MIT BrainTrust

Projects

BrainTrust Buddies

BrainTrust Buddies, a new program we’re starting, is a social network that allows patients and survivors of brain tumors and brain injuries to interact with each other and students to share different perspectives in a supportive environment. Past events included a movie day, Sunday sundaes, and sailing in Boston Harbor. Upcoming events include a bake-off and a holiday dinner.

Panels and Lectures

We bring together researchers, clinicians and patients to present. The topic is anything related to the brain that we are interested in learning more about. We usually have them once or twice a semester. It’s an excellent opportunity to get to know more about professors’ research and see directly how the research affects the patients. At the last panel, David Louis of MGH’s Center for Cancer Research, social worker Michele Lucas of MGH, and Samantha Scolamiero discussed the challenges of brain tumors. Rolando del Maestro will be speaking on December 9th.

Fundraising

To raise money to help fund our events, we are planning a bake sale at our booth during Brain Awareness Week. We also encourage members of the MIT community to donate to T.H.E. Brain Trust when shopping at Amazon.com.

Conferences

Every IAP some of our members attend a brain tumor conference in Florida. We’ve also attended a conference in Newton, MA.

Education

Every year we teach brain-related classes to high school students during SPLASH. Last year we taught two classes: How to Get Smarter in 2 Hours and The Brain and Its Disorders. Presentations from The Brain and Its Disorders are here. We also have a booth every year during Brain Awareness Week and we hand out flyers and talk to people about brain-related disorders.

Online Resources

We maintain this website so people can learn more about us. We are creating an internet tutorial to help patients with neurological disorders learn how to use the internet and find information and support. An almost finished version is here. We are also planning to work with online support groups and possibly create a forum for buddies.