On March 21st-23rd, 2025, we will gather to explore where ancient wisdom meets modern innovation, pushing the limits of what we know about the mind and its potential. The BrainMind Summit: Mind Science will gather the world’s sharpest thinkers and most daring innovators in an intimate setting, beckoning you to delve deeper into the mysteries of thought, the essence of self, and the very architecture of human consciousness.
This event is not merely a collection of talks and panels, but a chance to witness the cutting edge of human understanding as it unfolds. Here, we bridge the ancient and the modern, uncovering how the lessons of nature converge with the pulse of innovation, and how the oldest practices of meditation and contemplation find new life in the circuitry of modern technology.
Together, we’ll explore how the neural pathways that govern learning and concentration can be altered and enhanced, how artificial intelligence might unlock new layers of self-awareness, and how the synthesis of mind science and technology can redefine our understanding of mental states, expand the frontiers of creativity, and offer new insights into human well-being and cognitive potential.
The BrainMind Summit: Mind Science is a gathering of pioneering intellects and trailblazers, united by a singular purpose: to explore the uncharted realms of the human mind and unlock the farthest reaches of human potential. Expect thought-provoking discussions that cut to the heart of complex ideas and transformative experiences that turn theory into practice. It is a chance to be inspired by breakthroughs that reshape what it means to be human, to find camaraderie among fellow explorers of the mind, and to leave with new ways of thinking that will echo long after the Summit concludes.
Come ready to question, to learn, and to be moved. For here, we are not simply studying the mind; we are reimagining its possibilities.
Hosts
Speakers
Speakers at BrainMind Summits are chosen for their uniquely disruptive contributions to their respective fields. All speakers are available to engage with Summit participants. Speakers delivering main-stage talks will also host intimate roundtable discussions over lunch and during the afternoon program.
BrainMind Summit: Mind Science Speakers include:
Reid is a Silicon Valley stalwart in the modern technology world.
An accomplished entrepreneur and executive, he played an integral role in building many of today’s leading consumer technology businesses, including LinkedIn and PayPal. As an investor, he has been instrumental in the success of iconic companies such as Facebook and Airbnb and has helped fast-growing startups like Aurora and Convoy get to scale.
Reid joined Greylock in 2009 and focuses on early-stage investing in products that can reach hundreds of millions of participants. His unique understanding of consumer behavior and a clear-eyed ability to guide startups from inception through ramped-up “blitzscaling” has made him one of the most sought-after advisors, partners, and investors today. Reid was a board observer for Airbnb and currently serves as a board director for Aurora, Blockstream, Coda, Entrepreneur First, Inflection, Joby Aviation, Microsoft, Nauto, and a few early-stage companies still in stealth.
Reid’s core focus is on businesses with network effects. In 2003, he co-founded LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network that today has more than 700 million members and a diversified revenue model that includes subscriptions, advertising, and software licensing. Before LinkedIn, Reid served as executive vice president at PayPal, where he was a founding board member and responsible for all of the company’s external relationships.
Reid is a frequent public speaker, known for his approachability and skill at explaining complex topics with lucidity. He is the co-author of Blitzscaling and two New York Times best-selling books: The Start-up of You and The Alliance and Masters of Scale. He also hosts the podcast Masters of Scale.
A California native, Reid spent most of his life in the Bay Area. He earned a B.S. with distinction in symbolic systems from Stanford University and then earned a master’s degree in philosophy from Oxford University. He has honorary doctorate degrees from Babson University and the University of Oulu.
Beyond startups and technology, Reid has a wide range of interests, including politics, board games, science fiction, philosophy, and philanthropy. He serves on several not-for-profit boards, including Kiva, Endeavor, CZI Biohub, the Berggruen Institute, New America, the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI, and the MacArthur Foundation’s Lever for Change. Reid has received various awards for his philanthropic work, including an honorary CBE from the Queen of England and the Salute to Greatness Award from the Martin Luther King Center.
His foundational thesis of the power of networks extends beyond marketplaces and social ecosystems. Recently, it has led to his investments in sectors including autonomous transportation, cryptocurrency, and shipping logistics.
