The mission of the McGovern Institute is to understand the brain and to apply that knowledge to improve human health and well-being.
To meet this challenge, McGovern scientists and engineers are inventing tools to enrich how we study, understand, and heal the brain. By uniting engineering ingenuity with scientific exploration, our researchers are creating technologies that set the global standard for brain research and its applications.
We leverage the power of artificial intelligence to create theoretical models that explain how neural elements combine to generate complex activity and behaviors. By integrating AI into the fabric of our research, we challenge conventional wisdom and test the confines of what is possible.
We believe that the brain is the gateway to wellness and that studying its functions at every level is crucial to finding new ways to advance human potential. From genetic engineers to software engineers, we bridge research areas in unexpected ways, tapping into territories that have yet to be explored.
Through a more comprehensive understanding of the brain, body, and behavior, our research is leading to the development of more effective diagnostics and treatments for brain-related disorders like depression, autism, and Parkinson’s disease.
Beyond these advances, our insights into language, perception, and cognition also have the potential to vastly enrich our experiences of the world. As our co-founders Patrick J. McGovern and Lore Harp McGovern presciently noted back in 2000, “Brain research will change our understanding of how we communicate with each other, how we learn during childhood and throughout life, how we make decisions, how we create new ideas and works of art, and how we can do all of these things better.”
Our paradigm-shifting research is already bearing fruit in the form of gene therapies and bionic limbs. But our journey is far from over. We will continue to bridge the gap between discovery and real-world impact as we aim to deliver groundbreaking technologies to improve brain health and well-being on a global scale.
