PLEASE, FIND THE UPDATED AGENDA HERE
8:30 am – 9:00 am
Introduction to Human Brain Expo (HBE). Perspectives and Plan. Evgenia Leonova, PhD, MBA
We believe that Human Brain Health and Mental Wellness are the most critical subjects in a Human LifeTime and deserve more attention than it currently holds. We believe many issues can be proactively solved via modern solutions that target Human Brain Wellness.
* establishing interdisciplinary collaborations to boost innovations – mass market products, driven by neuroscience and psychology. For an example environmental design, kinesiology tools, healthy brain senses solutions, VR solutions, etc;
* boosting the Neuroscientific Research in the area of Human Brain Happiness;
* establishing a pipeline of the delivery of these solutions to the customers via established organizations, centers, and networks;
* building educational content delivery solutions.
9:00 am – 9:40 am
Susan Gibson “Nutrition for Brain Health”
Susan Gibson is the president of Vivolor® Therapeutics and creator of Vivolor® Memory Support, has won multiple awards for her work helping people regain their lives and confidence through improved memory and brain health. Watching her mother’s devastating decline into dementia gave her passion to apply her pharmacy degree, Harvard MBA, functional nutrition certification, and 30 years’ experience developing new healthcare products to now providing education and supplements that have helped numerous clients lead full lives with clarity of mind for years to come . Susan is on a mission to help millions of people using natural solutions and encourages starting early, although these resources help at any stage of memory loss. For more information, please see: Vivolor.com and Maximize Your Memory Challenge https://memorywellnessacademy.com/
Abstract
Your brain is the most complex thing in your body and is the control center for all that you do. Your brain is ‘on’ even when you are sleeping. Although your brain is only 2% of your body weight, it uses over 20% of your nutrients. It is critical that your brain gets the fuel and nutrients it needs. We will discuss the benefits of: vegetables; good oils and DHA; vitamins; supplements
And the importance of avoiding inflammatory and oxidative foods: Sugar, Processed foods, Gluten, Dairy
Eating a brain-healthy diet helps improve mood and energy, promote clear thinking and strong memory and prevent dementia. It’s essential to start early giving your brain the fuel it needs to run at its best.
9:45 am – 10:25 am
Aaron Bromberg “The neuroscience of sleep and the future of non-invasive brain stimulation”
Aaron Bromberg is the CEO of StimScience, a Berkeley neurotechnology startup focused on sleep. He has 16 years of experience launching and growing some of the most successful hardware and software product lines at Amazon, Bose, and various startups. In 2019, Aaron left Amazon to focus on products that matter. At StimScience, he works with a team of world-class neuroscientists to create groundbreaking sleep aids, and to use neuroscience to improve their mental and physical wellbeing.
Abstract
When we think of sleep, we usually think of the sleep environment – the softness of the mattress, the thread count of the sheets. But sleep is a brain activity, a series of electrical patterns that is measurable and individually unique. By reading your brain’s unique sleep signature and using safe, non-invasive electrical stimulation, we can directly increase sleep duration and quality more effectively than any sleeping pill. These advances in sleep neurotechnology point the way to a future where personalized neuroscience is used in everyday consumer devices to improve peoples’ lives.
10:30 am – 11:10 am
Noah Falstein “Power of games to inform, to teach, to change behavior, and bring entertainment to otherwise boring or unpleasant medical procedures”
A professional game developer since 1980, Falstein was among the first 10 employees at LucasArts, The 3DO Company, and Dreamworks Interactive. He served for four years as Google’s Chief Game Designer, working closely with their AR and VR projects, leaving in 2017 to work as a designer and producer for health/games companies. He served as Senior VP of Content for Mindmaze, a Swiss unicorn creating games for rehabilitation. More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Falstein and https://www.linkedin.com/in/gamedesignexpert/
Falstein was the first elected chairman of the International Game Developers Association and has published over 100 articles and book chapters. He is currently working with diverse health/neurogaming companies including Executive Advisor to Akili Interactive, which won FDA clearance for a video game to treat pediatric ADHD and went public last year with a billion dollar valuation. Other healthcare clients of his include Abbott Labs, Healium, Apple Health, TrainPain, Dopavision, and Level Ex.
Abstract
The games industry is maturing, and in the process games and game technology are increasingly being used in the medical field for education, training, and even directly as FDA-cleared treatment. Games are informing patients, training physicians, and treating a wide variety of conditions, including ADHD, depression, myopia, chronic pain, anxiety, PTSD and many others. This session will survey some of these approaches and delve into just how and why games are changing the face of medical care.
