Colleagues from Neurology, Neurosurgery, Neuroradiology, Anesthesiology, Pathology, Otolaryngology, Ophthalmology, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Psychiatry came together last week to establish a vision and strategy for the future of the neurosciences at Mass General Brigham. During a day of networking, discussion and brainstorming, they laid the groundwork for our system’s Neuroscience Institute.
MGB neurologists Lidia Moura, MD, PhD, MPH, Michael D. Fox, MD, PhD, Gary Usher, MD, and Michael Hayes, MD, were among the participants. All four expressed enthusiasm for the future of the Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute after taking part in the day.
“This has truly been exciting,” said Moura. “My prior expectations have been far exceeded. We are truly together. We didn’t stop talking, we didn’t stop sharing and the most amazing ideas came out.”
“I’m very excited to be working together with all of my neuroscience colleagues across the two academic medical centers and the community,” Fox added. “We’re all thinking about the future of neuroscience.”
“I thought it was a great meeting, with a talented, energized group,” said Usher. “The mixture of people from diverse backgrounds in the neurosciences provided some great conversations. For me, the focus was improving care for our patients by developing a system of care to get a patient the help they need, from a local practitioner to cutting-edge research protocols. I’m looking forward to seeing how we accomplish this.”
“The decreased presence of private practice neurology in the community is leaving fewer and fewer local options for care in an area where care is becoming increasingly complicated and subspecialized. We have to continue to evolve a strategy to bring specialized care to the community so that patients can get the majority of their care near home but still have a seamless connection to the academic medical center for the tertiary and quaternary care that cannot be done in the community. This can be accomplished if we develop a clear strategy about what needs to be built where (what are the needs in these different communities?) and how we collaborate between the academic medical centers and our community locations,” said Hayes. “I’m very optimistic that we can bring this vision to fruition here at Mass General Brigham.”
Building on the day’s efforts, workgroups will convene in the coming months with clear objectives and timelines, all with the goal of bringing together neurological care, research and education in service of our patients.