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Babson College’s Bertarelli Institute for Family Entrepreneurship

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Babson College today announced the naming of the Bertarelli Institute for Family Entrepreneurship, a learning hub that will extend Babson’s founding mission, amplifying the capacity of enterprising families around the world to create economic value and social impact built upon the foundation of stronger family relationships. The Institute is made possible by a generous gift from the Bertarelli Foundation. The Institute, formerly known as the Institute for Family Entrepreneurship, resides under The Arthur M. Blank School for Entrepreneurial Leadership at Babson College. Ernesto Bertarelli graduated from Babson College in 1989. 

“The new name is a perfect fit for the Institute. Ernesto has long been a thought leader in family entrepreneurship, he has close ties to Babson, and he’s already helped shape much of the work we do here,” said Lauri Union, the Nulsen Family Executive Director of Babson’s Bertarelli Institute for Family Entrepreneurship.

In 2017, Babson named William B. Gartner the Bertarelli Foundation Distinguished Professor of Family Entrepreneurship. He also serves as the Institute’s Faculty Director for Research, and is universally recognized as a leading scholar in the area of entrepreneurship. “I’m honored to collaborate with colleagues who are pioneers in entrepreneurial research, and remain excited to continue to explore the various ways that families serve as the foundation for entrepreneurial activity all around the world,” Gartner said.

In the coming months, The Institute will launch a uniquely impactful initiative: The Babson Global Family Entrepreneurship Network. This network will amplify the capacity of entrepreneurial families from around the world to create value together, building on a foundation of stronger family relationships through curated learning, connectivity, and experiences. On average, 50% of Babson students come from a family business, and, according to “Family Firm Institute,” family businesses drive 70-90% of global GDP.

Members of the Babson Global Family Entrepreneurship Network will have access to the following benefits:

  • Curated Learning Opportunities in a confidential setting, guided by Babson, to exchange ideas and resources with others who have a shared life experience.
  • Curated Connectivity with other members of Babson’s unique global community.
  • Curated Experiences including special access to events and programs at Babson.

“We know we have this incredible global community, which so far hasn’t been connected as tightly as it could be,” Union said. “Babson’s Global Family Entrepreneurship Network will deliver significant opportunities to strengthen and grow our global community while providing shared learning from each other, as well as tapping into everything that Babson has to offer.”

“Business is taught in schools all over the world, but very, very few programs pay attention to the importance of family dynamics, values and culture, and how these are transmitted and how they evolve through generations,” said Ernesto Bertarelli. “This is an area of thinking and teaching where Babson already leads the way, and so it gives me great pleasure to see the College amplify its work with the Global Family Entrepreneurship Network. I very much look forward to seeing the results of this important and imaginative initiative over the coming years.

“I must also sincerely thank Babson and its leadership for the heartfelt honor it has bestowed upon my family with the naming of the Bertarelli Institute. The College has an enormous place in my heart and I feel privileged that we are able to continue to work together.”

YMCA North Staffordshire Awarded Queen’s Award for Enterprise

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A North Staffordshire charity is celebrating today after receiving a prestigious national award. YMCA North Staffordshire, which has operated within the city for over 170 years, was selected for the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in its Promoting Opportunities category.

The Queen’s Awards are the most prestigious awards for business, celebrating the outstanding achievements of organisations across the UK. The Promoting Opportunities category, in which the charity was successful, recognises  organisations that have supported people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds in improving their job skills and their chances of finding work.

The charity’s win was in recognition of its ‘Creative Youth Minds’ programme, which was first established in 2015 with the support of the Bertarelli Foundation.  The programme, which focuses on young people aged 16 – 24, seeks to develop young people by offering them a series of activities which are meaningful and engaging and help to build their confidence levels in order to lead successful lives. 

With activities centred predominantly around arts, and widening learning and participation, as young people engage they are then supported to participate in life-changing opportunities such as UK-based residentials and international projects. The programme also provides young people with bursaries to help unlock their potential. YMCA North Staffordshire was able to demonstrate that as a result of the programme design, young people were able to develop their skills, progress their education and secure employment.

The ‘Creative Youth Minds’ programme presented a natural progression for the charity as over the past ten years, it has strived to move away from what it terms a ‘deficit’ approach to delivering services to an asset-based community model through which young people, their families and their communities have opportunities to learn and thrive. Across all of its services, YMCA North Staffordshire is committed to promoting a culture of possibilities.   As part of that commitment, the charity has forged increasingly strong relationships with residents, community and voluntary sector groups, and businesses to ensure that young people have the opportunities and life chances to grow, with eight young people progressing on to full time degree programmes in 2020 alone. 