11:15 am – 11:55 am
Dr Jacqueline R Scholl “The Listening Brain: Why our children can’t read”
Dr Scholl is the Executive Director & Head of Audiology for Sounwrx Inc and the Pediatric Director for Tuned Care.
Prior to starting Soundwrx, a 501(c)(3) organization, and becoming the Pediatric Director for Tuned Care, Scholl owned her own clinic. As founder and manager of the Scholl Center, she curated an impressive team of clinicians who changed the landscape for audiological care in Oklahoma.
Scholl’s clinic was the recipient of numerous awards, and she personally continues to be noticed for her standards of exemplary care, advocacy, innovative solutions, passion, and mass-scale policy change.
Scholl has practiced hearing health care for 25 years and after selling her practice in 2019, she continues to blaze trails by changing policy and providing best practice services to children across the state of Oklahoma. She is a tireless advocate for those who don’t have a voice.
Scholl earned a BS in Communication Sciences and Disorders, and her master’s in audiology from Missouri State University. She completed her doctorate in audiology at Arizona’s School of Health Sciences in Mesa, AZ. She has contributed numerous articles for national publications and frequently speaks at conferences when she’s not working on changes at the state capital.
Abstract
Children across the globe struggled to read prior to the pandemic lock down, but few were listening. Post pandemic reading scores in 2022 received more attention when the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Nation’s Report Card painted an even more dismal portrait of student proficiency. Math and reading scores continue to plummet no matter how many millions of dollars are allocated to reverse the trend. Still, no one is listening.
The hierarchy of skills required to read have been universally accepted by most specialists. Yet, poor readers struggle with the most fundamental building block of the pyramid – phonemic awareness. If the brain cannot authentically hear and reproduce sounds, a child can’t differentiate phonemes. If a child can’t read, they can’t learn. These children are misdiagnosed and therefore never receive the appropriate intervention they need. At the core, the auditory pathway is almost never screened for problems, and it’s never understood what the brain is hearing. This session will cover the underlying problem of phonemic awareness in struggling readers, why it exists, how to measure it, and offer solutions for addressing it.
12:00 pm – 12:30 pm Lunch
12:30 pm – 1:10 pm
Dr Marc Ettlinger
“The fallibility of human memory using generative AI”
Dr. Ettlinger has a degree in Engineering from Rutgers University and a PhD in Linguistics from UC Berkeley. He worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Neuroscience at Northwestern and then ran a lab at the Dept of Veterans Affairs researching neuroscience, language, memory and hearing deficits for people with traumatic brain injury, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s.
He has since moved to industry starting at Google where he worked on AI for the Google Assistant, before co-founding Personal AI, a consumer AI startup aiming to address the fallibility of human memory using generative AI. He now works for Reality Labs at Meta, building speech and language technology for AR/VR.
He also has advised companies from FinTech (Vise) to Healthcare (Robin Healthcare, Miro) on AI and Natural Language Processing.
1:15 pm – 1:55 pm
Dr Boris Goldstein “Neurointerfaces”
Dr. Boris Goldstein is a seasoned entrepreneur with 30 years of experience in building and leading world-class companies in AI, big data, and software development. He has founded or co-founded over 20 private companies during this time, demonstrating his ability to consistently drive success in the industry, taking some of them public.
Dr. Goldstein is the founder of High Technology (Solby Holding), a software company where he built the organization from the ground up to employ over 3,000 people with 40 offices across 17 countries. Additionally, he founded EForex, a leading online fintech company that has been acquired by ActTrader, Finavasia, and technology for forex, as well as two major crypto exchanges. He is also the founder of E-Trade Eurasia, which holds the license of E-Trade Group for the Eurasian market (later sold back to E-Trade Group).
Furthermore, Dr. Goldstein is the co-founder of Intelligent Video Systems, which eventually split to become Axxon Soft and ISS international – two leading AI video analytic and face recognition companies. He is the founder of Brain Scientific (symbol BRSF) and BrainBit, two of the world’s leading brain AI companies. He is also the founder of Ryah Group (symbol Ryah: CSE), a top AI-driven big data company focused on plant-based medicine.
