BrainMind Special Forum: Neuromodulation + BCI + AI, Investor Day (June 2, 2024)
BrainMind Special Forum: Neuromodulation + BCI + AI, Investor Day (June 2, 2024)
On June 2, 2024, world-renowned experts will take us to the forefront of cognitive innovation. Delve into the rapidly evolving landscapes of neuromodulation, brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), and the interaction of artificial and biological intelligence. Immerse yourself in cutting-edge technologies that are transforming lives — enabling people to walk again, talk again, see again, and hear again. Not only are these scientific breakthroughs restoring function, they are offering transformative potential for mental health and human performance. Join us to see how these discoveries are decoding the brain and mind and redefining our relationship with technology for decades to come.
BrainMind gatherings are meticulously curated, bringing together select groups of visionaries, including top-tier investors, prolific philanthropists, trailblazing entrepreneurs, and groundbreaking researchers. We are all driven by a shared passion to unravel the mysteries of the human brain and harness this knowledge for the greater good.
BrainMind is designed to be a self-supporting platform for the advancement of brain-oriented ideas to humanity. By joining us at the benefactor or patron level, you are directly supporting a young artist or scientist’s work at this gathering. In the conference, scholarships are available for artists and scientists on a case-by-case basis. Please contact Diana Saville (dsaville@brainmind.org) if you would like to apply.
BrainMind is a best-in-class community with a shared mission to advance neuroscience innovation that will most benefit humanity.
Participants will explore a curated collection of cutting-edge discoveries in the science of the brain and mind, engage with the scientists behind those ideas, and advise promising early-stage companies - all with the goal of bringing brain science to the world at scale. Attendees are personally selected for their brilliance, effectiveness, sincerity, and intent.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Awe-inspiring short talks from the world's top brain researchers and entrepreneurs
Opportunities to break bread with speakers in small group settings
A chance to discover and advise high-impact companies in the BrainMind space
Discussions on creating a roadmap for philanthropic ventures in brain science
Expert-led breakout discussions on topics like bioelectronic medicine, neural interfaces, wearable technology, machine learning, neurostimulation, and more
Live neuroscience-inspired multisensory performances
A hands-on space to explore neurotechnology
Immersive art exhibitions
HOSTS
SPEAKERS
Speakers at BrainMind are chosen for their uniquely disruptive contributions to their respective fields. All speakers are available to engage with participants. Speakers delivering mainstage talks also host intimate roundtable discussions over lunch and during the afternoon program.
Speakers on June 2nd for the Brain Special Forum on Neuromodulation + BCI + AI include:
Ed Boyden is Y. Eva Tan Professor in Neurotechnology at MIT, an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the MIT McGovern Institute, and professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Media Arts and Sciences, and Biological Engineering at MIT. He leads the Synthetic Neurobiology Group, which develops tools for analyzing and repairing complex biological systems, such as the brain, and applies them systematically to reveal ground truth principles of biological function and to repair these systems. These inventions include optogenetic tools, which enable control of neural activity with light; expansion microscopy, which enables ordinary microscopes to do nanoimaging; new tools for high-speed imaging of living biological signals and networks; noninvasive brain stimulation strategies that may help with conditions ranging from Alzheimer's to blindness; and new strategies for inexpensively creating 3-D nanotechnology. He co-directs the MIT Center for Neurobiological Engineering and the MIT K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics, and is a faculty member of the MIT Center for Environmental Health Sciences, Computational & Systems Biology Initiative, and Koch Institute. Amongst other recognitions, he has received the Wilhelm Exner Medal (2020), the Croonian Medal (2019), the Lennart Nilsson Award (2019), the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize (2019), the Rumford Prize (2019), the Canada Gairdner International Award (2018), the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2016), the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2015), the Carnegie Prize in Mind and Brain Sciences (2015), the Jacob Heskel Gabbay Award (2013), the Grete Lundbeck Brain Prize (2013), the NIH Director's Pioneer Award (2013), and the Perl/UNC Neuroscience Prize (2011). He was named to the World Economic Forum Young Scientist list (2013) and the Technology Review World’s "Top 35 Innovators under Age 35" list (2006), and is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences (2019), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2017), the National Academy of Inventors (2017), and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2018). His group has hosted hundreds of visitors to learn how to use new biotechnologies, and he also regularly teaches at summer courses and workshops in neuroscience, and delivers lectures to the broader public (e.g., TED (2011), TED Summit (2016), World Economic Forum (2012, 2013, 2016)).