Commenting on the award, Daniel Flynn, Chief Executive of YMCA North Staffordshire said:

“YMCA North Staffordshire is an inclusive community of people with incredible gifts and talents. This amazing gift from The Queen’s Award is fantastic recognition of the work that of all of our staff, volunteers and partners do and it shows that by working together we can thrive; as a YMCA, as a community and as a city.”

Mel Sheldon, a young person who engaged with the programme, said:

“When I moved into YMCA I engaged with the Creative Youth Minds programme on a Thursday and Friday evening. Different artists came in from around Stoke on Trent such as the Cultural Sisters and B-Arts creating a local network. They delivered workshops such as ceramics, sewing, printmaking, film, music and drama. It built on my skills and confidence and I started volunteering which led me into full-time employment within youth work  as part of the activities team. As part of this, I deliver my own art workshops like textiles and mosaics. Without the Bertarelli Foundation funding and the Creative Youth Minds programme I don’t know where I’d be.”

Kirsty Bertarelli and Ernesto Bertarelli, Trustees of the Bertarelli Foundation, and Sponsors of the Creative Youth Minds Programme said:

“This Queen’s Award is no less than the amazing YMCA North Staffordshire deserve. It has been a joy and privilege to have got to know a community so full of talent and energy and compassion. YMCA North Staffordshire transforms lives, unlocks potential and creates new pathways to success. Kirsty Bertarelli and the YMCA share a vision that the creative arts can be fundamental in achieving these goals, offering new and different experiences and opportunities, igniting new interests and passions, and making exciting new futures possible, and our family’s Foundation has been proud to support putting this vision into reality. 

“What the YMCA does for the young people in its community is a story that demands celebration, far and wide. We are delighted that, with this award, they are receiving the sort of recognition that they have truly earned. We send our most heartfelt congratulations.”

Five proposals win initial “catalyst” funding at Campus Biotech

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Researchers from Campus Biotech were invited to develop joint projects with partner research institutes and bid for funding from the Bertarelli Foundation. The laureates have been announced, on April 11th, during the 2018 Bertarelli Symposium held at Harvard Medical School.

Less than a year ago, Martin Vetterli and Ernesto Bertarelli announced the launch of the Catalyst Fund @ Campus Biotech. The aim of this five-million-Swiss Franc fund is to promote and accelerate translational research projects on the nervous system in which one or more teams from Campus Biotech (in Geneva) join forces with partner research institutes. The first call for proposals is now complete, and five projects have been selected for funding. “The proposals were of a remarkably high calibre,” says Patrick Aebischer, who chaired the selection committee.

Ernesto Bertarelli adds:

“We are delighted to provide funding for these projects. They each represent the vision of innovation and collaboration which led us to create Campus Biotech and make it the home of such partnerships between scientists and institutes in the region. Our congratulations to the recipients of this first round of grants and their shared aim of achieving transformative results for patients. We look forward to following the progress of their research.”

Each of the five projects will receive 300,000 francs, which will be used to kick start their research and which will aim to ensure that the results can be turned into clinical applications.

Optogenetic therapy to restore eyesight

The project proposed by Bernard Schneider (EPFL’s Brain Mind Institute) and Sonja Kleinlogel (University of Bern) aims to bring a method of vision restoration to the stage of clinical trials. One in 300 people is visually impaired owing to a loss of light-sensitive retinal photoreceptors, manifesting in pathologies such as age-related macular degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa. Sonja Kleinlogel’s novel optogenetic gene therapy works by introducing and stimulating synthetic protein into remaining retinal interneurons, turning these cells into “replacement photoreceptors” and ultimately restoring the patient’s natural vision. This therapy has already been tested in the lab but still lacks a viral vector adapted for humans that will guide the novel light-sensing protein efficiently to the right retinal cells.

Treating vision problems after a stroke

Motor and language impairment are common deficits after stroke, yet 30% of victims suffer from vision problems such as loss of parts of the visual field (hemianopia). The project headed by Friedhelm Hummel and involving four colleagues from EPFL, HUG, Hôpital du Valais and the Clinique Romande de Réadaptation (Sion) will use a multimodal approach by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) simultaneously to map out activity in the visual system following a stroke to better understand the mechanisms of recovery. This will form the basis for rehabilitation strategies involving non-invasive brain stimulation and visual training. The third phase of the project is dedicated to determine potential biological markers allowing to predict individual treatment effects. This will pave the way for patient-tailored targeted therapies towards personalized medicine.

