Aspen Brain Institute Scientific Advisory Council
Richard Andersen, Ph.D. Professor of Neuroscience, Division of Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology
Richard Andersen, Ph.D. is the Director of the T & C Chen Brain-Machine Interface Center, Director of the Swartz Center for Theoretical Neurobiology, and the James G. Boswell Professor of Neuroscience in the Division of Biology and Biological Engineering at Caltech. Andersen obtained a Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of California, San Francisco with thesis advisor Michael Merzenich, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow with Vernon Mountcastle at the Johns Hopkins Medical School. Andersen studies the neurobiological underpinnings of brain processes including the senses of sight, hearing, balance and touch, the neural mechanisms of action, and the development of neural prosthetics. He is the recipient of a McKnight Foundation Scholars Award, Sloan Foundation Fellowship, Spencer Award from Columbia University, McKnight Technical Innovation in Neuroscience Award, and McKnight Neuroscience Brain Disorders Award.
Nir Barzilai, M.D. Founding Director, Institute for Aging Research, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Dr. Nir Barzilai is the Director of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Human Aging Research and of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Nathan Shock Centers of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging. He is the Ingeborg and Ira Leon Rennert Chair of Aging Research, professor in the Departments of Medicine and Genetics, and member of the Diabetes Research Center and of the Divisions of Endocrinology & Diabetes and Geriatrics.
Ed Boyden, Ph.D. Professor of Biological Engineering and Brain and Cognitive Sciences, McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT
Prof. Ed Boyden completed his undergraduate degrees in Physics and Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences and a Master of Engineering at MIT. He completed PhD studies as a fellow in the Neurosciences Program at Stanford University. Prof. Boyden joined MIT as an Assistant Professor in 2007, and is now the Y. Eva Tan Professor in Neurotechnology at MIT and Professor in Brain and Cognitive Sciences, with joint appointments in the Program in Media Arts and Sciences and the Department of Biological Engineering. Ed was selected to become a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator in 2018, has been awarded the NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award three times (2012, 2013, and 2017), and received an NIH Director’s Pioneer Award in 2013.
Sandra Chapman, Ph.D. Director, Center for Brain Health, University of Texas, Dallas
Sandra Bond Chapman, PhD is the Founder and Chief Director of the Center for BrainHealth, a research institute of The University of Texas at Dallas, founded in 1999. Dr. Chapman is also the co-leader of The BrainHealth Project™, an international, multi-year research collaboration of brain scientists and change-makers focused on harnessing the brain’s potential to lengthen and strengthen its functionality.
DENNIS CHARNEY, M.D. DEAN, ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI
Dennis S. Charney, MD, is Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs for the Mount Sinai Health System. He is a world expert in the neurobiology and treatment of mood and anxiety disorders. Under Dr. Charney’s leadership, the Icahn School of Medicine has risen to a rank of 13th among US medical schools in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, and the School currently ranks first in funding per faculty member from the NIH and other sources. With a long track record of strategic recruitments across the biomedical sciences and in genomics, computational biology, entrepreneurship, and information technology, Mount Sinai has cultivated a supercharged, Silicon Valley-like atmosphere in the academic setting. In 2009, the Icahn School of Medicine received the Spencer Foreman Award for Outstanding Community Service from the Association of American Medical Colleges.
YADIN DUDAI, PH.D. CHAIR, DEPARTMENT OF NEUROBIOLOGY, WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, REHOVOT, ISRAEL
Yadin Dudai is the Sela Professor of Neurobiology and Chair of the Department of Neurobiology at the Weizmann Institute of Science. He studied Biology with supplements in Modern History at the Hebrew University, received his Ph.D. in Biophysics from the Weizmann Institute, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Caltech. He has authored several books in the field of memory, including The Neurobiology of Memory and Memory from A to Z, keywords, concepts and beyond. Dudai has held multiple posts in public and academic life, including Advisor on Science Policy in the Prime Minister‘s office, Jerusalem, advisor to the President of the State of Israel, member of the Granting an Planning Committee of the Israeli Council for Higher Education, chair of the life-sciences teaching program and of the postdoctoral programs at the Feinberg Graduate School of the Weizmann Institute of Science, and Dean of the Faculty of Biology at the Weizmann Institute.
