Early-Career Participants at the 4th International Conference on NeuroProsthetic Devices on November 19-20, 2012 at the University of Freiburg, Germany

1243464 Victor Pikov 2012年ICNPD会议将汇集所有级别的国际研究人员到德国的弗莱堡，讨论最近的研究成果，并在神经假体装置这一令人兴奋的新领域建立新的合作。会议将于2012年11月19日至20日在德国的弗赖堡大学举行。在此之前，科学咨询委员会将进行一系列在线讨论，选出会议将讨论的几个关键创新挑战。会议的主要支助将由弗赖堡大学、商业赞助商和参展商提供，并由国家科学基金会提供会议登记费，并建议对美国的发言者提供补充支助。该提案旨在通过补贴旅行费用来扩大美国初级研究人员在会议上的参与。会议的总体主题将是将神经修复术转化为临床应用的技术和科学挑战。世界上有多个研究小组参与开发和评估用于各种神经系统疾病的神经假体植入物，并且在选择生物相容性封装材料、应用现代无线通信技术、更好地理解临床和用户需求、会议期间将举行几个讨论小组，以促进与会者在寻求解决所确定的挑战方面的互动，而不是简单地报告他们实验室的进展。会议的另一个重点是确定美国和欧洲科学家之间可能的合作领域，并找到启动这些合作的机制。在线资源，包括海报摘要审查系统和博客，将在会议网站（www.neurotechzone.com）上运行，以促进与会者在会议前的全球对话。知识产权国际人口与发展会议-2012年会议将举行第四次会议，前三次会议于2009年在台湾新竹举行，2010年在中国北京举行，2011年在澳大利亚悉尼举行。神经假体装置系列国际会议的成立是由于这一学科在国际研究竞技场的爆炸性增长所必需的。国际残疾人会议已经吸引了大量的与会者，并表明了世界各地科学家在讨论这一学科的现有挑战和未来方向时联合收割机的需要和意愿，特别是，制定关于神经假体探针制造及其数据和功率遥测的全球标准。人发会议的成就之一是成立了神经技术创新联盟，该联盟的创始成员包括许多著名专家，另一项成就是出版了《神经科学前沿》特刊，其中载有五篇全文文章（网址：//www.frontiersin.org/Neuroprosthetics/researchtopics/Neuroprosthetic_devices/56）以及在可搜索的神经科学相关存储库中的所有会议摘要的在线出版物和DOI注册，前沿会议（http：www.frontiersin.org/Community/EventDetails.aspx? eid会议期间出现了几个重要的讨论主题，从政府对神经假体装置临床试验的监督和支持到缺乏专门的国际期刊。2012年国际人口与发展会议将继续探讨关键的技术和生物挑战以及能够克服这些挑战的突破性创新。研究人员有多种机会在听力和视力丧失，肌肉麻痹，帕金森病，癫痫和其他神经系统疾病的设备的开发和测试中启动富有成效的合作项目。本提案中描述的会议将汇集已建立的调查人员和刚刚进入该领域的早期职业研究人员。在为期两天的会议期间，为了在讨论小组中进行重点交流，会议之前将进行一系列的头脑风暴在线讨论。更广泛的影响声明会议可以向NSF和其他美国联邦机构通报快速发展的神经修复领域的新发展。NSF的一个具体目标是建立新的项目，强调神经技术研究和医疗器械行业的整合。会议将提供一个很好的机会，突出这一领域的最佳做法，并从这一经验中吸取教训，以国家科学基金会的举措。与会者将被选为代表来自学术界，国家实验室，政府和工业界的广泛的感兴趣的参与者。将积极征聘代表研究人员职业生涯各个阶段的参与者，从成熟的研究人员到刚刚开始职业生涯的新研究人员。将作出特别努力，增加妇女和代表人数不足的少数民族在会议上的代表人数。会议计划、海报摘要和谈话摘要将永久张贴在会议网站（www.neurotechzone.com）以及前沿会议上，前沿会议是神经科学相关领域会议记录的主要在线存储库（http：//www.frontiersin.org/events/all_events），作为实用的教育工具。

1243464Victor PikovThe ICNPD-2012 conference will bring together international investigators of all levels toFreiburg, Germany to discuss recent research findings and to establish new collaborations in the new and exciting field of neural prosthetic devices. The conference will take place on November 19-20, 2012 at the University of Freiburg, Germany. It will be preceded by a series of online discussions by the Scientific Advisory Committee, resulting in selection of several key innovation challenges that will be addressed at the conference. Main support for the conference will be provided by the University of Freiburg, commercial sponsors and exhibitors, and the conference registration fees, with the proposed supplementary support for the United States-based speakers by the National Science Foundation. This proposal aims to expand the participation of junior US researchers at the conference by subsidizing their travel costs.The overall conference theme will be the technological and scientific challenges for translating neural prosthetics into clinical use. There are multiple research groups worldwide involved in development and evaluation of neuroprosthetic implants for a variety of neurological disorders, and similar difficulties often arise in selecting biocompatible encapsulation materials, in applying modern wireless communication technology, in better understanding of clinical and user needs, etc. Several discussion panels will be held at the conference to stimulate the interaction of participants in seeking solutions for the identified challenges, rather than simply reporting on the progress from their laboratories. Additional emphasis at the conference will be placed on identifying the areas of possible collaborations between the US and European scientists and finding the mechanisms for jump-starting these collaborations. The online resources, including the poster abstract review system and the blog, will operate at the conference website(www.neurotechzone.com) to