Treating hallucinations in Parkinson’s patients

More than half of people suffering from Parkinson’s disease experience hallucinations – a feeling of presence is one of the most common forms. The neurological processes at play have been studied in Olaf Blanke and Dimitri Van De Ville’s labs at EPFL and can now be triggered using robotic tools. By teaming up with Paul Krack (Geneva University Hospital), the researchers will be able to go further in exploring these processes in patients suffering from Parkinson’s. Their first objective will be to detect the bio-markers associated with these hallucinatory states and then develop non-pharmacological and non-invasive therapeutic approaches based on neurofeedback to counteract them. Their results may one day be applied to hallucinations linked to schizophrenia and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Restoring fine motor skills

A cervical spinal cord injury can lead to partial or total paralysis of the legs, arms and hands. Electrical stimulation applied to nerve fibers below the lesion has already proven effective at restoring leg movement and function. But this method will need to be significantly refined before it can enable patients to recover sufficient motor skills in their hands to carry out day-to-day tasks. Tomislav Milekovic (University of Geneva) and Marco Capogrosso (University of Fribourg) plan to carefully map out both healthy and damaged neural networks in an effort to identify the sections involved in controlling the hands. These signals could subsequently control the electrical stimulation delivered by an implant placed on the spinal cord below the injury.

Controlling the paths of pain

Nearly 20% of the population suffer from chronic pain. Yet such pain is still poorly understood and in many cases cannot be treated with drugs over the long term owing to side effects. Stéphanie Lacour (EPFL) and Isabelle Décosterd (Lausanne University Hospital – CHUV and FBM-University of Lausanne) focus on the hyperexcitability of pain nociceptive neurons and the ion channels that activate them. They are developing the tools needed to create a mechanistic model that could lead to innovative therapies – involving gene therapies, optogenetics and neurotechnologies. One of their goals is to develop an optoelectronic implant that can be applied to the sciatic nerve of mice, along with a platform for optical control and signal detection.

Lausanne chosen to host the World Conference of Science Journalists in 2019

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On October 28th, 2017 in San Francisco, Lausanne was chosen to host the 11th World Conference of Science Journalists (WCSJ), which will take place from in July 2019 at the SwissTech Convention Center on the campus of the EPFL / UNIL. This meeting, which takes place every two years, attracts more than a thousand journalists and science communicators from more than 60 countries. The Bertarelli Foundation was proud to officially back the successful bid.

In winning over the Board of Directors of the World Federation of Science Journalists, which oversees the event, the winning bid will see the WCSJ return to Europe after events in the US (San Francisco, 2017) and South Korea (Seoul, 2015). The Swiss – or Alpine bid – was launched by the Swiss Association for Science Journalism (ASJS), soon joined by its sister organisations in France (AJSPI) and Italy (SWIM). The theme and motto for the 2019 meeting will be “Reaching new heights in science journalism” and the conference will use the mountains as a symbol and common thread.

Following the news of the win, the Bertarelli Foundation is pleased to confirm that it will be the main sponsor of the 2019 meeting. Ernesto Bertarelli says:

“Congratulations to the Alpine team on their success! This is another demonstration of the Lake Geneva region’s global standing in science, technology and engineering. I am proud through the Bertarelli Foundation to support this showcase of Swiss innovation, which will also share global knowledge and experience in science with our partners from all over the world.”

“We are very honored that Lausanne has been chosen to host this important event. We presented the project of a conference organized by and for science journalists, to defend, present and promote quality independent journalism in the media worldwide. An aspect that has helped us to win,”

said  Olivier Dessibourg, president of the ASJS.

The Lausanne candidacy was able to benefit, from the beginning, from the support of four major academic partners: EPFL, CERN, and the Universities of Lausanne and Geneva. In addition to scientific and academic support, the Lausanne candidacy has also been able to rely on important levers in Swiss political, media and economic circles (State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation, Presence Switzerland, City of Lausanne, Canton of Vaud), but also within the whole of Europe, notably through the European Commission, or institutions such as the Euronews channel, the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) or the European Union. radio-telecommunications (EBU).

The Bertarelli Foundation would like to send their many congratulations to everyone involved in the Alpine team in putting together such an impressive bid.

