Physicians Committee Celebrates Humane Neuroscience at Symposium and Soiree

Physicians Committee Medical research program director Ann Lam, PhD, with award winners Dr. Francesca Pistollato and Dr. Lena Smirnova, and Green Neuroscience Laboratory director Elan Ohayon, PhD. 

For the second year in a row, the Physicians Committee is partnering with the Green Neuroscience Laboratory to present the Green and Open Neuroscience Hero Awards for outstanding contributions to human-relevant research. This round of awards will be given at the 3rd Annual Green and Open Neuroscience Symposium & Soiree Nov. 13, 2017 in Washington, D.C. The free and public event is held as a satellite to the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting, the world’s largest annual meeting of neuroscientists, and will inform scientists about the promise of neuroscience research conducted without animals.

This year, two awardees are being recognized for their contributions. Awardee Dr. Lena Smirnova, research associate at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing, works to develop human “mini-brain” 3-dimensional organoids and other cell models to study the impact of environmental chemicals on brain function. The second recipient, Dr. Francesca Pistollato, research scientist at the European Commission Joint Research Center, is acknowledged for her work on human-based science, particularly with human induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) in the area of Alzheimer’s disease.

The Green and Open Neuroscience Hero Award is given to scientists, educators, policymakers, or advocates who help improve our understanding of the brain and health through research and perspectives that strengthen ethics, open science, the environment, education, arts and protection of neurodiversity (See also: greenneuro.org/principles). These heroes exemplify how science can be dramatically advanced while maintaining the highest standards of responsible science.

Through presentations, discussions, and music, the evening soiree is both a celebration and an opportunity to consider potential collaborations and the necessary steps that need to be taken in neuroscience in order to promote groundbreaking, humane research in the 21st century.

Last year’s winners include Dr. Jacopo Annese of the Brain Observatory, for his work to create a high-resolution human brain atlas to humanize the understanding of the brain, and Dr. Stacey Lopresti-Goodman of Marymount University, for her groundbreaking research on animal cognition and outstanding contributions to forwarding ethical science education.