#WMIF15’s Disruptive Dozen

Neuroscience luminaries clamored onto the stage at yesterday’s World Medical Innovation Forum in Boston to present the meeting’s much-anticipated Disruptive Dozen. It was a truly impressive feat to pack the 14 experts onstage, let alone the difficulty of extracting real participation and interaction in the panel session.

As fellow communicators of industry and science we certainly grasp the power of an enumeration of ten (or twelve) hot button items. Although somewhat vague, as lists go, this one certainly hints at some exciting topics: #12 Diagnosing and Treating Neurodegenerative Disease Through the Microbiome, #7 New Aspects of Gene Therapy, #2 Stem Cell Therapy to Repair and Replenish the Brain, #1 Early Diagnosis and Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease

We’ll see if the effort by Partners HealthCare physicians and researchers to manufacture clickbait can generate intrigue among experts as well as the lay public. It’s primed and packaged as fodder for Facebook and Buzzfeed, but a deeper read of the full report (available here) should inspire hope in the potential to treat diseases of mind.