International Collaboration the Focus of Scientific Symposium Hosted by Max Planck Florida Institute

The Max Planck Florida Institute (MPFI) and the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) recently hosted a two-day scientific symposium, “Neural Circuits: From Molecules to Behavior” on March 6-7 at the Lifelong Learning Complex on the Jupiter campus of Florida Atlantic University (FAU). More than 200 faculty, postdocs and students from MPFI, FAU, Scripps Florida and other South Florida universities attended the event, which was designed to promote collaboration among neuroscientists in Florida, Germany and Latin America. It also served as the inauguration of a MPFI-IBRO postdoctoral training program called the Latin American Fellows Program for Neural Circuit Research to be administered by MPFI in Jupiter.

The symposium featured presentations by scientists from around the world, including Dr. Tobias Bonhoeffer, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology, Martinsreid Germany; Dr. Ramon Latorre, Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Neuroscience, University of Valparaiso, Chile; Dr. Nils Brose, Director, Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine, Gottingen, Germany; Dr. Ranulfo Romo, National Autonomous University of Mexico; Dr. Eduardo Arzt, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Dr. Rommy von Bernhardi, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, President of the Federation of Latin American and Caribbean Neuroscience Associations (FALAN). Also highlighted at the symposium were presentations by three new additions to the faculty of the MPFI: Dr. Ryohei Yasuda, Duke University; Dr. Hiroki Taniguchi, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and Dr. Hyungbae Kwon, Harvard University. Dr. David Fitzpatrick, scientific director and CEO of MPFI and Dr. Carlos Belmonte, president of IBRO provided the opening remarks.

“This symposium was an excellent first step in building collaborations among neuroscientists from across the globe, and strengthening neuroscience research and training in Latin America,” said Dr. Belmonte.

In addition to the two-day symposium, there was also a poster session and reception on March 6 to highlight the research of local neuroscientists.

“We were delighted to have this opportunity to showcase the progress that MPFI has made in building a worldclass neuroscience research facility,” said Dr. Fitzpatrick. “We look forward to future collaborations and training opportunities with our colleagues in south Florida and in the global neuroscience community.”

For more information, please visit www.maxplanckflorida.org.