fNIRS Datablitz 2020 recap
The three-day virtual event on October 12-14 2020 was a big success, with 51 speakers delivering outstanding talks! Follow this link to a summary and some statistics: https://fnirs2020.org/2020/11/02/datablitz-recap/.
By Maria Angela Franceschini

The Society in the social networks
An executive summary of your social network posts during the confinement period.
Continue reading.
By you!

Keeping SfNIRS connected
Our series of research webinars and educational tutorials continued during this period. Rickson Coelho Mesquita volunteered to take over as chair of the research webinars, with Thomas Dresler acting as deputy chair. We are currently looking for new potential speakers. If you want to participate, please contact Rickson. The webinars calendar has been updated until March 26th, 2021. Judit Gervain will continue organizing the educational tutorials. Access to educational tutorial videos is available to members via our website (you must log in first).
By Clare Elwell, Judit Gervain and Felix Scholkmann.

2nd Educational Tutorial in Spanish!
For the first time in a language other than English, the most recent educational tutorial is delivered by Silvia Benavides-Varela in Spanish.
Continue reading.
By Judit Gervain.

Recent advances in combined neurostimulation and fNIRS
Noninvasive neurostimulation has gained importance for both clinical applications and basic neuroscience research. Neurostimulation requires a reliable, portable, and cost-effective monitoring technique for accurate and reliable interventions. To this end, fNIRS and neuromodulation are rapidly emerging as a powerful combination. Most neuromodulation methods use electromagnetic stimulation, so the optical nature of fNIRS provides a noninterfering means of monitoring the intervention’s effects . Recently published reviews provide the latest methodological frameworks for fNIRS-tDCS and fNIRS-TMS evaluations.
By Yumie Ono.

OpenfNIRS database
As a community, we always encourage data sharing. The availability of openly accessible data both facilitates the reproducibility of the research findings. Just as important, open access provides opportunities for new discoveries and interpretations without the need to repeat data collection. Now, we have a great platform to do just that!
Continue reading.
By Meryem Yücel and David Boas.

Special issues

• Special Issue “Biomedical Sensing Applications of Diffuse Optics”. Sensors. Edited by Rebecca Re and Felipe Orihuela-Espina. Deadline 31 March 2021
• Special Issue “Near-Infrared Spectroscopy-Based Brain-Computer Interfaces”. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. Edited by Panagiotis Petrantonakis, Noman Naseer and Han-Jeong Hwang. Deadline 31 March 2021
• Special Issue “Studies in Human Performance and Experience: Neuroscience and Functional Brain Imaging”. Brain Sciences. Edited by Kurtulus Izzetoglu. Deadline 30 April 2021.

fNIRS continues to hit the news!
Medical Express, inews, news medical, science daily, and others have reported on several fNIRS studies:

• fNIRS demonstrates that brain regions associated with empathy and social cognition are more activated when children play with dolls than with tablet computers (Link1 and Link2).
• Another study has shown that impairment in motor functions in older women with type 2 diabetes may be due to reduced activity of the motor cortex (Link1 and Link2).
• fNIRS has been used to reveal hand preference during passive tactile stimulation of the fingers.
• A research project has been funded to help advanced ALS patients to communicate using a hybrid EEG and fNIRS BCI system (Link1 and Link2).
• A novel deep learning approach based on fNIRS data has been developed to predict surgeons’ motor skills. 

By Sabrina Brigadoi.

From the Communications Committee
The society now has a new YouTube channel. Further, we have been busy diagnosing our communication strategy and outlining new ideas to improve communication to further foster your participation. Please send us your feedback!
By Sergio Novi, Heather Bortfeld, and Felipe Orihuela.

Calendar
Live or virtual, the number of conferences and scientific meetings for 2021 looks fantastic. There are no fewer than 10 events, some whose submission deadlines are coming soon!. Keep yourself up to date about forthcoming conferences and submission deadlines by checking out our calendar.
By Sergio Novi and Stacey Ladieu.

Jobs postings
We have updated our list of job opportunities for this period. Remember to announce your job advertisements on the SfNIRS Facebook group page or on Twitter using the hashtag #fNIRS or sending us an e-mail. We have seen an increase in use of this latter (mail) option, which has facilitated prompt publication of your information on the society website. Thank you! Keep sending us your job offers for posting!!

fNIRS publications
Keep yourself up-to-date on the latest fNIRS publications. Remember to announce your publications on the SfNIRS Facebook group page or on Twitter using the hashtag #fNIRS.
By Felipe Orihuela-Espina.