INTERNATIONAL BRAIN RESEARCH ORGANIZATION

Elsevier,The Boulevard, Langford Lane,Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, UK © IBRO VOLUME 32 2004

THE REGIONS REPORT p. 6BREAKING NEWSTHE FIRST YEAR …IBRO SECRETARY-GENERAL REPORTSJennifer Lund, IBRO's new Secretary-General sinceJanuary 2004, succeeded Albert Aguayo who for thelast three years pursued relentlessly the aims of IBROto provide top-class training to neuroscientists aroundthe world.

The first 6 months of 2004 were a time of hecticactivity in IBRO. Our 6 world RegionalCommittees have led the way with more schoolsthan ever, supplemented by the busy VisitingLecture Team Programme of neuroscience courses.All the programme committees have veryactive schedules and IBRO’s Journal Neurosciencegoes from strength to strength, with rapidly risingsubmissions and increasing ratings.The IBRO web site has been redesigned and is an outstanding source of information and news forthe world’s neuroscientists.The Workshops &Symposia and Fellowships & Travel Grants awardsprogrammes have never been busier. Overall,2005 promises to be a most successful year forthe IBRO community.

I have been greatly impressed by the hard workof the Regional and standing Committees.The positive feedback from our Alumni is veryencouraging. It is they who will form the future ofneuroscience in their respective countries and wetry through the Alumni programme to track andhelp them as they develop their careers.

I have also been impressed by the excellent imagethat IBRO has in the world and the respect withwhich its programmes are viewed. IBRO is one ofthe most active of the international basic scienceunions with an unrivalled scale of activities.Withits limited budget, IBRO has been able to supportso many ventures through major support fromfoundations and government agencies and alsothrough the many smaller partnerships IBRO hasmade. Often the help is not monetary, but ofmany other kinds, from deans and faculty who goout of their way to facilitate IBRO events.Principal partners in the programmes of IBRO’sRegional Committees are the individual nationalneuroscience societies and scientific academieswhose representatives make up IBRO’s GoverningCouncil, as well as the large multinational neuroscience federations such as FENS, SONAand FAONS.

My hopes for IBRO’s future are for its continuedsuccess in serving the international neurosciencecommunity. I have initiated some new programmes that I hope will add to that aim: aClinical/Basic Science Links programme to helpemphasize the need to find solutions to humandisease; a Public Education/Brain CampaignCommittee to extend the work of the DanaFoundation and EDAB to all regions of the worldoutside North America and Europe - it is essential to inform the public of the rationale andresults of neuroscience research since they areboth the funders and beneficiaries of this work; aReturn Home programme that will work toimprove the conditions for neuroscientists incountries struggling to maintain active scientificresearch.This last endeavour is the most ambitious and difficult of the new aims of IBRO.

Jennifer LundIBRO Secretary-General

Winning Neuroscience cover p. 8

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT IBRO, ITS PROGRAMMES AND FUTURE EVENTS GO TO THE IBRO WEB SITEwww.ibro.info

IBRO School, Seville, Spain p. 5

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Fogarty Donates to IBRO Schools p. 1

IBRO to Waive Dues for Small Corporate Members

p. 7

HINARI Free Access to Journals p. 7

IRNTP Lists Neuroscience Training Programmes p. 7

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BRAIN CAMPAIGN IS LAUNCHED!In a major new drive to increase public awarenessof neuroscience around the world IBRO joinedforces with the European Dana Alliance for theBrain (EDAB) and the Federation ofNeuroscience Societies (FENS), with input fromthe IBRO US/Canada Regional Committee, toestablish a worldwide Brain Campaign.To helppromote the campaign IBRO this year formed thePublic Education Committee.

All IBRO Affiliated Organizations were invited toform local Brain Campaign groups, which couldraise the profile of brain research. Local groupswill include clinicians, schoolteachers, politicians,media people, charity workers, young postgraduates.

The IBRO Regions have also been invited to setup the Brain Campaign by appointing an RC member to assist national societies in the campaign to encourage local groups to carry outpublic activities throughout the year.

The Public Education Committee will support arange of efforts and events to improve BrainAwareness internationally.This includes supporting Brain Awareness Week.The committee is building a collection of educational material and public information onthe brain available in several languages and accessable from the IBRO web site's IBRO Edupages. We have commissioned the translation ofthe BNA booklet 'Neuroscience: Science of theBrain'. Initially versions will be produced inSpanish, French and German.A Mandarin translation is already available.

Esther LennonChair, Public Education Committee

FOGARTY MAKESDONATION TOIBRO SCHOOLS

Fogarty International Center, a division ofthe US National Institutes of Health (NIH)made a substantial donation of US$75,000

to help support 4 IBRO NeuroscienceSchools in 2004.The schools were:

IBRO/INMHA School:Topics in Cellularand Molecular Neuroscience, Cordoba,Argentina, September 6-24; IBRO Africa

Region Neuroscience School:Neurodegeneration and Regeneration,Grahamstown, South Africa, September10-18; IBRO Advanced NeuroscienceCrimea School: Receptors, Channels,

Messengers Crimea, Ukraine, September16-28; and a school in Bamako, Mali,Africaon Environmental Influences on the Brainand Neural Health (date not firm at time

of going to press).

MELBOURNE CHOSEN FOR

THE 7THIBRO WORLDCONGRESS JULY 2007!

IBRO'S AFFILIATEDORGANIZATION

NUMBERS GROW!The entry during 2004 of the Society for

Neuroscience of Peru (SONEP), theCanadian Association of Neuroscientists

(CAN) and the Dutch Neurofederation asCorporate Members of IBRO brings the

number of Affiliated Organizations to wellover 70, a 30% increase in the last 3 years.

Affiliated Organizations are represented on IBRO's Governing Council, which has

the ultimate power to establish policy anddirection and thus continue to fulfil

IBRO's aim to create an international basis for neuroscience.The GC works

with IBRO's Regional Committees to helppromote IBRO's training programmes

around the world.

IBRO FUNDING 2005-2006Application forms for all Fellowships and Travel Grantscan be found on the IBRO web site at:http://www.ibro.info/Pub_Main_Display.asp?Main_ID=3Applications from Qualified Applicants for:• IBRO Research Fellowships 2006 • John G. Nicholls/ IBRO Fellowship 2006• IBRO Travel (Conference) Grants July-Dec 2005 • IBRO Travel (Conference) Grants Jan-June 2006 • SfN/IBRO International Travel Fellowships 2005 Please note that all applicants should fill in theappropriate fellowship or travel grant applicationform which should be submitted, preferably electronically to: ibro4@wanadoo.fr.Hard copy of documents required, as indicated inthe application forms, are to be sent by regularmail or courier (no faxes) to: IBRO Secretariat,255 rue Saint Honoré, 75001 Paris, France.

Applicants should apply for not more than one category of funding for travel (IBRO Travel Grant,SfN/IBRO International Travel Fellowship) or fellowship(IBRO Research Fellowship, John G. NichollsFellowship, SSN/IBRO Fellowship).

FELLOWSHIPS & TRAVEL GRANTS

IBRO Research Fellowships 2006 Application Deadline: 1 March 2005

The IBRO Fellowship Program aims to foster quality neuroscience especially in the less-developed and less well-funded countries. It welcomes high-quality scientists (under the age of 45) from diverse geographic and scientific areas wishing to broaden the scope of their training in neuroscience byworking 1 month to 1 year abroad in good laboratories. Priority will be given to those who have not obtained an IBRO Fellowship within the past 3years and who, after completion of the training funded by this Fellowship, are willing to return to their home countries, bringing with them new knowledge and skills to advance neuroscience in their regions.The funding for a 12-month fellowship is US$25,000.An 'Outstanding IBRO Fellowship' of additional US$5,000 will be awarded to the distinguishedcandidate.

John G. Nicholls/ IBRO Fellowship 2006Application Deadline: 1 March 2005

One John G. Nicholls IBRO Fellowship has been created in honour of Dr John G. Nicholls, the founding Director from 1994 to 2002 of the IBROVisiting Lecture Team Programme (VLTP). Under his leadership the team has taught some 1000 students in 21 neuroscience courses held in 18 different countries.

The John G. Nicholls IBRO Fellowship aims to assist 1 promising researcher younger than 30 years of age who wishes to further his/her training inneuroscience at a distinguished foreign laboratory for 1 year.The successful candidate is expected to return to his/her home country after the training,bringing new knowledge and skills in the neurosciences.

Candidates should be younger than 30 years old at the time of application and resident in one of the 18 countries where the IBRO Visiting LectureTeam Programme (VLTP) has been held under Dr Nicholls’ direction:

APRC (6): China, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and VietnamARC (1): NigeriaCEERC (3): Bulgaria, Iran and PolandLARC (8):Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela

Application

The application must include:a) Two letters of reference from local scientists who can speak about the applicant's research potential, and endorse the application.b) The name one of the IBRO VLTP teachers who could act as the applicant’s referee.Teacher's reference will be an advantage.c) A letter from the proposed supervisor indicating that he/she is willing to accept the candidate and agrees on the proposed project.d) A description no longer than 2 pages of the project that the candidate wishes to pursue.e) A letter from indicating applicant’s wish to return to home country upon completion of the Fellowship.The funding for a 12-month fellowship is US$25,000.

IBRO Travel Grants July-December 2005 Application Deadline: 1 March 2005

IBRO offers Travel Grants for high-quality neuroscientists especially from the less-developed and less well-funded countries to present their findingsat international neuroscience meetings. Priority will be given to those who have not obtained an IBRO Travel Grant in the past 3 years.If there is more than one author for the same abstract, only one will be considered for the same application. Evidence of travel, attendance(conference registration, air-ticket copy) and presentation (copy of abstract in conference program) at the conference will be required.Written confirmation will berequired from supervisor that no other funding support is available for the same travel.Please note that applications for Travel Grants for the six-month period:a) July-Dec 2005 should be submitted by 1 March 2005b) Jan-June 2006 should be submitted by 1 Sept 2005The funding for travel will be up to US$1,500 per award.

