SUCCESS STORIES
REGIONAL CONTRIBUTION
CISIR continues to build up its industry and international collaboration networks. CISIR has been engaged with several organisations to provide global opportunity for Malaysian scientist to network and collaborate with world renowned scientist.
INCF Neuroinformatics 2017
(20-21st August 2017, Double Tree by Hilton Hotel, Kuala Lumpur)
INCF-Malaysia Node based in CISIR, has won the bidding to host the prestigious annual 2017 INCF Neuroinformatics in Kuala Lumpur.
Outcomes/impact
- Created significant visibility for Malaysia with approximately ~200 attendees from all over the globe.
- An opportunity for Malaysian Scientist to network and collaborate with renowned scientist
- Malaysian Neuroscience research to be projected upfront for future global brain projects
CISIR OT-Hub
(Launched on 13 February 2017, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS)
This will be the first ever Optical Topography-Hub (OT-Hub) outside of Japan and will be the hub for an open invitation network for universities, hospitals and companies for work in Applied Brain Science.
Outcomes/impact
- Malaysia as OT-Hub in ASEAN region.
- Expand the brain research using OT technology.
- Attract joint research and partnership with people in medicine, education and industry research.
- Hitachi has funded OT hub initiative to CISIR amounting to RM566K
CONTRIBUTION TO MALAYSIA
INCF MALAYSIA NODE
(9th October 2015, Le Meridien Hotel Kuala Lumpur)
Malaysia has joined the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility (INCF), an international organization that coordinates neuroinformatics research worldwide and facilitates data sharing and computing resources for neuroscience.
The INCF community comprises of national nodes from 18 member countries including USA, UK, Japan, Australia, Canada, Norway and a secretariat based at the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Outcomes/impact
- Malaysia as Governing Board in INCF together with Japan, Australia, Canada, Norway and Sweden.
- Visibility to Neuroscience committee (i.e. invited as Speaker at Kavli Foundation in New York)
- Regional network with INCF Nodes in Japan and Australia.
Organized prestigious events (INCF Congress, IBRO, BrainConnects2017, INCF Special Interest Group (SIG) on Neuroinformatics for Aging.
IBRO-APRC School on Neuroinformatics and Brain Network Analysis
(2nd – 16th August 2017, Centre for Advanced and Professional Education (CAPE), Menara Kembar Bank Rakyat, Kuala Lumpur)
We also compete among the 27 applicants and won the IBRO grant worth USD 40,000 to organise IBRO-APRC School on Neuroinformatics and Brain Network Analysis which was supported by INCF. Additional seed fund worth USD 8400 was also received by CISIR to organize BrainConnects2017.
Outcomes/impact
- Helped reduce gaps in the study of the brain and helped foster better understanding of diverse cultures.
- As a knowledge generator, the inaugural IBRO School is part of the greater plan to be inventive in developing new technologies in Malaysia.
CONTIBUTION TO SOCIETY
INCF Special Interest Group (SIG) on Neuroinformatics for Aging
The SIG will work towards 3 initial objectives which is
- to establish a shared Asia Pacific neuroinformatics data repository and analytics workflows (to be seeded by collaborators from Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia & Singapore)
- to define collaborative research projects and seek joint funding from national funders
- to develop a collaborative plan for neuroinformatics training i.e. annual short courses for graduate & postdoctoral students specifically for the Asia Pacific region.
Malaysian Brain Bee Challenge (MBBC) 2018, 2019
This competition on neuroscience among upper secondary school students has grown in the past 5 years to become a national event co-hosted by 9 universities nationwide. The principal aim of MBBC competition is to raise awareness to the younger generation in secondary schools in Malaysia about the exciting field of neurosciences.
