The Center for Innovation in Neuroscience and Technology (CINT) at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is a cross disciplinary group involving leaders from the fields of medicine, engineering, law, and business. It is an effort to engage the changing dynamics of medical research and care in which classic distinctions between these fields will blur and become increasingly important and relevant to one another. The CINT seeks to remove classic barriers between these fields to allow a more fluid exchange of ideas and insights. As technologies and research in neuroscience become more multi-disciplinary in nature this will be of critical importance in enabling and implementing the innovative advances. Additionally, as the capabilities and applications of neuroscientific and technical discoveries unfold the boundaries between academia, industry, and clinical care also become more complex. The CINT also seeks to provide a ethical and effective framework to navigate this emerging terrain.
The specific aims of the CINT are as follows:
- Innovate - Create collaborative environment that fosters creativity and innovation in neuroscience which has direct translational application.
- Streamline - A formalized relationship between neurosurgery, the engineering departments, the law school, the business school, and the technology transfer office to streamline the process of scientific and technical innovation and real world application.
- Educate - Develop technology and innovative neuroscience that facilitates the practice of neurosurgery and improves the educational experience for the engineering, law, and business schools, and the neurosurgery residency.