Brainbox Initiative Conference 2020
The Brainbox Initiative Conference moved online for 2020. The conference took place on September 22-25 across four days filled with research and talks from early-career researchers working with non-invasive brain stimulation and imaging methods; inspiring keynote sessions with world-leading neuroscientists; online poster exhibitions and live pitches to all conference attendees; the presentation of our annual Research Challenge and Young Investigator Awards and much more.
Established in 2016, the Brainbox Initiative works closely with world-leading academics to help support, develop, and promote the work of early-career neuroscientists.
Ever since our first conference in 2017, we have remained committed to bringing together exciting programmes packed with the most rigorous and exciting field-leading work in non-invasive brain stimulation and brain imaging research. The Brainbox Initiative Conference is unique in encouraging the presentation of groundbreaking research from neuroscientists at all stages of their careers: from graduate students and postdoctoral researchers just starting their careers in academia, to those whose decades of cutting-edge research have helped to define the field.
Through our commitment to bring together such a wide range of speakers and experiences, the Brainbox Initiative Conference provides one of the most supportive environments for early-career neuroscientists, and keeps a strong focus on stimulating exciting new avenues for networking, discovery, and collaboration in the field.
We worked closely with the conference panel and our scientific committee to construct a programme that covers a broad range of topics across non-invasive brain stimulation techniques. Our conference panel are committed to ensuring that we support the most inclusive conference programme possible, bringing together researchers from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.
Keynote Speakers
Conference Speakers
View the virtual programme here:
| 13:00 | Welcome Address & Conference Introduction | Professor Charlotte Stagg & Andrew Thomas |
| 13:15 | Modulation of Functional Connectivity by Dual-site tACS | Dr Bettina Schwab |
| 13:40 | Causal Role of Phase Amplitude Coupling in Components of Cognitive Control Using Cross-frequency tACS | Dr Justin Riddle |
| 14:05 | Using current flow modelling to dose-control tES | Dr Carys Evans |
| 14:30 | Short Break & Transcranial Electrical Stimulation Product Demonstration with Neurophet tES Lab | Mark Crawley & Dr Rory Cutler (Brainbox Ltd) |
| 14:45 | Poster Pitches & Presentations | |
| 15:30 | Neuronal Computation Underlying Inferential Reasoning in Humans and Mice | Dr Helen Barron |
| 15:55 | Interacting Influences: Investigating how Brain State, Polarity and White Matter Structure Shapes Brain Network Effects of tDCS | Dr Lucia Li |
| 16:15 | Keynote Address: Modulation of Memory Consolidation via Oscillatory Brain Stimulation During Sleep | Professor Dr Agnes Flöel |
| 17:00 | Day One Closing Remarks | Dr Ines Violante |
| 13:00 | Introduction & Welcome | Dr Jacinta O'Shea |
| 13:10 | Modulating Long-range Connectivity through Cortico-cortical Paired Associative TMS | Dr Alberto Lazari |
| 13:35 | Optimizing TMS for Treatment-Resistant Depression | Dr Eleanor Cole |
| 14:00 | Neurophysiological Correlates of Motor Skill Stability | Dr Ronan Mooney |
| 14:25 | Short Break & TMS Robotics Demonstration | Dr Roch Comeau |
| 14:40 | Poster Pitches & Presentations | |
| 15:25 | Young Investigator Award Presentation | Dr Davide Folloni |
| 15:55 | Short Break & DuoMAG TMS Systems Demonstration | Brainbox Ltd |
| 16:10 | Keynote Address: Oops.. I Did it Again: Using TMS as a Tool to Prevent Relapse to Alcohol Drinking | Professor Colleen Hanlon |
| 16:55 | Day Two Closing Remarks | Dr Jacinta O'Shea |
| 13:00 | Introduction & Welcome | Dr Lennart Verhagen |
| 13:10 | Transducer and Skull Modelling in Acoustic Simulations for Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation | Dr Cristina Pasquinelli |
| 13:35 | Biomolecular Mechanisms of Ultrasonic Neuromodulation | Dr Sangjin Yoo |
| 14:00 | Deep Brain Ultrasonic Modulation in Behaving Primates | Dr Jan Kubanek |
| 14:25 | Short Break & NeuroFUS Focused Ultrasound System Demonstration | Brainbox Ltd |
