The Tanenbaum Open Science Institute: Leading a Paradigm Shift at The Neuro | The Neuro - McGill University

"Diseases of the brain are one of the most compelling unmet medical needs of our time. The World Health Organization estimates that one billion people are affected by neurological disorders and that 6.8 million die every year from these illnesses (World Health Organization, 2006). As our population ages, these numbers are rising dramatically, placing additional burdens on health services and causing untold human suffering in developed and developing nations around the world. Contrary to cancer and heart disease where remarkable advances have been made over the last decades, we still have no disease-modifying treatments for debilitating neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, autism, and Parkinson’s.

While neuroscience is thriving, our understanding and management of mental and brain disorders has changed little over the last few decades. Neuroscientists are working to understand the basic biological mechanisms of neurological diseases, yet with billions of neurons and trillions of connections, a complex anatomy, and limited access to tissue, we are still at the dawn of understanding the workings of our brain. Without a more complete knowledge of the brain and its diseases, the development of targeted treatments remains slow and is frequently empiric. The pace of progress is too slow for those afflicted with a disease of the brain. Hence, there is an urgency and an ethical obligation to act now if we are to find the cures that will reduce the burden of neurological illnesses for the next generation. To speed up the process of discovery, we need to better share data and reagents, and avoid duplication or triplication of efforts, by allowing the free flow of information.

Openness and collaboration form the cornerstones of a new initiative at The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital), the Tanenbaum Open Science Institute (TOSI), with the objective to expand the impact of brain research and accelerate the discovery of novel therapies for patients suffering from neurological diseases.

Our position is that research is not an end in itself, but rather a way to fulfill our ultimate mission: delivering discoveries for the benefit of patients and their families, while making the best use of public resources. With that perspective, Open Science (OS) is an attractive and promising new way of doing research to spur innovation and accelerate knowledge discovery and exchange...."