Ed Boyden, MIT
Optogenetics, Neural Circuitry Mapping
Heather Berlin is a neuroscientist, clinical psychologist, and associate clinical professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She explores the neural basis of impulsive and compulsive psychiatric and neurological conditions with the goal of developing novel treatments. She is also interested in the brain basis of consciousness, dynamic unconscious processes, and creativity.
Berlin is a committee member of the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a passionate science communicator. She hosts the Nova series “Your Brain”, and has hosted series on PBS and Discovery Channel. She makes regular appearances on StarTalk with Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and has appeared on the BBC, History Channel, Netflix, and National Geographic. She co-wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed off-Broadway show, Off the Top, about the neuroscience of improvisation, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival show, Impulse Control.
Heather received her D.Phil. from the University of Oxford, and Master of Public Health from Harvard University, and trained in clinical neuropsychology at Weill Cornell Medicine’s Department of Neurological Surgery. She was a visiting scholar at the New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, and a Visiting Professor at Vassar College, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology/University of Zurich, and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Heather Berlin, Mount Sinai
What Does It Mean To Be Human in the Age of AI?
Paul Sajda is Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Radiology (Physics) at Columbia University. He is also a Member of Columbia’s Data Science Institute. Sajda is interested in what happens in our brains when we make a rapid decision and, conversely, what processes and representations in our brains drive our underlying preferences and choices, particularly when we are under time pressure. His work in understanding the basic principles of rapid decision-making in the human brain relies on measuring human subject behavior simultaneously with cognitive and physiological state. Important in his approach is his use of machine learning and data analytics to fuse these measurements for predicting behavior and infer brain responses to stimuli. Sajda applies the basic principles he uncovers to construct real-time brain-computer interfaces that are aimed at improving interactions between humans and machines. He is also applying his methodology to understand how deficits in rapid decision-making may underlie and be diagnostic of many types of psychiatric diseases and mental illnesses. Of particular interest to Sajda is how different areas in the human brain interact to change our arousal state and modulate our decision-making. Specifically he is using simultaneous EEG and fMRI together with pupillometry to identify and track spatiotemporal interactions between the anterior cingulate cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and subcortical nuclei such as the locus coeruleus. He has found that the dynamics of these interactions are altered under stress, particularly when dealing with high-pressure decisions with critical performance boundaries. These findings are being transitioned to applications ranging from to tracking pilot cognitive state while operating fighter aircraft to identifying biomarkers of healthy thought patterns in patients being treated for major depressive disorder and/or complicated grief. Sajda is a co-founder of several neurotechnology companies and works closely with a range of scientists and engineers, including neuroscientists, psychologists, computer scientists, and clinicians.
Paul Sajda, Columbia University
Machine Learning, Arousal States, Decision Making
Amy Baxter is an esteemed academic physician entrepreneur renowned for her innovative work in pain management and medical technology. As CEO and CMO of Pain Care Labs, she leads the development of groundbreaking thermomechanical neuromodulatory pain relievers like VibraCool and Buzzy, which address critical aspects of the opioid crisis and vaccine nonadherence. With NIH-funded research spanning opioid prevention devices to needle phobia, Amy has been at the forefront of medical innovation. Recognized globally for her contributions, she continues to advocate for patient-centric approaches and remains dedicated to revolutionizing pain management and healthcare as a whole.
