When mechanical engineer Carlotta Mummolo, PhD, neurobiologist Eleni Gourgou, PhD, and neuroscientist Teppei Matsui, PhD, teamed up in the Interstellar Initiative, their first task was finding common ground. When Japanese physicist Kumiko Hayashi of Tohoku University and neuroscientist Ephraim Trakhtenberg of the University of Connecticut met during the 2017 Interstellar Initiative, the synergies between their work were not immediately obvious. Using Hayashi’s algorithm and Trakhtenberg’s motor proteins expertise, the two hope to identify new therapeutic approaches that will help to increase the regeneration of neuronal function following injury.