ABOUT

Former Congressman Chaka Fattah serves as President and CEO of Fattah Neuroscience Global Advisors.

Chaka Fattah at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, 2014.

SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE

Mr. Fattah has built on his expertise through on-site science-extensive briefings at the leading brain science laboratories including Harvard University, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Fortune 500 companies, such as Google and Facebook, and large organizations, such as the National Football League, have interacted with Mr. Fattah around their shared interests in neuroscience. Mr. Fattah has also attended briefings at the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Veterans Administration and had on-site briefings at ten of the U.S. national labs. Finally, Mr. Fattah was briefed on current brain science issues by organizations such as the Society for Neuroscience, World Dementia Council, Alzheimer’s Association and the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Mr. Fattah served in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than twenty (20) years. As the senior science appropriator, Mr. Fattah launched the Fattah Neuroscience Initiative to build public-private partnerships to promote research and discovery across brain cognition, development, disease, and injury

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Mr. Fattah facilitated creation of the Interagency Working Group on Neuroscience housed at the White House. The group coordinates research among more than a dozen agencies under the National Science and Technology Council. The group convenes representatives across the Federal government to make recommendations about the future of neuroscience research. The flagship project of the Interagency Working Group on Neuroscience is the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, which is focused in part on developing better technologies and tools to accelerate progress in neuroscience. The Brain Initiative and related projects represent an investment of $300 million a year by the Federal government. The Fattah Initiative also generated a formal collaboration with the pharmaceutical community to substantially increase private sector investment in brain research; has directed the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to identify new opportunities for international neuroscience collaboration opportunities; and has recommended specific advances in medical imaging and the creation of a National Brain Observatory.

THOUGHT

LEADERSHIP

Mr. Fattah received the Science Champion Award from the Science Coalition for the Fattah Neuroscience Initiative. Mr. Fattah also received the following awards for his leadership of the initiative: Whitehead Award from Research America, Science Medal of Distinction from University of Salerno in Italy, Lifetime Achievement Award from the Stroke Council, Leadership Award from Biological and Ecological Science Coalition, an award from TV One, and the Presidential Leadership Award from the National Urban League. Mr. Fattah has delivered speeches to the following organizations: National Academy of Sciences, BrainTech Israel, G20 Brain Mapping Summit, National Brain Health Summit, International NeuroEthics Society, the American Academy of Neurology, and the Neurotech Investing and Partnering Conference. Mr. Fattah served as the official representative of the U.S. government at the European Union’s Healthy Brain, Healthy European conference. Mr. Fattah’s advice on neuroscience policy has been sought by scientists from the following countries: Japan, France, South Africa, Germany, Israel and Canada.

PUBLIC

SERVICE

As a member of the U.S. Congress, Mr. Fattah served in many leadership positions. Most impactful, when he was elected by his fellow members to direct federal spending priorities on science and commerce appropriations. In that role, Fattah successfully focused spending on science, health, education and commerce programs, involving many hundreds of billions and impacting millions. In this role, Fattah's leadership routinely received well-reported bipartisan acclaim.

Fattah's effective leadership was acknowledged beyond Congress. President Bill Clinton praised Fattah's Gear UP program, America's largest early college and scholarship program, and has helped more than 12 million students to date. President Barack Obama signed into law the Congressman's Homeowner's Emergency Mortgage Assistance program an $8 billion effort to help homeowners during the 2008 recession. The National Urban League applauded the passage of Fattah’s Urban Jobs Bill. Over 20 million families have received over 40 billion to help with college expenses through the American Opportunity Tax Credit that Fattah introduced, and President Obama signed into law.

Fattah played a leadership role, which in many cases was outcome-determinative, on a wide range of important and successful efforts. These efforts include, but are not limited to: