Annual Brain School
A week of community-based activities and public lectures to educate our neighbors about the brain, in celebration of the Dana Foundation's annual Brain Awareness Week campaign.

2021 Brain School Events
We're still developing our programming for the upcoming Brain Awareness Week, which is taking place from March 15 - 21, 2021. Please check back later for more information about Roanoke Brain School!
There are currently no archived events in the 2020-2021 season.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Brain School events planned for March, 2020 were cancelled.
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General ItemArchived Brain School Lecture: How Different Brains Construct Different Views of the World
Mar. 11 2019, 5:30 p.m. | Michael Friedlander, Ph.D. | Brain School
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General ItemArchived Brain School Lecture: Insights from Animal Brains that are Shaping Our Future
Mar. 11 2019, 5:30 p.m. | Audra Van Wart Ph.D. | Brain School
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General ItemArchived Brain School Lecture: What Frogs Have Taught Us About Our Rhythms and Blues
Mar. 12, 2019, 5:30 p.m. | Michael Fox, Ph.D. | Brain School
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General ItemArchived Brain School Lecture: Shedding Some Light into Sleep Problems in Modern Times
Mar. 12, 2019, 6:00 p.m. | Edmundo Rubio, M.D. | Brain School
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General ItemArchived Brain School Lecture: Animal Farm: Influences of Animal Research on Advancing Treatment for Human Brain Injuries
Mar. 13, 2019, 5:30 p.m. | Pamela VandeVord, Ph.D. | Brain School
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General ItemArchived Brain School Lecture: Ringing the Bell on Getting Your Bell Rung
Mar. 13, 2019, 6:00 p.m. | Melanie Prusakowski, M.D. | Brain School
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General ItemArchived Brain School Lecture: The Aging Brain: Targeting Synapses to Prevent Cognitive Decline
Mar. 14, 2019, 5:30 p.m. | Gregorio Valdez, Ph.D. | Brain School
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General ItemArchived Brain School Lecture: Normal Aging vs. Dementia: What's Happening to Me?
Mar. 14, 2019, 6:00 p.m. | Brian Unwin, M.D. | Brain School
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General ItemArchived Brain School Lecture: The Nature of Addiction
Mar. 13, 2018, 6:00 p.m. | Panel Discussion on Addiction | Brain School
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General ItemArchived Brain School Lecture: Brain Invasion: How Small Things Have Big Consequences
Mar. 14, 2018, 6:00 p.m. | Michael Fox, Ph.D. | Brain School
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General ItemArchived Brain School Lecture: Kids' Night: Digital Devices and Development
Mar. 15, 2018, 6:00 p.m. | Panel Discussion on Digital Devices and Development | Brain School
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General ItemArchived Brain School Lecture: Your Brain is Not Wireless (Yet): How Do You Change Connectivity Between Your Neuronal Landlines?
Mar. 13, 2017, 5:30 p.m. | Michael Friedlander, Ph.D. | Brain School
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General ItemArchived Brain School Lecture: From Brains to Bytes to Brain-Computer-Interfaces
Mar. 14, 2017, 5:30 p.m. | Stephen LaConte, Ph.D. | Brain School
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General ItemArchived Brain School Lecture: Shaping Children's Brains and Behavior: New Findings
Mar. 15, 2017, 5:30 p.m. | Sharon Landesman Ramey, Ph.D. | Brain School
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General ItemArchived Brain School Lecture: Early Childhood Education: What Works and What Doesn't
Mar. 16, 2017, 5:30 p.m. | Greg J. Duncan, Ph.D. | Brain School
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General ItemArchived Brain School Lecture: What Our Brains Don't 'See'
Mar. 14, 2016, 5:30 p.m. | Michael Fox, Ph.D. | Brain School
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General ItemArchived Brain School Lecture: The Epileptic Brain
Mar. 15, 2016, 5:30 p.m. | Susan Campbell, Ph.D. | Brain School
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General ItemArchived Brain School Lecture: Learning, Memory, & The Aging Brain
Mar. 16, 2016, 5:30 p.m. | Rosalyn Moran, Ph.D. | Brain School
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General ItemArchived Brain School Lecture: Pain, It’s Not Just In Your Mind: Can You Make It Go Away?
Mar. 17, 2016, 5:30 p.m. | Michael Friedlander, Ph.D. | Brain School
2015
- Understanding the Cerebral Cortex: The Legacy of Roanoke's Vernon Mountcastle
Mar. 16, 2015 | Michael Friedlander, Ph.D. - Food for Thought: Chefs Celebrate Brain Awareness Week
Mar. 16, 2015 | Restaurants and Specialty Stores throughout Roanoke
- At the Crossroads: Art, Science, Research
Mar. 17, 2015 | Michael Friedlander, Ph.D. and Liz Lerman
- Development of the Social Brain
Mar. 18, 2015 | Pearl Chiu, Ph.D. - The Developing Brain: Conception to Birth
Mar. 23, 2015 | Michael Fox, Ph.D. - How the Earliest Experiences in Life Affect a Baby's Brain and Behavior
Mar. 25, 2015 | Craig Ramey, Ph.D.
2014
- Mapping Depression Circuits: Foundation for New Treatment Strategies Using Deep Brain Stimulation
Mar. 6, 2014 | Helen Mayberg, M.D. - Your Brain on Advertising
Mar. 12, 2014 | Ann Harvey Tanner, Ph.D. - Brain Assembly: Making the Right Connections Through Genes and Experience
Mar. 13, 2014 | Michael Fox, Ph.D. - How Social Relationships Help Build (and Rehabilitate) Our Brains
Mar. 20, 2014 | Sharon Ramey, Ph.D. - The Biological Basis of How We Learn, Remember, and Use Information
Mar. 27, 2014 | Michael Friedlander, Ph.D.
2013
- Food for Thought: Chefs Celebrate Brain Awareness Week
Mar. 11, 2013 | Restaurants and Specialty Stores throughout Roanoke - Mythbusters: The Truth About Your Brain
Mar. 11, 2013 | Audra Van Wart, Ph.D.
- The Stuff of Brains and How They Process Information
Mar. 11, 2013 | Michael Fox, Ph.D. and Rosalyn Moran, Ph.D.
- How Brains Make Sense of the World
Mar. 12, 2013 | Michael Friedlander, Ph.D. and Jamie Tyler, Ph.D. - Brain Power: The Role of Exercise and Diet in Maintaining Healthy Synapses
Mar. 12, 2013 | Gregorio Valdez, Ph.D. - When Brains Do Things We Would Rather They Didn't
Mar. 13, 2013 | Warren Bickel, Ph.D. and Pearl Chiu, Ph.D. - Willpower and Addiction
Mar. 13, 2013 | Warren Bickel, Ph.D. - How Brains Grow and Age
Mar. 14, 2013 | Sharon Ramey, Ph.D., Michael Friedlander, Ph.D., and Gregorio Valdez, Ph.D. - Reading Your Mind: How to Decode the Brain Mid-Thought
Mar. 21, 2013 | Stephen LaConte, Ph.D.
About Brain School
The Fralin Biomedical Research Institute's Annual Brain School is held each March as part of Brain Awareness Week: a campaign that unites the efforts of organizations worldwide in a weeklong celebration of the brain. This initiative is spearheaded internationally by the Dana Foundation, a private philanthropic organization that supports brain research, and locally by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute.
Each evening of Brain School begins with refreshments and exhibits in the first-floor atrium from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., followed by an hour-long lecture presented by a leading scientist. Space is limited and advance online registration is encouraged. Free parking is plentiful onsite at 2 Riverside Circle and the Carilion Clinic parking garage.