Photo by Carrie Rodman
Florida Atlantic's Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute Joins ‘Moonshot’ Venture to Advance Brain Health
To accelerate progress in brain health and science, Palm Health Foundation has launched a moonshot aspiration called the Brain Coast Vision to create a hub of innovation in Palm Beach County.
Some of humankind’s most difficult conditions to understand and treat are related to brain function. Unlocking the brain’s innermost secrets has proven more difficult than putting an astronaut on the moon. As one of the foremost neuroscience research institutions in the region, Florida Atlantic’s Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute has signed on as a partner in Palm Health Foundation’s important new endeavor.
"We are poised to realize a new vision, The Brain Coast," said Patrick J. McNamara, president and CEO of Palm Health Foundation. "Our next frontier is right here on Earth with the aim to accelerate the progress of innovation to diagnose, treat and cure a wide range of neurodegenerative diseases, psychiatric disorders and other brain conditions that affect eight in 10 Americans."
On Oct. 24, 2024, Palm Health Foundation presented The Brain Coast Vision during one of its Train the Brain events held at the Brain Institute. Attendees heard first-hand from McNamara and Randy D. Blakely, Ph.D., executive director of the Brain Institute, about the scope and purpose the vision.
The initiative is comprised of three pillars:
- Deepening brain science, education and resiliency through research
- Engaging the community
- Spurring innovation to improve brain health mental health and community resilience
"Thousands of brain scientists, trainees and community organizations oriented toward brain health work tirelessly up and down the Atlantic Coast of Florida to tackle the origins and impact of brain disorders," Blakely said. "The Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute, with research faculty on Florida Atlantic’s Harbor Branch, Jupiter, Boca Raton and Davie campuses, reflects a decade-long, multimillion dollar investment in discovery, basic and clinical research into the mysteries of the brain and its diseases."
An example of Palm Health Foundation’s commitment to the Brain Coast Vision is its investment in the field of computational neuroscience at Florida Atlantic. Through this highly specialized discipline, scientists can push the boundaries of traditional biological research and create novel connections among big data sets produced in neuroscience labs, exponentially accelerating the rate of scientific discovery and translation to advance human health. During the Train the Brain event, attendees heard from faculty and trainees who have benefited from Palm Health Foundation’s computational neuroscience funding and how their work is helping to unravel complicated neurological dysfunctions related to conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, depression and autism.
"This is an amazingly visionary gift," said Blakely, who is also the David J. S. Nicholson Distinguished Professor in Neuroscience and a professor of biomedical science in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. "Palm Health Foundation has been on the forefront of challenging its community to invest in the future of health and welfare of its community. We are very proud to be a contributor to the timely and transformative vision of The Brain Coast."
For more information, visit palmhealthfoundation.org/our-work-advancing-brain-health.