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Partners Embarks on a “Tour de Brain”

The brain power of Partners will be coming soon to a theatre near you. Partners HealthCare has produced an IMAX format film, Wired to Win: Surviving the Tour de France, which will have its worldwide premiere at the Museum of Science on December 1.

The giant-screen feature tells the story of two riders in the legendary bike race, as they race through the dramatic and striking French terrain, trying to avoid danger and crushing pain, control their emotions, and stay motivated. Powering each of them is the human brain, which is brought to life on film through computer-generated imagery.

Wired to Win comes at a time when there is great concern about the country’s continued leadership in science and technology. The film, which was funded in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation and co-sponsored by Ortho-McNeil Neurologics, Inc. is part of a Partners effort to excite young people about the complex world of brain biology, encourage further study of the sciences, and inspire kids to pursue careers in science.

“From the outset, we have seen this project as a logical extension of our teaching mission,” said James J. Mongan, MD, president and CEO of Partners. “We know that our country is falling behind in science education, and that fewer young people are choosing to study science and pursue careers in health care and the biosciences. As an organization that works to advance medical knowledge, we are committed to reversing this trend and conveying to young people the excitement about science and medical discovery that we at Partners experience every day.”

Students will also be the focus of the film’s world premiere on December 1 at the Museum of Science. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino will gather more than 300 Boston schoolchildren to watch the film. Also included in the Wired to Win project are educational materials for students, teachers and families, an interactive website, a national science educator symposium, and an international conference on science communications.

Joanna Baldwin Mallory, Partners’ Director of the Office of New Ventures was the Senior Producer of the film. “The brain is one of the most exciting subjects in science today, and neuroscience research is one of Partners’ greatest strengths,” she says. She and the Wired to Win filmmaking team took on the challenge of integrating the dramatic story of racing the Tour de France with the equally compelling story of the workings of the human brain.

Baldwin Mallory and the filmmakers relied on a team of Partners scientists who worked to ensure that the images of the brain and the human body on screen were accurate. Among the film’s major science advisors were Bruce Cohen, MD, PhD, President and Psychiatrist-in-Chief at McLean Hospital; Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA, President of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Chair of Partners Psychiatry and Mental Health; Martin A. Samuels, MD, Neurologist-in-Chief at BWH, BWH Neurologist Dennis Selkoe, MD, and MGH Pathologist Matthew Frosch, PhD, MD.

The film will open to the general public on December 9 at the Museum of Science in Boston, and will be shown nationally beginning in January 2006. Partners is planning special screenings of the film for Partners employees, in the next few months. Details on those screenings will be available soon. For more information about the film, visit the Wired to Win website, www.wiredtowinthemovie.com.

Omni passes will be available at Boston Public Schools in February 2006.