Dr. Goldstein’s achievements extend beyond his entrepreneurial ventures. He serves as a director for several banks, including Daldaris (acquired by Sakaru Bank) and the Commercial Bank of San Francisco (acquired by First Bank and Trust).
Dr. Goldstein holds a B.A., MBA, and Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Latvian Technical University.
BrainBit empowers individuals to understand the relationship between the brain and behavior, delivering unique insights into mind and body wellness motivating people.
With over 30 games developed and controlled by the brain and also integrated into VR.
We are also working on different brain related AI applications.
2:00 pm – 2:40 pm
Marjorie Morrison “Reimagining behavioral health through intentional and thoughtful design”
Marjorie Morrison is the CEO and co-Founder at Psych Hub, the world #39 largest mental health education platform. A visionary and passionate pioneer in the mental health space, Morrison co-founded Psych Hub with Patrick J. Kennedy to connect people with best-in-class online education for mental health practitioners, allies, and consumers to learn more about some of our Nation’s most vexing mental health challenges. In her current role, Morrison is reimagining behavioral health through intentional and thoughtful design. By leveraging the digital space and combining clinical research with the art ofstorytelling, her mission is to provide engaging, evidence-based content on mental health that is easily accessible to everyone.
Prior to launching Psych Hub, Morrison was the founder and CEO of PsychArmor Institute, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, committed to bridging the military-civilian divide by developing, promoting, and distributing free online courses covering a wide range of topics important to those who serve militaryservice members and their families. Under Morrison’s leadership, PsychArmor flourished and is now widely recognized as the trusted and leading expert for “Best-in-Class” resources regarding the understanding of and solutions to complex and unique military veteran issues. Marjorie’s focus on supporting members of the military and their communities was first developed inthe field after she spent years writing and implementing a revolutionary proactive counseling program for the U.S. Marines. This implementation research was utilized to create a groundbreaking solution to approach military mental health care. Morrison is a CA Licensed Marriage Family Therapist, a CA Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, a PPS-credentialed School Psychologist, and the author of The Inside Battle: Our Military Mental Health Crisis.
2:45 pm – 3:25 pm
Keith Kirkland “Information through touch”
I am a public speaker, teacher, and the Cofounder and Chief Haptic Officer of WearWorks. We design products and experiences that communicate information through touch. Our first product is called Wayband and it is a navigation app, that pairs with an optional haptic wristband, that gently guides you to your destination using vibration, without the need for visual or audio feedback. And in 2017, Wayband helped the first person who is blind to run in the NYC marathon without sighted-assistance.
I am an Industrial Designer, Fashion Designer and Mechanical Engineer focused on developing products and solutions at the intersection of Touch, Design, Technology, and Human Movement. Through thoughtful user and market research, opportunity identification, ideation and insight development, rapid prototyping and testing, and delivery of final concepts and proposals; I have also delivered high-value design solutions and disruptive innovations for organizations ranging from Unilever to the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Ultimately, I believe that design is a tool that can be leveraged for products, systems, organizations, and communities to create a greater impact by actually providing people with opportunities and insights they need to sustainably thrive and share. From the global headquarters in London to a small artisan community in Malinalco, I have worked in teams from all around the world leveraging whatever communication strategies proved most effective (even when there was no language in common) to deliver insights and ultimately, great products and user experiences.
WearWorks is a haptics technology company. We created a Haptic API/SDK, and the WayBand to experience the world in a different way.
3:30 pm – 4:10 pm
Kirthika Parmeswaran “Digital Therapeutic for Postpartum Depression”
Kirthika is the Founder & CEO of Vital Start Health, a University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Center for Innovation early-stage startup developing the first clinically guided, personalized, equitable reproductive & maternity mental health platform using Virtual Reality. She has extensive experience across business and technology in healthcare, telecommunications, and cybersecurity. She has won numerous awards and honors, including Outstanding Leadership in Healthcare award, is a DARPA award recipient and a strategic thought leader with an R&D background. Kirthika has a Master’s in Computer Science from Washington University in St. Louis and an Executive Master’s in Technology Management from University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Wharton School of Business. She loves to read, sing, play with her dog and volunteer for wellness initiatives in the community.
Vital Start Health, a University of Pennsylvania startup, has developed the first reproductive and maternal mental health digital therapeutic platform using Virtual Reality for personalized clinically guided care. Vital Start Health empowers moms and mental health practitioners to prevent and treat Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders more effectively, equitably, and faster using low-cost Virtual and Augmented Reality Framework that measures and personalizes care at every stage of the wellness journey. We have completed initial feasibility studies, launched platform, filed IP, won numerous awards and are currently exploring innovation pilots and partnerships.
