budget will include $100 million to fund the program, with support from National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
UCLA has been establishing interdisciplinary teams to help address the BRAIN Initiative and other initiatives that President Obama has referred to as “Grand Challenges of the 21st Century,” meant to create jobs and improve lives. The university may play a significant role in the BRAIN Initiative, because of strengths in such fields as neuroscience, nanotechnology, psychology, and psychiatry.
The Newsroom story can be read here. The White House’s blog post can be read here.