Bertarelli Foundation research grants at Harvard and EPFL will tackle sensory disorders

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The Bertarelli Program in Translational Neuroscience and Neuroengineering, a collaborative program between Harvard Medical School and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, has announced a new set of grants worth $3.6 million for five research projects. This is a further strengthening of the partnership between Harvard and Swiss scientists begun in 2010.

Three of the five projects will pursue new methods to diagnose and treat hearing loss. A fourth project focuses on the dynamics of brain networks in children with autism, and the fifth on cell transplantation strategies that could reverse certain forms of blindness.

The research projects were all selected for their scientific quality, the novelty of the approach proposed and the potential for genuine clinical impact. Three of the research projects are a continuation of the successful research projects from the Bertarelli Program, focusing on novel approaches to understanding or treating sensory disorders.

Commenting on the new research, Ernesto Bertarelli, Co-Chairman of the Bertarelli Foundation, said:

“When my family and I had the vision for this program, it was based upon bringing together scientists and medical specialists from different disciplines and countries to really push the boundaries of neuroscience and neuroengineering, creating a melting-pot of different talents, passions and visions united by a commitment to find ground-breaking ways to treat people and to make their lives better. What has been achieved since 2011 is highly encouraging. What might be achieved with these new research projects is just as exciting.”

To promote collaborations between US and Swiss based scientists as well as between neuroscientists and engineers, the funding conditions stipulate that each project be an equal collaboration between Harvard and at EPFL. This incentivises researchers to to find new collaborators with complementary skills. This in turn led to new interdisciplinary projects that combined technologies and approaches in novel ways.

Jeffrey S. Flier, Dean of Harvard Medical School commented:

“We are delighted at the continued generosity of the Bertarelli Foundation.  This type of forward-thinking support is exactly what’s needed to help us continue to unravel the profound complexities of the human brain.”

David Corey, HMS professor of neurobiology and Director of the Bertarelli Program for Harvard Medical School, said,

“The past 40 years of basic research in neuroscience have produced an extraordinary understanding of how the brain works, and how it can malfunction in neurological and psychiatric disease. We are now at a point where we can use this understanding to treat these devastating diseases. The Bertarelli Program in Translational Neuroscience and Neuroengineering combines basic neuroscience with the technology and problem-solving focus of engineering to accelerate the delivery of new treatments to the clinic. The tremendous success of the first round of projects has amply validated the vision of the Bertarelli Foundation in creating this unique collaborative program.”

 

Creative Youth Minds launches at North Staffordshire’s YMCA

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The Bertarelli Foundation is delighted to be working with YMCA North Staffordshire (YMCANS) on a project called Creative Youth Minds. Over the course of a year creative workshops at the YMCA’s campus – all led by local artists – will help young people to develop new skills, showcase hidden talents and create opportunities for their future. At the workshops the young people will have the chance to work with textiles, learn about photography, express themselves through drama, create beautiful ceramics, and produce shorts films.

A resource and training fund has also been created to support young people in developing careers in the creative industries, while the Foundation is also offering young people at YMCANS the opportunity to take part in overseas work and development through an international bursary.  Kirsty Bertarelli, talking about the new partnership, said:

 “I was lucky enough to visit YMCA North Staffs last year and was inspired by the young people I met – inspired by their energy, enthusiasm and imagination. I’m thrilled that Creative Youth Minds will help them to continue to unlock their huge potential.”

Danny Flynn, the YMCA’s Chief Executive, said:

“We share a passion for this city and its fantastic young people. We also share a view that given the right opportunities and challenges, young people from this city can be world changers.

“This city has a great heritage of creativity – its brilliant people continue to send products around the world. Our shared vision is to unlock the amazing, latent talent of young people and send them out into the world.  We want to thank Kirsty for her leadership, passion and heart for the young people of this city and beyond.”

The Bertarelli Foundation Chair of Family Entrepreneurship is announced at Babson College

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The Bertarelli Foundation has funded a new faculty chair at Babson College in Massachusetts with a $3 million gift. The Bertarelli Foundation Distinguished Professor of Family Entrepreneurship will lead a “multidisciplinary approach to family enterprise, where the family, not the business, is the focus.”

The gift agreement, signed by Dona Bertarelli and Babson President Kerry Healey, was made at the 2014 Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference in London, Ontario, where more than 400 leading academics and doctoral researchers gathered.

Also announced at the conference is a new research prize, named for Ernesto Bertarelli (who graduated from Babson in 1989) in “recognition of his family’s track record in fostering entrepreneurship.” The Bertarelli Prize will reward $2,500 to best family entrepreneurship paper presented at the conference.

