About the Symposium

Over the past years, people across the Middle East have endured unprecedented turbulence, with prolonged conflicts deepening divisions, even among those who share cultural ties.

However, history shows that the region's peoples once collaborated in harmony, making profound contributions to science and human civilization. This shared legacy is a powerful reminder that a peaceful and united future is possible when we honor the strength of our common heritage through collective action.

Yet, in the current climate, the 'other' is often viewed as alien and threatening. To overcome this divide, open dialogue and cooperation are essential in our pursuit of peace, helping us focus on shared goals rather than our differences.

The Middle Eastern Systems Neuroscience Symposium is aimed to advance scientific inquiry and foster collaboration among scientists in our field. The meeting will feature scientific presentations interwoven with social events to encourage collaboration.

The meeting will be held on November 14th at the UCSD Faculty Club, San Diego, CA, USA, in conjunction with the next Society for Neuroscience (SfN) meeting (SfN dates: November 15-19, 2025).

Keynote Speakers

University College London

Athena Akrami

Professor Athena Akrami is a Group Leader at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, studying how the brain processes sensory information. Her work uses computational models and experiments to understand decision-making.

Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

Nachum Ulanovsky

Professor Nachum Ulanovsky is the head of the Center for Learning, Memory & Cognition at the Weizmann Institute and is known for his pioneering work on the bat hippocampal navigation system.

Johns Hopkins University

Reza Shadmehr

Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University, and is well known in the motor control society for his pioneering works in humans and primates on motor control and learning.

Invited Speakers

Lilach Avitan

Neuronal processing of information into behavior using whole-brain imaging at single-cell resolution of zebrafish, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Ahmad El-Hady

Theories of large-scale social foraging across species, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior

Behtash Babadi

Statistical and adaptive signal processing, neural signal processing, machine learning, systems neuroscience, University of Maryland

Khaled Moussawi

Neuropsychiatry of substance use disorders in humans using neuromodulation tools, University of California, San Francisco

Tahra Eissa

Computational models of human decision making in neurological disorders, University of Colorado, Anschutz

Registration

Contact us at: middleeastneuroscience@gmail.com

Organizers

We are a group of Middle Eastern postdoctoral fellows currently based in the United States who believe in the unifying power of science, even during difficult times.