With Narrating Neuroscience we plan to initiate a discussion on the role and the use of storytelling and art (both in verbal and visual forms) to communicate abstract and complex concepts in neuroscience to very different audiences, ranging from fellow scientists, clinicians and patients, to social scientists and the general public. We invited four guests to share their research through case studies and experiences stemming directly from their research or from other practices they have adopted and incorporated into their research, where storytelling and the arts have played a crucial role not only in communicating cutting edge research in neuroscience, but also in developing and advancing it.

Our Guests:

Tahani Baakdhah, MD, MSc, PhD candidate, University of Toronto

Matteo Farinella, Presidential Scholar in Society and Neuroscience, Columbia University

Alfonso Fasano, MD, PhD, Associate Professor - University of Toronto Clinician Investigator - Krembil Research Institute Movement Disorders Centre - Toronto Western Hospital

Shelley Wall , AOCAD, MScBMC, PhD – Master of Science in Biomedical Communication

Date: October 20, 2017

Time: 6:00-8:00 pm

Location: The Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences

222 College Street, Toronto, ON

Events Facilitators: Roberta Buiani and Stephen Morris (ArtSci Salon) and Nina Czegledy (Leonardo Network)

Bios:

Tahani Baakdhah is a PhD student at the University of Toronto studying how the stem cells built our retina during development, the mechanism by which the light sensing cells inside the eye enable us to see this beautiful world and how we can regenerate these cells in case of disease or injury.

Matteo Farinella combines a background in neuroscience with a lifelong passion for drawing, making comics and illustrations about the brain. He is the author of Neurocomic (Nobrow 2013) published with the support of the Wellcome Trust, Cervellopoli (Editoriale Scienza 2017) and he has collaborated with universities and educational institutions around the world to make science more clear and accessible. In 2016 Matteo joined Columbia University as a Presidential Scholar in Society and Neuroscience, where he investigates the role of visual narratives in science communication. Working with science journalists, educators and cognitive neuroscientists he aims to understand how these tools may affect the public perception of science and increase scientific literacy (cartoonscience.org).

Alfonso Fasano

Dr. Alfonso Fasano graduated from the Catholic University of Rome, Italy, in 2002 and became a neurologist in 2007. After a 2-year fellowship at the University of Kiel, Germany, he completed a PhD in neuroscience at the Catholic University of Rome. In 2013 he joined the Movement Disorder Centre at Toronto Western Hospital, where he is the co-director of the surgical program for movement disorders. He is also an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Neurology at the University of Toronto and clinician investigator at the Krembil Research Institute. Dr. Fasano's main areas of interest are the treatment of movement disorders with advanced technology (infusion pumps and neuromodulation), pathophysiology and treatment of tremor and gait disorders. He is author of more than 170 papers and book chapters. He is principal investigator of several clinical trials.

Shelley Wall

Shelley teaches courses in pathological and bioscientific illustration, research methods in biomedical communication, and writing for healthcare. She is a faculty mentor with the Collaborative Graduate Program in Women's Health at the University of Toronto, and a member of the Coalition for Research in Women's Health at the Women's College Research Institute

ArtSci Salon is a special program of the Fields Institute

LASER - Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous is a project of Leonardo® /ISAST