2023 Art-Science Breakfast: restoring movement for Parkinson’s patients

support Published October 20 2023
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In partnership with the Paris+ par Art Basel contemporary art fair, the 12th edition of the Art-Science Breakfast took place on October 18, 2023 at Café de l’Homme. Thanks to support from the NRJ Foundation at Institut de France and the incredible dedication of participants, more than €1.2 million was raised for the Institute, to enable researchers to benefit from latest-generation technological facilities.  

Hosted by Natacha Polony, who has been working with the Institute for five years now, this year’s event highlighted the cutting edge work done by the teams at Paris Brain Institute to help Parkinson’s patients stay in control of their movements.

Professor. Carine Karachi, leading neurosurgeon and co-team leader at Paris Brain Institute, shared with the public the measurable progress she is making and which is already benefiting patients. Her ambition is to identify the electrophysiological signature of gait disorders and offer Parkinson’s patients an adaptive Deep Brian Stimulation system capable of recording brain activity and automatically adjusting stimulation. This is just one practical example of personalized medicine and of the power of Paris Brain Institute’s model for improving patients’ lives and offering hope for a healthier future.

Justine Emard, a visual artist whose work sits at the intersection between neuroscience, objects, organic life and artificial intelligence, unveiled Hyperphantasia, her digital artwork that is the result of her close collaboration with

Professor Carine Karachi. By offering a dance routine that he devised on Paris Brain Institute’s walking platform (PANAM), which is dedicated to analyzing movement, Paris Opera Ballet’s Coryphée, Chun-Wing Lam, has masterfully demonstrated the extraordinary abilities of the human body.

“I am proud and honored to continue our partnership with Paris Brain Institute at the 2nd edition of Paris+ par Art Basel.Our deep ties with the Institute demonstrate the show’s societal commitments and our desire for openness and dialogue”. Clément Delépine, Director of Paris+ par Art Basel

After the event, Professor. Alexis Brice, Executive Director of Paris Brain Institute, thanked the NRJ Foundation at Institut de France, founded by Mr. Jean-Paul Baudecroux, who has made a high-level commitment to the Institute to purchase a STED (Stimulated Emission Depletion) microscope. Equipped with an adaptive optics module, this equipment will be the first of its kind in France, and will enable the Institute to become a leading center for this technology. The donation from the NRJ Foundation – Institut de France was a tremendous draw for the guests who, inspired by this generosity and vote of confidence, demonstrated remarkable commitment. The Institute also expressed its thanks to the artists whose performances made the event so special.

Support from members of Paris Brain Institut’s Circle of Friends has been incredible, and offers the institute’s nearly 800 researchers the ability to continue and to accelerate their research to defeat nervous system disorders.

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