Reid Hoffman, Greylock
Future of AI, Scaling Social Impact
Jud Brewer MD PhD (“Dr. Jud”) is a New York Times best-selling author and thought leader in the field of habit change and the “science of self-mastery”, having combined over 25 years of experience with mindfulness training with his scientific research therein. He is the Director of Research and Innovation at the Mindfulness Center and professor in Behavioral and Social Sciences and Psychiatry at the Schools of Public Health & Medicine at Brown University. A psychiatrist and internationally known expert in mindfulness training for addictions, Brewer has developed and tested novel mindfulness programs for habit change, including both in-person and app-based treatments for smoking, emotional eating, and anxiety. He has also studied the underlying neural mechanisms of mindfulness using standard and real-time fMRI and EEG neurofeedback. He has trained US Olympic athletes and coaches, foreign government ministers, and his work has been featured on 60 Minutes, TED (4th most viewed talk of 2016, with 19+ Million views), the New York Times, Time magazine (top 100 new health discoveries of 2013), Forbes, BBC, NPR, Al Jazeera (documentary about his research), Businessweek and others. His work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, among others. Dr. Brewer founded MindSciences (which merged with Sharecare Inc. in 2020) to move his discoveries of clinical evidence behind mindfulness for anxiety, eating, smoking and other behavior change into the hands of consumers (see www.drjud.com for more information). He is the author of The Craving Mind: from cigarettes to smartphones to love, why we get hooked and how we can break bad habits (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017), the New York Times best-seller, Unwinding Anxiety: New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind (Avery/Penguin Random House, 2021) and the forthcoming book The Hunger Habit: why we eat when we’re not hungry and how to stop (Avery/Penguin Random House, 2024).
Judson Brewer, Brown
Mindfulness, Neural Plasticity, Breaking Habit Cycles
Elissa Epel, Ph.D, is a Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Psychiatry, at University of California, San Francisco. She is an international expert on stress, well-being, and optimal aging and a best-selling author. She studies the environmental, psychological, behavioral, and social factors that impact cellular aging (such as telomeres, inflammation, and mitochondria), and is also focusing on climate wellness. She studies how self-care practices such as meditation and positive stress can promote psychological and physiological thriving and is interested in large-scale interventions for communal well-being and health equity. She co-wrote the New York Times best-seller “The Telomere Effect: A revolutionary approach to living younger, longer” with Nobel Laureate Elizabeth Blackburn (translated into 30 languages) and the new “Stress Prescription,” an independent bookstore best seller. She enjoys leading science-based meditation retreats. Epel is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, current President of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, and co-chair of the Mind & Life Institute Steering Council. She has served as a consultant to NIH, CDC, Facebook, Apple, United Health, and UC campus-wide initiatives on stress and health. Epel’s research has been featured in venues such as TEDMED, Wisdom 2.0, NBC’s Today Show, CBS’s Morning Show, 60 minutes, National Public Radio, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and science documentaries. In 2022, she was named as a highly cited researcher, among the top .1% of researchers globally (based on publication impact).
Elissa Epel, UCSF
Positive Stress, Well-being, Optimal Aging, Climate Wellness
Dr. Williams is an Associate Professor within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Director of the Stanford Brain Stimulation Lab. Dr. Williams has a broad background in clinical neuroscience and is triple board-certified in general neurology, general psychiatry, as well as behavioral neurology & neuropsychiatry. In addition, he has specific training and clinical expertise in the development of brain stimulation methodologies. Themes of his work include (a) examining the use of spaced learning theory in the application of neurostimulation techniques, (b) development and mechanistic understanding of rapid-acting antidepressants, and (c) identifying objective biomarkers that predict neuromodulation responses in treatment-resistant neuropsychiatric conditions. Dr. Williams' work has resulted in an FDA clearance for the world's first non-invasive, rapid-acting neuromodulation approach for treatment-resistant depression. He has published papers in high-impact peer-reviewed journals including Brain, American Journal of Psychiatry, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Results from his studies have gained widespread attention in journals such as Science and New England Journal of Medicine Journal Watch as well as in the popular press and have been featured in various news sources including Time, Smithsonian, and Newsweek. Dr. Williams received two NARSAD Young Investigator Awards in 2016 and 2018 along with the 2019 Gerald L. Klerman Award. Dr. Williams received the National Institute of Mental Health Biobehavioral Research Award for Innovative New Scientists in 2020
Nolan Williams, Stanford
Novel Neuromodualtion, Brain Plasticity, Precision Medicine
Donald Hoffman is a cognitive scientist renowned for his groundbreaking work in perception and consciousness. He has authored over 90 scientific papers and three books, including Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We See (W.W. Norton, 2000). Hoffman earned his BA in Quantitative Psychology from UCLA and his Ph.D. in Computational Psychology from MIT. Since joining the faculty at UC Irvine in 1983, he has become a full professor in cognitive science, computer science, and philosophy. His work has earned him prestigious accolades, including the Distinguished Scientific Award from the American Psychological Association for his early career research in visual perception and the Troland Research Award from the National Academy of Sciences for his contributions to understanding the relationship between consciousness and the physical world. Hoffman has also been recognized for his excellence in teaching, receiving a campus-wide award from UC Irvine and inclusion in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.
