A Virtual World's Fair for BCI

Dr. Neilank Jha is the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NeuraSeed BCI, and the Chairman of the NeuraSeed BCI Expo 24. He completed his residency in neurosurgery and fellowship in Spinal Surgery and is a recognized leader in the field of mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI). He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada (FRCSC). Dr. Jha has consulted for various companies related to imaging and diagnostic technology. He has also served as Chairman, CEO and Director in various firms, and has led teams in Forensic Accounting, Restructuring, Mergers & Acquisitions.

Dr. Bailes is a recognized leader in the field of neurosurgery and the impact of brain injury on brain function. He is the Chairman of the Subcortical Surgery Group, a user group dedicated to optimizing minimally invasive surgery to the subcortical space through clinical and scientific collaborative research and technology applications. Dr. Bailes is also a founding member and director of the Brain Injury Research Institute, which focuses on the study of traumatic brain injuries and their prevention. He is the Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery, Co-Director of the NorthShore Neurological Institute, and Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. Dr. Bailes has over 300 scientific publications concerning various aspects of neurological surgery..

Dr. Rob Franklin obtained his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where he developed electrodes for in vivo neurotransmitter sensing. Rob started at Blackrock Neurotech after his PhD in 2009 in Engineering and Business Development, leading a team of engineers to design and develop implantable, wireless neural interface electronics and novel silicon electrodes for recording and stimulation in the brain. Over time, he has progressed to Director of Product Development and as of 2020 is the VP of BCI. He has been at the forefront of their clinical translation for their MoveAgain BCI system.

Dr. Rapoport holds a Ph.D in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and an M.D. from Harvard University. He is a Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of Precision Neuroscience. He is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He specializes in minimally invasive, technologically enabled surgery of the skull base and ventricular system. Dr. Rapoport serves as the Scientific Director of Mount Sinai BioDesign, a medical device incubator at Mount Sinai, which operates as a center of expertise in engineering, prototyping, and project management for medical technology. He was a founding member of Neuralink and a Co-Founder of Simbionics. He has authored 40 patents related to brain-computer interfaces and other innovations in medical technology.

Dr. J Mocco serves as the Chief Medical Officer of Synchron. Synchron is the first company to get FDA approval for fully implantable BCI. The Stentrode, an endovascularly implanted device, records neural activity by accessing the brain’s natural highways in a minimally invasive way. He is a neurosurgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York with clinical interests in stroke, brain aneurysms, subarachnoid hemorrhage, arteriovenous malformations, cavernous malformations, carotid artery stenosis, intracranial stenosis, and brain tumors.

Dr. Vikash Gilja obtained his PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University where he studied the development of novel neural recording systems and high performance brain computer interfaces. Vikash started his career in BCI as a member of the Technical Team at Neuralink in 2017 and later joined Paradromics as an Advisor in 2018. Over time, he has progressed to become the Chief Science Officer and has served as such since 2023. Vikash also serves as an Associate Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, San Diego where he directs the Translational Neuroengineering Lab (TNEL).

Shadi Dayeh received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from UC San Diego in 2008. He did postdoctoral studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory as Director’s Fellow (2008-2010) and Distinguished J. R. Oppenheimer Fellow (2010-2012).Dayeh became a BRAIN initiative awardee in 2021 and leads a multi-center project to develop wireless epilepsy monitoring systems that will have impact on the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy and other neurological diseases. Dayeh’s Integrated Electronics and Biointerfaces Laboratory (IEBL) is a recognized leading laboratory in human neurotechnology development and translation, and in the development of high performing electronic material combinations, structures, and devices.

Dr. Nicolas Vachicouras obtained his PhD in Microelectronics and Nanosystems from the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne in Switzerland where he studied the development of stretchable electronics for neural interfaces with the brain and spinal cord. Nicolas co-founded Neurosoft Biotechnologies in 2019 as a spin-off from the Laboratory of Soft Bioelectronic Interfaces and continues to serve as its CEO. Neurosoft targets severe tinnitus using their soft implantable BCI, emphasizing long-term bio-integration in the body by conforming to the static and dynamic mechanics of neural tissue.

Bruce K. Gale received his PhD from the University of Utah in 2001. Gale is the Director of the State of Utah Center of Excellence for Biomedical Microfluidics, co-founder of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Center (MEP), has served as Director of the College of Engineering Nanofab, and currently is the Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. His research ranges from bacteria and virus detection to rapid DNA analysis to miniature medical devices. He was recognized as one of two honorees in the entrepreneur category for his 2017 work, “Optofluidic Device for Genetic Screening.” Gale has published over 300 scientific publications including 120 journal publications and 6 book chapters reporting his research. He has been PI or Co-PI on more than $40M in research, training, and teaching grants.

