Dr. Adam Gazzally

Dr. Adam Gazzaley obtained an M.D. and Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, completed Neurology residency at the University of Pennsylvania, and postdoctoral training at University of California, Berkeley. He is currently the David Dolby Distinguished Professor of Neurology, Physiology and Psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco and the Founder & Executive Director of Neuroscape at UCSF, a translational neuroscience center engaged in technology creation and scientific research.

At Neuroscape, he leads the design and development of novel brain assessment and cognitive optimization technologies. Neuroscape’s novel approach involves the development of custom-designed, closed-loop video games integrated with the latest advancements in software and hardware (virtual/augmented reality, motion capture, mobile physiological recording devices, transcranial electrical brain stimulation). These technologies are then advanced to rigorous research studies that evaluate their impact on cognition, as well as neural mechanisms using a combination of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

Dr. Gazzaley is co-founder and Chief Science Advisor of Akili Interactive, a company developing therapeutic video games, Sensync, a company creating the first Sensory Immersion Vessel, and JAZZ Venture Partners, a venture capital firm investing in experiential technologies. He has been a scientific advisor for over a dozen companies including Apple, GE, Deloitte, Magic Leap, and the VOID. He was a Science Board member of the President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition, and is currently a Board of Trustee and Science Council member of the California Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Gazzaley has filed multiple patents for his inventions, authored over 140 scientific articles, and delivered over 675 invited presentations around the world. His research and perspectives have been consistently profiled in high-impact media, such as The New York Times, New York Times Magazine, New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, TIME, Discover, Wired, PBS, NPR, CNN and NBC Nightly News. He wrote and hosted the nationally-televised PBS special “The Distracted Mind with Dr. Adam Gazzaley”, and co-authored the 2016 MIT Press book “The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World”, winner of the 2017 PROSE Award in the category of Biomedicine and Neuroscience. Dr. Gazzaley has received many awards and honors, including the 2015 Society for Neuroscience Science Educator Award.Dr. Adam Gazzaley obtained an M.D. and Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, completed Neurology residency at the University of Pennsylvania, and postdoctoral training at University of California, Berkeley. He is currently the David Dolby Distinguished Professor of Neurology, Physiology and Psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco and the Founder & Executive Director of Neuroscape at UCSF, a translational neuroscience center engaged in technology creation and scientific research. At Neuroscape, he leads the design and development of novel brain assessment and cognitive optimization technologies. Neuroscape’s novel approach involves the development of custom-designed, closed-loop video games integrated with the latest advancements in software and hardware (virtual/augmented reality, motion capture, mobile physiological recording devices, transcranial electrical brain stimulation). These technologies are then advanced to rigorous research studies that evaluate their impact on cognition, as well as neural mechanisms using a combination of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Dr. Gazzaley is co-founder and Chief Science Advisor of Akili Interactive, a company developing therapeutic video games, Sensync, a company creating the first Sensory Immersion Vessel, and JAZZ Venture Partners, a venture capital firm investing in experiential technologies. He has been a scientific advisor for over a dozen companies including Apple, GE, Deloitte, Magic Leap, and the VOID. He was a Science Board member of the President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition, and is currently a Board of Trustee and Science Council member of the California Academy of Sciences. Dr. Gazzaley has filed multiple patents for his inventions, authored over 140 scientific articles, and delivered over 675 invited presentations around the world. His research and perspectives have been consistently profiled in high-impact media, such as The New York Times, New York Times Magazine, New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, TIME, Discover, Wired, PBS, NPR, CNN and NBC Nightly News. He wrote and hosted the nationally-televised PBS special “The Distracted Mind with Dr. Adam Gazzaley”, and co-authored the 2016 MIT Press book “The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World”, winner of the 2017 PROSE Award in the category of Biomedicine and Neuroscience. Dr. Gazzaley has received many awards and honors, including the 2015 Society for Neuroscience Science Educator Award.