Our Story

From its origin a century ago, when neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing revolutionized brain surgery, the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) has been a leader in the neurosciences. Our commitment to understanding and treating nervous system disorders has grown over the years such that today, of the fifteen current hospital departments, nine are led by distinguished physicians with an enduring interest in the nervous system. They work with 1000+ physicians and researchers dedicated to helping all those at risk of nervous system disorders.

Today, most areas of medical neuroscience span multiple specialties. Collaboration across specialties— in support of patient care, teaching and research— is now the rule rather than the exception.  The BWH Program for Interdisciplinary Neuroscience was created to extend this model of coordinated research, care and training across all areas related to the nervous system.

Our work purposefully transcends departmental boundaries by developing the resources and initiatives to support and encourage the entire BWH neuro-community. We aim to work together to drive the discovery of effective treatments for diseases of the nervous system, while delivering the best in current care and training the next generation of leaders.

The Program for Interdisciplinary Neuroscience is based in the Building for Transformative Medicine, a new 13-story facility in the heart of the BWH campus, adjacent to Harvard Medical School. It is one of the most technologically sophisticated research and patient care buildings in the world. Advanced imaging, including a 7 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging instrument, is below ground. A shared research area is on the top floor. And in between are three floors for patient care, one floor for Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry faculty offices, and eight floors of research laboratories. The new building provides patients with a level of convenience second to none while, at the same time, gathering our growing community of nervous system physicians, scientists and students under the same roof.

Our vision for this technologically advanced center for neurologic and psychiatric disorders epitomizes a new era of medical discovery. It’s where clinicians treating the patients of today and scientists devoted to finding the cures of tomorrow come together in the same place with one just goal in mind – to accelerate breakthroughs for their patients and all patients around the world.  It’s also where researchers seamlessly move between early-stage, basic research and the clinical application, creating a robust translational pipeline.

Our work is urgent. Globally, psychiatric and neurological disorders are the leading cause of disability. One billion people now suffer from nervous system disorders. Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, depression, Parkinson’s disease, brain tumors, ALS, stroke, schizophrenia, autism, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, and chronic pain are just a few of the conditions for which today’s treatments are insufficient. The BWH Program for Interdisciplinary Neuroscience is up to the challenge. We’re taking a promising approach: patient-centric, intensely collaborative, and committed to all nervous system patients around the world. It also represents an open invitation. If you share our passion for reducing suffering, please join us! Together we will make a difference.