4:15 pm – 4:55 pm
Fatemeh Khatami, PhD
“Neural Coding and Models for Natural Sounds Recognition”
Dr. Khatami is an assistant professor at University of the Pacific and conductingBiosensor lab at UOP. She has PhD in Biomedical Engineering with focus onneuroscience and algorithm development. She did a postdoc research at University of California, San Francisco. She did her undergraduate study in Electrical engineering. She is interested in modeling biological systems, wearable technology, and physiological signal processing. She is highly experienced in bio signal processing, data analysis, and machine learning. She has contributed to scientific publications in scientific journals, such as PNAS and PlosComputational Biology.
AbstractMammalian brain is able to recognize natural sounds in the presence of acoustic background noise. A well-known theory of neural coding suggest that neural systems are optimized for natural environment signals and sensory inputs that are biologically relevant. The optimal coding hypothesis suggests that neural populations encode sensory information so as to maximize efficient utilization of environmental inputs. In this study ability of the brain to utilize high-level statistical regularities in natural sounds is explored by using natural sounds and their texture and neural recordings from the auditory midbrain of awake rabbits. In the next part of the research, role of hierarchical organization in the auditory pathway for sound recognition and optimal coding in the presence of challenging background noise is explored. Optimal computational neural network model is developed for word recognition in presence of speech babble noise. Interestingly optimal computational strategy for word recognition in noise predicts various transformations performed by the ascending auditory pathway, including a sequential loss of temporal and spectral resolution, increasing sparseness and selectivity.
5:00 pm – 5:40 pm
Kazu Okuda, MD “Brain-based personalized treatment for mental health”
Kazu Okuda, MD, is the founder and CEO of Universal Brain and is working on developing a cutting-edge neurofeedback system to establish the treatment of mental disorders.
In the psychiatry department of a university hospital, he was intensely shocked to find that the prognosis of patients varied greatly depending on the physician’s skill.
He founded Universal Brain to establish treatment and diagnosis based on the analysis of physiological data. At Universal Brain, he engages in developing an innovative EEG headset and neurofeedback algorithms to treat patients with psychiatric disorders.
After graduating from medical school at the Kyushu Univesity and receiving clinical training at the University of Tokyo Hospital, he joined a medical device AI startup. He worked in the CEO/CFO’s office, raising funds ($20M while in office) and driving clinical research with university hospitals. The company’s product received marketing approval and reimbursement in Japan.
Universal Brain is working on cutting-edge neurofeedback systems to treat mental disorders. This enables us to prescribe personalized, at-home, and non-invasive therapy.
– Universal Brain is developing
(1) innovative portable EEG headset for use in the treatment
(2) neurofeedback algorithm for reducing the symptoms of psychiatric disorders.
5:45 pm – 6:25 pm
Richard Hanbury “Audio-visual neuromodulation to alleviate pain and tension”
Founder of Sana – making a device that allows anyone to have deep relaxation and pain relief anywhere in an average of 8-10 minutes. We have decades of research and anecdotal data, completed 4 pilot studies, with two pivotal FDA studies underway – Fibromyalgia (Duke) and Neuropathic Pain (Mount Sinai). We have breakthough designation for Fibromyalgia and anticiapte FDA approval in Q4 2021.
Richard is alumni of The Wharton School Business School 1999-2001 MBA with major in Healthcare and Entrepreneurial Studies.
About Sana Health:
Sana Health team completed the HAX accelerator program in Shenzhen 2016, Sana Health carried out pilot trials with University of California, San Francisco, then a 75 person controlled trial with help from Stanford University and Special Operations Command. This has been followed by large RCTs at Duke – Fibromyalgia, and Mount Sinai – Neuopathic pain.
The device has shown the potential for use in a wide variety of medical applications including stroke rehabilitation, treatment of traumatic brain injury, insomnia, epilepsy, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and pain control.
The device has also been employed in a variety on non-medical applications in the sport, military and business fields, including exploratory work with the Defense Evaluation Research Agency (DERA), RAF, Royal Marines, SAS, SBS, United States Air Force, US Navy, NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration, McLaren Formula One and with Richard Branson for Virgin Balloons.
6:25 pm – 7:00 pm
Panel Discussions