Rebeca Aldunate (Co-organizer), Universidad Santo Tomás, Santiago, CHILE | Angelina Palacios-Muñoz (Co-organizer), Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, CHILE | Carlos Oliva (Co-organizer), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Santiago, Santiago, CHILE.
Mark Alkema, University of Massachusetts, Worcester, USA | Claire Bénard, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, CANADA | Inés Carrera, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, URUGUAY | John Ewer, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, CHILE | María de la Paz Fernández, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA | Angela Giangrande, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, FRANCE (remote participation) | Bassem Hassan, ICM, Paris, FRANCE | Daniel Kronauer, The Rockefeller University, New York, USA | Agustín Lara, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA | Fernando Locatelli, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA | André Maia, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK | Lucia Prieto-Godino, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK. (Remote lecture) | Diego Rayes, INIBIBB-CCT-CONICET, Bahia Blanca, ARGENTINA | Carolina Rezaval, Birmingham University, Birmingham, UK | Jimena Sierralta, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, CHILE | Bruno van Swinderen, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, AUSTRALIA | Scott Waddell, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK | Geraldine Wright, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK (Remote lecture)
The use of invertebrate model systems (Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans, bees, among others) has had a tremendous impact in neuroscience research worldwide. However, Latin America has lagged behind in the use of these systems despite their obvious advantages, including unprecedented experimental power and comparatively low costs. Part of the problem has been the limited local knowhow of the tools, approaches, and advantages that these invertebrate models provide for neuroscience and biomedical research. The “Small Brains, Big Ideas” course has been offered every 2 years since 2010 and aims to overcome these shortcomings by increasing awareness of the utility of these systems and by providing practical laboratory experience.
2010
2012
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2016
The Biannual “Small Brains, Big Ideas” Course first took place in Santiago, Chile, October 2010 and has been offered every 2 years ever since. So far it has successfully trained over 100 Latin‐American students in recent advances and modern techniques in neurosciences, primarily focusing on the use of Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans, Monarch butterflies, and bees, for biomedical research.