FRED “RUSTY” GAGE, PH.D. PRESIDENT AND PROFESSOR, LABORATORY OF GENETICS, SALK INSTITUTE OF BIOLOGICAL STUDIES
Rusty Gage concentrates on the plasticity, adaptability and diversity observed in the brain. He showed that, contrary to longstanding dogma, the creation of new neurons (neurogenesis) does occur in the adult human brain and that environmental enrichment and physical exercise can enhance this growth. His lab demonstrated that neural stem cells exist in the adult hippocampus and can give rise to neurons that are physiologically active. In addition, Gage discovered that moveable DNA sequences dubbed mobile elements are active during neurogenesis and lead to genomic mosaicism (being composed of genetically different cell types); this genetic variety may contribute to the brain’s diverse functions.
JILL GOLDSTEIN, PH.D. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER, INNOVATION CENTER ON SEX DIFFERENCES IN MEDICINE AT MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
Jill M. Goldstein, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Founder and Executive Director of the Innovation Center on Sex Differences in Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH); and, the Helen T. Moerschner Endowed MGH Research Institute Chair in Women’s Health. She is a clinical neuroscientist and expert in sex differences in health and diseases associated with the central nervous system, in particular, depression, its comorbidity with CVD, and risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). She leads the interdisciplinary research program Clinical Neuroscience Laboratory of Sex Differences in the Brain; and, has received numerous awards, served on scientific review boards, and participated in strategic planning for NIMH, NIH ORWH, and the Institute of Medicine.
ROBERT GREEN, M.D. DIRECTOR, PREVENTIVE GENOMICS CLINIC AT BRIGHAM AND WOMEN’S HOSPITAL, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
Robert C. Green, M.D., MPH is Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a medical geneticist and physician-scientist who directs the Genomes2People Research Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Broad Institute and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Green conducts research to accelerate the evidence-based implementation of genomic medicine. Dr. Green led the first experimental trials disclosing common complex disease risk (REVEAL Study) and the first prospective studies of direct-to-consumer genetic testing services (PGen Study). He currently leads the first randomized trials to explore the implementation of medical sequencing in adults (MedSeq Project) and newborns (BabySeq Project). He has published over 300 scientific papers and in 2014, won the Coriell Prize for Scientific Achievement in Personalized Medicine.
MARK HYMAN, M.D. DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE, CLEVELAND CLINIC
Dr. Mark Hyman is a practicing family physician and an internationally recognized leader, speaker, educator, and advocate in the field of Functional Medicine. He is the founder and director of The UltraWellness Center, the Head of Strategy and Innovation at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, an eleven-time New York Times best-selling author, and Board President for Clinical Affairs for the Institute for Functional Medicine. He is the host of one of the leading health podcasts, The Doctor’s Farmacy. Dr. Hyman is a regular medical contributor for several television shows and networks, including CBS This Morning, Today, Good Morning America, The View, and CNN. He is also an advisor and guest co-host on The Dr. Oz Show.
RICHARD ISAACSON, M.D. DIRECTOR, ALZHEIMER’S PREVENTION CLINIC, WEILL CORNELL MEDICINE
Richard Isaacson, M.D. currently serves as Director of the Neurology Residency Training Program and Director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic, Weill Cornell Memory Disorders Program at Weill Cornell Medical College/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. He previously served as Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology, Vice Chair of Education, and Education Director of the McKnight Brain Institute in the Department of Neurology at the University of Miami (UM) Miller School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, and his medical internship at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, FL. Dr. Isaacson specializes exclusively in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk reduction and treatment, mild cognitive impairment due to AD and pre-clinical AD. His AD research focuses on nutrition and the implementation and longitudinal assessment of dietary interventions for AD management.
CHRISTOF KOCH, PH.D. CHIEF SCIENTIST AND PRESIDENT, ALLEN INSTITUTE FOR BRAIN SCIENCE, SEATTLE
Christof Koch is the Chief Scientist of the MindScope Program. He received his baccalaureate from the Lycée Descartes in Rabat, Morocco, his B.S. and M.S. in physics from the University of Tübingen in Germany and his Ph.D. from the Max-Planck Institute for biological Cybernetics in 1982. Subsequently, he spent four years as a postdoctoral fellow in the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and the Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 1987 until 2013, Koch was a professor at Caltech, from his initial appointment as Assistant Professor, Division of Biology and Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences in 1986, to his final position as Lois and Victor Troendle Professor of Cognitive & Behavioral Biology. Christof joined the Allen Institute for Brain Science as Chief Scientific Officer in 2011 and became President in 2015.