Hoffman’s research focuses on visual perception, attention, and consciousness, integrating mathematical models, computer simulations, and psychological experiments. His empirical studies have shed light on how we perceive objects, colors, and motion, while his theoretical work has led to the development of the "user interface" theory of perception, which argues that our perceptions are not designed to reflect reality but to promote adaptive behavior. Additionally, his "conscious realism" theory proposes a formal model of consciousness, positioning it as fundamental to understanding the mind-body problem.
Donald Hoffman, UCI
Mind-Body Problem, Perception, Conscious Realism
Molly Crockett is a cognitive scientist whose research explores how people learn, make decisions, and navigate social relationships, with a focus on moral cognition. Her work delves into questions such as how individuals decide to help or harm, trust or condemn, and how these moral decisions evolve in the digital age. Currently, her research investigates how identity and self-perception shape behavior, exploring how the stories people tell themselves influence their self-image and interactions with others. Her lab also examines the role of social norms in self-discovery and decision-making, especially when individuals are uncertain about their desires or future choices.
Crockett's interdisciplinary approach integrates perspectives from philosophy, anthropology, economics, psychology, and neuroscience. Her lab employs a wide range of research methods, including behavioral experiments, computational modeling, brain imaging, machine learning, and natural language processing. Through this blend of quantitative and qualitative techniques, she aims to deepen our understanding of human experience, transformation, and how moral and identity-related decisions are formed.
Molly Crockett, Princeton
Moral Cognition, Self-identity, Social Decision-making
Michael McCullough, M.D., M.Sc. is the Founder of BrainMind. He is an EIR at Greylock Partners, impact investor and Partner at Capricorn Healthcare, social entrepreneur, and emergency room professor at UCSF. Michael’s personal interest in the brain extends from a childhood brain hemorrhage which resulted in hydrocephalus and a severe stutter, partially corrected by brain surgery at age 10 and requiring Michael to retrain himself to speak through high school and early college at Stanford. Accomplishing fluent speech also required extensive biofeedback and meditation practice. After returning from Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, Michael co-founded QuestBridge during free hours in medical school at UCSF and his surgical residency at Stanford. QuestBridge, a national non-profit, now places more talented low-income students into top colleges like Stanford, Yale, Caltech, and MIT than all other non-profits combined. Michael has since founded or co-founded 12 successful companies and non-profits.
Michael is a founder of RegenMed Systems, a co-founding investor of HeartFlow, and on the founding board of 2U -- all top performing impact investments. Michael also served/serves on the boards of the Metabiota, the Global Leadership Incubator, QuestBridge, and the Dalai Lama Foundation among others, and serves as an on-call ER physician for the Dalai Lama during his visits to the West Coast.
Michael McCullough, BrainMind
BrainMind Today and Beyond
Vikash Mansinghka is a Principal Research Scientist at MIT, where he leads the Probabilistic Computing Project. Vikash holds S.B. degrees in Mathematics and in Computer Science from MIT, as well as an M.Eng. in Computer Science and a PhD in Computation. He also held graduate fellowships from the National Science Foundation and MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory. His PhD dissertation on natively probabilistic computation won the MIT George M. Sprowls dissertation award in computer science, and his research on the Picture probabilistic programming language won an award at CVPR. He co-founded two VC-backed startups: Prior Knowledge (acquired by Salesforce in 2012) and Empirical Systems (acquired by Tableau in 2018). He served on DARPA’s Information Science and Technology advisory board from 2010-2012, currently serves on the editorial boards for the Journal of Machine Learning Research and the journal Statistics and Computation, and co-founded the International Conference on Probabilistic Programming.
