events – Neuromod+

Advancing UK Neurotechnology: Reflections on Our Joint Symposium

Kate Hobson — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 11:27:08 +0000

The closeNIT and Neuromod+ networks have been working closely to foster collaboration across the neuroscience and neurotechnology communities, including co-hosting the second UK Symposium on Neuromodulation and Neurotechnology on 25–26 November in Newcastle upon Tyne. The two-day meeting brought together researchers from diverse disciplines for stimulating discussion and networking, with sessions covering neuromodulation for cognition and mental health, the implementation of neurotechnology in neurology and psychiatry, recent advances in the field and the commercialisation and regulation of emerging technologies.

As both projects near their end, we are committed to maintaining the strong collaboration and momentum built through these networks. Representatives from both networks are planning an annual meeting – the next to be hosted in Oxford towards the end of 2026 – to continue to develop activity in the space, and carry forward the legacy of a cohesive neurotechnology community in the UK.

Neuromod+ at the Great Exhibition Road Festival

Kate Hobson — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 12:51:29 +0000

We had a great weekend representing Neuromod+ at the Great Exhibition Road Festival on 7 & 8 June. An estimated 55,000 people attended the multiple South Kensington sites over two days, with amazing content from Imperial, Science Museum, V&A, Goethe Institute and more.

On the Neuromod+ stand, we enjoyed guiding visitors through our VR experience where they could talk to virtual patients to learn more about different minimally invasive neuromodulation techniques, or just throw basketballs or brains around!

Visitors also had the chance to try some noninvasive neuromodulation tech for themselves in the form of three Zenbud focussed ultrasound headsets. Some liked the experience so much they came back for another go!

As well as these, kids and adults had a great time playing our “Mindgames – Neuron Cascade” arcade game, where they could simulate stimulating neural nodes to prevent the spread of a brain disorder, and we were also lucky enough to have Rufus Mitchell-Heggs join us on the Sunday to tell visitors about the work of Connectome Health.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend! Thanks to our marvellous Neuromod+ team!

UK Symposium on Neuromodulation & Neurotechnology

Kate Hobson — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 12:24:45 +0000

On 12th-13th Sept we held the UK Symposium on Neuromodulation and Neurotechnology in Nottingham, sponsored jointly by the EPSRC NeuroMod+ and CloseNIT networks. As well as fantastic plenary talks from Abby Russo, PhD (from CTRL-Labs, META) and Daisy Thompson-Lake PhD (West Virginia University), there were a great set of academic talks and “Neurotech bites” from up and coming researchers, as well as discussion sessions on the growing Neurotechnology industry in the UK, and Public Involvement in Neurotechnology. The full line-up can be found in our programme here. Thanks to everyone involved in making the event a great success!

Public and Patient Involvement in Neurotechnologies Workshop: Tues 12 Sept

Kate Hobson — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 10:44:02 +0000

The CloseNIT network, in affiliation with Neuromod+, is hosting a hybrid PPI workshop on Tuesday 12th September (this event is part of wider CloseNIT Network+ Meeting: September 2023). Come join us to discuss what “success” in PPI for neurotechnologies looks like and where to find the best examples to learn from. Join us to influence the development of PPI strategies for neurotechnologies in the UK.

With talks by:
• Rebecca Woodcock I NIHR MindTech MedTech Co-Operative
• Michael Hart I St George’s University of London
• Chris Gibbs I CNTW NHS Foudation Trust, Newcastle
• Muki Haklay I University College London

This workshop will be a satellite event of a Network+ meeting. For more information and registration visit:
https://research.ncl.ac.uk/close-nit/eventsfundingcalls/networkmeetingseptember2023/

Join the webinar at: newcastleuniversity.:z:oom.us/j/89053178446

Call for Speakers and Moderators: Workshop on Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in Neurotechnologies

Kate Hobson — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 12:53:11 +0000

See below a call for speakers from our network members – do get in touch with them if you’d like to be involved!

Are you a researcher, clinician, company or regulator with experience in PPI activities for the development of neurotechnology in the UK? We would love to hear you!

