Dear Colleagues and Friends,
It has been a privilege to establish the Institute for Social and Applied Neuroscience (ISAN), which would not have been possible without the generous contributions of our Board of Directors, the intellectual curiosity, energy and accomplishments of our members and volunteers, and the organizational ability of our staff: Valerie Blomberg and Emma Fountain.
2015 will
be a year of growth through connection for ISAN. Towards this goal, we’ve launched the Sandbox Gatherings, inviting neuroscientists along with researchers in diverse fields and health care practitioners to play outside their own “sandbox”. These gatherings aim to promote collaboration among inquiring minds to work towards practical solutions in a shared topic.The Sandbox Gatherings will not only serve as incubators for collaborative research but also as peer support for research proposals and coauthorship. In 2008, the National Institute of Medical Health (NIMH) developed the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project to “develop, for research purposes, new ways of classifying mental disorders based on behavioral dimensions and neurobiological measures.” The RDoC model created a framework for studying mental illness independently of the current classifications system, including studying phenomena, such as hallucinations, that cut across diagnostic lines. RDoCs were created to bring together behavioral scientists and neuroscientists with physicians. ISAN has adopted the RDoC model, while expanding the pool of potential contributors and recognizing the valuable contributions of researchers studying overlapping phenomenon within disciplines that rarely have the opportunity to interact (such as neuroscience and medical anthropology).Some of the current Sandbox interest groups are beginning to integrate research on the:
Social and endocrine changes consequent to traumatic brain injury;
The impact of social dislocation and immigration on risk for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder;
Computer modeling of complex, dynamic biological systems;
The biology of addiction and recovery. ISAN functions to identify domains such as biosocial changes consequent to brain injury and then helps to connect researchers studying them from different expert perspectives, including those of neurotrophic factors, epigenetics, impact of social and psychological interventions on neuronal viability, cultural-specific factors, and economic consequences on the individual over the lifespan. Like RDoC research, ISAN begins with an understanding of the basic biological and social mechanisms to generate and carry out studies of dysfunctions in these systems, rather than starting with existing diagnoses and conceptual frameworks and working backwards. We also encourage attention to the developmental trajectories of symptoms and of recovery as they evolve over time, as well as the interactions between the neurobiological organism and its social environment. We anticipate that the RDoC model will encourage new ways to think about diagnosis and yield breakthrough treatment and prevention strategies by moving beyond the diagnostic categories and the Balkanized scientific approaches so that our members are moving are moving towards a meaningful understanding of them. To this end, wecreate an environmentof respect and productive questioning that is brought about by finding the common ground between science and practice, mind and brain, neuroscience and social context, all of whichencompass our goal of identifying and resolving critical human concerns.In this way, ISAN contributes to the relief of human suffering, disability and injustice. As we move forward with this initiative, we are reliant on the support of individual and organizational donors who see the value in our approach and aspirations. I look forward to serving ISAN and am fortunate to be part of an organization with such strong humanitarian and scientific commitments. With warm wishes,
Nadia Webb, PsyD, MPAP, ABPdN, FACPN
ISAN Director
