Schedule

Conference Registration and Check-In Opens

Conference Opening and Welcome - Luay Nakhleh, William and Stephanie Sick Dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering, Rice University

Session 01: Neuro AI: Frontiers in Modeling Cognition, Behavior, and Other Applications

• Marcelo Mattar, Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neural Science at New York University
• Bob Wilson, Smithgall-Watts Associate Professor of Psychology, Director of the Center of Excellence for Computational Cognition, Georgia Tech
• Andrew Hickl, Chief Technology Officer, Allen Institute
• Anqi Wu, Assistant Professor of Computational Science and Engineering, Georgia Tech

Break

Panel: With the launch of the Dementia Prevention Institute of Texas (DPRIT), what is the current state of research in this area of neurodegenerative diseases, and where should we allocate our resources?

• Jonathan Behr, Partner, SV Health Investors, LLC, Dementia Discovery Fund
• Julie Harris, Vice President, Science Initiatives, Allen Institute
• Sudha Seshadri, Robert R. Barker Distinguished University Professor, University of Texas San Antonio, and Founding Director, Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer's & Neurodegenerative Diseases
• Giulio Taglialatela, Director of the Moody Brain Health Institute at UTMB
• Behnaam Aazhang, Director of the Rice Neuroengineering Initiative (moderator)

Lunch Break

Session 02: Barriers and Opportunities in Translational Materials Neuroengineering

• Alexander Boys, Assistant Professor, Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College
• Hui Fang, Associate Professor, Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College
• Damiano Barone, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Houston Methodist and Senior Research Associate at the University of Cambridge

InterfaceNeuro Poster Session and Sponsor Exhibit Hour

**Held in the BRC Event Hall

Session 03: Academic and Clinical Research in BCI

• Ceci Verbaarschot, Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, UT Southwest
• Frank Willett, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Co-Director, Neural Prosthetics Translational Laboratory, Stanford University
• Nitin Tandon, Professor of Neurosurgery and Co-Director, Texas Institute for Restorative Neurotechnologies, UT McGovern School of Medicine

InterfaceNeuro Networking Happy Hour

**Held in the BRC Event Hall

Morning Mixer

*BRC pre-function space

Ask an NINDS Program Officer - Question and Answer Session

• Megan Frankowski, Program Director in the Division of Translational Research, NIH/NINDS
• Sarah Robinson-Schwartz, Program Director for Translational Neural Devices (TND), Division of Translational Research (DTR), NIH/NINDS

Session 04: Developments in Brain Cancer Research

• Costas D. Arvanitis, Associate Professor, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, and the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Tech
• Frederick F. Lang, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at MD Anderson
• Christina Tringides, Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Nanoengineering, Rice University
• Stephanie Seidlits, Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin

Break

Panel: Neuroscience and Technology Training Programs - Are Academia and Industry In Sync?

• Jacob Robinson, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Professor of Bioengineering, Rice University, and Founder/CEO of Motif Neurotech
• Rob Franklin, Vice President of BCI, Blackrock Neurotech
• Kurtis Nishimura, Chief Technology Officer, Paradromics
• Christopher Rozell, Julian T. Hightower Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Executive Director, Institute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology & Society (INNS), Georgia Institute of Technology
• Smita Jha, Director, Training Grants & Fellowships, Baylor College of Medicine

Session 05: Three perspectives on Future Directions in Neurotech

• Rob Franklin, Vice President of BCI, Blackrock Neurotech
• Kurtis Nishimura, Chief Technology Officer, Paradromics
• Tracy Laabs, Head of Innovation and Strategic Partnerships at the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering

Break

Conference Wrap-up, Poster Awards, Brain Economy Summit Preview

Keynote Presentation: Carolina Aguilar, Co-Founder and CEO, INBRAIN Neuroelectronics