“Family entrepreneurs face a unique challenge,” said Dona Bertarelli . “As their businesses grow or change, they, too, need to adapt and evolve. At the same time, they need to preserve the original and special strengths, passions, and entrepreneurial characteristics of the family as they move in new directions. Through this faculty chair and our partnership with Babson College, we will have the opportunity to study this dynamic and help a new generation of individuals become tomorrow’s family entrepreneurs.”

Babson President Kerry Healey said: “Families are the dominant form of business organization worldwide and they play a leading role in the social and economic wealth creation of communities and countries,” Healey said. “For almost a century, Babson has been at the forefront educating entrepreneurial families and conducting research and programming to help family enterprises achieve continued growth. Thanks to the generosity of the Bertarelli Foundation, we will make even greater strides developing the entrepreneurial mindsets and capabilities that enable business families to think and act more entrepreneurially in all contexts.”

Family entrepreneurship has been at the core of Babson College from its founding. The institute that later became Babson College was established to educate the sons of businessmen to join their fathers’ businesses. Babson’s vast experience with family businesses includes nearly a century of teaching, research, and programming for students, alumni, and friends of the College. As part of its Institute for Family Entrepreneurship, Babson is a founding member of the Successful Transgenerational Entrepreneurship Practices (STEP) project, a global applied research initiative exploring the entrepreneurial process within business families and generating solutions that have immediate application for family leaders.

Transformation of Parc de la Garenne begins

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In today’s ceremony, a foundation stone was laid in a ceremony to mark the start of the project that will transform and reinvigorate the Parc la Garenne in Le Vaud.

Founded almost 50 years ago by Erwin Meyer, the Garenne park is a much-loved place for families and children to learn about, and interact with, animals and flora native to Switzerland. However, due to its age, it has been in urgent need of regeneration, with facilities requiring an upgrade in order to continue to host both animals and visitors.

An appeal was duly launched and yesterday marked proof of its success, with the project’s first stone laid and sealed by M. le Conseiller d’Etat Philippe Leuba. The Bertarelli Foundation, in partnership with the Oak Foundation, the Mava Foundation and another that wishes to remain anonymous, has financed 40% of the total project, while the regional government and other private donors have also contributed significantly. All told, CHF12.7 million have been raised out of the total cost of CHF14.5 million. Donations from businesses and individuals to meet the gap will now be sought.

Once complete the park will be completely transformed and will cover some 30,000m². New buildings will include a health centre for wild animals in need of care, as well as the facilities to breed endangered flora and fauna. As befitting a place hugely popular with children, the project also places a big emphasis on education and a large, multi-purpose room will facilitate classes, will screen films and will show exhibitions. Throughout, the zoo will be designed with the utmost respect for the animals that it will house, particularly with regards to recreating natural conditions as far as possible.

Dona, Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelli attended the ceremony on behalf of their family’s Foundation. In her speech at the event, Dona spoke of how they had been one of the many thousands of families to have loved the zoo as children. And so, when they heard about the appeal for funds “we almost immediately said yes, my mother first!” She then spoke of how their only stipulation was that it should be a project with a collective dynamic, all the better to ensure its sustainability, and so expressed thanks to the partner foundations and public bodies who had made it possible.

The work to transform the park should, weather permitting, take about two years, with the opening in early 2016.

Dona Bertarelli’s speech at the event can be read here.

 

The 2014, Bertarelli Foundation science expedition to the Chagos Archipelago

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March 2014 sees researchers from Stanford University, the University of Western Australia (UWA), University College London (UCL) and the Zoological Society London (ZSL), supported by the Bertarelli Foundation, preparing to revisit the Chagos Archipelago in the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).

The research team are heading back to BIOT to service the 30 acoustic listening stations deployed in 2013, which since then have been monitoring shark movements amongst the atolls of the marine reserve. The current expedition will download all the data that has been collected over the last 12 months, as well as perform essential maintenance such as cleaning, reinforcing their moorings and installing fresh batteries.

Additionally, the researchers will be deploying several types of brand new tags on sharks and manta rays to gather even more data. One of the tags we’re hoping to use is a newly developed camera tag that is able to combine video footage with acceleration and movement data – telling us not only where and how the sharks are moving, but more detailed information about their behaviour. This will be the first time these cutting edge tags have been used in BIOT, and the scientists are all very excited to see what they will show us.