SfN/IBRO International Travel Fellowships 2005Application Deadline: 1 March 2005

The Society for Neuroscience offers Travel Fellowships of up to US$1,500 each, for neuroscientists under the age of 35 from the less-developed countries of the 5 IBRO regions (Africa,Asian/Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America,Western Europe) to attend the 35th SfN AnnualMeeting.The applicant should be the first author of an abstract to be presented at the annual meeting. Copy of abstract submitted to SfN for a posteror a platform presentation is required.

Kwok-Fai SoChair, Fellowships and Travel Grants Committee

SYMPOSIA AND WORKSHOPSIBRO invites requests for partial funding ofSymposia and Workshops on important topics inneuroscience with the aim particularly of encouraging neuroscience research and scholarship in regions of the world with limitedfunds for science. Participants should representthe international neuroscience community as wellas regional interests. Meetings should have a clearfocus on a particular topic. Preference will begiven to activities that include younger scientistsand offer training for scientists from countries in which little money is available for research or teaching.Applicants are encouraged to include a component available publicly on the web thatcould involve participant discussion either beforeor after a regular symposium or workshop. Suchdiscussions might, for example, include opportunities for students and others to askquestions, make suggestions and provide relevantinformation.Symposia should deal with topics of key interest, specialized or broad, with backgroundtalks to help those unfamiliar with the material, aswell as accounts of current research.Workshops are more technical and practical inorientation.A major portion of the programmeshould involve discussion, practical teaching oftechniques and the presentation of concepts andcontrols necessary for experimental work.Workshops that bring useful techniques anddonate permanent equipment to less well-fundedcountries are encouraged.Deadlines for receiving proposals are February 1and September 1.Guidelines for applicants can be found on theIBRO web site’s Funding pages.

Ken Muller,Symposia & Workshops Programme

SSN-IBRO Fellowship for Young Investigators 2005

The Swiss Society for Neuroscience (SSN), withthe financial support of the Swiss NationalScience Foundation, is offering a 1-year fellowship for a foreign postgraduate student tocarry out a basic or clinical research project related to neuroscience in an academic institutionin Switzerland.The fellowship is a co-sponsoredcollaboration with IBRO.The amount of the fellowship is to be decided by the Swiss NationalScience Foundation. In 2003, it was SF40,000(approximately Euro27,000). More informationcan be found on the SSN web site:www.swissneuroscience.ch

Eligibility: Candidates should be below 45 yearsof age at the time of the application and shouldhave an MD or PhD degree, or equivalent.In the case of comparable qualifications,preference will be given to applicants from lessprivileged countries.

Application: The application must include:a summary (max. 3 pp) of the research project;a letter of support from the host laboratory,stating that it will provide with laboratory spaceand research expenses; the candidate's curriculumvitae and list of publications, which should be submitted to the President of the Swiss Societyfor Neuroscience. If possible send by email tosn@pharma.unizh.ch.Deadline for application: December 31, 2004Decisions will be made in the spring of 2005.The fellowship starts on June 1, 2005.

Jean-Marc FritschyPresident, SSNInstitute of Pharmacology and ToxicologyUniversity of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

IBRO Outstanding Fellow 2003

Francisco Capani, chosen Outstanding Fellow 2003, worked for 1 year with Professor Oleg Shupliakov, Dept. ofNeuroscience at the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden on the coupling between the endocytosis and actin-basedtransport of vesicles. He is now back in Argentina working at the Instituto de Biología Celular y NeurocienciasProfesor 'Eduardo De Robertis', Buenos Aires, Argentina.

"Two different actin systems have been described in the synapse. One system is responsible for transport of vesicles along the axon; the other is involved in transport of vesicles from the endocyticzone back to the synaptic vesicle cluster. In the experiments that I performed in Sweden I demonstratedthat these systems interact at sites of synaptic vesicle recycling. Giant reticulospinal synapse in the lamprey was used as a model system in these experiments. Injection of phalloidin into the giant axoncaused formation of actin bundles in axons and resulted in mislocalization of recycled synaptic vesiclesfrom endocytic zones.Together with Dr Oleg Shupliakov, I am currently preparing a manuscript.

We also started a project aimed at unravelling mechanisms controlling synaptic vesicle size.To achievethis objective we use electron tomography and 3-D reconstruction techniques.The organization ofendocytic intermediates 'trapped' at different stages of synaptic vesicle recycling is investigated. In thisproject we are working in collaboration with the National Center of Microscopy and Imaging Research,University of California, San Diego, USA and the Cell and Molecular Biology Department, KarolinskaInstitutet, Sweden.”

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The number of IBRO Alumni is now over 800.The Alumni Programme was set up to facilitateinteractions between students and students andfaculty who have participated in IBRO's educational programmes and to create a community of young scientists who will remain in contact with IBRO and with each other. IBROtries wherever possible to assist Alumni withguidance and mentorship on scientific issues andcareer selection.

Proposed activities include: expansion of the website Directory of Alumni with e-mails andaddresses of former students of IBRO schoolsand VLTP courses; reunions at national and international meetings; a web site map with linksto items of interest (training programmes, Map &Compass, Neuro-Grants Info, Grants to ReturnHome); email circulation of material of interest toAlumni; assisting Alumni seeking interactions onscientific, social and other topics of interest.

Sigismund Huck (sigismund.huck@meduniwien.ac.at),a member of IBRO's Neuroscience School Board,is the coordinator of the Alumni programme. Heis now assisted by Connie Atwell

Habiba Vongtau (Nigeria), one of IBRO's many Alumni

Cuban neuroscientist spends year in Australia

Pavel Prado-Gutiérrez, age 27 and a PhD student atthe Cuban Center for Neuroscience, Havana, Cuba,was awarded an IBRO Fellowship to work for oneyear in 2003 at the Department of Otolaryngology,University of Melbourne, Australia.

'At the moment I am completing the analysis ofdata collected from experiments performed inthe Department of Otolaryngology, University ofMelbourne,Australia.This work was focused onthe effect of electrical stimuli with different pulseduration and interphase gap on the auditoryresponse of deafened animals. Part of the resultswas presented in the seminar 'A tool for measuring peripheral neural survival inimplantees?' in the Bionic Ear Institute,Melbourne,Australia.This work will be also presented at the 2nd Meeting of NeuralDegeneration, Havana 2004 and 8th InternationalCochlear Implant Conference, Indiana, USA.Alsoa paper will be written for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. In the second half of thepresent year (2004) I will start working on theproject 'Effect of deafened on auditory learning'.

The IBRO Fellowship program is an importantcontribution in the development of neurosciencein third world countries.With this program youngresearchers have the opportunity of broadeningtheir research experience while living in anotherculture.The fellowship program also allows thedevelopment of long-term scientific collaborationbetween institutions of different countries due tothe relation that develops between the researcherand the host center.

In my case, visiting the Department ofOtolaryngology, University of Melbourne,Australia was a very important scientific and cultural experience.There I learned differenttechniques and methods needed to carry out myresearch and was exposed to new techniquesassociated with cochlear implants. New researchtechniques included new deafening techniques,procedures for implantation of intra-cochlearelectrodes arrays for electrical stimulation,techniques for recording electrically evoked neural activity in the auditory system and procedures for histology. I also had the opportunityof working on a scientific project, which willresult in a publication in a peer-reviewed journal."

Ukraine researcher in Paris

Bohdan Kolomiets, of the Bogomoletz Institute ofPhysiology, Kiev, Ukraine, was awarded in 2002 anIBRO Fellowship, which he took up at the University ofParis' Laboratory of Neurobiology AdaptationProcesses during the year 2003.

"Currently, I am completing my research work inthe Laboratory of Neurobiology of AdaptationProcesses, University of Paris VI (Paris, France).The project funded by IBRO was aimed on theelucidation of the relationship between patternsof neuronal activity occurring at different stagesof learning and induction of synaptic plasticity inrat prefrontal cortex. Based on the results of thebehavioral part of project, we were able to isolatecertain patterns of burst-like activity occurringduring the critical learning stages and we successfully applied the sequence of stimuli withparameters mimicking burst-like activity in our invitro studies so as to evoke long-term plasticitychanges (NMDA-receptor dependent long-termpotentiation) in the pyramidal neurons of rat prefrontal cortex. Our data revealed that certainpatterns of activity seen in prefrontal cells duringthe learning task are capable of modifying for aconsiderable time the synaptic transmission andthus participate in the long-term memory storage processes.

A part of our results was presented at the IBROCongress 2003 in Prague and at the CNRS meeting at the University of Paris VI in 2004.Results will be also presented at the 4th Forumof European Neuroscience, Lisbon, Portugal andat the 34th Annual Meeting of the Society forNeuroscience in San Diego, USA.A full-lengthpaper has been submitted for publication in apeer-reviewed journal.

By providing fellowships to young researchersfrom developing countries IBRO offers them aunique possibility of acquiring new, state-of-the-

art techniques and approaches, of extending theirresearch experience, as well as establishing newscientific contacts with outstanding neurosciencelaboratories for further fruitful collaboration aftertheir return to the home institution.

I am very much obliged to IBRO for granting methe fellowship and I appreciate the excellentorganization of my research stay in France, thanksto the Director of the Fellowship Programme, DrKwok-Fai So, and to the IBRO Secretariat."

Nigerian researcher spends year atKarolinska Institutet

Steven Oluwole, Senior Lecturer in Neurology at theDepartment of Medicine, University of Ibadan,Ibadan, Nigeria, took up a 1-year IBRO Fellowshipfrom May 2003 to April 2004 at KarolinskaInstitutet, Stockholm, Sweden, where he worked withProfessor Kristen Kristensson in the Division ofNeurodegenerative Diseases Research, Dept.of Neurosciences.