JOSEPH LEDOUX, PH.D. PROFESSOR OF NEURAL SCIENCE, CENTER FOR NEURAL SCIENCE, NYU
Joseph LeDoux is the Henry and Lucy Moses Professor of Science at NYU in the Center for Neural Science, and director of the Emotional Brain Institute of NYU and the Nathan Kline Institute. He is also a Professor of Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at NYU Langone Medical School. LeDoux has received a number of awards, including William James Award from the Association for Psychological Science, the Karl Spencer Lashley Award from the American Philosophical Society, the Fyssen International Prize in Cognitive Science, Jean Louis Signoret Prize of the IPSEN Foundation, the Santiago Grisolia Prize, the American Psychological Association Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award, and the American Psychological Association Donald O. Hebb Award. His book Anxious received the 2016 William James Book Award from the American Psychological Association.
LISA MOSCONI, PH.D. DIRECTOR, WOMEN’S BRAIN INITIATIVE, WEILL CORNELL MEDICINE
Lisa Mosconi, Ph.D., is the Director of the Women’s Brain Initiative and Associate Director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC)/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, where she serves as an Associate Professor of Neuroscience in Neurology and Radiology. Dr. Mosconi holds a PhD degree in Neuroscience and Nuclear Medicine, and is a certified Integrative Nutritionist and holistic healthcare practitioner. Her research is well known regarding the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease in at-risk individuals, especially women, using brain imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). She is passionately interested in how risk of memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease can be mitigated, if not prevented through the combination of appropriate medical care and lifestyle modifications involving diet, nutrition, physical and intellectual fitness.
DEAN ORNISH, M.D. PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, PREVENTIVE MEDICINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, SAUSALITO
Dean Ornish, M.D., is the founder of Preventive Medicine Research Institute, Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCSF, and bestselling author. He has directed pioneering research showing, for the first time, that a comprehensive lifestyle medicine program may reverse the progression of heart disease and early-stage prostate cancer as well as beneficially change gene expression and begin to reverse aging by lengthening telomeres. The “Ornish diet” has been rated “#1 for Heart Health” by U.S. News & World Report. He received the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award from the University of Texas, Austin; and, the National Public Health Hero Award from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Ornish was recognized as a “TIME 100 Innovator;” by Life as “one of the 50 most influential members of his generation;” by People as “one of the most interesting people of the year;” and by Forbes as “one of the world’s seven most powerful teachers.”
V.S. RAMACHANDRAN, PH.D. DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR BRAIN AND COGNITION, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
V.S. Ramachandran, Ph.D. is Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition and Professor with the Psychology Department and Neurosciences Program at the University of California, San Diego, and Adjunct Professor of Biology at the Salk Institute. Ramachandran initially trained as a doctor and subsequently obtained a Ph.D. from Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. Ramachandran’s early work was on visual perception, but he is best known for his experiments in behavioral neurology which, despite their apparent simplicity, have had a profound impact on the way we think about the brain. He has been called “the Marco Polo of neuroscience” by Richard Dawkins and “the modern Paul Broca” by Eric Kandel. He is the author of Phantoms in the Brain (the basis for a Nova special), A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness and The Man with the Phantom Twin: Adventures in the Neuroscience of the Human Brain
MARWAN SABBAGH, M.D. DIRECTOR, LOU RUVO CENTER FOR BRAIN HEALTH, LAS VEGAS
Marwan Sabbagh, M.D., a board certified geriatric neurologist, has dedicated his career to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s. Dr. Sabbagh is a leading investigator for many prominent national Alzheimer’s prevention and treatment trials and has published more than 350 peerreviewed articles. He earned his medical degree from the University of Arizona in Tucson, and received his residency training in neurology at Baylor College of Medicine and his fellowship in geriatric neurology and dementia at the University of California, San Diego. Before joining the faculty of the Barrow Neurological Institute, Dr. Sabbagh was with the Banner Sun Health Research Institute.
