Patrick Kennedy to Keynote BrainFutures 2015

TIMONIUM, Md. - Oct. 21, 2015 - PRLog -- Annapolis, MD І October 20, 2015 – The Honorable Patrick J. Kennedy will keynote BrainFutures 2015 on November 4, 2015, in Annapolis, Maryland. The former Congressman will join nearly 500 advocates, consumers of mental health services, family members and treatment providers to explore new frontiers in brain health and strategies for making the latest advancements in mental health care accessible.

Kennedy is founder of The Kennedy Forum, which seeks to unite the health care system and rally the mental health community around a set of access and policy principles, and co-founder of One Mind for Research, a global leader in open science collaboration in brain research. He also recently released, “A Common Struggle: A Personal Journey Through the Past and Future of Mental Illness and Addiction.” The memoir details his personal and political battles with mental illness and addiction, while exploring the history of mental health care alongside his family’s private struggles.

At BrainFutures 2015, Kennedy will present a TED-style talk at 4:40 p.m. on November 4, immediately followed by a book signing of “A Common Struggle.” A two-day conference at the Westin Annapolis, BrainFutures 2015 features national and international experts exploring the latest neuroscience on mental health care and brain optimization.

“Patrick Kennedy has dedicated his career to accelerating brain research and helping us better understand how the brain works,” says Linda J. Raines, CEO of the Mental Health Association of Maryland (MHAMD), host of BrainFutures 2015. “Science is advancing rapidly in recognizing that the brain changes throughout our lives and can respond in ways we never knew before. This knowledge is yielding new evidence and new hope for people working to recover from mental illnesses and substance use disorders.”

More than 50 years ago, President John F. Kennedy asked Americans to think big, leading to one of his most storied and impactful accomplishments: a call to reach the moon in a decade, catalyzing the “space race.”  Patrick Kennedy believes we are now in a different kind of space race – a race to “inner-space,” a quest to understand the brain and brain health as much as we sought to understand the surface of the moon. At BrainFutures 2015, Kennedy will discuss new advances in science and policy that are leading the way toward a deeper understanding of “inner space.”

BrainFutures 2015 is the centennial conference of  MHAMD. To register for the conference and see the full agenda, visit www.BrainFutures2015.org. BrainFutures 2015 is co-sponsored by The Kennedy Forum, Mental Health America and the National Council for Behavioral Health.

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Founded in 1915, MHAMD is the state’s only volunteer, nonprofit organization that brings together consumers, families, clinicians, advocates and concerned citizens for unified action in all aspects of mental health, mental illness and substance use. Our progressive programs ensure more humane treatment, increased research and greater public understanding of the needs of children and adults who live with behavioral health problems.