The Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute (Feil BMRI) at Weill Cornell Medicine is an academic unit with departmental privileges dedicated to improving pathogenic mechanisms, diagnosis, and treatment of brain disorders. The Feil BMRI pursues a combined research and teaching mission, with a commitment to bridging the translational gap between research and clinical settings. Basic and clinical neuroscientists work side by side, sharing ideas, resources, and technology.
The Feil BMRI supports bench-to-bedside research, cutting-edge clinical trials, and development of new preventive and diagnostic tools. As home to the Neuroscience Graduate Program at the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, the Feil BMRI is educating the next generation of scientists and physician-scientists working in the neurosciences.
Research at the Feil BMRI uses state-of-the-art tools to probe different facets of brain structure and function, from synaptic transmission to network activity, physiology of neural systems, and behavioral function. Through patient-oriented research programs, the Clinical and Translational Neuroscience Unit (CTNU) and the Center for Neurogenetics at the Feil BMRI bring research findings to patients’ bedside, developing new diagnostic techniques and therapies for clinical application for neurodevelopmental, neurovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases.
“Over the past six years the Feil BMRI has established itself as the main driver of basic and translational neuroscience research at Weill Cornell Medicine, with a major national and international impact,” says Costantino Iadecola, director of the Feil BMRI and the Anne Parrish Titzell Professor of Neurology. “The credit goes to our faculty whose dedication to scientific discovery and commitment to improving human health have put our department on the map. We are also extremely grateful to the Feil family, whose vision and generosity enabled the establishment of the Feil BMRI, and to the Weill Cornell Medicine leadership for their continued support and encouragement.”
The Feil BMRI’s multidisciplinary faculty includes 50 members with primary appointments, and 35 with primary appointments in other departments at Weill Cornell Medicine, including Neurology, Biochemistry, Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, Physiology and Biophysics, Psychiatry, Medicine, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Radiology, Pediatrics, and Neurological Surgery. In addition to the CTNU, an integral part of the translational mission of the Feil BMRI are three institutes and centers: the Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer’s Disease Research Institute, the Judith Jaffe Multiple Sclerosis Center, and the Center for Neurogenetics.
The Feil BMRI was established in 2013 through a gift from the Feil family.
