One Mind for Research: A 10 Year International Campaign for Brain Disease Cures

Alvaro Fernandez, CEO of SharpBrains, recently sent me an email blast and described One Mind for Research as “…an independent, non-profit organization bringing together health care providers, researchers, academics and the health care industry on a global scale with the goal to rapidly develop new treatments and cures for all illnesses and disorders of the brain.”

Yes, that seems like a tall order, but it also sounds like something Daniel Burnham would say, so I Googled One Mind for Research and found this on the front page of their website:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWCAV3jUQiE#t=125

“THE PROBLEM     

Brain disorders affect more than 60 million Americans—that is more than one in four Americans suffering from mental illness or brain injury. From Autism and Alzheimer’s disease to Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS), brain ailments cost the U.S. close to $1 trillion each year.  Insufficient funding for research, slowness in developing new, effective treatments, and the extreme social stigma associated with brain disease and injury result in this being the BIGGEST CHALLENGE TO HEALTH CARE 

TODAY. Cancer and heart disease affect far fewer people, yet receive three to five times more funding support than brain diseases.

THE SOLUTION
A revolutionary change in the way brain research is funded, combining private philanthropy, government funding, and corporate investment with policy improvement that accelerate the research-to-cure time frame exponentially. This is the mission of ONE MIND.”

Great stuff, efforts that will help everybody and anybody impacted by brain issues: from brain diseases to brain injuries. Here’s a link to their website to learn more: http://1mind4research.org/

One Mind for Research

I recently read about One Mind for Research and feel like this organization can make a difference.  Here’s their Mission Statement:

Our Mission: One Mind is a new-model non-profit organization that will take the lead role in the research, funding, marketing, and public awareness of mental illness and brain injury, by bringing together the governmental, corporate, scientific, and philanthropic communities in a concerted effort to drastically reduce the social and economic effects of mental illness and brain injury within ten years.

Interested? Here’s a link to the site: http://www.1mind4research.org/

I learned about One Mind for Research from a Forbes article that I also found provocative. The article asks the simple question: “Why is there an American Cancer Society and not an American Brain Society?” I feel like brain tumor victims live at the intersection of cancer research, brain tumor research and just plain brain research. At the moment, though, the American Brain Society doesn’t really exist. Garen Staglin, whom this article focuses on, seems like a guy how can create an American Brain Society and make a difference. Here’s a link to that article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2012/05/07/a-fathers-battle-to-change-the-future-of-brain-research/