DaVinci Café: The Neural Interface
About Event Series
In a world driven by rapid and complex challenges, innovation thrives at the convergence of technologies. By bringing together experts from different domain areas, we unlock new possibilities. Welcome to DaVinci Café, where thinkers, creators, and visionaries connect and collaborate.
About Event
In a world driven by rapid and complex challenges, innovation thrives at the convergence of technologies.
By bringing together experts from different domain areas, we unlock new possibilities.
Welcome to DaVinci Café, where thinkers, creators, and visionaries connect and collaborate.
🗓️ Agenda
Date: December 11th
Address: To Be Announced Soon
4:00 PM: Check in & Networking
4:30-5:00 PM: Intro and Key Note
5:00-5:30 PM: Academia x Industry Panel discussion
5:30-6:30 PM: Networking
🎙️ Our speakers
Moderator
Dr. Raman Vilkhu: Chief of Staff at a stealth startup; prev-Venture fellow @ age1, PhD from Stanford working on BCIs for vision restoration.
Raman is currently Chief of Staff at a stealth startup and was previously an investor at age1, focused on early-stages ventures at the intersection of engineering and biology. He completed his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, where he worked on brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) for vision restoration with E.J. Chichilnisky and Subhasish Mitra.
Keynote speaker:
Dr. E.J. Chichilnisky: John R. Adler Professor, Professor of Neurosurgery and of Ophthalmology @ Stanford
E.J. Chichilnisky, neuroscientist and neuroengineer, is a Professor of Neurosurgery and Ophthalmology at Stanford. His research has focused on understanding the spatiotemporal patterns of electrical activity in the retina that convey visual information to the brain and their origins in retinal circuitry, using large-scale multi-electrode recordings. His ongoing work now focuses on using this basic science knowledge along with electrical stimulation to develop a novel high-fidelity artificial retina for treating incurable blindness. He is the recipient of an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, a McKnight Scholar Award, a McKnight Technological Innovation in Neuroscience Award, and a RPB Stein Innovation Award.
Panel speakers:
1. Dr. E.J. Chichilnisky: John R. Adler Professor, Professor of Neurosurgery and of Ophthalmology @ Stanford [info above]
2. Dr. Daniel Palanker: Professor of Ophthalmology @ Stanford; Inventor of the PRIMA implant
Daniel Palanker is a Professor of Ophthalmology and, by courtesy, of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. His lab studies interactions of electric field with biological cells and tissues, and develops optical and electronic technologies for diagnostic, therapeutic, surgical and prosthetic applications, primarily in ophthalmology. Currently, his lab is working on photovoltaic retinal prosthesis (PRIMA) for restoration of sight and on interferometric imaging of neural signals in-vivo.
3. Dr. Amy Rochford: Co-founder of Axo Neurotech; ex-Science Corporation working on biohybrid interfaces
Amy Rochford is the CEO and Co-founder of Axo Neurotech, pioneering the next generation neural interfaces that bridge biology and technology. Before launching Axo, she was an early employee at Science Corporation, a company building implantable devices in human patients to restore lost vision. Amy earned her PhD in Electrical Engineering and Clinical Neuroscience from the University of Cambridge, where she was awarded the EPSRC Fellowship Prize for her research in the space.
4. Dr. Vikash Gilja: Chief Scientific Officer @ Paradromics
Vikash Gilja is the Chief Scientific Officer of Paradromics. Vikash is a leading researcher in BCI-based computer control and has served as an associate professor at the University of California, San Diego. His research develops BCIs that enable motor impaired individuals to communicate and control computers and prosthetic devices. He received his PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University. As a Research Associate at Stanford, he was a founding member of the Neural Prothetics Translational Laboratory and worked to translate his graduate work to clinical application. Vikash was awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and the NDSEG Fellowship. He was previously a founding employee of Neuralink.
Location:
Florence Moore Auditorium!
About the hosts & sponsors:
Hosts: Davinci Cafe: Where thinkers, creators, and visionaries from every industry connect, collaborate, and shape the future. Find your tribe, your partners, and your inspiration.
Sponsors:
LDV Partners: A deep tech venture capital fund in Silicon Valley. LDV is named in honor of Leonardo Da Vinci, who approached the world with a fearless ambition to bring multiple disciplines together for disruptive innovation.
Menlo College: Menlo College is a private, non-profit Silicon Valley school that focuses on business education with a strong liberal arts emphasis.
Please note, this event may be photographed and filmed. Davinci Cafe reserves the right to use photographs and video from the event for marketing and communications purposes. By attending the event you consent to your image being used for these purposes.
To maintain the integrity of our peer collaboration and to respect venue capacity, we will not accommodate walk-ins or +1s for the event. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.