The conference was organised by the Northern Ireland Functional Brain Mapping (NIFBM) facility of the Intelligent Systems Research Centre (ISRC), a major research unit within the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment at Ulster's Magee campus.
Over 3 days, Ulster University has welcomed researchers from across the world to its new, state-of-the-art teaching block in the Magee campus in Derry~Londonderry.
Professor Liam Maguire, Executive Dean, Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment Ulster University, said:
“It is an honour to host this year’s MEG UK conference. Not only is it the first time the conference has taken place in Ireland but it is also the first conference held in our new, state-of-the-art teaching block on the Magee campus.
Ulster University has a strong reputation for brain mapping research thanks to our Northern Ireland Functional Brain Mapping (NIFBM) facility. This is the only brain imaging system on the island of Ireland, and one of only ten in the whole of the UK, to use the recently developed brain imaging modality, Magnetoencephalography (MEG) to measure brain activity.
This conference is an excellent opportunity to bring together MEG experts from across the UK, share best practice and showcase our world-leading research and state-of-the-art facilities.”
The jam-packed conference programme included key note speakers from University Hospital Tübingen, Germany, Harvard Medical School, US and McGill University in Canada; a one day educational workshop on MEG for BMI and Clinical Applications; a visit to Ulster University’s Intelligent Systems Research Centre and a conference dinner in the Guildhall.
Professor Girijesh Prasad, Director of the Northern Ireland Functional Brain Mapping (NIFBM) facility, was one of the speakers at the conference. He said,
“It has been a privilege to organise and speak at this year’s MEG UK conference. Magnetoencephalography is an exciting area of research, providing a direct measure of electrical activity in the brain. MEG is non-invasive, extremely precise and more comfortable for patients. It has the potential to transform both clinical outcomes and research.”
MEG UK 2018 was sponsored by Derry City and Strabane District Council, the Medical Research Council, Elekta Ltd., York Instruments Ltd., and Advanced Medical Equipment Ltd.