Announcements

Brain and Nervous System

• Brain Awareness Week Teaches Kids How Their Brains Work
  Institute: National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

  Middle school students who attended the sixth annual Brain Awareness Week (BAW) learned about the amazing power and resilience of the brain by participating in interactive exhibits. This science and health education fair is designed to teach middle school students about brain health and introduce them to careers in neuroscience. The fair was held March 13–17, 2006, at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in Washington, DC. More

  Next Steps
  To learn how to start a Brain Awareness Week 2007 program in your community, contact Karen Graham at the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, (202) 408-8800, or visit the Dana Alliance Web site at www.dana.org/brainweek.
  
  If you are in the Washington, DC, metro area and you would like your middle school class to attend BAW next year at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, please contact Janet Burns at (202) 782-2673.

Mental Health and Behavior

• Patient and Family Groups Discuss Future Mental Health Research Priorities
  When: January 20, 2006
  Where: MD
  Institute: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

  In January, representatives of patient and family organizations came together with leaders in mental health research at the Winter Science Meeting of the NIMH Alliance for Research Progress to learn about the latest discoveries and to discuss priorities for future mental health research.
  
  The meeting focused on two topic areas: trauma and terror and new findings on mental illness in the workplace. Distinguished researchers presented the latest findings on trauma as it affects soldiers, returning veterans, and their families; the impact of disasters on individuals; and the cost of mental illness in the workplace. More

  Next Steps
  You can find summaries from this and previous Alliance meetings at http://www.nimh.nih.gov/outreach/alliancemenu.cfm.
  

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