FENS – Chen Institute – NeuroLéman Summer SchoolJNS-FENS Travel Award 2023
Travel Awardee ReviewDr. Richard Nana Abankwah Owusu Mensah
Sugihara Lab, Tokyo Medical and Dental University

I am pleased to share my excitement and experiences from attending the maiden edition ofthe FENS-Chen Institute-NeuroLéman Summer School held from July 2 to 8, 2023, at thebeautiful campus of Ecolé Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne,
Switzerland. The one-week-long workshop brought together experts in Neuroscience,
specifically in Motor Control, and early-career neuroscientists from across America, Asia,and Europe. There were 9 speakers and 34 early-career neuroscientists comprising graduate
students and postdoctoral fellows.

Lecture session
The well-scheduled packed workshop strategically combined exciting events, primarily
academic, spiced up with social events. Notable of these events included plenary sessions,poster presentations, students’ oral presentations, laboratory tours, lunchtime pep talks withspeakers, a boat cruise, and a farewell dinner on the beautiful Mont Cheseau landscape in
Lausanne. While the 7-day event passed too quickly, leaving nostalgic memories of bonding
and knowledge acquisition, the experiences are lasting and appear to have been obtained over
several weeks, if not months. While this was an academic-intensive program, the lessons didnot only come from the expert presentations and interactions with colleagues and seniorscientists but also the silent communication from nature and all other places visited. The
broad field of neuroscience and the enormous and inexhaustible information sometimes scareyoung researchers into believing in finding themselves lost in deep seas. However, the silent
whisper from nature during this event was that, while the field may be vast, hard work andgood networking with the rest of the scientific community could help one glow from afar, aswas depicted by seeing the cruise boat from afar on Lak Leman.
Consequently, I am happy to have a network of colleagues beyond my current lab and school
and outside my field of specialization. This will enhance my research by sharing ideas andmaking collaborations. Meeting and listening to stories of other accomplished seniorscientists, such as Prof. Silvia Arber (Winner of Brain Prize, 2022), was very inspirational.

Poster boards

NeuroRestore Clinical Research Lab

The visit to Lausanne University Hospital was one of the best experiences for understanding
and witnessing translational research in motor control, technology, and the pursuit ofsymptom improvement in various motor control-related diseases.
During this visit, we were shown different technologies to improve symptoms of diseases orinjuries in the spinal cord and Parkinson's disease. These technologies emphasize innovationin surgical techniques and technology and the quest to personalize treatment for each patient.

Additionally, the focus is on empowering patients to have greater autonomy in deciding theuse of this technology, combining it with commercially available technologies such as apps,smartphones, smartwatches, and tablets.
Furthermore, we were allowed to interact with and test various technologies primarily geared
toward initial patient rehabilitation. This aspect made the experience even more enriching.
The recently popular Nerorestore project was seen first-hand, explaining all the activities
behind the project seeking to restore locomotion in paraplegic and quadriplegic patients withbrain-spinal cord interphase devices. Seen afar on television screens, translational research
is impressive from different perspectives.
I feel fulfilled attending this workshop because I met my objectives of learning otherneuroscience techniques and knowing more about other labs and their research techniquesand models (for instance, for the first time, I visited a lab using the much-spoken-about
Drosophila, which I first heard about in my high school biology, used in Mendel's famousstudies, and also the zebrafish). For these, I made a toast to the sun to signify my readinessto pursue excellence in the global field of neuroscience. Thank you, JNS, for making thesepossible.

View from Mont Cheseau

Network with colleague students

The silent lesson on Lake Leman/Genève

A toast to the universe