Brainy Days

Brainy Days celebrates neuroscience with events throughout the month of March to educate and engage the community about the benefits of brain research.

Every year, the Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute hosts "Brainy Days" during the month of March. It is celebration of neuroscience that features free community lectures hosted by many of our researchers and community partners that are committed to promoting brain wellness and reducing the stigma associated with brain disorders.

“Brainy Days” exemplifies Florida Atlantic’s commitment to providing the community with the knowledge needed to maintain brain health and lower one’s risk for brain diseases. Our scientists are committed to conducting world-class research, developing cutting-edge technologies, and training the next generation of neuroscientists.

Dates	Event	Speaker/Host	Location
Mon., March 3 Lectures 5-6:30 p.m. VIP Donor Reception 6:30-7:30	The Power of the Arts and Science for Resiliency in Aging	Mind, Music, Movement Foundation	Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Florida Atlantic University
Mon., March 10 Doors open 7 p.m. Lecture 7:30-8:30 p.m. reception 8:30-9 p.m.	Origins and Treatments of Alzheimer's Disease	Professor Sir John Hardy, Ph.D., MD(Hons), DSc AEu FMedSci FRS, Chair of Molecular Biology of Neurological Disease UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology Hosted by Corinne Lasmezas, Ph.D., Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute	Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute Florida Atlantic MacArthur Campus, Jupiter
Wed., March 12 - Thursday March 13	MindFest 2025	Florida Atlantic University Center for the Future Mind	Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton Campus
Sat., March 15 10 a.m.- 1 p.m.	BrainSparks!	NeuroSquad In partnership with the Cox Science Center and Aquarium, Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience and the Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute	Cox Science Center and Aquarium 4801 Dreher Trail N., West Palm Beach
Tue., March 18 Lecture 6-7 p.m. Reception 7-8 p.m.	Pain in the Brain: A Drink a Day Could Bring More than You Bargain	Michael D. Burton, Ph.D., Eugene McDermott Distinguished Professor, Associate professor Department of Neuroscience University of Texas Dallas, Center for Advanced Pain Studies founding member Host Ning Quan, Ph.D., Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute	Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute Florida Atlantic MacArthur Campus, Jupiter
Wed., March 26 Lecture 6-7 p.m. reception and book signing 7-8 p.m.	Your Brain on God: Insights from Functional Brain Imaging Studies	Andrew B. Newberg, MD, R MRI Medical Director Division of Research Florida Atlantic University Host Randy D. Blakely, Ph.D., Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute	Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach, 411 Clematis St, West Palm Beach

Brainy Days 2024

Dates	Event	Speaker/Host	Zoom Recording
Thursday, March 7	Gut Feelings - The Gut Microbiome as a Key Regulator of Brain Health Across the Lifespan	John Cryan, Ph.D., Professor and Chair Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, University College Cork, Ireland Hosted by Randy D. Blakely, Ph.D., Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute
Tuesday, March 12	Well-being is a Skill	Richard Davidson, Ph.D., William James and Vilas Research Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry and Founder and Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Founder and Chief Visionary for Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc. Hosted by Nicole Baganz, Ph.D., Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute
March 16, 1 – 5 p.m. March 18, 5 – 8 p.m. March 19, 5 – 8 p.m.	INSIGHTS at the Institute Creativity and the Bipolar Brain Art Exhibition	Presented by the Ryan Licht Sang Bipolar Foundation, Palm Health Foundation and the Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute Hosted by Randy D. Blakely, Ph.D., Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute
Saturday, March 16	BrainSparks! Hands-on brain fun	NeuroSquad In partnership with the Cox Science Center and Aquarium, Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience and the Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute
Thursday, March 21	Art, Architecture, and Human Well-being Cocktail hour, lecture and book signing/reception to follow	Anjan Chatterjee, Ph.D., Professor of Neurology, Psychology, and Architecture, University of Pennsylvania and Director of the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics Hosted by Nicole Baganz, Ph.D., Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute
Saturday, March 23	Rhythms of the Brain	NeuroArts symposium presented by Mind, Music, Movement Foundation
Friday, March 29	Neural Nexus: Fusing Science, Art, and Creativity	Greg Dunn, Ph.D., Mixed Media Neuroscience Artist Suzanne Nalbantian, Ph.D., Interdisciplinary Scholar and Author in Humanities and Neuroscience Hosted by Robert W. Stackman, Ph.D. and Bethany Stanhope, Ph.D., Florida Atlantic University

