The McGovern Institute for Brain Research was founded in 2000 by Patrick and Lore Harp McGovern. It is located at MIT and has a mission to understand the brain and discover ways to prevent and treat brain disorders. The Institute has 19 faculty members and over 200 researchers studying the brain. Some notable faculty and researchers include a Nobel Laureate and members of the National Academy of Sciences. The Institute collaborates widely both within MIT and with other institutions around the world.

1. Robert Desimone, Ph.D.
Director, McGovern Institute for Brain Research
Doris and Don Berkey Professor of Neuroscience
desimone@mit.edu
http://mcgovern.mit.edu

2. • Founded in 2000 by Patrick & Lore Harp McGovern
• Mission is to understand brain and to discover ways to prevent and treat brain
disorders
• 19 faculty members and >200 researchers
• Faculty include Nobel Laureate and 5 members of National Academy of Sciences
• Part of MIT neuroscience complex, among the largest in the world
• Many collaborations within and outside MIT, including Picower Institute, Broad
Institute, Harvard-affiliated hospitals, and many other institutions worldwide

3. Our founders: Patrick & Lore Harp McGovern

4. McGovern Institute Faculty Members

5. Our mission: Understanding the brain in health and disease

6. Disorders once thought to be distinct….

7. ……are now known to overlap

8. President Obama’s BRAIN Initiative
White House, April 2, 2013

9. A technology revolution: genome sequencing

10. Tracing connections in the living human brain
Zeynep Saygin (MIT)

11. Imaging human brain activity during social interactions
Rebecca Saxe (MIT)

12. CLARITY: a new method for visualizing the brain
Kwanghun Chung (MIT)

13. Optogenetics: controlling brain activity with light
Ed Boyden (MIT)

14. A unique environment: MIT and Kendall Square
MIT

15. What’s the road map?

16. NHGRI
Mice are the most common genetic model….

17. • Inflated self-esteem
or grandiosity
• More talkative than usual
• Flight of ideas
• Distractibility
• Feelings of worthlessness
• Recurrent thoughts
of death
…but it is not easy to model brain disorders in mice

18. CRISPR: a new technology for genome editing
Feng Zhang (MIT and Broad Institute)

19. Jiahao Sha, Nanjing Medical University (Cell, Jan 2014)
CRISPR used to make targeted gene mutations in monkeys

20. RIKEN
The common marmoset as a genetic model for brain research

22. A brain-inspired computer vision system
Tomaso Poggio; Center for Brains, Minds & Machines (MIT)

23. Italian Institute of Technology
A learning humanoid robot

24. Understanding ourselves and our place in the universe

26. Robert Desimone, Ph.D.
Director, McGovern Institute for Brain Research
Doris and Don Berkey Professor of Neuroscience
desimone@mit.edu
http://mcgovern.mit.edu