12th Annual Canadian Neuroscience Meeting

Welcome to the Canadian Neuroscience Meeting!

Dear Colleagues and friends,

It is with great pleasure that we present the program of the 12th annual Canadian Neuroscience Meeting.  The scientific committee and organizing team have put together an innovative scientific program, which is complemented by community building social, networking, advocacy and career development sessions.  We look forward to welcoming you to this event in Vancouver in May.

Highlights of the scientific program include keynote and plenary lectures by Freda Miller, Richard Huganir, Gordon Shepherd, Rui Costa, Kay Tye and Beth Stevens. Our public lectures will be delivered by Catharine Winstanley and Luke Clark, on the theme of addictions.  Plenary and parallel symposia, proposed by our members complete our diverse scientific program.

We also strongly encourage you to participate in the 2018 Advocacy session, which will shed light on the decision-making process on science policy at the federal government.  We are thrilled to announce that the following MPs have accepted our invitation to present their party’s vision for Canada’s role in promoting and supporting scientific research, and starting a discussion on this topic with our members: Matt Jeneroux, MP for Edmonton Riverbend, and Conservative Shadow Minister for Science; Joyce Murray, MP for Vancouver Quadra; Elizabeth May, MP for Saanich – Gulf Islands, and Leader of the Green Party; & Fin Donnelly, MP for Port MoodyCoquitlam.

CAN is dedicated to promoting diversity in neuroscience, and to this end, we are organizing an interactive luncheon workshop on this topic at CAN2018.  Judy Illes will be leading the Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity in Neuroscience workshop (EDI-Neuro) on Monday May 14th 2018 at noon.

The members of the scientific program and organizing committees also deemed it important to make a strong statement on respect within our association and at our meeting. CAN is dedicated to being an inclusive and harassment-free association for its membership. We ask that all members and conference participants help us to achieve this goal by being respectful in their interactions and mindful of behaviour that can contribute to an exclusionary or hostile environment.

We look forward to welcoming you in beautiful Vancouver in May!

Shernaz Bamji, Chair of the CAN2018 Scientific Program Committee

Paul Frankland, Co-Chair of the CAN2018 Scientific Program Committee

Tim O’Connor, Chair of the CAN2018 Local Organizing  Committee

Lynn Raymond, President of the Canadian Association for Neuroscience