Crowdsourcing Discovery Kickoff Party

It is time to experiment with the way that science is done. For the first time, we are giving the public an opportunity to fund basic research and truly participate in a scientific endeavor at an unprecedented level.

The web, itself the fruit of curiosity-driven basic research, has transformed every industry and creative endeavor it has touched, promoting collaboration, openness and efficiency. But scientists are stuck in a pre-Internet mindset. We aim to change that.

Who are we? For 5 years, Ethan Perlstein's lab at Princeton University has been developing a new evolutionary approach to the study of how drugs work. For nearly 2 decades, David Sulzer's lab at Columbia Med School has been a leader in the study of how drugs affect the brain.
Our labs will now join forces to tackle a longstanding puzzle in mental health research: how does the family of drugs called amphetamines, which includes the notorious crystal meth, actually work? Millions of people take these drugs every day, but we don't fully understand what they do at the cellular level. How can we hope for new treatments to brain diseases or addiction without basic understanding?

Simple: we can't.

We will use powerful, proven techniques to precisely determine where these drugs go deep inside brain cells. Decades ago a similar approach famously demonstrated where the psychedelic drug LSD works within the brain. Since this is uncharted territory for most drugs, we don't know for sure where they will end up, which means that you get to join in the thrill of discovery as it occurs!

To make this work, we need your support, and we invite you to the kick off party for the very first, large scale crowd funded research project! Come and be a part of Crowdsourcing Discovery! Please also register on Eventbright! https://www.eventbrite.com/contact-organizer?eid=4354207552