"The objective of the fellowship was to investigate if thiocyanate, the major metabolite of cyanide, is toxic to dorsal root ganglion neurons.The planned studies were designed totest the hypothesis that exposure to cyanide isthe causal agent of endemic ataxic polyneuropathy. Endemic ataxic polyneuropathy is a neurological syndrome of distal symmetricalsensory polyneuropathy, sensory gait ataxia,optic neuropathy, and deafness. It has been reported predominantlyfrom southwestern Nigeria, but also from other African countries like Senegal and Tanzania.

The onset is usually insidious and the course is progressive.

Consumption of cassava food, which providedabout two-thirds of the calories for the affectedpopulation, was implicated in the causation ofendemic ataxic polyneuropathy in the 1950s and1960s. Cyanide, which is released from thecyanogenic compounds in cassava foods, or thiocyanate, a metabolite of cyanide, were considered possible toxicants which induced neuron damage. I investigated the relationship ofconsumption of cassava foods and occurrence ofendemic ataxic polyneuropathy in a doctoral thesis, ‘Endemic ataxic polyneuropathy in Nigeria’,which I defended at Karolinska Institutet in April 2002.

The studies in the thesis showed that ataxicpolyneuropathy persists in the endemic area insouthwestern Nigeria. It was shown that cassavais still the major food in the endemic area, andthat thiocyanate was higher in the endemic areathan in the non-endemic areas.A case-controlstudy, however, did not show a difference in theintake of cassava food and exposure to cyanidebetween cases and controls.A comparative studyof two communities with high exposure tocyanide from cassava foods, one in the endemicarea and one in the non-endemic areas, showedhigh occurrence of ataxic polyneuropathy only inthe endemic community.An experimental study,which was conducted to quantitate exposure tocyanide from cassava foods, showed that theamount of cyanide that is released from a typicalmeal of cassava food was too small to cause acutecyanide toxicity. It was concluded that exposureto cyanide is not causally related to occurrence ofendemic ataxic polyneuropathy.

Following these findings, other putative etiologicalagents for endemic ataxic polyneuropathy wereconsidered.An investigation of two subjects, notpublished, showed mild increase in mononuclearcells in the CSF, while MRI imaging showed hyper-intense signals on T2 weighted images mainly in the frontal cerebral areas.These resultssuggest that inflammation may be involved in the pathogenesis of endemic ataxic polyneuropathy.Subsequently the proposed studies that werebased on putative association of exposure tocyanide, which IBRO had supported, were revised.It was concluded that immunohistochemistry andmolecular biology techniques would be needed tofurther the investigation of endemic ataxicpolyneuropathy in Nigeria.”

IBRO Fellow Steven Oluwole

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT FUNDING FROM IBRO AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS,VISIT THE IBRO WEBSITE www.ibro.info

800 IBRO ALUMNI !IBRO’S ALUMNI & FELLOWS

Four IBRO Alumni Enrol for MBL Courses,Woods HoleFour IBRO-sponsored students were selected to participate in Marine Biology Laboratory courses in the summer of 2004 at Woods Hole, MA, USA.The students are all IBRO Alumni,having taken part either in IBRO Neuroscience Schools or the Visiting Lecture Team Programme.

Thabelo Khoboko is a graduate student at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University ofCape Town, South Africa. In 2002 she won the IBRO Levi-Montalcini Award for African Women inNeuroscience to pursue a higher degree at Cape Town University’s Dept. of Human Biology.Her research involves measurement of glutamate receptor function in a rat model forParkinson's disease. Her aim is to develop her skills in electrophysiological techniques to studyhow synaptic connectivity within neural circuits has been modified by neurological disorders.She was enrolled in the Summer Program in Neuroscience, Ethics and Survival.

Milena Winograd is a doctoral student in the Neuroscience Institute at the University MiguelHernandez, San Juan de Alicante, Spain. Her thesis research is on the cortical network mechanisms underlying prefrontal oscillations and involves experimental design, preparation ofslices, intra and extracellular recordings and data analysis. Milena was enrolled in the courseMethods in Computational Neuroscience.

Maria Castello, PhD works in the Dept. of Comparative Neurophypsiology and also in theDept of Histology, Faculty of Medicine, Instituto de Investigaciones Biologicas Clemente Estable,Montevideo, Uruguay. Dr Castello is part of a research group whose main interest is in the studyof perception. She uses the electrosensory system as a model, in particular the electrosensorysystem of Gymnotus carapo. She was enrolled in the Neural Systems and Behavior course.

Emiliano Merlo is a doctoral student in the Biology Dept of the School of Exact and NaturalSciences at the University of Buenos Aires,Argentina. Emiliano's thesis research focuses on studying the role of NF-kappaB signaling pathway that leads to memory extinction in the crabChasmagnathus. He was enrolled in the Neurobiology course.

IBRO FELLOWS REPORT

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(atwell@ninds.nih.gov), who brings to the programme a great deal of experience from herformer job at NIH.

"What lies behind the VLTP courses is the noble aim of IBRO: with its worldwide long-range perspective, it endeavours to encourageknowledge for its own sake and research wherever it is done. IBRO recognizes that people working in poor

universities and medical schools have just the same right to be interested in basic science and have just the same right to hearabout it from world experts." John Nicholls, Director VLTP, 1994-2002

VLTP, 1994-20041994: Mexico1995: Chile: Santiago de Chile;Argentina:Buenos Aires;Venezuela: Caracas; India:Bombay, Bangalore1996: Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur, Khota Baru1997: People's Republic of China: Beijing,Xian; Shanghai1998: Brazil: Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo;India: Mahalebeshwar; Bulgaria: Sofia1999: Philippines: Diliman, Manila:Course inNeuroscience; Sri Lanka2000: Brazil: Ribeirao Preto2001: India: Bangalore; Uruguay:Montevideo; Cuba: Havana;Vietnam2002: Iran:Tehran;Argentina: Cordoba;Poland:Wroclaw;Vietnam: Ho Chi MinhCity ; China: Fudan University, Shanghai;Peru: University of Cusco, Cusco2003:Turkey: Ege University School ofMedicine, Izmir; Peru: University ofChiclayo, Chiclayo; Uganda: UniversityFaculty of Medicine, Kampala 2004: Cuba: University of Granma,Manzanillo; Costa Rica: University of CostaRica, San Jose; Iran: School of CognitiveSciences-IPM,Tehran; Romania: Universityof Bucharest, Bucharest; China: MedicalUniversity of Qindao, Qindao

THE GRASSFOUNDATION TO

FUND VLTP UNTIL 2005

The Grass Foundation (USA) has extendedits period of funding for the IBRO Visiting

Lecture Team Programme (VLTP) from2003 to 2005. In June 2003 Steve Zottoli,President of the Grass Foundation, madethe generous offer to provide funding for

the VLTP for 2003.The Trustees of theFoundation then agreed to extend funding

until the end of 2005.The GrassFoundation is a philanthropic institutiondevoted to neuroscience and allied fields

of medicine and science.

The VLTP in Izmir,Turkey: The VLTP course atEge University School of Medicine, Izmir(Bornova),Turkey, September 10-18, 2003 wasorganized by Sakire Pogun (Ege University Schoolof Medicine) and U. J. McMahan (VLTP Director).

The lecturers were Prof. John Nicholls (SISSA),Prof. Hugo Arechiga (UNAM, Mexico), Prof. PeterSargent (UCSF, US), Prof. Caroline Damsky (UCSF,US), Dr Yuan Liu (NIH, US), Prof. Eric Schwartz(University of Chicago School of Medicine, US)and Prof. U. J. McMahan (Stanford UniversitySchool of Medicine, US).The lectures includedmechanisms of synaptic transmission and sensorytransduction; the structure and function of channels, receptors and pumps; the organizationof extracellular matrix and its role in neural function and disease; the cellular and molecularregulation of circadian rhythms and other behaviours; the structural, functional organizationof vertebrate and invertebrate visual systems; andsteps and mechanisms in neural development andregeneration. Dr Yuan Liu, of the NationalInstitute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke atthe NIH, USA, spoke to students about opportunities for funding and career development.She was also a lecturer on the VLTP course at theMedical University of Qingda, Qingdao, China, July21-29, 2004.

The 68 students included Masters and PhD students in Physiology, Biochemistry, Biophysics,

Psychology and Physical Therapy as well as medical students, residents in Neurology andPsychiatry, junior faculty members and a fewadvanced undergraduates. Some students gave 10-minute talks: Elif Kirmizi Alsan, Sinan Canan,Meral Yuksel, Bilge Ozerman,Alper Karakas,Aysegul Kucuk, Cagri Yalgin, Gulgun Kayalioglu,Cosan Terek.

The course was overshadowed by the suddendeath of one of its lecturers, Hugo Arechiga, froma massive heart attack, which occurred in hishotel room near the course's halfway point.Widely recognized for his leadership in sciencepolicy at the National University of Mexico(UNAM) and throughout Latin America, as well asfor his many research accomplishments, Hugowas a wonderfully generous, highly cultured IBROcolleague, who had lectured in 9 VLTP courses.

Peru medical students organize their ownVLTP course: A small group of medical studentsfrom the outlying University of Chiclayo, Peru,who had attended the Cusco VLTP course inDecember 2002, were so inspired by neurosciencethat they, led by a fourth-year student namedGaudi Lozano, decided to organize a course inbasic neuroscience covering the normal functioning of the nervous system.The coursewas enthusiastically supported by VLTP directorJack McMahan, who provided funds.

The three essential ingredients for success werethe organizer, Gaudi Lozano; the teachers (whotaught on the Cusco course), Jaime Eugenin,Rommy von Bernhardi (Chile), Osvaldo Uchitel(Argentina), Francisco Fernandez de Miguel(Mexico), Elaine del Bel (Brazil); and the 70 students, selected from many different medicalschools in Peru.

