The Institute for Translational Neuroscience (ITN) was established in 2007 as a presidential university-wide initiative in order to promote the transfer of discoveries in the basic neurosciences to clinical practice. The institute is charged to enhance basic science discovery with new knowledge leading to subsequent clinical trials and establishment of new therapeutic principles or tools. The institute aims to attract and recruit top scientists to shape discoveries that will lead to tomorrow's cures. The lTN exemplifies how different disciplines, departments and centers can work together in partnership to evolve neurological disease research at the University of Minnesota.