BRIGHT SAB – Science Advisory Board

BRIGHT’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) brings together leading clinicians, neuroscientists, and rehabilitation experts who share a common focus: harnessing the power of science to improve the lives of children with early brain injuries. As an example, parents and scientists met in person in San Francisco and via teleconference from around the world to design a multidisciplinary program that could “accelerate discovery and speed the translation of research into effective treatments” for children with neurological disabilities. The group reviewed the current state of science and agreed that BRIGHT could play a unique role by fostering collaboration among investigators, clarifying priorities, and organizing resources around practical treatments for the roughly 190 million living with brain injury.

SAB’s role in crafting BRIGHT’s Mission, Vision, and Scientific Theme

The SAB articulated a clear mission, vision, and scientific theme for the organization. The mission is to facilitate the development and implementation of effective treatments for acquired brain injuries suffered in the fetal, neonatal, and early childhood period, with a primary focus on cerebral palsy, but by definition of common entomology, also including stroke, TBI, and SCI. The vision is that “the brain injured will move and communicate successfully, allowing them their entitlement of a rich and full life,” and the overarching scientific theme is translating basic knowledge of brain plasticity into concrete solutions for brain injury. This includes designing multi‑modal treatment systems that harness adaptive neuroplasticity while reducing maladaptive plasticity, and that can demonstrate tangible functional gains.

SAB Confirms This is a Pivotal Moment in Neuroscience

SAB members emphasized that this is a pivotal moment in neuroscience, where the integration of AI, Virtual Reality, Robotics, and real time sensor feedback can l potentially to breakthroughs in functional gains. Advances in neuroimaging have shown that the developing brain can reorganize and use healthy regions to compensate for damaged areas, overturning older beliefs about the permanence of early brain injury. One member described BRIGHT’s multidisciplinary model as “an exciting opportunity for progress that will have lasting impact on the lives of children and adults with brain injuries,” underscoring the board’s commitment to clinically meaningful outcomes rather than purely theoretical advances. The SAB also stressed the importance of involving families directly, encouraging parents to dream about their children’s potential while scientists dream about new interventions.

The SAB likened its approach to a modern Thomas Edison laboratory, recognizing that scientific breakthroughs often emerge from many small, carefully designed experiments. Board members discussed the high cost of “big science” and the need to support a large number of smaller, high‑potential projects that can quickly inform clinical practice. They set objectives focused on implementing effective treatment strategies, and outlined plans to motivate private donors to fund a broad portfolio of innovative studies rather than a small number of large, slow‑moving trials. BRIGHT’s SAB is committed to ongoing meetings, new projects, and a sustained process of discovery, translation, and enrichment for children and families.

SAB Members

Janice E. Brunstrom, MD  Director of the Pediatric Neurology Cerebral Palsy Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital

Neville Hogan, PhD of MIT and a pioneer in Robotic Assisted therapy

Michael V. Johnston, M.D. the Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Kennedy Krieger Institute, as well as director of both KKI’s Division of Neurology & Developmental Medicine and KKI’s Neuroscience Laboratory

Doug Kondziolka, MD, of the U of Pittsburgh who has successfully conducted the worlds first neural brain cell implantation

Dennis Matthews, MD Chair and Medical Director of Denver Children’s Hospital Rehabilitation Center

Mike Merzenich, PhD a leader in Plasticity research and the founder of the company that developed FastForward learning software.

Lucy Miller, PhD Associate Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine and Pediatrics U.C.H.S.C.

Jonathan Mink, M.D.,Ph.D. of University of Rochester, the chief of the division of Pediatric Neurology at Strong Children’s Hospital anda leader in Pediatric Movement Disorders

Terry Sanger, MD, PhD of the Stanford Medical Center a leader in Pediatric Movement Disorders

Marsha Seltzer, PhD Director of the Weisman Center at the U of Wisconsin, Madison

Clive Svendsen, PhD Director of Stem Cell research at the U of Wisconsin, Madison

Ed Taub, PhD of the U of Alabama and a pioneer in CE Therapy

Esther Thelen, PhD Professor of Psychology at the University of Indiana and a leader in applied Dynamic Systems Theory

Bev Ulrich, PhD Dean of the Division of Kinesiology at the U of Michigan and a leader in applied Dynamic Systems Theory

Nathan Urban, PhD of Carnegie Mellon University who research includes detailed study of the how the brain transforms inputs from a computational sense.