We are a group of researchers and clinicians from different Universities in the UK (Kings College London, University of Cambridge, New Castle University) and we have been recently funded by the Neuromod+ network, with additional support from CloseNIT network (https://research.ncl.ac.uk/close-nit/), to establish a structured approach to Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in the development and use of neurotechnologies in the UK. Active PPI is crucial to co-develop user-centred, ethically sound and sustainable neurotechnologies, whilst promoting transparency, accountability and inclusivity. However, it could be daunting to set up, and we want to create the infrastructure for gold-standard PPI activities for UK neurotechnologies.

As a first step, we will host a hybrid workshop on 12 September 2023, from 13:30 to 16:00, at Newcastle University, to discuss what “success” in PPI looks like and where to find the best examples to learn from. We want to hear from patients, clinicians, researchers, and regulators about their effective PPI implementation methods. This will be followed by a discussion of the case studies for the definition of core principles, which will inform subsequent work.

We are now looking for speakers and moderators to share their expertise and experiences. There will be 3-4 short talks and another 3-4 moderators who will shape the discussion session from diverse backgrounds. We would like you to focus on your previous PPI experiences, telling us about what went well and where we should be doing better. The more focused the better. We are also interested in the digital tools you’ve been using to make your PPI engagement successful.

This is an opportunity to have an early influence on the development of PPI strategies for neurotechnologies in the UK. Our aim is to deliver another workshop next year and to produce a white paper, consolidating the best existing guidelines, policies, and online resources to support effective PPI strategies in neurotechnologies.

We can support your travel expenses (and accommodation, if required) to Newcastle. Alternatively, as we will be hosting a hybrid event, you could also participate remotely. The CloseNIT network will be hosting a meeting earlier the same day in Newcastle, which you would of course be very welcome to attend – we will provide details later in the month.

Please, contact Dr Amparo Guemes at ag2239@cam.ac.uk expressing your interested in participating no later than Friday 21^st July 2023 and do get in touch if you want to discuss this further. Also, please feel free to share this with your colleagues as we believe this is in the interest of the whole community.

Thank you in advance and looking forward to meeting you in Newcastle.

The organising committee (Dr Antonio Valentin, Dr Tamar Makin, Dr Tiago da Silva Costa and Dr Amparo Guemes)

Neuromod first Co-creation event confirmed for 14 March 2023

Kate Hobson — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 14:53:31 +0000

We’re pleased to announce that our first Co-creation event will take place on Tuesday 14 March 2023 at Imperial College London (note amended date).
This will be an all-day, in-person event, bringing together our members to discuss and define themes and challenges for Neuromod+, and brainstorm new developments in minimally invasive neuromodulation.

Places will be limited, so please save the date and apply for a place by 14 Feb (deadline extended from 31 Jan) via the form below (or at: https://forms.office.com/e/JuGTVZY5xx )
We will be in touch after the deadline to confirm whether we can offer you a place.

Neuromod+ Launch Event

Kate Hobson — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 13:27:12 +0000

We held our Network Launch Event online on Tuesday 15th November. Over 80 people tuned in to find out more about the Network and to join our interactive breakout sessions.

After a brief introductory “mingle” session, Simon Schultz introduced the context and objectives of the Neuromod+ Network and the other Neuromod+ team members. Participants were then invited to give their input in 3 interactive breakout sessions. Discussion was stimulated by short “insight talks” from some of our members, giving their thoughts on the neuromod landscape from an academic, clinical and charity perspective.

Breakout discussions focussed on:

What the opportunities are for the Network

What members would like to see the Network achieve

What the interesting and useful research questions are that we should be asking

What research we can do to really make a difference

Who else should be involved

We were delighted by the engagement and input from participants and will share some of the outcomes of these preliminary discussions soon.

We rounded up the event by giving information on our planned activities and events, including our first Co-Creation event which will take place in February 2023 and be followed up with a funding call in late Feb-early March. Details of all events will be posted online soon.

We would like to thank everyone who joined the event and especially our “insight talk” contributors and our fantastic facilitators from The Collective.

A recording of the event (including summaries from some of the breakout discussions) will be available online soon.