Kampala, Uganda: The VLTP and AfricanRegional Committee held a Workshop andInterest Group Meeting at Makerere UniversityFaculty of Medicine, Kampala, Uganda, December11-12, 2003. In addition to Drs Kenneth Mullerand U. J. McMahan of the VLTP, participating inboth events were Dr Raj Kalaria, Chair,IBRO-ARC, and Dr Willie Daniels, an ARC member. Dr Angelina Kakooza Mwesige (Dept ofPediatrics) and Dr Edward Nyatia (Faculty ofAgriculture) were the local organizers.The lectures covered the chemical basis of signaling in the nervous system, the structure andfunction of synapses, neural plasticity, and theaging brain.There were 52 participants besidesthe lecturers and organizers, including Prof. SamLuboga,Assoc. Dean of Education at MakerereMedical School, as well as Makerere medical students, residents and faculty in the Depts. ofAnatomy, Physiology, Pharmacology, Pathology,Medicine (including Neurology), Psychiatry andPediatrics.One participant, Dr Amadi Ogonda Ihunwo, was from the Dept. of Anatomy at the Mbarara

Sakire Pogun, local organizer, VLTP Izmir

Prof Fornaguera dances at the gala dinner, San Jose

VLTP Bucharest

THE VISITING LECTURE TEAM ON COURSEIBRO’S EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES

4

University of Science and Technology.With the intellectual interests at the MedicalSchool currently drawn along classical lines, at theinterest group meeting the VLTP members provoked a discussion of the usefulness of suchinterdepartmental training programs in the neurosciences as are offered at US and UK universities.As a result, Dr Ebuk Moses, an electrophysiologist in the Dept. of Physiology,undertook to organize MUNUSO (MakerereUniversity Neuroscience Organization), whichincludes all students in the university interestedin the neurosciences.With Dr Moses its Director,MUNUSO meets monthly to discuss recentresearch publications in the field. Because it is difficult for universities in economically developing countries to have access to recentpublications, Dr Muller has been helping to provide them.

San Jose, Costa Rica: The aim of the VLTPcourse at the University of Costa Rica, San Jose,Costa Rica, January 14-22, 2004 was to provide students, teachers, research workers and medicalclinicians in neuroscience in Costa Rica and fromnearby countries with a forum for the detaileddiscussion of both specific topics of current interest in the field and opportunities for careerdevelopment.The course lasted 9 days, the finalday devoted to 10-min talks by the students,research lectures by local faculty in the neurosciences, and a discussion of training opportunities abroad including those funded bythe NIH, the Grass Foundation, the WellcomeTrust, and various German agencies.

The local organizer was Jaime Fornaguera, Prof. ofBiochemistry at the University of Costa RicaFaculty of Medicine, who created the Program inNeuroscience at the University, which includes avariety of educational facilities including its ownlaboratory space.The lecturers were John

Nicholls (SISSA, Italy), Elaine del Bel (University ofSao Paolo, Brazil), Lawrence Cohen (YaleUniversity Medical School, USA),Alasdair Gibb(University College London, UK),Walter Stühmer(Max-Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine-Goettingen, Germany) and Jack McMahan(Stanford University School of Medicine, USA).The lectures included mechanisms of synaptic transmission and sensory transduction; the structure and function of channels, receptors andpumps; the structural, functional organization ofthe vertebrate olfactory and visual systems; stepsand mechanisms in neural development andregeneration, and the molecular basis of certaindiseases. Elaine del Bel (Ribeirao Preto, Brazil)gave 2 lectures on molecular neurobiology andParkinson's disease as well as conferences duringthe first 3 days.The local faculty lecturers wereHenriette Raventos (genetics of familial schizophrenia),Alejandro Leal (genetics of hereditary motor and sensory neuropathies) and Carolina Arevalo (activation of ryanodine receptors).

Of the 83 students, 47 were from Costa Rica and the rest were from Mexico, Guatamala, Honduras,Panama, Colombia, Cuba, Barbados,Venezula andJamaica.The students' backgrounds were highlyvaried.The course was a wonderful success andcame at exactly the right time for the Universityof Costa Rica as it plans to set up a neurosciencecurriculum. It helped to energize the students,faculty and administrators for the setting up ofthis new enterprise.

Bucharest, Romania: The University ofBuchares welcomed the VLTP who presented acourse, May 3-11, 2004, organized by AlexandruBabes and U. J. McMahan.There were 81 students,teachers, research workers and medical cliniciansin neuroscience and related fields from various academic institutions in Romania and nearbycountries in Eastern Europe. Five VLTP membersgave 35 lectures (7 each) over 9 days.Assisting local organizer Dr Alex Babes were DrFlorentina Pluteanu and several local students:Ramona Linte, Nicoleta Neacsu, Gabriella Stanila,Christina Vasuta and Corina Prica.The lecturerswere Prof. John Nicholls (SISSA,Trieste, Italy),Prof. Jonathan Ashmore (Dept. of Physiology,University College, London, UK), Prof. MendellRimer (Neuroscience Section, University of Texas,Austin,Texas, USA), Professor Jerzy Mozrzymas(Department of Biophysics,Wroclaw MedicalUniversity,Wroclaw, Poland) and Prof. U. J.McMahan (Dept of Neurobiology, StanfordUniversity, Stanford, California, USA).The lecturescovered the structural and functional organizationof the visual and auditory systems; mechanisms ofchannel and receptor function; the structure,function and formation of synapses; and principlesof nervous system development and regeneration.Of the 81 students, 7 were from Poland, 2 fromBulgaria, 3 from Turkey. Of the 69 Romanian students, 44 were from various institutes in Bucharest.

THE NEUROSCIENCE SCHOOLS 2003-2004IBRO’S EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES

In 2004 IBRO's Neuroscience School Programme will fund 17 schools around the world.These schools will enrol some 400 students.Some of the schools are co-funded by IBRO and other national and international organizations as well as by generous donors

INMHA/IBRO African School, Cape Town:An IBRO/INMHA-sponsored Advanced Schoolwas held in Cape Town, South Africa, 1-7September 2003.After receiving more than 115 applications from all over Africa, the organizersselected 22 students for the 1-week coursesoffered by this school.The courses were held atthe University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, underthe overall heading 'Electrical Activity in theNervous System'.The faculty included scientistsfrom Italy (2), Canada (4), the US (1), the UK (1),Kenya (1), France (1) and South Africa (4).Thestudents came from Morocco (3), Cameroon (1),Benin (1), Kenya (3), Uganda (2),Tanzania (1),Tunisia (1), South Africa (6), Botswana (1), Lesotho(2), Mauritius (1).

The 2 main sponsors of the school were theCanadian Institute of Neuroscience, MentalHealth and Addiction (INMHA) and IBRO. IBRO'sAfrican Regional Committee (ARC) and theSociety of Neuroscientists of Africa (SONA) alsohelped organize the school. Other AdvancedSchools are planned for 2004 in cooperation withINMHA and the International Society forNeurochemistry (ISN).They will cover otherthemes of interest to scientists and clinicians inthe 4 corners of Africa.

IBRO/FENS Summer School, Dubrovnikand Zagreb:An IBRO/FENS InternationalSummer School, 'Development and Plasticity ofthe Human Cerebral Cortex', was held inDubrovnik and Zagreb, Croatia, 20 September–4October 2003.The Summer School, sponsored byIBRO and FENS, was organized by Ivica Kostovic(Zagreb, Croatia) and held at the InternationalCenter of Croatian Universities (ICCU) inDubrovnik (invited lectures) and in laboratoriesof the Croatian Institute for Brain Research(CIBR) in Zagreb (practical tutorials).

The course was intended for advanced Ph.D.students or post-docs in neuroscience and related fields from Western Europe, the IBRO-CEERC, and other IBRO regions.Theschool was attended by 12 eminent lecturers and26 young scientists from 15 countries: Hungary(3), Romania (1), Georgia (1), UK (1), USA (1),Sweden (1), Russia (4), Croatia (3), Germany (2),Poland (2), Finland (2), Czech R (1), Iran (1), India(1), France (2).Topics of the school included:synaptogenesis; development of dendrites andthalamocortical, corticocortical and monoaminergic connections; areal specification;early cortical activity, development and plasticityof hippocampal circuitry; neuroprotection in earlylife; plasticity, recovery and neurodevelopmentaloutcome after perinatal damage.The school successfully promoted research and education on

the development, organization and pathology ofthe human brain.

IBRO-UNAM-ISN School of Neuroscience,Mexico City: The School of Neuroscience inMexico, October 2-17, 2003 was aimed at graduate and undergraduate students from LatinAmerica. Students received hands-on training inmodern methodologies used to study

development and regeneration of the nervoussystem in invertebrate and vertebrate systems.The course began with a 2-day symposium, wherenearly 150 graduate, undergraduate students andfaculty learned about the ontogeny of the nervous system, axonal pathfinding and targetselection, synapse formation, circuit development,and regeneration, cell death, regeneration ofsynapses and the possible role of transplants inthe induction of regeneration.The speakers werePierre Drapeau (McGill University), Francisco F.De-Miguel (IFC-UNAM), René Drucker Colín(IFC-UNAM), Jorge Hernández (CINVESTAV,IPN), Eduardo Macagno (UCSD), U. Jack McMahan(Stanford University), Julio Morán (IFC-UNAM),Kenneth J. Muller (U. Miami),Wesley Thompson(University of Austin),Alfredo Varela E.(INB-UNAM), and David Weisblat (UC Berkeley).

The symposium was followed by a 2-week practical course for 12 selected students, whoreceived hands-on training in a selected range ofmethodologies, using invertebrate and vertebratesystems.The practical course consisted of aseries of experiments that were carried out bythe students, following the scheme of the coursesgiven at Woods Hole and in the 2001 workshophere in Mexico.The faculty of the practical coursewere Francisco F. De-Miguel (IFC-UNAM),AraceliEspinoza-Jeffreys (UCLA), Julio Morán (IFC-UNAM), Kenneth J Muller (Miami University), JuanRiesgo Escovar (INB-UNAM), Citlali TruetaSegovia (INP, Mexico),Alfredo Varela Echavarría(INB-UNAM) and David Weisblat (UC Berkeley).