promote the worldwide dialog among the participants prior to the conference.Intellectual MeritThe ICNPD-2012 conference will be convened for the fourth time, following the first three meetings in Hsinchu, Taiwan in 2009, in Beijing, China in 2010, and in Sydney, Australia in 2011. Foundation of the series of international conferences on neuroprosthetic devices was necessitated by an explosive growth of this discipline in the international research arena.The ICNPD conferences have already attracted a significant number of participants and demonstrated the need and will of scientists throughout the world to combine their voices in discussing the existing challenges and future direction of the discipline, and particularly, the development of global standards on fabrication of the neuroprosthetic probes and their data and power telemetry. One of the accomplishments of the ICNPD conferences was the formation of the Alliance for Innovations in Neural Technology, which includes many renowned experts as its founding members.Another accomplishment was a publication of a special issue of the Frontiers in Neuroscience with five full-length articles (http://www.frontiersin.org/Neuroprosthetics/researchtopics/Neuroprosthetic_devices/56)as well as an online publication and DOI registration of all conference abstracts at a searchable neuroscience-related depository, the Frontiers Conferences (http://www.frontiersin.org/Community/EventDetails.aspx?eid Several important topics for discussion have emerged during the conferences, ranging from the governmental oversight and support of the clinical trials of the neuroprosthetic devices to a lack of dedicated international journal. The ICNPD-2012 conference will continue the exploration of key technological and biological challenges and breakthrough innovations that can overcome them. There are multiple opportunities for the researchers to initiate productive collaborative projects in the development and testing of devices for the hearing and vision loss, muscle paralysis, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and other neurological disorders. The conference described in this proposal is one that will bring together established investigators and early-career researchers just entering this field. To enable a focused exchange at the discussion panels during the two-day meeting, there will be a series of brainstorming online discussions preceding the conference.Broader Impact StatementThe conference can inform the NSF and other US federal agencies about new developments in the rapidly growing neural prosthetics field. A specific goal of the NSF that will be aided by the conference is the establishment of new programs which emphasize integration of neural technology research and medical device industry. The conference will provide a good opportunity to highlight best practices in this area and to bring lessons from this experience to the NSF initiatives. The conference participants will be selected to represent a broad spectrum of interested participants from academia, national laboratories, government, and industry. Recruitment of participants representing researchers at all stages in their careers from well established to new researchers just starting their career will be actively pursued. A special effort will be made to increase the representation of women and underrepresented minorities at the conference. The conference program, poster abstracts, and talk abstracts will be permanently posted on the conference website (www.neurotechzone.com) as well as on the Frontiers Conferences, a premier online depository for the conference proceedings in the neuroscience-related fields (http://www.frontiersin.org/events/all_events) to serve as a practical educational tool.