BrainNet was founded by The National Foundation for Brain Research Lawrence S. Hoffheimer, Esq., Executive Director

Decade of the Brain | Educational Activities and Achievements | Publications and Exhibits

Disorders of the brain cost this nation more than $400 billion each year in medical and related expenses, and they cost the 50 million Americans (and their families) who suffer from brain and other central nervous system (CNS) disorders an incalculable amount in terms of emotional, social, and employment consequences.

The National Foundation for Brain Research (NFBR), founded in 1989, dedicated itself to a national effort to increase our scientific and clinical understanding of the brain in health and disease in its belief that by doing so, neuroscience can provide the necessary answers to help alleviate the devastation wrought by brain- and other CNS-related illnesses. These illnesses are the most debilitating of the human condition and include disorders such as Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, drug addiction, among many others.

NFBR worked in part through its closely affiliated Decade of the Brain Coalition, a comprehensive coalition of professional, medical, and scientific societies, volunteer health organizations, federal government agencies, and private industry, seeking expansion of research and new therapies for these neurological, mental, and addictive disorders. The purpose of this expansion is to achieve NFBR's primary goal of reducing the human suffering and the economic impact of CNS disorders.

Decade of the Brain

When President George Bush and the U.S. Congress decreed the 1990s as the "Decade of the Brain" by vitue of both a Presidential Proclamation and a Joint Congressional Resolution they ushered in a powerfully unifying symbolism and motivating force that has been likened to John F. Kennedy's inspiring 1961 challenge to our nation's scientists and engineers to "land a man on the moon".

The Decade of the Brain provided the impetus through which NFBR was able to focus national attention and resources on the Patient Groups economically and socially important issue of brain/CNS disorders. Fortunately, the President and Congress incorporated both 1990 and the year 2000 in the Decade of the Brain, providing 11 years for the politically symbolic brain/CNS focus to spawn a scientific and therapeutic momentum that will transcend mere symbolism and deliver an understanding of the most complex structure in man's universe, the human brain. But, even as the Decade drew to a close, the political momentum continued; as late as 1996, for example, President Bill Clinton endorsed the importance of the advances promolgated by the Decade of the Brain initiative.

NFBR achieves its mission in part through its efforts to translate this national "Decade of the Brain" initiative into tangible activities, services, and events that enhance neuroscience research and disseminate information on emerging treatments to a wide audience. The objective was to facilitate the development of cutting-edge products and therapies that ameliorate the effects of brain/CNS damage and disease.

Educational Activities and Achievements

Most of the national activities that have been inspired by the Decade of the Brain emanated from NFBR, the flagship organization promoting the Decade of the Brain. Through its intense nation-wide effort to inform the American people and their elected representatives about the unprecedented advances in neuroscience that now offer hope to those who suffer from disorders of the brain, NFBR successful in many of its goals, has been responsible for many important events. NFBR also has been an indispensable partner in events coordinated by other organizations, for example the annual "Brain Awareness Week," organized by the Dana Foundation.

Among NFBR's most significant educational achievements has been the initiation and coordination of several scientific symposia and conferences designed to disseminate research results, inspire new clinical and scientific collaborations, and focus public attention on brain disorders. Originally one symposium was planned for each year, but the symposia's popularity demanded an average of more than two per year during the first seven and a half years of the Decade of the Brain. These symposia and conferences have been supported by educational grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and private industry, and several have received national coverage in major newspapers and on major television network news programs including CNN.

These symposia are attended by journalists, members of Congress and their staff, professional and medical society representatives, patient organization representatives, researchers, clinicians, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry representatives, top officials from the Executive Branch of the federal government (e.g., National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration, Health Care Financing Administration, Public Health Service), and insurance and managed care executives.

Publications and Exhibits

To promote wide dissemination of information on the brain and its disorders, NFBR engaged in diverse scientific and public education efforts. For example, in 1992, NFBR sponsored the most definitive study on the cost to the nation of disorders of the brain and CNS. The report, The Cost of Disorders of the Brain, has been widely disseminated and has been cited by researchers and authors throughout the world.

NFBR published an educational brochure on the health-care economics of schizophrenia. Titled The High Cost of Schizophrenia, the brochure is intended primarily to educate legislators, state-level administrators, and the public about this devastating disease and the economics of treatments for it.

NFBR also created three widely read lay-audience publications about the brain and brain disorders. One was published in The Washington Post (circulation approx. 400,000) and The Washington Post National Weekly and one appeared in Scientific American. The third piece, Exploring the Brain, served as an educational guide to a national traveling science museum exhibit on the brain developed by the Philadelphia based in association with NFBR. The 5,000-square-foot interactive exhibit reached approximately three million visitors through the mid-1990s, and through this exhibit, NFBR succeeded in promoting associated long-term relationships between researchers, the museum community, and local schools.