Vikash Mansinghka, MIT
Probabilistic Computing, Bayesian Inference, Monte Carlo Methods
Anil Seth is a Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex and Director of the Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science. He co-directs the Brain, Mind, and Consciousness program at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR). Anil was the founding Editor-in-Chief of Neuroscience of Consciousness and currently serves on editorial boards and advisory committees, including the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. His research, supported by organizations like the European Research Council and the Wellcome Trust, focuses on the science of consciousness, sensation, and perception. Anil is known for his acclaimed book Being You: A New Science of Consciousness, a Sunday Times bestseller, and his widely viewed TED talk on consciousness. He regularly engages in public science outreach through interviews, essays, and documentaries.
Anil Seth, University of Sussex
Philosophy of Mind, Embodied Cognition, Sensation and Perception
Dr. Jay Sanguinetti stands at the intersection of neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and contemplative science. He is a distinguished speaker, scientist, and entrepreneur, as well as a developing meditation teacher. He is the President of Sanmai Technologies, Public Benefit Corporation in Silicon Valley, and the Assistant Director of the Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona. Specializing in psychophysiological measures such as EEG, fMRI, and eye-tracking, Dr. Sanguinetti has investigated many domains, including the complex neural dynamics of visual perception, emotion, and mindfulness meditation. He has also explored the neural basis of depression, anxiety, and Parkinson’s Disease. His team is at the cutting edge of neuroscience, exploring innovative forms of brain stimulation, including ultrasound and light-based techniques, to boost memory, perception, and overall well-being. In pioneering work, Dr. Sanguinetti teamed up with the prominent meditation teacher and scholar Shinzen Young to explore science-informed protocols and neurotechnologies to facilitate mindfulness practice. This collaboration gave birth to the Science Enhanced Mindful Awareness (SEMA) lab at the University of Arizona. The SEMA lab is at the forefront of developing science-based mindfulness protocols that lower the barriers to meditation and may help more people experience the benefits of the practice.
Jay Sanguinetti, Sanmai, University of Arizona
Novel Neural Stimulation Techniques, Enhancement of Meditative States
Satchidananda Panda explores the genes, molecules and cells that keep the whole body on the same circadian clock. A section of the hypothalamus called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) lies at the center of the body’s master clock and gets input directly from light sensors in the eyes, keeping the rest of the body on schedule. Panda discovered how these light sensors work, as well as how cellular timekeepers in other parts of the body function. He also uncovered a novel blue-light sensor in the retina that measures ambient light level and sets the time to go to sleep and wake up every day.
In the process of exploring how the liver’s daily cycles work, Panda found that mice who eat within a set amount of time (8-12 hours) resulted in slimmer, healthier mice than those who ate the same number of calories in a larger window of time, showing that when one eats may be as important as what one eats. If the benefits of this “time-restricted eating” (TRE) hold true in humans, it could have profound impacts on treating overeating disorders, diabetes and obesity. The circadian clock, he found, even mediates the immune system. Mice with a crucial circadian molecule missing had higher levels of inflammation in their bodies than other mice, suggesting that genes and molecules involved in the circadian clock could be drug targets for conditions linked to inflammation, such as infections or cancer.
Satchin Panda, Salk Institute
Circadian Rhythm, Chronobiology, Metabolic Optimization
More speakers coming soon…..
This event is restricted to BrainMind Ecosystem members.
BrainMind is a best-in-class community with a shared mission to advance neuroscience innovation that will most benefit humanity. Ecosystem members have each been personally nominated for their brilliance, effectiveness, sincerity, and intent. Each of you has the experience, talent, and resources to have a direct impact on the science presented.
“More than anything, I love what is possible to learn here.”
Memories from previous mind training gatherings
Sample Agenda
BrainMind Summit: Mind Science 2025
At UCSF, San Francisco, CA
Friday, March 21st, 2024
BrainMind: Mind Science Community Day
10:00AM - 5:00PM Small groups will attend community experiences across the city
Saturday, March 22nd, 2024
BrainMind: Mind Science DAY 1
8:00 AM Breakfast & Registration, Experiential NeuroLab Opens
9:00 AM Welcome and Musical Performance
9:20 AM Plenary Session: Why are we here?
