The IBI is excited to launch joint fellowship opportunities with host institutions from around the world, including Canada, Germany, South Korea, and China!

IBI Chair, Dr. Judy Illes, recently hosted a discussion with Dr. Eero Rissanen on Neurocenter Finland’s role in global neuroscience collaboration. Dr. Rissanen is a neurologist and adjunct professor of neurology, and is the director of Neurocenter Finland.

A new national campaign led by the Canadian Brain Research Strategy urges policymakers to put brain health on the election agenda.

IBI Crosscultural Working Group member, Dr. Olivia Matshabane, is a fellow of the African Postdoctoral Training Initiative (APTI) and a Neuroethics Researcher in the Department of Psychiatry, at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. She recently co-authored an insightful article titled Two-eyed Seeing and other Indigenous perspectives for neuroscience, which underscores the value of including Indigenous Knowledge in neuroscience research. The article was co-led by Dr. Judy Illes and Dr. Melissa Perreault, alongside a team of international experts.

The Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and allies, including the International Brain Initiative, call on communities around the world to stand up for science!

IBI Chair, Dr. Judy Illes, recently hosted a discussion with Drs. Peter Thorne and Cliff Abraham on the Aotearoa Brain Project’s role in global neuroscience collaboration.

IBI Crosscultural Working Group Lead, Dr. Melissa Perreault (University of Guelph), was featured at CBC’s The Early Edition with Stephen Quinn (February 17, 2025 episode). Dr. Perreault discussed Two-Eyed Seeing and bringing Indigenous perspectives into brain science.

Neuroethics Working Group Lead, Dr. Marcello Ienca, has obtained funding from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Bavarian HighTech Agenda to organize a symposium at the TUM Science & Study Center Raitenhaslach. The event, which will take place in the Spring of 2026, will showcase the IBI Neuroethics ethical framework for responsible AI-processing of neural data and bring together global leaders to discuss critical issues in neural data governance.

The IBI Neuroethics Working Group will be featured at the Annual Meeting of the International Neuroethics Society (INS) on April 23-25, 2025, in a joint session with IEEE Standards on Global Neuroethics. The panel—featuring IBI members Marcello Ienca, Tamami Fukushi, Katherine Bassil, Jennifer Chandler, and Judy Illes—will explore opportunities and challenges in developing cross-national ethical frameworks for neuroscience and neurotechnology.

The Finnish Cancer Center (FICAN), Neurocenter Finland, and public healthcare hospital biobanks have launched a joint project aimed at strengthening the conditions for personalized medicine in Finland.

University of British Columbia researchers, including IBI Chair Dr. Judy Illes, are working with Indigenous scholars and communities to bring Indigenous perspectives into brain science. In a paper published this week in Nature, Dr. Judy Illes, and IBI Crosscultural Working Group Lead, Dr. Melissa Perreault (University of Guelph), explore approaches to integrating Indigenous knowledge with Western approaches in neuroscience. The paper is a product of the Crosscultural Working Group of the International Brain Initiative.

Professor Anna Lydia Svalastog at Østfold University College, member of the IBI Crosscultural Working Group, is among the authors participating in a groundbreaking international study that shows how traditional knowledge can provide new perspectives on mental health and brain research. The study has just been published in the prestigious journal Nature.

Integrating Indigenous perspectives and knowledge in neuroscience can significantly broaden the understanding of the human brain and mind, as argued by the International Brain Initiative’s Crosscultural Working Group of researchers led by Professor Judy Illes from the University of British Columbia, Associate Professor Melissa Perreault from the University of Guelph, and including PhD Candidate Rudi Taylor-Bragge from Monash School of Psychological Sciences.

The aim of the Digital Brain Seminar series is to bring together people who are interested in creating Digital Brain, a digital reconstruction of the brain in structural, dynamic, and functional aspects at different scales in different species.

The International Neuroethics Society’s Public Communication and Publishing Affinity Group released its inaugural issue of the Neuroethics Magazine, dedicated entirely to answering the foundational question: What is neuroethics?. This first-of-its-kind publication sets the stage for exploring the intersection of neuroscience and ethics.

Dr. Ryosuke Takahashi, the Brain/MINDS 2.0 Program Supervisor, shares with Dr. Judy Illes, the IBI Chair, that a project led by the University of Tokyo has been recently selected, under the Brain/MINDS 2.0 initiative, to provide neuroethical consultation for other neuroscience projects, and to conduct neuroethics research. On that note, Dr. Takahashi probes into the ethical implications of diagnosing Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.

IBI Chair, Dr. Judy Illes, recently hosted a conversation with Drs. Ryosuke Takahashi, Makoto Sugawa, Tetsushi Kagawa and Ms. Yumiko Miyashita, to discuss the relationship between the Brain/MINDS 2.0 research program in Japan and the IBI in advancing the goals of global neuroscience.

The Hastings Center recently announced the election of its 2024 Fellows, including Neuroethics Canada’s Dr. Judy Illes. Hastings Center Fellows are a group of more than 200 individuals of outstanding accomplishment whose work has informed scholarship and public understanding of complex ethical issues in health, health care, science, and technology.

Launched in 2013, the BRAIN Initiative (BRAIN) in the United States aimed to unlock the mysteries of the brain and develop new treatments for neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. The success of this program is evidenced by the accelerated discoveries and development of interventions that are happening in real time. However, a recent 40% cut in funding for BRAIN threatens this once-in-a-generation opportunity to solve fundamental mysteries of the brain and achieve treatment breakthroughs that we once thought impossible.

IBI Chair, Dr. Judy Illes, recently hosted a conversation with Dr. Yves De Koninck, to discuss the relationship between the Canadian Brain Research Strategy (CBRS) and the International Brain Initiative (IBI) in advancing global neuroscience collaboration.