ANDREW SCHWARTZ, PH.D. PROFESSOR OF NEUROBIOLOGY, DEPT OF NEUROBIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Dr. Andrew Schwartz is a Professor of Neurobiology at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Schwartz has adjunct appointments at the Center for Neural Basis Cognition, at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, and at Pitt’s Department of Bioengineering and Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. Schwartz’s research aims to understand how neurons in the brain’s motor cortex send signals to produce volitional movement. This effort has led to the implantation of a brain-computer interface in a monkey’s brain that allows it to maneuver a robot arm to grasp a marshmallow or turn a doorknob with its thoughts alone. Dr. Schwartz and his work have been featured on 60 Minutes, BBC News, “The Kamen Code,” and many science programs, as well as the New York Times, Scientific American and other publications.
DAVID SINCLAIR, PH.D. CO-DIRECTOR, PAUL F. GLENN CENTER FOR THE BIOLOGY OF AGING, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
David Sinclair, PhD, AO is the author of New York Times best seller Lifespan: Why We Age - and Why We Don't Have To. Dr. Sinclair is a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School. He has been named by Time as “one of the 100 most influential people in the world” and Top 50 most influential people in healthcare. Board member of the American Federation for Aging Research, Dr. Sinclair has received more than thirty-five awards for his research and major scientific breakthroughs. He and his work have been featured on 60 Minutes, Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fortune, and Newsweek, among others.
WOLF SINGER, PH.D. DIRECTOR, MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR BRAIN RESEARCH, FRANKFURT, GERMANY
Wolf Singer, Ph.D. studied medicine in Munich and Paris, obtained his M.D. from the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, and his Ph.D. from the Technical University in Munich. He is Direct em. At the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt, Founding Director both of the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) and of the Ernst Strungmann Institute for Neuroscience (ESI) and Director of the Ernst Strungmann Forum. His research is focused on the neuronal substrate of higher cognitive functions, and especially on the question of how the distributed sub-processes in the brain are coordinated and bound together in order to give rise to coherent perception and action. These studies are performed with electrophysiological techniques in behaviorally trained monkeys and with non-invasive imaging methods in human subjects.
RUDY TANZI, PH.D. DIRECTOR, MCCANCE CENTER FOR BRAIN HEALTH AT MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
Rudolph Tanzi, Ph.D. is Director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit, Co-Director of the McCance Center for Brain Health, Co-Director of the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, and Vice-Chair of Neurology (Research), at Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Tanzi discovered the first three Alzheimer’s disease genes and the first neuroinflammation-related Alzheimer’s gene, CD33. He is developing therapies for treating and preventing AD using his laboratory’s brain organoid models. Dr. Tanzi has published nearly 600 papers, received numerous awards, including the Metropolitan Life Award, Potamkin Prize, Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award, and was one of the TIME100 Most Influential People in the World.
MATTHEW WALKER, PH.D. FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR HUMAN SLEEP SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
Dr. Walker earned his degree in neuroscience from Nottingham University, UK, and his PhD in neurophysiology from the Medical Research Council, London, UK. He subsequently became a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, USA. Currently, he is Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. He is also the founder and director of the Center for Human Sleep Science. Dr. Walker’s research examines the impact of sleep on human health and disease. He has received numerous funding awards from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, and is a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences. His research examines the impact of sleep on human brain function in healthy and disease populations. To date, he has published over 100 scientific research studies.
RONNIE S. STANGLER, M.D. CHAIR, SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COUNCIL
Ronnie S. Stangler, M.D., is a physician and psychiatrist based in New York City. Founder of Genome Advisory, Dr. Stangler consults with individuals, global families and their advisors, bringing clarity to their navigation of the new DNA science of genomics to enhance strategic planning regarding health, risk mitigation and legacy. An expert in family and organizational dynamics and crisis management, Dr. Stangler has served for over a decade as chief health and well-being officer to international families in London, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the Middle East.Clinical Professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Dr. Stangler has also served as advisor to the Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, and the Family Office Executive Education Program, Harvard Business School. She is a founding member of AccessCircles and Chair of ABI’s Scientific Advisory Council.