Amy Baxter, Pain Care Labs
Mechanical Neuromodulation: Trust The Force
Helen S. Mayberg, MD, is a neurologist renowned for her study of brain circuits in depression and for her pioneering deep brain stimulation research, which has been heralded as one of the first hypothesis-driven treatment strategies for a major mental illness. She is the founding Director of Mount Sinai Health System's The Nash Family Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics, a center which advances precision surgical treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders through the rapid conversion of neuroscience and neuroengineering innovations that correct brain circuit abnormalities to restore mood as well as motor and cognitive functioning. As a behavioral neurologist, Dr. Mayberg has established an international reputation for her pioneering research to map the brain circuits implicated in depression. Early in her career, she developed one of the first “network” models for mood disorders—incorporating fundamentals of neuroanatomy and brain connections with imaging technologies—to propose an alternative neurological view of this classical psychiatric condition that extended beyond the neurochemical models that had dominated for decades. Dr. Mayberg received an MD from the University of Southern California. She trained at the Neurological Institute of New York at Columbia University and was a post-doctoral fellow in nuclear medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Immediately prior to joining Mount Sinai, Dr. Mayberg was Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Radiology and held the inaugural Dorothy C. Fuqua Chair in Psychiatric Neuroimaging and Therapeutics at Emory University School of Medicine. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, The American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors.
Helen Mayberg, Mount Sinai
What is Well?
David Chalmers is a prominent figure in contemporary philosophy, especially known for his work in the philosophy of mind. Born in Australia in 1966, Chalmers developed an early interest in the nature of consciousness, a topic that has dominated his academic pursuits. He earned his undergraduate degree in pure mathematics at the University of Adelaide before transitioning to philosophy for his graduate studies, earning a Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1993. His doctoral dissertation laid the groundwork for his first book, "The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory," published in 1996, which argued against the physicalist account of consciousness and introduced the "hard problem" of consciousness—the question of why and how physical processes in the brain give rise to subjective experiences. Chalmers's introduction of the "hard problem" has significantly shaped discussions in the philosophy of mind, making him a central figure in debates over the nature of consciousness. Beyond the hard problem, he has also contributed to the fields of philosophy of language and metaphysics, exploring topics such as the concept of information, the nature of reality, and the philosophical implications of virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Chalmers has held academic positions at various prestigious institutions, including the University of Arizona and the Australian National University. He is also a co-director of the Center for Mind, Brain, and Consciousness at New York University. His work continues to influence not only philosophers but also researchers in cognitive science, psychology, and neuroscience, bridging disciplinary divides to explore one of the most perplexing questions: what is consciousness?
David Chalmers, NYU
The Hard Problem of Consciousness, Panpsychism
Maryam M. Shanechi is Dean’s Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Biomedical Engineering, and Neuroscience Graduate Program at the University of Southern California (USC). She is also Founding Director of the newly established USC Center for Neurotechnology. She received her B.A.Sc. degree in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto, her S.M. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT, and her postdoctoral training in Neural Engineering and Neuroscience at Harvard Medical School and UC Berkeley. She conducts research at the intersection of engineering, computation, and neuroscience to develop closed-loop neurotechnology and study the brain through decoding and control of neural dynamics. She is the recipient of several awards including the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, NSF CAREER Award, ONR Young Investigator Award, ASEE’s Curtis W. McGraw Research Award, MIT Technology Review’s Top 35 Innovators Under 35, Popular Science Brilliant 10, Science News SN10, One Mind Rising Star Award, and a DoD Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) Award. She was named a 2023 Blavatnik National Awards Finalist and is a Fellow of the IEEE.
Maryam Shanechi, USC
AI-based Neurotechnology
Dr. Kafui Dzirasa is the first African American to complete a PhD in Neurobiology at Duke University. His research interests focus on understanding how changes in the brain produce neurological and mental illness. Kafui obtained an MD from the Duke University School of Medicine in 2009 and completed residency training in General Psychiatry in 2016. Kafui was featured on CBS 60 Minutes and has been awarded the One Mind Rising Star Award and the Sydney Baer Prize for Schizophrenia Research. In 2017, he was recognized as 40 under 40 in Health by the National Minority Quality Forum, and the Engineering Alumni of the Year from the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
Kafui was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE): the nation’s highest award for scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers. He has also been recognized with the Alan Leshner Public Engagement Fellowship from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Society for Neuroscience Young Investigator Award. He has served on the Editorial Advisory Board for TEDMED and currently serves on the Advisory Committee for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director. Kafui is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator.
