y Shahnaz Radjy, Executive Committee member, Women’s Brain Project
This year, nothing is business as usual. The same can be said for the flagship event hosted by the Women’s Brain Project (WBP) with the International Forum on Women’s Brain and Mental Health 2020 going virtual for the first time.
With an innovative format, as of September 13, the Forum offered pre-recorded keynotes and panel discussions to the more than 200 registered participants from around the world. This was an invitation to soak up cutting-edge interventions and the latest science on a platform designed to facilitate the sharing of questions with the WBP Team.
A live event to remember
During the virtual Forum, held on September 19 and 20, interactive panel discussions were framed by keynotes by illustrious names ranging from Dr. Lukas Engelberger, Health Councillor of the City of Basel, to Dr. Eliot Sorel of the Milken Health Institute, and Signe Ratso, European Commission Deputy Director General for Research and Innovation. Questions from participants were woven into the conversation, both from the pre-Forum platform and the live questions that came up during the discussions or keynotes.
Focused on sex and gender differences in brain and mental health as the gateway to precision medicine, the Forum program took the participants on a journey across the lifespan.
Topics ranged from young suicide to maternal mental health, Alzheimer’s Disease, migraine, lifestyle interventions, and novel technologies. (Here’s the full program.)
In fact, all the Forum content is still available through to the end of November, if you are registered (and you can still register!)
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How to Be Brain Powerful & the WBP Hackathon
Beyond that, two exciting announcements were also made during the Forum:
WBP launched the Swiss edition of the global “Be Brain Powerful®” campaign, with the support of various partners and sponsors. With a 30-Day Challenge available in French, English, German, and Italian, the campaign will be available for a year – find out more and sign up here.
The campaign has already been covered by FACES Magazine and a few Swiss-based Instagram influencers – and it’s only the beginning!
[Add one of the BBP visuals from Insta]
A WBP Hackathon was also announced, with a twist: participants and partners are invited to join the initiative to deconstruct gender bias algorithms to then “fix them” and identify systemic ways of doing so on a bigger scale. To stay up to date, sign up here.
Thank you
The whole WBP Team could not have been prouder of how the Forum went. That said, the organisation of this Forum would not have been possible without the trust and support of our sponsors and partners.
Sponsors included: AC Immune, B-Now, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Lilly.
To see the press release about the Forum, click here.
