Foundation for the Study of the Central and Peripheral Nervous System
The Fondation pour l’Étude du Système Nerveux central et périphérique (FESN) was one of the first European foundations dedicated to the promotion of the study of the nervous system. Founded in 1983 upon the initiative of a group of prominent scientists, it has two main goals:
- Offering a high-level forum aiming to facilitate meetings between the various leaders of emerging fields of neurosciences
- Promoting information on the progress in neurosciences to a non-specialist audience interested in this field.
In this regard, the FESN has organised a dozen meetings on topics as varied as the development of the nervous system, the brain and biological rhythms, neurodegenerative diseases or even neuropharmacology. The conclusions of these works were discussed in the series of publications “Discussions in Neurosciences” intended for a non-specialist audience.
The scientific council of the FESN consists of the following scientists:
- Yves Agid, Neurologist for the « Institut du Cerveau et de la Moëlle » in Paris, specialist of Parkinson’s disease,
- Bruno Dubois, Neurologist at Sorbonne Université, Head of Service at La Salpêtrière in Paris, specialist of Alzheimer’s disease,
- Richard Frackowiak, Neurologist and former Head of Service of « Queen Square » in London Universtiy, specialist of brain imaging and of Alzheimer’s disease,
- Pierre Magistretti, Neurobiologist for the « Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne » and in KAUST University, specialist of energy metabolism and glial brain cells.
- Grégoire Courtine, from the « Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne », specialist of the spinal cord injuries studies and restorative approaches.
- Jocelyne Bloch Head of Neurosurgery and Neuroscientist switzerland at the University Hospitals of Lausanne (CHUV/UNIL) and at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