Kafui Dzirasa, Duke University, The Collective for Psychiatric Neuroengineering
Psychiatric Neuroengineering, cell type specific neuromodulation
AGENDA
SUNDAY, June 2nd, 2024
DAY 1: NEUROMODULATION + BCI + AI
8:00 AM Breakfast & Registration, Experiential NeuroLab opens
9:00 AM Welcome and Musical Performance
9:20 AM Plenary Session
12:45 PM Lunch with Speakers
1:45 PM Entrepreneur Spotlight
3:00 PM Breakout Discussions
4:15 PM Immersive Experience
5:00 PM Day 1 Summary
5:15 PM Reception
6:30 PM A Feast of Ideas: Dine with BrainMind Experts
PARTICIPANTS
BrainMind Special Events are invite-only. All participants are members of the BrainMind ecosystem and are carefully selected for potential contribution, influence, and intent.
ENTREPRENEUR SPOTLIGHT
Featured entrepreneurs will present groundbreaking ideas and pose impact-related questions to participants. Spotlight entrepreneurs will also host breakout discussion tables. Our Experiential Neurolab will also feature live demos from neurotech entrepreneurs in the BrainMind Ecosystem.
Spotlight entrepreneurs include:
Connor Glass, MD, is the CEO of Phantom Neuro and a trailblazer in human-machine interfacing. He earned his medical degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and completed a research fellowship in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery at Johns Hopkins. Here, he focused on neuromuscular microsurgery to control neuropathic pain and enhance intuitive machine control. He has published extensively on nerve injuries and neuromuscular surgery and contributed to the latest edition of the Handbook of Neuroengineering. Driven by his groundbreaking research, he founded Phantom Neuro, aiming to revolutionize the control of robotic prosthetic limbs and exoskeletons through a novel muscle-machine interface that combines implantable sensors with AI to translate EMG signals into robotic movement instantly. His company, which has secured $10M in seed funding and forged key partnerships with institutions like Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab and Blackrock Neurotech, is at the forefront of merging human biology with robotics to significantly improve the quality of life for those with limb impairments.
Connor Glass, Phantom Neuro
Meredith Perry is the co-founder of Elemind Technologies, an innovator in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology. With a background in neuroscience, she has dedicated her career to developing non-invasive technologies that enhance brain connectivity and cognitive functions. Under her leadership, Elemind Technologies has emerged as a leader in the neurotechnology field, creating advanced BCI systems that allow for direct communication between the brain and external devices. These systems aim to improve mental health and cognitive abilities, with a focus on making such technologies accessible for therapeutic applications and everyday use. Meredith's commitment extends to collaborating with academic institutions and industry leaders to advance the integration of neuroscience and technology, while also prioritizing ethical considerations in the development of potentially life-altering technologies. Her work has positioned her as a key figure in pushing the boundaries of neuroscience, inspiring future research and development in brain-computer interfaces.
Meredith Perry, Elemind Technologies, Inc.
John Donoghue is the H.M. Wriston Professor of Neuroscience and Engineering at Brown University. He is known for translational research in human brain computer interfaces to restore movement for people with paralysis (known as ‘BrainGate’, as well as for fundamental research to explain how networks of cortical neurons compute actions from plans. At Brown, he was the founding Chair of the Brown Department of Neuroscience, the founding director of the Brown Institute for Brain Science (now the Carney Institute) and the Department of Veterans Affairs Center of Excellence in Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology. Donoghue was a member of the US B.R.A.I.N. initiative’s first NIH Working Group and is a fellow of the National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well as several other academies. His awards include the German Zülch Prize (2007), the Roche-Nature Medicine Prize (2010), the Schrödinger Prize (Germany, 2012), and the first Israeli Brain Technology Prize in 2013.
John Donoghue, Institute for NeuroElectronic Medicine (INEM)
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 Technologies
BREAKOUT DISCUSSIONS
Roundtables with 8-12 participants convene around preselected BrainMind topics with brilliant subject matter experts who are leaders in their respective fields. The breakouts are designed to encourage conversation and collaboration with presenters and other great minds.
Discussion modules include:
BREAKOUT LEADERS
Spotlight Entrepreneurs will also lead Breakout Discussion Tables on Sunday
Nina Vasan, PhD (Stanford)
LLMs for Mental Healthcare: Risks and Opportunities
Michael Lim, MD (Stanford)
Advances in Neuro-oncology
Feast of Ideas: Dinner with BrainMind Experts
MULTISENSORY 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.
