Bradley hosts inaugural Super Brain Summit

Students and professors from around the world tuned in Thursday as Bradley kicked off the inaugural Super Brain Summit.

The Super Brain Summit is an online lecture event organized by the College of Education and Health Sciences at Bradley University. It features a series of webinar videos presented from brain health professionals from across the globe.

“It’s being hosted through Bradley University … but anybody in the world can get connected,” Lori Russell-Chapin, professor and associate dean of the College of Education and Health Sciences, said. “I love the idea that we can do this synchronously and asynchronously, or that we can do it live or just recorded.”

According to Russel-Chapin, the Super Brain Summit will feature lectures on treatment-resistant depression, on obsessive-compulsive disorders and therapeutic life changes to promote brain health.

Russell-Chapin also said one of the motivators for holding the Super Brain Summit in an online format was to help finance the event.

“It’s cost-saving, because we don’t have to have someone from Australia come here, or we don’t have to go to Australia, but what I like is that we’re getting such diversity live,” Russell-Chapin said.

According to Russell-Chapin, all speakers are volunteering their time to participate in the event. The funds from registration fees go towards the Center for Collaborative Brain Research, a partner organization with Bradley, as well as to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center and the Illinois Neurological Institute.

Russell-Chapin said there are a variety of speakers Bradley lined up for this event, which is the first of its kind to be hosted by the university.

“I’ve got presenters from Australia, Mexico, Portugal and the United States, and these are all people who have expertise in areas of brain health and brain disease,” Russell-Chapin said. “I think it’s fun that they’re all coming together … [The online format] meets everybody’s needs: If you can’t leave your office Thursday but you want to see something at night, you can. One of our professors from Australia … is doing an 8 a.m. here, and it’s 11 p.m. at night in Queensland.”

Jessica Curran, a clinical mental health counseling graduate student, attended a webinar Thursday morning that focused on therapeutic life changes to help control personal wellness.

“What I really loved about this presentation is that it’s applicable to anyone who’s interested in living a longer and healthier life,” Curran said. “The concepts [speaker Allen Ivey] introduced are not so complex that you need to be a master’s student or higher in a psychology-related field to get it.”

Curran also said she thought the webinar format was very conducive to a positive learning environment.

“I really liked its convenience and the ease of logging on from wherever,” Curran said. “I could still see Dr. Ivey as he spoke since his side also used a videocam, so it gave the overall presentation a more human feel than just looking at slides online with audio.”

As for hosting the event next year, Russell-Chapin said she is optimistic.

“I think the first one is always a little difficult, but we’re going to try to do it every year,” Russell-Chapin said. “I’m hoping that as word spreads, more people will understand the benefit of it. I think it’s going to be something we can make work and look forward to every year.”

Russell-Chapin said the ultimate goal of the Super Brain Summit is to help educate participants, no matter their field of study.

“Everybody has a brain, and we all need to understand what makes it healthy and what doesn’t make it healthy,” Russell-Chapin said. “I think there’s going to be something in there for the clinician, and there’s going to be a ton in there for the person who wants to know how to take better care of themselves.”

The Super Brain Summit continues into Saturday. For information on how to register for the remaining webinars or to access recordings of the videos, email Russell-Chapin at lar@fsmail.bradley.edu.

Anyone who registers but is unable to attend an actual lecture will have access to the videos online until May 20.