Eliot SOREL: “Brain, Behavior and Mental Health,” in the latest edition of the prestigious Cosmos Club Bulletin, November 2017

 

The distinguished Professor Eliot Sorel, MD, DLFAPA, Senior Scholar Healthcare Innovation & Policy Research, George Washington University (GWU) School of Medicine & School of Public Health, Founder Conflict Management Section WPA, sent us the latest edition of the prestigious Cosmos Club Bulletin, November 2017, a reputed Club (2121 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20008, www.cosmosclub.org), having in its tradition to bring to its members the best minds in science and technology.
 
In “President’s Column”, Jonathan L. Gifford approached the topic of “Toward a Strong and Sustainable Club,” underlining the importance of discussing difficult and sometimes controversial issues in a manner that preserves and strengthens members’ comity and good will, by inviting his colleagues to keep John Wesley Powell’s dictum (their illustrious founder, who gave the Grand Canyon its name, for example) in mind, by citing from the Washburn’s history of the Club/Washburn’s description of Founder’s views: “Misunderstanding and suspicion can govern the relations of good men when they are separated from one another. Disagreements and misunderstandings are more readily overcome if one can meet one’s peers informally and socially than if both sides remain removed and aloof.”
 
Professor Eliot Sorel approached the topic of “Brain, Behavior and Mental Health,” introducing three experts from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), who provided on November 28, 2017  a scientific overview of the brain, behavior and mental health and what the future may hold: Joshua Gordon, director of the institute, who addressed the challenges and opportunities in mental health research (his research focuses on the analysis of neural activity in mice carrying mutations of relevance to psychiatric disease); Bruce Cuthbert, leader of the Research Domain Criteria at NIMH, who explored whether we can achieve precision medicine for mental disorders (he is known for his research on the psychophysiology of emotion and translational research on the psychopathology of anxiety disorders); Greg Farber, who discussed the brain, nanotechnology tools and mental health research (he is director of the Office of Technology Development and Coordination at NIMH, oversees the NIMH Data Archive, manages the NIMH component of the BRAIN Initiative and co-leads the program portion of the NIH Neuroscience Blueprint including the Human Connectome project).
 
It is worth remembering within this context that the “1st International Perinatal TOTAL Health Congress: The First Thousand Days of Life. Innovations and Transdisciplinary Collaborations” will take place from 27 – 30 June 2018, in Sinaia (known as “the Carpathian Pearl”), Romania. As highlighted by the Congress Presidents – Professors Eliot Sorel and Nicolae Suciu – the main objectives of this historic, unprecedented, and catalytic (to innovative, transdisciplinary projects to emerge from it) Congress are “to define the importance of the first thousand days of life and their lifelong health consequences; a focus on research, education and training, health systems and services, and health policies; and to highlight innovative and transdisciplinary projects that demonstrate the advantages of collaboration and integration in achieving TOTAL Health.”
 
Link: https://www.perinatal2018international.org/
 
A month ago, on October 27, 2017, “VIAȚA MEDICALĂ” (“The Medical Life”), no. 43/2017 (at p. 16), published a significant discussion with Professor Eliot Sorel on the topic of the above mentioned “1st International Perinatal TOTAL Health Congress: The First Thousand Days of Life. Innovations and Transdisciplinary Collaborations.”