Groups poised to make St. Louis a national hub for neuroscience

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The bioscience community in St. Louis is collaborating on what it hopes will be the financial footing to make our region the neuroscience hub of the world.

BioSTL, Washington University, along with others are working together to help secure a $160 million grant that would continue growing the neuroscience scene in St. Louis.

"This opportunity is one where we can infuse up to $160 million in federal dollars into an area that St. Louis has really a unique position to lead," said Donn Rubin, BioSTL Founding President on Total Information A.M. Thursday.

Rubin says Washington University has become the national leader in neuroscience research and they want to build an eco-system around that.

"St. Louis has tremendous assets in bioscience and that's across the medical science, healthcare, plant science," said Rubin. "For two decades, we have been working to position St. Louis together to ensure it's a driver for our economy and now comes this huge opportunity to bring in large amount of capital from the federal government to St. Louis in one of those areas."

Rubin says neuroscience can help with so many issues, from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, to spinal cord injuries, even mental health and addiction issues.

"St. Louis can be a leader to solving these important national challenges for ourselves and others around the country," said Rubin.