Brainy Days 2023

FOR THE PUBLIC

Dates	Event	Speaker or Host	Zoom Recording
March 2	Autism Research, Education and Service: Moving the Needle — Right Now, Right Here!	Randy Blakely, Ph.D., Florida Atlantic Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute Damon Page, Ph.D., Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology Erin Brooker Lozott, EdD, BCBA-D, CCC-SLP, Els for Autism Foundation® Kelley C. Bastien, MSW, Florida Atlantic Center for Autism & Related Disabilities (CARD)
March 5	Autism Speaks Walk	NeuroSquad In partnership with Florida Atlantic Center for Autism and Related Disabilities
March 17	Reality+: Virtual Reality and the Puzzling Nature of Existence	David Chalmers, Ph.D., Departments of Philosophy and Neural Science, NYU Center for Mind, Brain and Consciousness
March 18	*The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness Lecture, reception and book signing	Sy Montgomery, Naturalist and Author
March 25	BrainBlitz! Hands on Brain Fun	NeuroSquad In partnership with the Cox Science Center and Aquarium
March 27	When Science Links with the Arts: Research and Alternative Therapies for Parkinson’s and other Neurodegenerative Diseases	Beth Elgort, CSW, Mind, Music and Movement Foundation Randy Blakely, Ph.D., Florida Atlantic Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute Julie Pilitsis, M.D., Ph.D., MBA, Florida Atlantic College of Medicine Henriette van Praag, Ph.D., Florida Atlantic Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute Voices of Parkinson's Chorus, Movement, Dance and Meditation

Note: All programs free and open to the public except for the March 17 lecture by David Chalmers
* Offered In conjunction with MindFest: Grand Opening of the Center for the Future Mind

Program Sponsor:

Event Sponsors:

Learn more: BI-outreach@fau.edu

Brainy Days 2022

Brainy Days—A Celebration of Neuroscience 2022

FOR THE PUBLIC

Dates	Event	Speaker or Host	Zoom link
February 28	“Never Enough: Personal and research experiences of drug addiction”	Judith Grisel, Ph.D.	Watch Zoom Recording
March 6	Autism Speaks Walk	NeuroSquad
March 15	“Gifts of the Crow”	John Marzluff, Ph.D.	Watch Zoom Recording
March 19	Brain Blitz! (Neuroscience fun for kids)	NeuroSquad
March 23	"COVID – In It for the Long Haul? How Immune Responses Impact the Brain and Mind”	Ning Quan, Ph.D.	Watch Zoom Recording
March 25	Diversity in Science Festival	NeuroSquad and NSO
March 31	“The Past, Present, and Future of Alzheimer’s Prevention”	Richard Isaacson, M.D.	Watch Zoom Recording

Program Sponsor:

Event Sponsors:

Brainy Days 2021

Brainy Days—A Celebration of Neuroscience 2021

FOR THE PUBLIC

Dates	Event	Speaker or Host	Zoom link
March 2	How Dogs Love Us: Insights from Brain Imaging	Gregory Berns, Ph.D., professor, Department of Psychology Emory University. Hosted by Cheryl A. Krause-Parello, Ph.D., R.N., professor, Florida Atlantic Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, and director of Canines Providing Assistance to Wounded Warriors® (C-P.A.W.W.).	Watch Zoom Recording
March 4	Brains, Minds, and Aliens: The Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence and its Relevance to Brain Science	Jill Tarter, Ph.D. Emeritus Chair for SETI Research, SETI Institute, Elan Barenholtz, Ph.D., Co-Director, Florida Atlantic Machine Perception and Cognitive Robotics Lab, hosted by Susan Schneider, Ph.D.. Professor of Philosophy and Director, Florida Atlantic Center for the Future Mind.	Watch Zoom Recording
March 9	New Insights into Mechanisms and Treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease	Allan Levey, Ph.D., chair, Department of Neurology and director of the Alzheimer’s Research Center, Emory University. Sponsored by Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Jupiter.	Watch Zoom Recording
March 11	Brains on Trial: What Brain Science Tells Us About the Origins and Limits of Responsibility	BJ Casey, Ph.D., director, Fundamentals of the Adolescent Brain Lab, Yale University; Josh Buckholtz, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Psychology, Center for Brain Science, Harvard University; Carey Haughwout, public defender, Palm Beach County, Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren, presiding county court judge, Misdemeanor Mental Health Court, 17th Judicial Circuit, Broward County. Hosted by Wendy Guastaferro, Ph.D., interim director and associate professor, Florida Atlantic School of of Criminology and Criminal Justice.	Watch Zoom Recording
March 19	The Mighty Worm: Nobel Prize Powerhouse for the Study of Neurodegenerative Disease	Randy Blakely, Ph.D., professor, Biomedical Science, Florida Atlantic’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine and executive director, Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute, Peter Rodriguez, graduate student, Florida Atlantic’s Integrative Biology Ph.D. program. Hosted by Becky Mercer, Ph.D.,  associate dean, Academic Affairs, Palm Beach State College.	Watch Zoom Recording
March 23	Brain Gains for Mental Illness: Progress for Science and Society	Audrey Gruss, founder and chairman, Hope for Depression Research Foundation, Susan G. Amara, Ph.D., scientific director, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).	Watch Zoom Recording
March 27	Brain Blitz: Neuroscience Fun for Kids	Hosted by the ASCEND Program at Florida Atlantic and South Florida Science Center	Watch Zoom Recording

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MAIN OFFICE

Florida Atlantic Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute

Jupiter Campus

Room 201F, MC-22
5353 Parkside Drive, Jupiter, FL 33458
Phone: 561.799.8100

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EDUCATION OFFICE

Florida Atlantic Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute

Boca Raton Campus

Room 103A, SE-43
777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33431
Phone: 561.297.4989