New York City Musical Curators: Anna Gabriel and Michael Hermann, Reverberation
Reverberatation Featuring Neurosteer Tech
Michael Hermann and Anna Gabriel are cofounders of Reveberation with world renowned artist Peter Gabriel.
Reverberation operates at the convergence of music, science, technology, and medicine, wrapped in compelling entertainment and transformative tech. The studio explores music's impact on our brains and activities, creating media spanning books, TV, digital media, education, and live events. Reverberation aims to address some of the world’s most vexing problems through scientifically-rooted music and sound interventions.
Dr. Dunn’s paintings and reflective microetchings deeply fuse art and science, attempting to illuminate the unfathomable complexities of our minds. Dunn’s art includes ink paintings on gold leaf exploring the spontaneous branching of a handful of pyramidal neurons to incredibly intricate, large scale reflective etchings such as Self Reflected that animate the collective activity of half a million neurons at once. In prints, paintings, hanging scrolls, and etchings, Dunn’s works bridge the micro to the macro to change the way in which the average person thinks about the brain. It hopes to reinstill the sense of awe, even to those of us who struggle with various neurological ailments, and to hopefully remind us that our brains are a thing of wonder.
Dr. Dunn has works in collections around the world including permanent installations at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, the Museum of Science in Boston, Caltech and Johns Hopkins Universities, and the Society for Neuroscience headquarters among many others. Past exhibitions have included the Pompidou Museum in Paris, the National Gallery of China in Beijing, Sotheby’s New York, the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon, and the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia. Dunn’s NSF funded project Self Reflected executed in collaboration with Dr. Brian Edwards has won international acclaim and is widely regarded as the most complex artistic rendering of the human brain in existence.
Dr. Dunn has lectured extensively about his work in many destinations around the world, oftentimes for eclectic groups of artists, scientists, engineers, and those with a love for the brain. In addition to artwork sales, lectures, exhibitions, and installations, Greg licenses images and video for books, magazines, documentary films, nonprofits, and educational platforms.
After a stroke left him without the use of his right hand, guitarist Ken McCaw had a choice to make: become an ex-musician, or somehow find a way to play using only his left hand. That challenge led him to rethink his entire approach to the instrument, and the amazing results can be heard on his debut CD ‘On The Other Hand’.
Now as an in-demand conference keynote speaker Ken embodies his personal message of resilience, creativity and humour.
Sarah Meyohas is a conceptual artist whose practice considers the nature and capabilities of emerging technologies in contemporary society. Using the familiar emblems of biological life, Meyohas investigates the complex operations that increasingly govern our world: soaring birds, created using augmented-reality software, flock in unison with the frenetic variations of the stock market; rose petals, aggregately identical but individually unique, comprise the dataset for their AI-created equivalents; Bitchcoin, a cryptocurrency backed by physical artworks, questions the speculative value of cryptocurrency and the ineffable value of art. Meyohas creates an intelligible visual language to articulate the systems and technologies that increasingly influence our world.
Meyohas is represented by Marianne Boesky Gallery and has been exhibited in New York at Red Bull Arts, 303 Gallery, Rockefeller Center, and the New Museum of Contemporary Art and internationally at institutions including the Barbican Centre, London, the Jameel Arts Center, Dubai, and the Ming Contemporary Art Museum, Shanghai. Her work is also in the collection of The Centre Pompidou, Paris. She has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Vice, and Artforum, and has appeared on CNBC, PBS, and CBC. Her film Cloud of Petals has been screened at various film festivals around the world, including the Slamdance Film Festival and the Locarno Film Festival. In 2017 she was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list. Meyohas holds dual degrees in Finance and International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania and in 2015 received her M.F.A. from Yale University.
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.
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 gatherings. You won’t find junky conference fare at our forum. Meals and snacks served at BrainMind feature foods and ingredients with published findings for brain health benefit. Learn more about our approach here.
DETAILS
Dates: Sunday, June 2nd, 2024
Time: Forum: 8:00AM - 6:00 PM, Feast of Ideas at 6:30PM o
Location: Exact location details will be disclosed upon registration
Hotels: See our recommended hotels here