Advanced Neuroimaging Summer School Wrapup
I have just returned from the UCLA Advanced Neuroimaging Summer School and, seriously, it was one of the best things I have done in graduate school. The funny part is that it wasn’t the classes or the labs that really made the course great, it was the people. From the informal imaging discussions over dinner in the dorm to talking MR physics with Mark Cohen over a beer at the Westwood Brewery – the other scientists attending the program were what mattered most.
One Brain-Camper noted that on the wall in his advisor’s office was a picture from a similar summer camp in the early 80s. He said that you can look at the faces now and recognize them as some of the biggest names and leaders in our field. I think there was the silent hope that many of us were moving in that same direction. In 25 years we will have to check in and see how well we did.
I am just now beginning to pour over the pages and pages of notes from the last 14 days. I was thinking of putting a list of highlights into this post, but I don’t believe that it would do the program (or the speakers) justice. Time permitting I will put up subject-specific posts focusing on one topic at a time.
As a wrapup I just want to thank Russ Poldrack, Mark Cohen, and Susan Bookheimer for organizing the summer course. They did an incredible job putting this course together for the first time. Thanks are also due to the many excellent speakers who took time out of their lives to come and instruct us on the nuances of neuroimaging. Finally, thanks to the NIH for funding such a great program. I am confident that the next several years will demonstrate that this was money well spent.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.