Our History
The Green Neuroscience Laboratory (Green Neuro) is a non-profit scientific institute in San Diego, CA. Our one-of-a-kind lab is at risk of closing its physical space and we need your help.
For over a decade, Green Neuro has demonstrated that the field of neuroscience can be advanced through ecological and justice-oriented goals: "no animal experimentation", "green methodologies" (reclaimed materials, renewable energy, and no toxic lab chemicals), "celebrating neurodiversity" and "challenging reductionism in science."
Our lab is the first net-zero neuroscience laboratory in the world!
Green Neuro was featured in The New York Times and other major publications. As a founder of the concept of “green neuroscience,” Dr. Elan Liss Ohayon, the lab’s director, has an upcoming MIT book to shift the field of neuroscience away from its traditional focus on animal and military research.
Projects over the years have included:
- Creating an open access multiscale atlas of metals in the human brain to increase knowledge of brain architecture and how metal distributions are related to conditions such as Williams syndrome.
- Mapping neural networks to understand conditions such as epilepsy.
- Understanding cognition, consciousness, agency, and creativity.
Research is open and transparent, and the lab has never accepted military or corporate funding.
What can you do?
Donate!
Your funds will go towards supporting research and helping save the Green Neuro Lab’s physical space in the face of rent increases and threats of eviction. Green Neuro physical space in San Diego is critical for facilitating research collaborations, housing lab infrastructure, and training young scientists (we’ve kickstarted many careers!).
Help find a new physical space!
Given rent increases and an unsupportive landlord, we are looking for a new home in an academic or non-profit institution. Do you know a San Diego academic department or research institute that can house a groundbreaking green neuroscience laboratory? If so, reach out to us!
Grow our network!
Share this campaign with your contacts and attend our upcoming events. We are launching a monthly salon - stay tuned!
We thank you for any support you can give!
More About Dr. Elan Ohayon, co-founder and director of the lab:
In addition to his research, Elan was a high-profile housing activist in Toronto, Canada. He launched a successful legal case arguing for rights of unhoused people to be undisturbed in the context of lack of affordable housing. After winning a settlement, all the settlement funds ($100,000) were donated to housing, anti-poverty, and environmental causes.
He helped steer a successful public campaign in support of Justice for Dr Kin-Yip Chun at the University of Toronto. This campaign forced a public dialogue on systemic racism and concluded in a settlement in 2000 between Prof. Chun and the University of Toronto. Elan is helping Dr. Chun document the lessons from this campaign on equitable hiring practices by expanding an online archive.
This work has informed the direction of the Green Neuro Lab, including its commitment to academic freedom and inclusion and to understanding the effects of housing security on brain health.