The Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology at the University of Coimbra (CNC-UC) is organising the “Dynamic Brain Function” symposium this Friday, October 2, starting at 9:30 am. This international neuroscience event is promoted by the scientific project DYNABrain and will take place in Amphitheatre III of the Colégio de São Bento.
The “Dynamic Brain Function” symposium brings together researchers and specialists in the field of neuroscience and promotes knowledge sharing, scientific discussion, and the exchange of different perspectives in this area of research.
The event will feature four internationally recognised speakers: Carmen Sandi, Richard L. Huganir, Guoping Feng, and Susan Magsamen (more information about each speaker below).
The event marks the conclusion of the DYNABrain project, an ERA Chair awarded to the University of Coimbra through the CNC-UC. The project is coordinated by CNC-UC researcher and lecturer at the University of Coimbra’s Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Ana Luisa Carvalho, and recruited ERA Chair holder Cristina Márquez, founder and principal investigator of the Neural Circuits of Social Behaviour research group, an innovative and pioneering systems neuroscience laboratory integrated into the CNC-UC and the Centre for Innovation in Biotechnology and Biomedicine (CiBB).
Through the establishment of this high-level research team, the DYNABrain project has contributed to strengthening neuroscience research at the CNC-UC and the University of Coimbra. In addition to advancing a new interdisciplinary line of research and establishing the doctoral programme in Integrative Neuroscience (idpIN), the team secured approximately €2 million in additional research funding.
Awarded through the Horizon 2020 programme, this ERA Chair provided €2.5 million in European funding. The funding is intended to help universities and research centres improve their competitiveness in Research, Development and Innovation (R&D&I).
About the international speakers at the Dynamic Brain Function symposium
Carmen Sandi is a professor at the Brain Mind Institute at EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she investigates the neurobiological mechanisms through which stress and anxiety influence brain function and behaviour. She has served as president of the European Brain and Behavior Society and the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies. She is the founder of the Alba Network, a network that promotes diversity and equity in brain sciences research, and co-chair of the Global Stress & Resilience Network.
Richard Huganir is a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Neuroscience and Psychological and Brain Sciences, Director of the Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Medicine Brain Science Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, United States. His laboratory studies the mechanisms underlying neuronal communication and synaptic plasticity, as well as their role in learning and memory processes and neurological disorders. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Academy of Sciences. In 2018, he served as president of the Society for Neuroscience.
Guoping Feng is Professor of Neuroscience at MIT and associate director of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research in Boston, United States. His laboratory has made fundamental contributions to understanding the role of synapses in neurodevelopmental disorders and psychiatric conditions, including autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia. Among the many distinctions he has received throughout his career, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Susan Magsamen is the founder and executive director of the International Arts + Mind Lab at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, United States. She is a leading figure in the emerging field of neuroaesthetics, which investigates how artistic and aesthetic experiences can influence brain function, health, well-being, learning, and human potential. She is the co-author of the book Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us, a New York Times bestseller that presents the science behind how creating and engaging with art can promote physical and mental health, contribute to learning, and strengthen communities.
