# Sculpted Light in the Brain Conference 2024

> **NIH NIH R13** · RUTGERS BIOMEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES · 2024 · $13,000

## Abstract

Project Summary
Neuroscience has been revolutionized by the widespread adoption of two experimental methods: optogenetics,
where light is used to control neural activity, and calcium imaging, where light is used to monitor neural activity.
‘Sculpted Light in The Brain’ refers to the optical process of changing the shape of light to be more useful for
both imaging and stimulation purposes and is a fundamental theme of this conference. With the advent of these
approaches conventional electrical recording and stimulation tools are being progressively complemented and
sometimes replaced by these light-based approaches. However, progress is still needed for these optical
techniques to reach the speed, specificity, and range necessary to understand neural activity. This meeting is
timely since this new generation of advanced light-based biological tools is fundamentally transforming how
neuroscientists interrogate the nervous system, relying on the fusion of computational and optical methods with
neuroscience.
The repeated success of the SLB meetings highlights the timely nature of this topic and the extreme interest in
the topic. Sculpted Light in the Brain (2017) was originally designed as a brief (1 day) local conference at
University of California at Berkeley. However, due to overwhelming interest as well as the engagement and
commitment of the organizers, the meeting was rapidly expanded to a reoccurring international meeting series,
having meetings in London (2019), Boston (2022), and now Paris (2024). Feedback was overwhelmingly
positive, and the conference was highlighted in Neurophotonics (Shanker et al 2017), spawned a dedicated
research grant just for meeting attendees (The Kavli SLB Innovation Grant (2022)), has been spoken of as a
model of conference childcare support, and sparked enduring scientific collaborations. The program for the 2024
Sculpted Light in the Brain meeting was designed by an interdisciplinary, international committee guided by
suggestions from the field. The meeting organizers include four returning members from the 2022 and 2019
organization teams, as well as 3 new members. Four of the seven meeting organizers are women, and two are
based internationally. They are aided by the continued support of the SLB Board (the original six organizers) and
an advisory group of senior scientists.
This meeting will generate future collaboration opportunities by gathering established scientists and the next
generation of researchers from the fields of optics, computer science, and neuroscience in a discussion focused
on developing future light-based technologies that will enable real time communication with the living brain. This
forward-looking unique new conference satisfies an urgent need in the scientific community that is currently
completely unmet, since there are no other standalone meetings directly dedicated to this rapidly growing
scientific area.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10904200
- **Project number:** 1R13NS137722-01
- **Recipient organization:** RUTGERS BIOMEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Ian Anton Oldenburg
- **Activity code:** R13 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $13,000
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-05-15 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10904200

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10904200, Sculpted Light in the Brain Conference 2024 (1R13NS137722-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10904200. Licensed CC0.

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