12:45 PM Lunch with Speakers
3:00 PM State of the Field
4:15 PM Immersive Full Body Music Experience
5:00 PM Closing Remarks
5:15 PM Reception
6:00 PM Close
——————
7:00 PM Feast of Ideas
Sunday, March 23rd, 2024
BrainMind: Mind Science DAY 2
8:00 AM Breakfast, Experiential NeuroLab Opens
9:00 AM Welcome and Meditation
9:20 AM Plenary Session: Look in the Mirror
12:45 PM Lunch with Speakers
2:15 PM Fully Body Immersion
2:30 PM AI and Consciousness
4:00 PM Fireside Chat
5:00 PM Closing Reception
6:00 PM Close
——————
“My favorite part of BrainMind is meeting people from all walks of life and different fields of science and entrepreneurship and technology. It is this ecosystem that fast forwards science”
COMMUNITY DAY
During Community Day, BrainMind community members will host immersive activities and discussions at special locations across San Francisco designed to foster deep connections and explore the fascinating realms of mind science and mental training.
FEAST OF IDEAS
Gather with fellow participants to sample culinary and conversational delights at the Feast of Ideas: an open format dinner with themed topic tables led by experts in the field. This dinner allows attendees to go deeper on specific topics and are designed to encourage conversation and collaboration with presenters and other great minds.
Past table themes include:
“For me, BrainMind is like the Superbowl. It is literally the only place where investors, entrepreneurs, and philanthropy come together and interact together in a really authentic way”
MUSICAL EXPERIENCES
BrainMind recognizes the arts as a key pathway to brain health and wellbeing, which is why we prioritize featuring outstanding artists and immersive experiences at all our gatherings.
BrainMind Summit 2025: Mind Science, Musical Curator: Indre Viskontas
Combining a passion for music with scientific curiosity, Professor Viskontas works at the intersection of art and science. She has published more than 50 original papers and chapters related to the neural basis of memory and creativity. Her scientific work has been featured in Oliver Sacks’ book Musicophilia, Nautilus, Nature: Science Careers, and Discover Magazine. She has also written for MotherJones.com, American Scientist, Vitriol Magazine, and other publications. Her first book, How Music Can Make You Better, was published by Chronicle Books in April, 2019, and within a week was the best-selling music appreciation book on Amazon. She also serves as the Director of Communications for the Sound Health Network, an initiative promoting research and public awareness of the impact of music on health and well-being.
She often gives keynote talks for organizations as diverse as Genentech, the Dallas Symphony, SXSW, TEDx, and Ogilvy, along with frequent invited talks at conferences and academic institutions. Her 24-lecture course Essential Scientific Concepts was released by The Great Courses in 2014. Her second course, Brain Myths Exploded: Lessons from Neuroscience, based on a class she taught at USF, was released in early 2017 and hit #1 on the nonfiction bestseller list at Audible.com. Her third course, How Digital Technology Shapes Us was also based on a class she teaches at USF, and was released in 2020. Her forthcoming course, The Creative Brain, is slated to be released on the Wondrium platform in 2022. Dr. Viskontas's creative work includes stage directing opera. She is the Creative Director of Pasadena Opera, where she directed The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat, a chamber opera based on the famous case study written by Oliver Sacks. Other directing credits include Katya Kabanova with West Edge Opera at Cal Shakes in Orinda in 2021.
Dr. Viskontas is also a sought-after science communicator. She co-hosted the 6-episode docu-series Miracle Detectives on the Oprah Winfrey Network and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, major radio stations across the US, including several appearances on the NPR program City Arts & Lectures and The Sunday Edition on the CBC in Canada. In 2017, she co-hosted the web series Science in Progress for Tested.com and VRV. She is also the host of the popular science podcast Inquiring Minds, which has more than 13 million downloads. Her other podcast, Cadence: What Music Tells Us About the Mind was a Webby Award Honoree in 2021.
EXPERIENTIAL NEUROLAB
BrainMind Summits always include a hands-on Experiential NeuroLab with exciting inventions, technology demonstrations, and artistic exhibits. Past experiences include mind-controlled visual media, AR and VR-based technologies, real human brains, 10-100x expanded brain segments, neuroscience-driven perceptual illusions, immersive education experiences, and more.
ART EXHIBITIONS
Past featured artists include:
BRAIN-HEALTHY CUISINE
New research indicates that diet plays a significant role in brain function, impacting everything from memory to risk for brain diseases. We put these exciting findings into practice at our Summits. You won’t find junky conference fare at our event. Meals and snacks served at the Summit feature foods and ingredients with published findings for brain health benefit. Learn more about our approach here.
“BrainMind thinks about not just crossing the disciplines, but coming up with new approaches to the problem overall”
BrainMind Highlights
