We are excited to invite you to the first virtual, global SharpBrains Summit (January 18-20th, 2010). The SharpBrains Summit will feature a “dream team” of over 25 speakers who are leaders in industry and research from 7 countries, to discuss emerging research, tools and best practices for cognitive health and performance. This inaugural event will expose health and insurance providers, developers, innovators at Fortune 500 companies, investors and researchers, to the opportunities, partnerships, trends, and standards of the rapidly evolving cognitive fitness field.

• Learn: Full access to all Conference live sessions, and Downloadable Recordings and Handouts.
• See: latest technologies and products during Expo Day.
• Connect and Discuss: become a member of SharpBrains Network for Brain Fitness Innovation (members-only LinkedIn Group) though end of 2010, access online chats during summit, meet other registrants in your city.
• Understand the Big Picture: access 10 Research Executive Briefs prepared by leading scientists.

Topics and Speakers:

(Preliminary schedule, US Pacific Time. To check when summit starts in your local time, click Here)

Monday, January 18th, 2010	Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
8-9.15am: Neuroplasticity: The New Frontier In a world with aging populations and growing lifelong mental demands, is it time to incorporate neuroplasticity research and tools into education, corporate training, and healthcare? Alvaro Fernandez, CEO, SharpBrains David Whitehouse, Chief Medical Officer, OptumHealth Behavioral Solutions William Reichman, President, Baycrest P Murali Doraiswamy, Biological Psychiatry Division Head, Duke University	8-9.15am: Neurocognition & Medicine: Implications for Research, Diagnosis, and Treatment In a growing number of clinical conditions, the effective identification, remediation and rehabilitation of associated neurocognitive deficits is increasingly seen as a critical dimension of care. This panel will discuss emerging needs, tools, opportunities and challenges. Keith Wesnes, Practice Leader, United BioSource Corporation Jonas Jendi, CEO, Cogmed Adam Gazzaley, Neuroscience Imaging Center Director, UCSF Michel Noir, CEO, Scientific Brain Training
9.30-11am: Tools for Safer Driving: The Opportunity with Teenagers and Adults Safer driving can become the first mainstream application of cognitive training, given growing awareness of distracted driving, valuable cognitive research, product availability and channel interest. Driving schools in Europe and Canada, insurers and associations in the USA, are already leading the way. Steven Aldrich, CEO, Posit Science Shlomo Breznitz, President, CogniFit Jerri Edwards, Assoc. Professor University of South Florida Peter Christianson, President of Young Drivers of Canada	9.30-11am: How Can Neuroscience Inform and Refine Education and Health Care Growing neuroscientific knowledge and methods suggest an alternative framework to today's education and health systems: measuring and helping maintain the brain functionality required to thrive in modern society. How can cognitive and behavioral neuroscience inform and refine education and health care? Michael Merzenich, Emeritus Professor, UCSF Torkel Klingberg, Professor Cognitive Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute Joshua Steinerman, Asst. Professor, Albert Einstein – Montefiore Medical Center Yaakov Stern, Cognitive Neuroscience Division Leader, Columbia University
Noon-1.30pm: Baby Boomers and Beyond: Maintaining Cognitive Vitality Aging baby boomers and a growing aspiration to "brain fitness" are reality today, together with a media controversy on whether "brain games" and "brain fitness software" work or are simply a waste of time and money. This panel will discuss what "work" means and doesn't mean, and offer light into what consumers and institutions are buying -and why. Kunal Sarkar, CEO, Lumos Labs Elizabeth Zelinski, Professor at USD Davis School of Gerontology Dan Michel, CEO, Dakim Elkhonon Goldberg, Chief Scientific Advisor, SharpBrains	Noon-1.30pm: Integrating Cognition with Home Health and Medical Home Models Emerging healthcare delivery models, such as home health and medical homes, bring new urgency to the need for personalized and well-integrated care processes that actively monitor and help address cognitive and emotional problems. Pioneers in computerized cognitive behavioral therapy, patient-centered care, and home health care will discuss opportunities and challenges. Kenneth Kosik, Co-Director, UC Santa Barbara Neuroscience Research Institute Holly Jimison, Assoc. Professor, Oregon Health & Science University Jesse Wright, Director Depression Center, University of Louisville
2-3.30pm: Next Generation Cognitive & Emotional Health Assessments Scalable, automated applications can assess and monitor a variety of cognitive and emotional functions, helping refine medical diagnoses and direct treatments in a way that the Mini-Mental and similar traditional assessments can't. This panel will discuss online assessments deployed by insurers, cognitive monitoring via game playing, and experimental virtual-reality approaches. Evian Gordon, CEO, Brain Resource Misha Pavel, Biomedical Engineering Division Head, Oregon Health & Science University Albert "Skip" Rizzo, Co-Director VR Psych Lab at USC	2-3.30pm: What's Next: Entrepreneurial And Funding Perspectives Demography meets research meets technology: a recipe for innovation and entrepreneurship crossing traditional sector lines (neurotech, health IT, consumer internet, software). What are entrepreneurs trying, and learning? What are venture groups funding, and why? Tim Chang, Partner, Norwest Venture Partners Lisa Schoonerman, Co-Founder, VibrantBrains Richard Levinson, President, Attention Control Systems Veronika Litinski, Director, MaRS Venture Group

 

What is a “virtual conference”? The SharpBrains Summit is just like a physical conference — we will gather in a forum to discuss latest information, connect with each other, discover opportunities and partnerships. However, rather than traveling to a conference, the SharpBrains Summit travels to you, courtesy of the Internet and webcast technology. You’ll access each presentation either by joining the live webcast or by downloading a recording after the presentation. You’ll be able to discuss with speakers and your peers, before, during, and after, the conference.

Do I need to install some special software to attend the conference? No. We will be using Adobe Connect Pro, which doesn’t require any plug-in. The only requirements are 1) having an office-quality Internet connection (not dial-up), 2) having Adobe Flash Player (over 99% Internet-enabled computers have it by default; it can be downloaded for free).