Dana Foundation

The Dana Foundation (Charles A. Dana Foundation) is a private philanthropic organization based in New York committed to advancing brain research and to educating the public in a responsible manner about research’s potential. Its goals are: (1) to develop a better understanding of the brain and its functions; (2) to speed the discovery of treatments for brain disorders; and (3) to combat the stigma of brain disorders through education.

Dana Foundation
Formation1950
FounderCharles A. Dana
Typeprivate philanthropic
Key people
Steven E. Hyman (Chairman of the Board of Directors)
Burton M. Mirsky (President)

Leadership

The Foundation was founded in 1950 by Charles A. Dana, a legislator and businessman from New York State, and CEO of the Dana Corporation.[1] He presided over the organization until 1960, but continued to participate until his death in 1975.

Steven E. Hyman, M.D., is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Foundation. Burton M. Mirsky is the current president of the foundation; he served as vice president, finance, before being elected president and chairman in 2019. He succeeded Edward F. Rover, who served as vice-chairman of the Board of Directors of the Foundation before being elected president in 2000 and then chairman in 2010. Rover was a senior partner at White & Case, L.L.P. in New York City until December 31, 2003. Rover succeeded William Safire, who became the Foundation's chairman following David Mahoney’s death in 2000.[2]

The Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives

The Dana Foundation supports the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives (which includes the European Dana Alliance for the Brain), a nonprofit organization of leading neuroscientists committed to advancing public awareness about the progress and promise of brain research.[3] The Dana Alliance was officially launched in 1993, and has more than 670 members worldwide.

As William Safire put it in his column retiring from The New York Times in 2005: "They roped me in, a dozen years ago, to help enliven a moribund 'decade of the brain.' By encouraging many of the most prestigious neuroscientists to get out of the ivory tower and explain in plain words the potential of brain science, they enlisted the growing public and private support for research."[4]

Research grant programs

The Dana Foundation’s area of research emphasis has been in neuroscience, focusing on neuroimaging and clinical neuroscience research.[5] In 2019, the Foundation paused awarding new research grants while the Board of Trustees worked to revise its strategic plan for future neuroscience grants. In-progress grants continue to be funded through the life of the grant (usually 3 years).

Past grant programs include David Mahoney Neuroimaging grants, which support research on imaging innovations, and Clinical Neuroscience Research grants, supporting researchers who are testing promising therapies that move from animal models to a small number of human patients with devastating, currently untreatable brain diseases (first-in-human studies).

Also supported are studies to develop ethical guidelines in brain research and explore other aspects of neuroethics.

Public education

The Foundation has a range of outreach initiatives for the general public and for targeted audiences. Major initiatives include:

Event-based programs

Brain Awareness Week (#brainweek) is the global campaign to increase public awareness of the progress and benefits of brain research. Partner organizations host creative and innovative activities in their communities to educate kids and adults about the brain.[6] Brain Awareness Week 2020 was held from March 16 to 22.

Successful Aging & Your Brain forums are discussions by expert panels followed by Q&A sessions with the audience.[7] The forums address how the brain changes as we age, memory loss, brain diseases and disorders, and maintaining cognitive function. Related videos and a booklet are available on the Dana Foundation website.

Judicial Seminars on Emerging Issues in Neuroscience provide state and federal judges in the US with a better understanding of the role neuroscience may play in making legal determinations in the courts, from the admissibility of neuroimaging evidence to decisions about criminal culpability. The Foundation also provides funding for the Royal Society’s Neuroscience and the Law program in the UK.[8]

Free resources

The Dana Foundation website, dana.org, offers scientist-vetted information about the brain, including PDFs of publications, fact sheets, and lesson plans to download and share, as well as articles, videos, and podcasts targeted to non-scientists.

Web-based publications include reporting from neuroscience events, scientist Q&As, Brain Basics, and Cerebrum magazine,[9] a quarterly compendium of scientist-written articles and journalist-reported news about the brain, along with a neuroethics column by Philip M. Boffey, former deputy editor of The New York Times Editorial Board and editorial page writer, as well as editor of the Science Times.[10]

References
  1. "Dana Foundation History". dana.org.
  2. Nagourney, Eric (2 May 2000). "David Mahoney, a Business Executive And Neuroscience Advocate, Dies at 76" – via NYTimes.com.
  3. "Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives". dana.org.
  4. "'Never Retire'". nytimes.com.
  5. "Grant General Guidelines". dana.org.
  6. "Brain Awareness Week". brainawareness.org.
  7. "Successful Aging & Your Brain". dana.org.
  8. "Neuroscience Related Grants". dana.org.
  9. "Cerebrum magazine". dana.org.
  10. "Publications". dana.org.
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