5th IBRO African Region School: The School'Essential and Behavioural Neuroscience' was heldin Nairobi, Kenya, 14-21 December 2003 and wasorganized by Profs Abdul Mohammed (SONA)and Nilesh Patel (IBRO-ARC). It was held for thesecond time at the International Centre forInsect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) inDuduville, on the outskirts of Nairobi.Almost allthe 25 students were engaged in neuroscienceresearch and a few were completing doctoraldegrees in their home institutions in Ethiopia,Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

The teaching faculty were from France, Italy,Sweden, South Africa, the USA, the UK,Switzerland and Kenya.The instructors includedtwo members of the IBRO VLTP, Jack McMahanand Ken Muller. Students learned about the mostmodern methods on quantification of behaviourin laboratory and field animals. Faculty alsodemonstrated how to monitor circadian rhythmsand build upon simple maze learning paradigms totrack subtle behaviours. Finite ways of measuringbehaviour using transponder tagged technologyand radiotelemetry were also the order of thesunny days. Dr Jean Altman (Princeton), on fieldwork at the Amboseli Game Reserve, gave afascinating guest lecture on hormones and behaviour in baboons (Science, 2003 Nov 14;302:1231-4). In addition to these, the studentsassimilated lectures on neuronal death mechanisms, cognitive testing in man, and brainageing and dementia.

At the beginning of the week in Nairobi the IBROAfrican Schools 'veteran' instructor and friend ofSONA, Prof. Marina Bentivoglio (Italy), was recognized for her outstanding service to Africanneuroscience. In accord with the IBRO tradition,Michael Kihara (Kenya) was elected as the classrepresentative for the alumni. Contributions fromour local sponsor, the Avenue Hospital Group,and AstraZeneca and IBRO were acknowledgedand asante sana was also said to Mr Kurt Iten andhis staff at the ICIPE Guest Centre, who madethis sub-Saharan school a great success.

3rd Latin-American Doctorate Program,University Pablo de Olavide, Seville, Spain,March 31-June 15, 2004: 27 students startedtraining 2 years ago, attending the first set ofcourses of the Doctorate Progam (March 31-June15, 2002).They were from Spanish universitiesand research institutions, centers from

Latin-American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile,Cuba, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela), and fromthe UK and Italy.This part of the Program wasdivided into 5 courses (30 credits) covering themain aspects of modern Neurosciences(Biophysics, Cell and Molecular Biology,Neuroanatomy and Development of the NervousSystem, Electrophysiology, Neuropharmacologyand Neurotoxicology, and Neurophysiology ofSensory and Motor Systems).Training includedregular lectures, laboratory work, demonstrations(video and computer rooms), and invited lectures.The courses were presented by 27 scientistsfrom Europe and the USA and took place at thecampus of the Pablo de Olavide University, a newand active Spanish public center. Lab work wasmostly carried out at the División deNeurociencias, a research facility devoted tocomparative and multidisciplinary studies onNeurosciences.The Program was co-directed byDrs J. M. Delgado-García, from the UniversityPablo de Olavide, and A. Ferrús, from the InstitutoCajal, CSIC, Madrid, Spain.

The second part of the Doctorate Program tookplace this year,April 5-June 18, 2004, and wasdevoted to Higher Brain Functions, BehavioralBiology, Neural Substrates of Learning andMemory, and Plasticity and Regeneration (9 credits).Training included regular lectures, labwork, and invited lecturers. Sixteen scientistsfrom Europe and the USA presented the courses.Students also had to prepare a dissertation inorder to obtain their Diploma de EstudiosAvanzados

As a special event within the Program, the international symposium 'Neural OscillatorsUnderlying Perception, Cognition and Behavior'was organized. It was aimed to introduce the students to the exciting research area ofNeuroscience today and was presented by internationally known speakers.

The Doctorate Program was supported by IBRO,the students' own laboratories, by fellowshipsfrom the Spanish Ministry of Research andTechnology, and the University Pablo de Olavide.The Spanish Ministry of Education covered thetravel and living expenses of most of the invitedteachers and speakers.The University Pablo deOlavide generously allowed the use of theirteaching and research facilities.The FundaciónRamón Areces sponsored the introductory international course on 'Neural Oscillators'.The directors of the Doctorate Program are wellaware of the importance of the reintegration ofour students to their original universities orresearch centers.They do not wish to contributeto a brain drain from Latin-American countries.It must be indicated that during the successiveMaster and Doctorate Courses organized underthe auspices of IBRO, since 1995, more than 180young investigators (mainly from Latin-Americancountries) have been introduced to basic aspectsof modern Neuroscience.The organizers believethat IBRO could contribute to facilitate theirreinstallation in their places of origin with a program to collect discarded (but still useful)

Women students at the 5th IBRO African School

5

INMHA TO CO-FUND IBRONEUROSCIENCE

SCHOOLS INAFRICA AND LATIN

AMERICA, 2004-5INMHA (Institute of Neurosciences,

Mental Health and Addiction, Canada) is toco-fund Neuroscience Schools in Africa

and Latin America in 2004-5.After a highlysuccessful Advanced School sponsored byIBRO and INMHA in Cape Town, SouthAfrica in September 2003, it has been

announced that INMHA is to co-fund 2more IBRO schools in Africa and a school

in Latin America planned for 2004-5.

Remi Quirion, Scientific Director ofINMHA, commented on the implicationsfor international neuroscience: "Increasing

the international presence of Canadian neuroscientists is one of the priorities of

INMHA.The successful IBRO school program gives us a unique opportunity to

do that at the same time as helping scientists in Africa and Latin America to

refresh their knowledge of a specific areaof the neurosciences that is especially

relevant to them. "

equipment from more developed research centers from the USA, Europe and Japan.

IBRO Neuroscience School, Hong Kong,April 19-30, 2004: The Neuroscience School,with the assistance of the Hong Kong Society ofNeurosciences, aimed to provide a platform forsenior PhD students and junior post-doctoral fellows in the Asia-Pacific region to acquireknowledge of both theoretical and technologicaladvances in key areas of neuroscience research.Besides lectures and tutorials, 5 mini-projects ranas a strand through the practical sessions in different research laboratories. Each studentchose one of these 5 themes for practical sessions.At the end of the school, students had ahalf-day presentation of their work in the school.During the school, students also attended anInternational Symposium on Neural Plasticity,Development and Repair (April 22-23, 2004) andpresented their own research work as posters.

The 25 students were from Australia (3), China(11), India (3), Iran (2), Philippines (1), Singapore(2),Taiwan (1), and Thailand (2).While travel andaccommodation expenses for the students camefrom IBRO-APRC, the overseas teachers(Australia, Japan, Korea, USA) were supported bythe Croucher Foundation (Hong Kong).The localteachers were from the University of Hong Kong,Hong Kong University of Science and Technology,the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and HongKong Baptist University.

Summer School, Dubrovnik and Zagreb

IBRO'S REGIONS REPORT2003-2004

Out of Africa: Highlights of IBRO-ARCactivities:

Over the past year the African RegionalCommittee's activities include 2 NeuroscienceSchools in Africa, a regional meeting co-sponsoredby the VLTP in Uganda and success stories ofAfrica IBRO schools alumni, such as those of thefirst two recipients of the Rita Levi-MontalciniFellowships (IBRO) who send encouragingreports on their progress in the USA and SouthAfrican laboratories.

The ARC represents the interests of 5 Africanneuroscience organizations: the Society ofNeuroscientists of Africa (SONA), MoroccanAssociation of Neuroscience (MAN) SouthernAfrican Neuroscience Society (SANS), KenyanSociety for Neuroscience (KSN) and NigerianSociety for Neuroscience (NSN), all members ofthe IBRO Governing Council.The ARC is workingwith neuroscience interest groups in Congo,Egypt, Senegal and Uganda to become membersof IBRO.

Graduate students and young faculty fromCameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritius,Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa,Tanzania,Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe participated in the2 IBRO schools in South Africa and Kenya.The4th IBRO Neuroscience School 'Neurophysiologyand Epilepsy' was held in Cape Town, 1-7September 2003, in collaboration with theINHMA (Institute of Neuroscience, Mental healthand Addiction, Canada) in Cape Town.The 5thIBRO Neuroscience School 'Essential andBehavioural Neuroscience' was held 14-21December 2003 in Nairobi, Kenya.

The ARC also organized a 2-day regional eventwith the help of the IBRO VLTP faculty (JackMcMahan and Ken Muller) in the 'Pearl of Africa'.A two-day intensive neuroscience course coveringCNS structure, receptor function, neuronal plasticity and neurodegenerative disorders washeld in Kampala, Uganda, 9-10 December 2003.The lectures were attended by 50 biologists,physiologists, neurologists and psychiatrists.This was the first ever neuroscience activity totake place in Uganda, which resulted in the formation of the Ugandan Neuroscience InterestGroup. Drs Moses Ebuk and Angelina KakoozaMwesige of Makerere University were elected asthe first officers of this group.

The ARC will have overseen 3 Basic andAdvanced IBRO Neuroscience Schools in 2004: 1)The 6th IBRO School with ISN (Neuropathology)support took place in Grahamstown, South Africa,12-19 September, 2004.The theme was'Neurodegeneration and Regeneration' and organized by S. Daya (SA) and V. R. Russell (SA)(the Society for Neuroscience team also held aworkshop 'Neurobiology of Epilepsy', 19-20September after the school, organized by J. Noebels (USA) and S. Daya (SA). 2) The 7thINMHA/IBRO School 'Hormones and Brain' tookplace in Rabat, Morocco, 2-9 October 2004,organized by N. Lakhdar-Ghazal (Morocco) andQ. Pittman (Canada). 3) The 8th IBRO School

'Neuropharmacology and MolecularNeuroscience', co-sponsored by the InternationalSociety for Neurochemistry (ISN) and IBRO andorganized by N. Patel (Kenya), R. Butterworth(Canada) and R. Halliwell (USA), will be held inNairobi, Kenya, 1-8 November 2004.Further refinement in the organization of theAfrican Neuroscience schools has been achievedby establishing a central processing centre inNairobi.This schools secretariat(wango@uonbi.ac.ke) is set up in collaborationwith the SONA office to receive, review andinform outcomes of all school applications.