| 14:40 | Poster Pitches & Presentations | |
| 15:25 | Computational Methods for Dosimetry | Dr Bradley Treeby |
| 15:55 | Short Break | |
| 16:00 | Keynote Address: State-of-the-Art Neuromodulation with Focused Ultrasound | Dr William 'Jamie' Tyler |
| 16:45 | Day Three Closing Remarks | Dr Lennart Verhagen |
| 13:00 | Introduction & Welcome | Dr Paul Taylor |
| 13:10 | Poster Pitches & Presentations | |
| 13:55 | Molecular Brain Imaging to Study the Neural Mechanisms of Theta Burst Stimulation | Dr Sara Tremblay |
| 14:20 | Short Break & TMS-EEG Technique Focus | Brainbox Ltd |
| 14:35 | The Impact of Transcranial Direct-Current Stimulation on Surgical Performance | Dr Ronak Patel |
| 15:00 | Neural Processing of Observed and Executed Motor Actions in 6-month-old Infants: An fNIRS Study | Dr Vera Mateus |
| 15:25 | Research Challenge 2020 Award Presentation | Dr Paul Taylor |
| 15:40 | Short Break & Infinitome Product Demonstration | |
| 15:55 | Poster Presentation Award & Session Closing Remarks | Professor Charlotte Stagg and Professor Sven Bestmann |
| 16:10 | Keynote Conversation | Professor John Rothwell in discussion with Professor Charlotte Stagg |
| 16:55 | Conference Closing Remarks | Professor Charlotte Stagg |
Each year, the Brainbox Initiative Conference offers early-career researchers the opportunity not only to share their research in the form of a poster, but also to supplement this display with a three-minute, on-stage pitch to help them reach as many attendees as possible. In moving the conference online for 2020, we are reaffirming our commitment to this core component of our conference and are delighted to announce that we will be running extended poster presentation and poster pitch sessions for this year.
We invite any early-career researchers who would like to present their work (or planned work) at the 2020 conference to submit an abstract. Call for entries is open now, and we will be accepting submissions until September 14, 2020. For full details of poster presentations and instructions on how to submit your research, please visit our dedicated poster page.
Where can I view the programme for the conference?
We’re in the final stages of confirming speakers for the conference, at which point we’ll share the finished conference programme. With regards to timings, the conference will run between 13:00-17:00 BST from September 22-25.
How much is the registration fee?
We want to make sure that the Brainbox Initiative Conference is easily accessible for everyone. As the event is taking place virtually this year we are able to offer registrations at the substantially reduced cost of £30. This fee will be used to help towards costs associated with running the event, such as the purchase of the virtual platform that we will be using. In our ongoing mission to helping promote the work of early-career researchers, we promise to contribute any additional funds raised by the conference to funding travel grants and subsidies for attendees of the Brainbox Initiative Conference 2021 in London.
How will I attend the conference?
The conference will be taking place online, and all attendees will be sent a direct link to enter the virtual room ahead of the event. There is no need to download any proprietary software as you will be able to join the event via your internet browser.
Will I be able to ask questions during the conference?
Yes, there will be the option to ask questions in a Q&A chat throughout the event. For questions about poster presentations, dedicated forum threads will be available for delegates to interact with all of our presenters.
I would like to attend but I can’t make the timings: will the event be available online afterwards?
While we would like to make the conference available for as many people as possible, we only intend – at the moment – for the Brainbox Initiative Conference to be viewed live. Our YouTube channel, however, is regularly updated with recordings of our Brainbox Initiative Webinars to watch on demand. Should we determine that we are able to make the conference available to view at a later date, we will announce this on our social media channels and our newsletter.
If you have any additional questions about the Brainbox Initiative Conference, please contact us at info@brainbox-initiative.com