This was a very interesting session highlighting the importance of international coordination and collaboration in order to achieve better management of experimental data generated by different neurolabs.
My understanding is that the group organizing the current AAAS session focuses mainly on animal models and how to exchange detailed brain imaging data from small rodents that can be used to calibrate brain models. Obviously, the ability to use multi-lab data to build realistic models of fundamental brain functions is crucial for the advancement of the field and it appears to me that it might be useful to articulate these efforts with the somewhat similar LORIS project, that is aiming at establishing protocols for the exchange of human brain imaging data to expand the empirical basis of fMRI studies. The complexity of the data is huge and there are important ethical issues associated with the exchange of human brain imaging data but the high cost of the research suggests that adequate data exchange across laboratories is the way to go.

Materials from the official AAAS 2019 program

Session’s abstract
Understanding how the brain works is one of today’s grand scientific challenges and has spurred a global explosion of growth in neuroscience. Countries around the world are investing in basic research and neurotechologies through large-scale projects in North America, Europe, Asia, and elsewhere. Many neuroscience researchers and research funders believe that a global effort is needed to allow for critical breakthroughs to maximize the impact of new discoveries, and to increase the return on investment in neuroscience research that will ultimately benefit society as a whole. In 2017, representatives from the world’s major brain projects made a formal declaration to establish an International Brain Initiativeto foster coordination and collaboration across these projects. This session highlights the outcomes of these large-scale investments and the impact of global collaborations. Speakers will present cutting-edge discoveries made possible by international collaborations, and explore the progress and challenges faced by both individual scientists and country specific initiatives, as they work across geographic and cultural divides.
From the official AAAS 2019 program:
https://aaas.confex.com/aaas/2019/meetingapp.cgi/Session/21864

A new model for international collaboration i neuroscience

Dr. Michael Häusser is Professor of Neuroscience at University College London and the Facilitator of the International Brain Laboratory (IBL). Dr. Hausser will present the vision of IBL and describe progress towards its goal to enable experimentalists and theorists to work together to transcend boundaries between laboratories and countries in order to understand the neural basis of decisionmaking.
(https://aaas.confex.com/aaas/2019/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/24171)

The Korea initiative and global collaboration

Dr. Sung-jin Jeong is the Director of the Brain Research Policy Center at the Korea Brain Research Institute. She has also been leading the effort to develop and launch the Korea Brain Initiative. Dr. Jeong will present on the scientific plan for the Korea Brain Initiative and opportunities for international collaboration.
(https://aaas.confex.com/aaas/2019/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/23905)

Toward circuit optogenetics

Dr. Valentina Emiliani is the Director of the Neurophotonics Laboratory at the Paris Descartes University and works at the interface of physics and biology. She develops novel microscopy techniques for neurophysiology, including a three-dimensional holographic illumination method used for manipulating individual neurons in circuits. Dr. Emiliani will present her cutting-edge advances and the necessary future developments in circuit optogenetics.
(https://aaas.confex.com/aaas/2019/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/23908)