BDP Joins ABC to Deliver Congressional Briefing

We’re asking the U.S. Congress for something unusual soon – and some very powerful and engaging people are lining up to help us make the request.

On Tuesday March 8th, we’ll be making our case that Congress should declare a National Brain Donation Awareness Day to ensure that neuroscientists have what they need to cure brain disease. What they need is donated human brain tissue – all kinds of it from all kinds of people. And the experts will shine some light on why it’s become more critical than ever before.

They would know. Dr. Walter Koroshetz, Director of the National Institute of Neurologic Disorder and Stroke (NINDS), has long been a proponent for brain donation, knowing that there is no substitute. And that answers simply cannot come fast enough for people and families dealing with brain disease and disorders. Dr. John Ngai, who directs the NIH’s BRAIN Initiative will soon need significant amounts of so-called unaffected, or non-diseased brains. They’ll be used in historic efforts to understand every cell of the human brain to advance science.

Non-scientists will play an important role, too. An Ohio woman who donated her husband’s brain feels strongly that this gift has tremendous meaning – and not just to science. It’s changed her family in some powerful ways. The Brain Donor Project wants people to know the process is not complicated and there’s no cost, but there are things you should do and be aware of now…in advance of when the time comes.

So when the American Brain Coalition joins us before the Congressional Neuroscience Caucus to explain this urgency and seek their support, you’re more than welcome to listen in and learn more. And when National Brain Donation Awareness Day comes along in a couple of months, you’ll already know why it’s so important.