There are also plans to support a Regional neuroscience meeting in the Democratic Republicof Congo (DRC).The APRONES organization ofCongo will host the second Regional neuroscience meeting in Kinshasa, Congo.The meeting on neurological diseases, 8-10November 2004, will be organized by P. Luabeyaand colleagues (DRC). Furthermore, there aretentative plans to hold a short neurosciencecourse on brain ageing and dementia in Tunis,Tunisia in December 2004.

In 2005 the ARC will help in the organization ofthe SONA 2005 Biennial Conference of AfricanNeuroscience in South Africa.This congress to beheld 20-22 April will also be an IBRO RegionalCongress and hailed to be the largestNeuroscience meeting in Africa. Other activities2005 include the full VLTP in Uganda in February2005, an IBRO School in Morocco co-sponsoredby the International Society of Neurochemistry(ISN), and a Neuroscience course in Bamako(Mali) through the support of the Fogarty Center(USA).The latter activity will open yet anotherpart of Africa.

Seven centres in the continent continue to benefit from the Development Aid for AfricanLibraries.These centres have invariably takenadvantage of the Science Direct, HINARI andGreenfield’s Neuropathology (Arnolds) initiatives.IBRO is also aiding SONA to develop a fully functional web site that will also be used to publicize ARC activities.The webmaster of thissite is based at the University of Nairobi, site ofthe SONA Secretariat.

The ARC continues to budget $5,000 per yearfor small (regional) Travel Grants and short-termvisit Fellowships to African members.The deadlines for these are the same as thosethe IBRO awards programme but emergencyapplications have also been considered.Four individuals have been helped in the past 12months to attend international conferences andvisit other neuroscientists within Africa.Two African neuroscientists participated at theFENS congress in Lisbon, 10-13 July 2004.

Raj KalariaChair, ARC

Asian-Pacific Regional Committee:

The 1st Associate School (Chiang Mai,Thailand),February 23-27, 2004, was held in Chiang MaiUniversity in collaboration with the ThaiNeuroscience Society and the Neurology Societyof Thailand.Thirty students attended the school:

21 from Thailand, 3 from Philippines, 2 fromMalaysia, 2 from Laos, 1 from Bhutan, 1 fromVietnam. Most were MD and MSc students, with afew junior PhD students. Six overseas teachers(Australia, Hong Kong) and 2 local teachers delivered talks in the school.After attending lectures, students, under the supervision of localinstructors, used PubMed to search for relevantarticles and information. Student presentationswere conducted in groups.

The 2nd Associate School (Chongqing, China),May 26-30, 2004 was held in the Third MilitaryMedical University in collaboration with theChongqing Neuroscience Society.Thirty-six students attended the school: 29 from China, 4from Thailand, 2 from India, 1 from Vietnam.Most were MSc students and junior PhD students. Six overseas teachers (Australia, Korea,Hong Kong) delivered talks in the school.The format was modified from that of the ChiangMai School. Before coming to the AssociateSchool, students were given 10 research articlesrelated to the topics of the lectures. Studentswere divided into groups for the PubMed searchsessions.Ample time was given to group discussion. Students also had 2 sessions in conducting computer-assisted practicals. On thelast day, students presented what they hadlearned in the school and discussed results oftheir PubMed search.

The IBRO Neuroscience School held in HongKong (April 19-30, 2004) with the assistance ofthe Hong Kong Society of Neurosciences provided a platform for senior PhD students andjunior post-doctoral fellows in the Asian-Pacificregion to acquire knowledge of both theoreticaland technological advances in key areas of neuroscience research. During the school,

students also attended an InternationalSymposium on Neural Plasticity, Developmentand Repair (April 22-23, 2004) and presentedtheir own research work as posters.

The 25 students were from Australia (3), China(11), India (3), Iran (2), Philippines (1), Singapore(2),Taiwan (1) and Thailand (2).While travel andaccommodation expenses for the students camefrom IBRO-APRC, the overseas teachers(Australia, Japan, Korea, USA) were supported bythe Croucher Foundation (Hong Kong).The localteachers were from the University of Hong Kong,Hong Kong University of Science and Technology,the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and HongKong Baptist University.

An Exchange Fellowship Scheme (age limit 40)was launched in February 2004. Both applicantand host laboratory have to be in our region.Applicants must also provide strong justificationthat he/she will return to the home country afterthe exchange. In the first exercise, awards weregiven to 4 candidates (from China and India) forthem to perform 6-month research periods inAustralia, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.In collaboration with FAONS, IBRO-APRC provided travel support for 15 young neuroscientists (China, India, Japan, Korea, andVietnam) to present papers at the 2ndSymposium of FAONS (Tehran, May 17-19, 2004).IBRO-APRC also offered travel support to 4young neuroscientists, especially those from

disadvantaged countries, to attend conferences.Earmarked funds were also awarded to candidates to attend the RIKEN Summer Program(3) and the MBL Course (1).Two of these candidates are alumni of former IBRO schools.Funding was provided to 2 Symposia andWorkshops (China, Sri Lanka) to support young neuroscientists to attend the events.

Through the IBRO Book Fund an agreement wasreached with the publisher Science Press, Beijingwhereby 100 books were purchased at a nominalprice of the Chinese translation of the book FromNeuron to Brain by John Nicholls et al.After consultation with the Chinese Society forNeuroscience, 80 books were distributed to various university libraries in China and theremaining books as book prizes in the BiennialCongress of the Chinese Society forNeuroscience (September 2005).

The 3rd IBRO Associate School took take place inCochin, India (September 2004); the 5th IBROSchool will take place in Bangkok,Thailand(December 2004); the 2nd round of applicationsfor the APRC Exchange Fellowships will belaunched in the last quarter of 2004.

Ying-Shing ChanChair, APRC

Central and Eastern Europe RegionalCommittee:

The Region consists of more than 25 countries ofthe former Soviet Union and Eastern bloc.Though diversified, the Region has a unifying goodtradition in neuroscience that ubiquitously suffersfrom inadequate funding. Several of our countriesjoined the European Union on May 1, 2004,providing a major milestone for the Region and offering hopes for the others.The special status ofthese countries, belonging to both Western andEastern Europe, is deserved, as it creates a bridgebetween those less and more politically and economically favoured.The major task for ourCommittee is to establish a research area allowing for collaboration, exchange of people,resources and ideas.

The most important IBRO activity last year in the Region was the IBRO Congress in Prague,organized in July 2003 by Eva Sykova and JosefSyka.The Congress was a great success.The CEERC provided 30 fellowships allowingyoung researchers from the Region to participatein the Congress.

The Committee has supported 7 symposia and 4short research visits within the Region.We wouldlike to receive many more such applications, as itenables neuroscientists from this part of Europeto maintain tighter links with researchers frome.g. North America and West Europe.

In 2003 there were two IBRO schools in theRegion.The traditional Summer School that hasbeen our landmark held in Warsaw (Poland),'IBRO-CEERC School of Molecular Neurobiology:Communicating Between Synapse and Nucleus:From Receptors to Genes to Extracellular Matrix'was organized by Bozena Kaminska, Jacek Kuznicki, Ryszard Przewlocki and LeszekKaczmarek.Twenty-four students from 7 countries attended the school which includedmorning lectures and afternoon practicals.In addition a special IBRO-WERC/CEERC andFENS school was organized by I. Kostovic inZagreb and Dubrovnik (Croatia) on corticaldevelopment; 26 students attended.

Leszek KaczmarekChair, CEERC

Latin-American Regional Committee:

The LARC held two excellent neuroscienceschools: Development and Regeneration of theNervous System, October 2-19, 2003, Mexico Citydirected by Prof. F. Fernández de Miguel and theIX Latin-American School of Neuroscience,April19-May 17, 2004, Santiago de Chile, which alternates from this year with the regularMontevideo school and a Second School ofNeuroscience in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ...cont. p. 7

VLTP at Makerere University: 1st row: lecturers Willie Daniels (2nd from left), Kenneth Muller (4th from left),Raj Kalaria (2nd from right); back row: Ebuk Moses, Dept. of Physiology, Makerere University (2nd from left)

6

NEW PRESIDENTFOR SONA

Prof.Willie Daniels, Dept. of MedicalPhysiology and Biochemistry, StellenboschUniversity, South Africa, is to be the next

President of the Society of Neuroscientistsof Africa (SONA). He will take up the post

on the occasion of the Fifth SONAConference in Cape Town, South Africa,

20-22 April 2005. He succeeds Prof.Polycarp Nwoha (Nigeria).

Prof. Daniels is currently Chair of theSouth African National Committee forIBRO, Chair of the Southern African

Neurosciences Society and is a member ofthe IBRO-ARC. He has taught at a number

of IBRO Neuroscience Schools and hasbeen a member of IBRO's Visiting Lecture

Team Programme.

...AND THE NEWSLATEST DEVELOPMENTS FROM IBRO

...cont. from p. 6(September-October 2004).Two new specialschools were held in September 2004: one in Juriquilla-Mexico, financed by the GrassFoundation and co-organized with the Society forNeuroscience; the other in Cordoba,Argentina,financed and organized with INMHA (Canada).

Over the year we sponsored 12 courses in theregion, including Argentina, Brazil (2), Colombia,Cuba,Trinidad-Tobago,Venezuela.All courses hadexcellent feedback from organizers, visiting professors and students.

