'Neuro Nets'

30th Sep 2019

This month, the British Neuroscience Association (BNA) participated in one of the first regional Neuro Update days - 'Neuro Nets' - at the University of Bristol, with delegates benefiting from a range of talks with fascinating insights and networking opportunities to connect neuroscience with psychiatry.

The Neuro Update days are being run UK-wide as part of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Gatsby/Wellcome Integrating Neuroscience Project, bridging the gap between clinical psychiatry and neuroscience. This occasion was the turn of the Southwest arm of the project to run its first annual event.

With talks ranging from 'Psychiatric genetics: what, how, why?' by Dr Hannah Jones and Dr Mandy Johnstone's 'Cell based models in Psychiatric research' to Professor Seth Love and Dr Liz Coulthard talking about dementia and Professor Caroline Relton on 'Epigenetics and Psychiatry'.

Some notable quotes from the day including Professor Anne Lingford-Hughes on 'Addiction Psychiatry': “Without understanding the underlying neurobiology, how can we improve treatment of addiction?”

Professor Mike Owen, Cardiff University on how genomics will impact clinical practice in psychiatry in his lecture on 'Psychiatric genetics': “If you go into psychiatry now, you are going to have to know about genetics” 

And of course we couldn't miss BNA's own Chief Executive, Dr Anne Cooke, talking about 'Credibility in Neuroscience': "A credible future for neuroscience requires change."

Most importantly, there was incredibly positive feedback from the many delegates attending:

"It was a privilege and very inspiring to hear from experts in their field."

"Speakers and presentations of exceptional quality!"

"It reminded me how exciting scientific perspective is."

"I'd just like updates every year. I think the more I'm exposed to this the more I might understand!"

About 'Neuro Nets'

With support from the Gatsby Foundation and Wellcome, the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Integrating Neuroscience Project is bridging the gap between clinical psychiatry and neuroscience. It’s a five-year initiative that is actively reshaping psychiatric training, introducing a modern neuroscience perspective to reflect the rapid, ongoing and exciting research advances that are dramatically changing our understanding of how the brain works.

To support the delivery of excellent neuroscience teaching to trainee psychiatrists across the UK, regional networks, 'Neuro Nets', will connect academic researchers and clinical trainers. Joining a network will signal your support for excellent neuroscience teaching in psychiatric training in your region. Taking part will also enable you to:

• Highlight what clinical psychiatrists and neuroscience researchers can offer each other
• Identify barriers to greater integration between pre-clinical neuroscience and clinical psychiatry and find solutions to overcome them
• Determine the resources that can already be drawn upon
• Develop a vision for excellent regional neuroscience teaching in psychiatry

 An 'All-Scotland' neuroscience conference is being planned for next spring.