Novel thinkers and pioneers in brain research, technology, healthcare and the economy will gather this month in Lausanne, Switzerland, for the third conference of The Brain Forum.

The forum, on May 26 and 27, will also be attended by researchers, engineers, healthcare professionals, entrepreneurs, industrialists, investors, funding agencies and policy makers to advance the understanding of how the brain works and to accelerate the application and value of this knowledge in society and the economy.

The event will be divided into two sections – with Day 1 focusing on entrepreneurship and innovation, and Day 2 on new advances in science and technology.

During Day 1, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Day, entrepreneurs and investors will share their expertise in translating science into business, and discuss their ideas for the future.

The keynote lecture ‘Practical lessons in machine learning’, will be presented by Greg Corrado, a senior research scientist working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, computational neuroscience, and scalable machine learning at Google Research, and will explore aspects of machine learning – upon which much of Google’s work on language, speech, translation, visual processing, ranking and prediction relies.

Day 1 will also include ‘The Brain Forum Innovation Award’, which offers opportunities for start-ups to connect with investors. More than 120 pre-screened companies will compete to be amongst the 8 finalists who will have five minutes to pitch their projects to the audience and a jury of thought leaders in innovation, including Tej Tadi (MindMaze) and Markus Goebel (Novartis Venture Fund).

Dr Jamil El-Imad, CEO of The Brain Forum, said: “Technology moves quickly and often at a pace where large matrix organisations can’t keep up. The start-up competition aims to change that by providing a stage for these companies gain”.

During the Science Day, ‘International Brain Initiatives: Progress, challenges and opportunities’ will give an overview of the world’s major brain projects, providing updates about their scope, aims and progress.

“The brain and mental health – Increasing awareness and reducing stigma” is devoted to recent advances in the understanding of the brain mechanisms underlying mental disorders, presented by Emily Holmes (University of Cambridge), Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg (Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim) and Helen Mayberg (Emory University/USA).

Prof Patrick Aebischer, president of EPFL and member of The Brain Forum’s International Advisory Board, believes that high-level meetings such as The Brain Forum are crucial, bringing together leaders in research and entrepreneurs.

He commented: “In an aging society, neurological diseases are an ever-growing source of cost for health systems, all over the world. Understanding them will result in better, earlier diagnostics and more efficient and cost-effective treatments”.  – TradeArabia News Service