Fourteen young neuroscientists from the regionwere supported. Candidates selected were graduate students who went to another countrywithin the region to complement experiments orlearn techniques that were important for theirdissertation. For the next round we are requesting 24 fellowships.

Omar MacadarChair, LARC

US/Canada Regional Committee:

The joint US/Canada Regional Committee (alsoknown as the IAC-USNC IBRO/SfN InternationalAffairs Committee/National Academy of SciencesUS National Committee for IBRO) is jointlyappointed by the Society for Neuroscience (SfN)and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) andrepresents the interests of both organizations inIBRO.The committee is supported by fundingfrom the National Institutes of Health, specifically,the National Institute on Drug Abuse, theNational Institute on Mental Health, and theNational Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

The committee has embarked on several outreach activities to meet the needs of the

global neuroscience community.Via the internet(www.iac-usnc.org) the committee continues toorganize a lecture series to bring up-to-date neuroscience information to researchers in developing countries.The web-based neurosciencelectures are accessible by scientists worldwideand feature narrated slides by prominent neuroscientists. Currently featured on the site isa web symposium entitled The Neurobiology ofStress, Fear, and Anxiety: Basic and ClinicalAspects.Also posted is the Neurobiology ofDisease Workshop, Epilepsy: Genes andMolecular Plasticity, featured at the 2003 SfNAnnual Meeting in New Orleans.The IAC-USNC,in collaboration with the SfN EducationCommittee and the faculty of the 2003Neurobiology of Disease Workshop, have madethis material available for the IAC-USNC website.The committee is also in the process oforganizing 'cyber seminars' around the EpilepsyWorkshop.

The Marine Biological Laboratory in WoodsHole, MA was again designated by the IAC-USNCas the 2004 North American IBRO neuroscienceschool, and as such the IAC-USNC encouragedinternational neuroscientists to apply to the MBLneuroscience programmes. Successful applicantsfrom economically disadvantaged countries, whoare designated IBRO Fellows for AdvancedSummer Courses in Neuroscience in NorthAmerica, are eligible for substantial financial support, which, in addition to expenses associated with course attendance, includes atwo-year SfN membership and a $1,500 travelfellowship to attend the following year’s SfNannual meeting. MBL was chosen in 2004 for thethird year running to be the North AmericanNeuroscience School. Four IBRO Fellows wereawarded places on the summer 2004 courses(see p.3).

The IAC-USNC organized a workshop'Neurobiology of Epilepsy', September 19-20,2004 at Rhodes University in Grahamstown,South Africa.This 2-day workshop, offered in conjunction with the 'Neurodegeneration andRegeneration' IBRO course, was relevant to arange of experts and non-experts, so clinicians,graduate level students considering further studyin neuroscience, postdoctoral fellows, and facultywere among the participants. Jeffrey Noebels(Baylor College of Medicine) directed the workshop with Santy Daya (Rhodes University)the local organizer. Many of the faculty membersfrom the 2003 SfN Neurobiology of DiseaseWorkshop were instructors at the workshopincluding Dan Lowenstein (University ofCalifornia San Francisco), Peter B. Crino(University of Pennsylvania), John Huguenard(Stanford Medical School) and Frances Jensen(Harvard Medical School).The workshop wassupported by the National Institutes of Healthfunding of the committee, and support for thefaculty travel was contributed by the AmericanEpilepsy Society.

The IAC-USNC intends to plan a course in conjunction with the IBRO-Latin AmericanRegional Committee in Venezuela for 2005.The course would cover neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, as well as neurogenetics.Gregory Quirk of Ponce School of Medicine inPuerto Rico will be the IAC lead on this activity.

As in previous years, the committee provided 15travel fellowships for students from developingcountries to present an abstract at the 2004 SfNannual meeting in San Diego, CA. SfN also awarded travel fellowships to 15 students nominated by SfN regional North American chapters to attend and present their work at theFENS Forum in Lisbon, Portugal.

Bruce McEwenChair, US/CanadaRC

Western Europe Regional Committee'sobjectives

The WERC's activities and initiatives reflect thespecific functions and scope of WERC withinIBRO.These are: 1) Putting the resources,experience and cultural background of 'oldEurope’s' neuroscience at the service of IBRO’smission; 2) Working in close collaboration withFENS, CEERC and the entire European group ofNational Societies affiliated to IBRO, now numbering 35, nearly one half of all IBRO's member organizations (21 of these are encompassed by WERC and 14 by CEERC); 3)Launching initiatives to obtain funding from otherorganizations; 4) Promoting European participationin the education and training of young neuroscientists from economically disadvantagedcountries around the world; 5) Fostering information exchange and collaboration betweenneuroscientists in Europe and the rest of theworld through IBRO’s programmes.

Regional Schools in 2004: FENS/Hertie/IBROWinter School, Kitzbuel,Austria; IBRO/FENSCognitive Neuroscience Summer School onWorking Memory, Bled, Slovenia; School ofComputational Neuroscience, Obidos, Portugal;Third Latin-American Doctoral Program onNeuroscience and Behavioural Biology,Seville, Spain.

IBRO-WERC/FENS PhD Fellowship Programme:awards went to: J. Bentes Hughes (Brazil) to H. Kettenmann (Berlin, Germany;A.Vias (India) toB. Kieffer (Strasbourg, France); Marcia Mellado(Cuba) to Ian Russell (Brighton, UK).

Gaetano di ChiaraChair,WERC

7

IBRO to Waive Dues for Small CorporateMembers

At the Executive Committee and GoverningCouncil meetings held in Lisbon at the FENS2004 Forum, it was decided, as of 2005, to waivethe payment of dues for Corporate Membershipin IBRO for societies with less than 250 membersthat claim limited financial resources. It is hopedthat this measure will facilitate the creation andentry into IBRO of small neuroscience organizations.

International Registry of NeuroscienceTraining Programme

The IRNTP (Chair,Andrew Gundlach;AssistantCaitlin McOmish,Australia) provides on the IBROweb site a comprehensive listing of neurosciencetraining programmes operating worldwide. It isenvisaged that national and regional neurosciencesocieties and federations will work with IBRO toestablish and maintain national web-based registries based on their own requirements andresources.The creation and maintenance of theRegistry will help define and make better knowntraining possibilities worldwide.

IBRO Science Advisory Programme tocarry out first institution review

The ISAP (Chair,Walter Stühmer, Germany), hasreceived its first request for the evaluation of aneuroscience institution from Dr Tamás Freund,Director of the Institute of Experimental Medicine,Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.The advisory board chosen to perform thereview is Marina Bentivoglio (Italy), Jean-ClaudeLacaille (Canada), Henry Markram (Switzerland),Roger Nicoll (USA) and Larry Swanson (USA).

Institutions or university departments engaged inbrain research anywhere in the world wishing tohave their scientific and teaching activities evaluated may apply to the ISAP for a review.The review should i) help the institution and itsdirector develop a strategy to support the bestprogrammes and most promising research groups;ii) represent an independent evaluation of aresearch facility by top international authorities;iii) help both the institution reviewed, as well as

the governmental or other agencies running theinstitutes to improve public relations andinfluencing governmental science policies.

The reports will form the backbone of an IBROdatabase of neuroscience institutions worldwide,which will be maintained in the form of a WorldMap of Brain Research on the IBRO web site.

More free books for IBRO Schools andStudents

The IBRO Book Fund this year delivered neuroscience textbooks to IBRO NeuroscienceSchools and students around the world.TheBook Fund was set up in 2003 as a collaborativeventure between IBRO, Elsevier Ltd, the Society forNeuroscience and the American Association ofNeuroscience Training Programs (ANTP).Donations also came from the InternationalSociety of Neuropathology (ISN) (Greenfield'sNeuropathology) and the Ipsen Foundation(France).The Fund aims to provide up-to-datescientific books to trainees, young investigators,research institutions and academic libraries withfew resources.

In March 2003 Michael Zigmond et al.'sFundamental Neuroscience were sent to the 30students at the IBRO School of Neuroscience,Montevideo, Uruguay. In October 2003 76 volumes of the Russian edition of From Neuron toBrain by J. G. Nicholls et al. were sent to a number of Russian institutes.The books werepurchased by IBRO's Central and Eastern EuropeanRegional Committee (CEERC) at a special priceand were distributed free of charge to youngRussian students (under 25 years) participating inscientific research and to young scientists (under33 years) at provincial institutes that do not haveaccess to new scientific literature.

An agreement was reached with the publisherScience Press, Beijing whereby 100 books werepurchased at a nominal price of the Chinesetranslation of From Neuron to Brain.After consultation with the Chinese Society forNeuroscience, 80 books were distributed to various university libraries in China and theremainder as book prizes in the BiennialCongress of the Chinese Society for

Neuroscience (September 2005).

Richard Brown (rebrown@dal.ca) of IBRO'sNeuroscience Libraries Committee is coordinatingfree subscriptions to ScienceDirect, an electronicpublication to which a number of eligible institutions are given access as a result of a contractual agreement between Elsevier Ltd andIBRO. He is also helping institutions worldwide tosubscribe to the HINARI programme.

IBRO Animals in Research Committee inLatin America and Africa

The Committee planned three projects for 2004.The first was to hold workshops in Santiago,Chile and Montevideo, Uruguay, June 8-12, to provide information on international standards ofanimal use to scientists working in the region.The team included Drs Sharon Juliano (Chair,Animals in Research Committee), Pedro Rico(Chief Veterinarian at USAMRIID) and DorcasO’Roarke (International Council of AAALAC).

Local scientists and veterinarians took part in theSantiago workshop at the Facultad de Medicina,Universidad de Chile, including Drs PedroMaldonado and Camilo Arriza. Prior to the lectureseries, the IBRO panel met with the host AnimalCare and Use Committee to provide specificinformation about issues at the Medical School ofthe University of Chile.At the Instituto deInvestigaciones Biológicas, Montevideo, Uruguayour local organizers were Drs Ana Silva andOmar Macadar.