Dr. Azapagic worked in research and development of medical devices for over 14 years. He then became a senior engineer working on drug development in the pharmaceutical industry. He holds numerous patents on medical devices, and has expertise in manufacturing, product development, project management, and regulatory standards of medical devices. He has developed implantable microfluidic systems for novel drug delivery methods. Dr. Azapagic received his Ph.D. from University of Utah, with research in reconstructive and regenerative medicine, microvascular anastomosis, peripheral nerve damage, peripheral nerve generation, local drug delivery, and cancer treatment.

With over 10 years of experience leading various neuroscience, oncology, and blood in marrow transplant programs, Precision Neuroscience have announced Jayme Strauss as their new Chief Commercial and Clinical Officer. Coming from her role as Chief Clinical Officer at Viz.ai, a healthcare company that pioneered AI and cloud-based technologies to transform healthcare, Jayme Strauss has a multidisciplinary background working with teams of engineers, clinicians, and businesses to implement innovative solutions that enable faster and smarter diagnosis, treatment, and recovery for patients with neurological conditions. Strauss holds an MSN and MBA from Grand Canyon University and received her BSN at Cedar Crest College. Jayme was trained as an ICU nurse spending over 10 years as a hospital executive building neuroscience and oncology programs at Baptist Health South Florida in Miami and Piedmont Healthcare in Georgia.

Dr. Mermel is a Harvard medical school alum who trained in pathology and completed a PhD in the study of cancer genomics. He has also spent his career at the intersection of big data and life sciences. He completed his residency in pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital during which time he co-founded the digital health company Simbionics with his long time friend Dr. Benjamin Rapoport - current Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer at Precision Neuroscience. Simbionics was acquired by Apple where Dr. Mermel was pivotal in early development of biosensors of the Apple watch. He thereafter joined Google Health where he conducted digital pathology research and applied AI computer vision to medical imaging data. After leaving big tech, he joined Dr. Rapoport at Precision Neuroscience, where he is now the President and Chief Product Officer.

Dr. Rapoport holds a Ph.D in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and an M.D. from Harvard University. He is a Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of Precision Neuroscience. He is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He specializes in minimally invasive, technologically enabled surgery of the skull base and ventricular system. Dr. Rapoport serves as the Scientific Director of Mount Sinai BioDesign, a medical device incubator at Mount Sinai, which operates as a center of expertise in engineering, prototyping, and project management for medical technology. He was a founding member of Neuralink and a Co-Founder of Simbionics. He has authored 40 patents related to brain-computer interfaces and other innovations in medical technology.

Marcus Gerhardt is CEO of Blackrock Neurotech, a pioneer in the BCI space. Marcus has a Master’s of Philosophy from Oxford University and a Master’s of Arts from St. Andrews. In 1999, Marcus co-founded his first startup, Mondus, an innovative e-commerce platform. He then established BBI, a company that provided advisory services to technology firms on funding, commercialization, and growth strategies. In 2003, he co-founded a prominent frontier market asset management firm in the Middle East. He is an entrepreneur experienced in innovative technologies and alternative investment markets. Marcus spent years sharpening his entrepreneurial skills as he participated in 14 venture projects prior to his engagement with Blackrock Neurotech. He combined his business expertise with the engineering expertise of his childhood friend Dr. Florian Solzbacher to start then-called Blackrock Microsystems in 2008, who shared with him his vision of harnessing brain implants to restore function to those with neurological disorders.

Carolina Aguilar has spent her entire career rolling out new medical technology across the world. She holds a Master's in Neuroscience from Virginia Tech and an Executive MBA from IE Business School. Carolina worked on market development and commercialization of Medtronic’s Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) program across Europe and Asia. She then became the global business director for Medtronic’s DBS and Diabetes programs. After leaving Medtronic, she went on to found INBRAIN Neuroelectronics, a company developing graphene semiconductors to power the future of implantable BCIs. INBRAIN's technology gives BCI therapeutics the ability to decode and modulate different brain & nerve targets at high resolution and micrometric precision. As CEO, Carolina has led INBRAIN to receive FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for their neural interface. Along with INBRAIN, she also has founded INNERVIA Bioelectronics, a wholly owned subsidiary that creates graphene implants for the peripheral nervous system.

Dr. Erika Ross Ellison started her career as a distinguished student athlete at University of Denver where she was an NCAA All-American Academic Swimmer and completed her Undergraduate Degree in Biology and Business. She continued her academics at Denver completing a Master’s in Molecular Sciences before she attended the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and obtained a PhD in Neuroscience. Dr. Ross Ellison is President-Elect of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS). Dr. Erika Ross Ellison is the Vice President of Global Clinical, Regulatory, and Quality at ONWARD Medical, a company focused on developing therapies to restore movement for individuals with spinal cord injuries. Before this, she was the Director of Clinical and Applied Research at Abbott Neuromodulation, where she led the global research team, managed strategy, and conducted research on spinal cord and deep brain stimulation systems.