Historical Events

Inaugural RCP Postdoc Summit

Sanctuary Camelback Mountain - Scottsdale, Arizona

The Inaugural 2024 RCP Postdoc Summit continued the work of our April 2024 Big Ideas Summit focused on creating new approaches to use invasive and non-invasive neural stimulation as a therapy for patients with cerebellar disorders. It is one of the goals of RCP to enlist the creativity of the next generation of scientists and to support them in their career development and this summit was intended to engage these early career professionals to hear their viewpoints and ideas in the space.

Before the Summit, attendees participated in virtual presentations by Dr. Catherine Stoodley, Dr. Gianmarco Pinton, Dr. Kanaka Rajan, Dr. Marta San Luciano, and Dr. Lauren Hammer to help frame the topics areas that we would be discussing. In addition to presentations at the Summit from Dr. Amy Bastian and Dr. Flip Sabes, there was intentional time devoted to collaborative brainstorming and idea generation that culminated in an ‘Ideas Exchange’ presentation series.
As a result of this summit, the RCP pledged $1.25 million in transition awards and grants to support early-career attendees whose work demonstrated exceptional potential to advance cerebellar research.

Sanctuary Camelback Mountain - Scottsdale, Arizona

The 2024 Big Ideas Summit focused on creating new approaches to use invasive and non-invasive neural stimulation as a therapy for patients with cerebellar disorders.
Summit participants included neuroscientists, neurosurgeons, and neurologists, as well as experts in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and engineering.
All attendee expenses were paid for by the RCP.
Attendees shared their input and expertise to assist the RCP in deciding how to allocate funding in support of its mission to improve the lives of those with cerebellar disorder in as short a time as possible. Additionally, attendees shared the latest research ongoing at their universities as well as ideas that are currently developing that align with RCP’s focus and interest areas.

The result of these discussions has the potential to provide opportunities for their Universities to receive research grants to further RCP’s goals.
The Summit is not a conventional meeting, most of the time was devoted to collaborative brainstorming, and there were few lectures and presentations.
The RCP plans to award one to two large grants ($5 million) soon after the summit and possibly up to three in the next two years. The first $5 million grant recipient will need to include a participant from the 2024 Summit.
The speed and magnitude of the funding opportunities are reflective of the RCP’s dedication to spark a major breakthrough in the neural stimulation field.

Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa - Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico

The 2022 Big Ideas Summit brought together an interdisciplinary group of more than 40 outstanding researchers to brainstorm and identify the most critical questions in the field with a strong but not exclusive focus on advancing areas with the greatest potential to improve the lives of individuals suffering from cerebellar disorders.
Identified and developed 4-6 major funding initiatives to be used to guide future publication of requests for applications.

Participated in intensive, interactive, and free-thinking workshops aimed at stimulating ideas for promising new research approaches and theories that can deepen our understanding of cerebellar disorders.
Brought together researchers in systems and cognitive neuroscience, molecular/genetic neuroscience, disease modeling, neuroimaging, neurorehabilitation, and human translational neuroscience who are interested in forming new collaborations and developing innovative approaches to address challenges and advance scientific questions related to cerebellar research.