The second project involved Africa, with two representatives Sharon Juliano (IBRO) and RickVan Sluyters (AAALAC, IBRO) attending the IBROcourse 'Neurodegeneration and Regeneration' inGrahamstown, South Africa, September 10-18, tosubmit information regarding international standards, to encourage discussion about the possibility of including this topic into the localcurriculum, and to engage in a dialogue about themechanisms by which African countries wish toapproach this subject.

The third project was to create a teaching moduletargeted at medical students. Individuals were

HINARI FREE ACCESSTO JOURNALS

The World Health Organization's HealthInterNetwork Access to Research Initiative

(HINARI) provides developing countries withfree or nearly free online access to biomedicaland related social sciences literature.Throughthis programme accredited public institutionsmay gain free or reduced-price access to over

1500 biomedical journals and publications.There are currently 113 eligible countries,

with some 629 institutions that have registeredfrom 61 of the 69 countries eligible for freeaccess, and 414 institutions registered from

39 of the 454 countries eligible for very low-cost access.

Eligible categories include: universities; schoolsof medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy and

public health; research institutes;government offices; teaching hospitals;

national medical libraries.Visit the HINARI web site at

http://www.healthinternetwork.org/scipub.phpIBRO has given strong support to this initiative and encourages its Affiliated

Organizations to do everything possible toensure that their membership take full

advantage of these opportunities.

contacted in one of our target countries (GMC,UK).The committee has also begun a dialoguewith groups who may help to produce and financethe project (NABR, Fogarty Foundation, and a private video production group).

IBRO Web Site gets total makeover

Not only did the home page of the IBRO web sitereceive a bright new face halfway through 2004,but the site was entirely reconstructed.Innovations included a new menu system, a newsearch engine, a reconstructed member databasewith new registration and search tools.The onlinesupport of IBRO programmes means that all formal procedures for funding applications, entryof school abstracts and course details will be handled online via the web site.

8

NEW PROGRAMMESWILL HELP CURRENTNEEDS IN NEUROSCIENCEIn her new capacity as Secretary-General, JennyLund has added 3 new programmes to the constantly expanding IBRO list.

The Clinical/Basic Science Links Programme(Chair, Patrik Brundin, Sweden) will explore avariety of means to emphasize the interrelationship between basic neuroscienceresearch and clinical practice.The committee willset up links with other organizations and willwork with the IBRO Regional Committees, theIBRO Visiting Lecture Team and IBRO SchoolsProgrammes to provide workshops, symposia and contributions to IBRO schools, emphasizingneuroscience contributions to the treatment ofneural diseases.

The Public Education Committee (Chair, EstherLennon, UK) aims to achieve a primary goal ofIBRO: to increase public awareness of brainresearch and its application to human diseases.Most research effort and the education of individuals to carry out research are supportedby public funds. It is therefore of great importancethat the public understands and supports thisactivity and realizes its implications for health inthe community.

The Return Home Programme (Chair, CarlosBelmonte, Spain) aims to develop ways to lendpractical support to the concept of trying toretain in their home countries young neuroscienceresearchers from less advantaged countries whohave trained overseas, particularly in the USA orWestern Europe. Many fail to return to theirhome country to practise their research or fail tobe productive in their home setting.

IBRO'S FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERSMembers of IBRO may make financial contributions beyond the annual membershipdues to support IBRO programmes. Individualsor organizations may give financial support toa range of IBRO programmes or specificallytargeted programmes.

Donations may also come from commercialcompanies, foundations or other bodies wishing to contribute financially to the objectives of IBRO. Such supporting memberswill pay an annual subscription to IBRO, inreturn receiving specific benefits.

If you would like to support IBRO, please contact the IBRO Secretariat atibro3@wanadoo.fr.

WINNINGNEUROSCIENCECOVER FOR 2003The winning image of the first Neurosciencecover competition wasthe cover of vol. 119,no. 3, from the article'Experience-dependent regulation of synaptic zinc is impaired in the cortex ofaged mice' by R. H. Dyck and C. E. Brown,Department of Psychology, University ofCalgary, Calgary,Alberta, Canada. Much ofthe research in the authors' laboratory isconcerned with the functional role of distinctpopulations of neurons in the mammalianforebrain that sequester zinc into synapticvesicles within their axon terminals.

The winners received $1000 worth ofbooks from Elsevier Ltd, the publishers ofIBRO's journal Neuroscience.

ENGAGING THE PUBLIC:PUBLIC AWARENESS OFBRAIN RESEARCHSYMPOSIUM, LISBON,PORTUGAL

During the FENS Forum 2004 in Lisbon, a symposium on Public Awareness of Brain Researchwas organized by IBRO, FENS (Federation ofEuropean Neuroscience Societies) and EDAB(European Dana Alliance for the Brain), as part ofa concerted effort to bring to the public a greaterunderstanding of scientists' research, often issuesthat have a direct impact on society.Communicating brain research can be achieved inmany ways: from talks to schoolchildren to 'sci-art' exhibitions.

The speakers, experienced in communicating at alllevels, from grassroots to national broadcasting,included Eva Sykova (Institute of ExperimentalMedicine, Czech Republic), who spoke aboutactivities organized in the Czech Republic toincrease public awareness during the worldwideBrain Awareness Week (March 15-21 2004).Paulo Battaglini (University of Trieste, Italy) alsodescribed Brain Awareness Week in Italy,emphasizing the importance of choosing the rightscientists to inform the public about neuroscience.Chris Stock (University of Manchester, UK) talkedabout how to get the message across toteenagers. Pierre Magistretti, FENS President,ended the symposium with a message about theBrain Campaign, recently launched by IBRO, EDABand FENS (see p. 1).

Brain Awareness Week, now in its 7th year, is aworldwide event that takes place each March.It gives scientists and clinicians an opportunity toshow the public what is being accomplished inscientific laboratories, provide information aboutthe brain that everyone can understand, andinform the public about what is being done todiagnose, treat and prevent disorders of thebrain, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, stroke,

International Registry of NeuroscienceTraining ProgrammesAndrew Gundlacha.gundlach@hfi.unimelb.edu.au

Membership and PartnershipsSten Grillnersten.grillner@neuro.ki.se

Neuro-GrantsA. Bullochbulloch@acs.ucalgary.ca

Neuroscience LibrariesTo be appointed

NominatingAnnica Dahlströmannica.dahlstrom@anatcell.gu.se

Public Education ProgrammeEsther BinnsEstherlennon@ntlworld.com

PublicationsPiergiorgio Stratapiergiorgio.strata@unito.it

Return Home ProgrammeCarlos Belmontecarlos.belmonte@umh.es

Symposia & WorkshopsKenneth J. Mullerkmuller@miami.edu

World CongressJosef Sykasyka@biomed.cas.cz

IBRO'S COMMITTEES AND CHAIRSAnimals in ResearchSharon Julianosjuliano@usuhs.mil

Board of IBRO SchoolsJohn G Hildebrandjgh@neurobio.arizona.edu

By-laws & ProceduresEduardo Roberto Macagnodean@biology.ucsd.edu

Clinical/Basic Science Links ProgrammePatrik Brundinpatrik.brundin@neurol.lu.se

Fellowships & Travel GrantsKwok-Fai Sohrmaskf@hkucc.hku.hk

FinanceSteve J. Redmanredman@jcsmr.anu.edu.au

Committee on Neuroscience HistoryCharles G. Grosscggross@phoenix.princeton.edu

IBRO Cyber-Journal ClubsPaul Pattersonphp@caltech.edu

IBRO-EduAnte L. Padjenante.padjen@mcgill.ca

IBRO on the Web Board of EditorsAndree Blakemoreandree.blakemore@physiol.ox.ac.uk

INTERNATIONALBRAIN RESEARCHORGANIZATIONEXECUTIVE COMMITTEEPresidentTorsten Wiesel (USA)

Secretary-GeneralJennifer Lund (USA

Secretary-General (Past)Albert Aquayo (Canada)

TreasurerSteve Redman (Australia)

Chairs of Regional Committees R. N. Kalaria (Africa)Y. S. Chan (Asian/Pacific)L. Kaczmarek (Central and Eastern Europe)O. Macadar (Latin America) B. S. McEwen (US/Canada)G. Di Chiara (Western Europe)

IBRO SECRETARIATExecutive DirectorOlga Popoff

Assistant Executive DirectorStephanie de La RochefoucauldRue Saint-Honoré75001 Paris, FrancePhone:+33-1-46-47-92-92 Fax: +33-1-46-47-42-50ibro@wanadoo.fr www.ibro.info

'IBRO News'Editor-in-ChiefAndrée Blakemoreandree.blakemore@physiol.ox.ac.uk

www.ibro.info

FOR IBRO'S FELLOWSHIPS,TRAVEL

GRANTS, CALENDAR EVENTS,

MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY

schizophrenia and depression, which affect the lives of millions of people.

The BAW campaign now includes more than1700 partners in 57 countries.

For information or advice about participating inBrain Awareness Week 2005 emailenquiries@edab.net

Brain Awareness Week 2004 at the Centre for Neuroscience, Cochin University of Science and Technology,Cochin, India

prominent neuroscientists as guest editors.

Neuroscience is able to accept on-line submissions through its 'Editorial Manager'program.Web submissions are now the preferred choice and offer users many advantages over the traditional hard-copy route.Average response time to authors with a decision is now 30 days.

Visit the Neuroscience web site at www.neuroscience-ibro.com for information about the journal.

NEWS FROM IBRO'SJOURNALNeuroscience TOCs now reach the entire IBROmembership by e-mail on publication of each issue.

A new programme of Special Issues is devotedto specific topics within neuroscience, preferably'emergent topics' that open new fields in neurobiological research.The Special Issueswill be published as separate volumes with

INTERNATIONAL BRAIN RESEARCH ORGANIZATION