Brain Canada Celebrates Brain Health Awareness Month with Boost your Brain Awareness Campaign

Brain Canada marks 2024 Brain Health Awareness Month with a Boost your Brain Awareness Campaign to better understand our most critical organ in health and illness.

MONTREAL, March 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  Brain Canada is marking this year's Brain Health Awareness Month by launching the Boost your Brain Awareness campaign to draw attention to how the body's most critical organ works in health and illness.

There are more than 1,000 diseases and disorders of the brain. For many people living with one or several of these diseases or disorders, the impact on quality of life and productivity can be significant.

This month, Brain Canada will be highlighting different ways to boost our brain awareness. From listening to this season of Playing with Marbles, to sharing stories of lived experience, to brain boosting tips from our community, the campaign seeks to increase our understanding of the brain.

"Brain Health Awareness Month is an opportunity to remind people in Canada of the critical role research plays in maintaining and improving our collective brain health," says Dr. Viviane Poupon, President and CEO of Brain Canada. "It is a time to celebrate our brains and to keep up the momentum in bold science so that we can better treat brain diseases and disorders."

This year, Brain Canada is placing a spotlight on its Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research program. Thanks to a generous anchor gift from the Azrieli Foundation, Brain Canada launched the innovative flagship program five years ago.

To date, the Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research program has awarded 88 grants of $100,000 each to early-career researchers working on impactful advances like a ketogenic diet to slow ALS progression, a new technology to regulate blood pressure after spinal cord injury, and a portable MRI scanner that improves access to care for people in remote areas.

"With the support of Health Canada through the Canada Brain Research Fund, and generous private donors, our flagship Future Leaders program is giving early-career researchers the boost they need to pursue their most innovative ideas and push the boundaries of brain science," adds Dr. Poupon.

Some of the ways people can participate in Brain Health Awareness Month

• Learn about innovative research happening here in Canada on Brain Canada's website.
• Join a Dementia Talks! ? a free online conversation in partnership with Alzheimer's Society of Canada where you will hear from experts in the field, people with lived experience, and caregivers. Register here.
• Listen to the latest season of Brain Canada's Playing with Marbles podcast, available wherever you stream your podcasts.
• Join the conversation by following us on social media (@braincanada), sharing your story, or participating in a quick online survey.
• Help fund brilliant brain research by making a one-time gift or becoming a monthly donor.
• Extend your celebration beyond Brain Health Awareness Month by hosting your own fundraising initiative.

About Brain Canada
Brain Canada is a national non-profit organization that enables and supports excellent, innovative, paradigm-changing brain research in Canada. It plays a unique and invaluable role as the national convener of the brain research community. We join people, labs and platforms across the country, as well as institutions, organizations and sectors ? to drive innovation and foster an interconnected brain research system. Our work enables Canada to excel and make even greater contributions to the global quest to understand the brain and identify solutions to brain disorders. Join us in funding brilliance daily, braincanada.ca.

For more information
Brain Canada
Melissa Arauz
[email protected]
438 812 5177

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9781b0eb-b885-4bf7-ac3c-715a7479b38d