Partnerships renewed at Harvard Medical School and EPFL

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The Bertarelli Foundation has today signed gift agreements with Harvard Medical School and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne that will secure and develop the Bertarelli Program in Translational Neuroscience and Neuroengineering. The new donations – totalling several million dollars – will fund the continuation of the education, research and knowledge-sharing program that was established in 2010. The signing of the gift coincided with the third annual Bertarelli Symposium, which took place in January at Harvard.

A unique partnership between American and Swiss universities, the Bertarelli Program brings together medics and scientists in neuroengineering to develop new therapies that will have real life-changing outcomes for patients with psychiatric and neurological diseases. It is this aim that really defines ‘Translational Neuroscience’ – marrying our increasing knowledge of the brain and nervous system with advances in neuroengineering to create results that are truly transformative. Among the research that is being undertaken are projects that are looking into cures for congenital deafness, as well as how we might combat paralysis – using electrodes and pharmaceuticals to reawaken the dormant circuitry that controls movement.

A further gift will establish the Bertarelli Catalyst Fund for the Dean of Harvard Medical School, with the goal of “supporting HMS priorities at the discretion of the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine.”

Commenting on the renewed partnership with EPFL and Harvard, Ernesto Bertarelli, Co-Chair of the Bertarelli Foundation, said:
“My family’s commitment to life sciences research goes back three generations. That is why we are particularly pleased to have cemented our association with these two world-leading institutions. The scientists on the Bertarelli Program are undertaking work that could herald astonishing and vital achievements – progress that could, potentially, improve the lives of many millions of people. The program also, I believe, serves as an example of what can be accomplished through real and meaningful collaboration.”

Image ©Steve Gilbert

The 2014 Bertarelli Symposium takes place at Harvard Medical School

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At Harvard Medical School, 17-18 January, researchers and clinicians from the university joined colleagues from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne for the third annual Bertarelli Symposium.

This year’s meeting coincided with the formal renewal of the partnership between the Bertarelli Foundation and the two academic institutions in the form of the Bertarelli Program in Translational Neuroscience and Neuroengineering, established in 2010. The new gift – totalling several million dollars – will help to “continue to inspire neuroengineering advances by bringing basic and clinical investigations together with experts in device design for sensory and other neurologic systems.” The Program’s defining aims are collaboration and innovation. 

The 2014 Symposium was entitled Neuroengineering:Molecules, Minds and Machines and it provided an opportunity to hear and discuss current efforts in translational neuroscience, not least initial findings from the first six research grants awarded through the Bertarelli Program in 2011.

Read more here about the programme for the 2014 Symposium, including case-studies of the pioneering research that is being carried out.

Commenting on the Symposium and the Bertarelli Program, Ernesto Bertarelli said:

“The strength of this program is in what it achieves as a whole—facilitating and encouraging scientists and medics from wholly different disciplines, backgrounds and, of course, locations to work together. I look, for example, at the work being done on paralysis and hearing problems and am heartened and excited by the fact that we have different research programs, from the two universities, working together, combining specialties and all with a common goal. It is how science should be, I believe.”

David Corey, director of the program at Harvard, said:

“In designing the Bertarelli Program, we needed to decide what neuroengineering really means. It combines engineering, neurology and neuroscience, yet it becomes more than the sum of its parts by focusing on new solutions for neurological and psychiatric disorders and seeking neuroscience knowledge that will be useful for patient care immediately rather than down the road. In just two years, it is clear the program is delivering on that vision.”

Image ©Steve Gilbert

Marine conservation and science workshop is held in Geneva’s Campus Biotech

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In partnership with the Zoological Society of London, The Bertarelli Foundation convened a three-day workshop in Geneva to develop a coordinated approach to marine science – particularly megafauna science – in the British Indian Ocean Territory’s Marine Protected Area (MPA).

An international team of 25 scientists and conservationists from 18 organisations and six countries met at the Campus Biotech building for over three days of presentations and discussions.  The participants agreed a vision, mission and values for science in the MPA as well as nine key objectives which will help scientists to answer important questions about the territory’s important biodiversity. On the basis of this workshop, the participants developed an outline five-year science plan.

It was agreed the best way to address the knowledge gap in the Chagos Archipelago would be through a collaborative and coordinated approach and the creation of a scientific consortium – an exciting idea which the Foundation will develop in the months ahead.

Chagos has huge potential to teach us more about large marine reserves, about the species that inhabit them, and their role in the context of the Indian Ocean and beyond. The research planned has huge potential to inform how reserves can be more effectively managed and, therefore, to drive conservation globally.

We’ll bring you Mmre on these plans shortly.