Theme: WHY NOT: Fresh perspectives on science, culture, health, and the human experience

We will present an inspiring evening of talks on Science, Culture, and the Human Experience. Talks that will challenge our thinking, spark our imagination and leave attendees with a renewed sense of hope and possibility. Talks will include breakthroughs in research and science, exploring fresh ideas and innovative solutions to some of the most intractable problems.

Angelico Concert Hall
20 Olive Ave., Dominican University Of California
San Rafael, California, 94901
United States

Brad Jacobs

Brad is the Founder and Director of Blue Wave Medicine. He is a recognized leader in Integrative Medicine, Lifestyle Medicine, corporate health, and is an experienced physician, educator, and healthcare innovator. With an office located in the award-winning Cavallo Point Lodge in Sausalito, his practice is rooted in providing committed individuals comprehensive, personalized, and technology-enabled healthcare. This approach utilizes the best of conventional, genomic, lifestyle, and alternative medical practices.

Gary Muszynski

Gary Muszynski is an award-winning percussionist, composer, bandleader, recording artist, and producer. He creates genre-defying, original music that combines world folk traditions, infused with an improvisational sensibility and the sounds of nature. Gary has performed and recorded with some of the great musical luminaries of our times, including Bobby McFerrin, legendary Cuban pianist Omar Sosa, former cellist and co-founder of the Turtle Island Quartet, Mark Summer, Brazilian guitarist Romero Lubambo, bassist Kai Eckhardt (John McLaughlin) and pianist Frank Martin (Sting). Bay Area venues include the Freight and Salvage, SF Jazz, the Zellerbach stage for TEDxBerkeley and Peri Park in Fairfax. Gary's current album, Roots & Wings: Medicine Music, won the top honor at the prestigious Global Music Awards in 2021 and can be accessed through Gary’s website, oneworldmusic.com

Joanne Chen

Joanne is a General Partner at Foundation Capital in Silicon Velley. She studies the impact of AI on the enterprise and invests in AI-first B2B applications and data platforms that are the building blocks of the automated enterprise. She has shared her learnings as a featured speaker at conferences including CES, SXSW, WebSummit, and has spoken about the impact of AI on society in her TED talk “Confessions of an AI Investor.” Joanne has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Joanne’s passion for technology developed early, when her mathematician dad and computer scientist mom taught her how to program. By the time she was nine years old, she had turned her skills into a business and made her first webpage for a client. Joanne began her career as an engineer at Cisco Systems and later co-founded a mobile gaming company. She also spent many years working on Wall Street at Jefferies \& Company, helping tech companies go through the IPO and M\&A processes, and at Probitas Partners, advising venture firms on their own fundraising process. She was an angel investor for two years at Hyde Park Angels prior to joining Foundation in 2014. Joanne was on the boards of TubiTV (acquired by Fox for $500m) and Mya (acquired by Stepstone), and is currently on the board of and/or invested in Tonkean, Jasper.AI, SafelyYou, EraDB, CaptivateIQ, Oasis Labs, Watchful and others.

Juliana Chroeder

Joanne is a General Partner at Foundation Capital in Silicon Velley. She studies the impact of AI on the enterprise and invests in AI-first B2B applications and data platforms that are the building blocks of the automated enterprise. She has shared her learnings as a featured speaker at conferences including CES, SXSW, WebSummit, and has spoken about the impact of AI on society in her TED talk “Confessions of an AI Investor.” Joanne has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Joanne’s passion for technology developed early, when her mathematician dad and computer scientist mom taught her how to program. By the time she was nine years old, she had turned her skills into a business and made her first webpage for a client. Joanne began her career as an engineer at Cisco Systems and later co-founded a mobile gaming company. She also spent many years working on Wall Street at Jefferies \& Company, helping tech companies go through the IPO and M\&A processes, and at Probitas Partners, advising venture firms on their own fundraising process. She was an angel investor for two years at Hyde Park Angels prior to joining Foundation in 2014. Joanne was on the boards of TubiTV (acquired by Fox for $500m) and Mya (acquired by Stepstone), and is currently on the board of and/or invested in Tonkean, Jasper.AI, SafelyYou, EraDB, CaptivateIQ, Oasis Labs, Watchful and others.

Juliana Schroeder

Juliana Schroeder is a behavioral scientist who conducts research on social interaction. She holds the Harold Furst Chair in Management Philosophy and Values at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, runs Berkeley’s social science laboratory, and directs the Psychology of Technology Institute. She studies the psychological processes underlying how people think about the minds of those around them, and how their judgments then influence their decisions and interactions. Her research has been published in a wide range of academic journals and in several book chapters. It has been featured by media outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Harvard Business Review, NPR, and the Today Show. She has received funding from the National Science Foundation and awards from the Association for Psychological Science and the American Psychological Association.

Ken Goldberg

Ken is an American artist, writer, inventor, and researcher in the field of robotics and automation. He is professor and chair of the research department at the University of California, Berkeley, and holds the William S. Floyd Jr. Distinguished Chair in Engineering at Berkeley, with joint appointments in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS), Art Practice, and the School of Information. Goldberg also holds an appointment in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of California, San Francisco. Goldberg and his students have published over 170 peer-reviewed technical papers on algorithms for Robotics, Automation, and social information filtering. Goldberg leads the UC Berkeley Automation Sciences Lab, which pursues research in Cloud Robotics and Automation, Social Information Retrieval using geometric algorithms, and Algorithmic Automation for Feeding, Fixturing, Grasping, with an emphasis on geometric algorithms that minimize sensing and actuation. In his PhD dissertation, Goldberg developed the first algorithm for orienting (feeding) polygonal parts and proved that the algorithm can be used to orient any part up to rotational symmetry. He also patented the kinematically yielding gripper, a new robot gripper that complies passively to hold parts securely without sensing. Goldberg is Co-Founder and editor-in-chief of the IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering. His research has resulted in eight United States patents.

Nolan Williams

Dr. Williams is an Associate Professor within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Director of the Stanford Brain Stimulation Lab. Dr. Williams has a broad background in clinical neuroscience and is triple board-certified in general neurology, general psychiatry, as well as behavioral neurology & neuropsychiatry. In addition, he has specific training and clinical expertise in the development of brain stimulation methodologies. Themes of his work include (a) examining the use of spaced learning theory in the application of neurostimulation techniques, (b) development and mechanistic understanding of rapid-acting antidepressants, and (c) identifying objective biomarkers that predict neuromodulation responses in treatment-resistant neuropsychiatric conditions. Dr. Williams' work has resulted in an FDA clearance for the world's first non-invasive, rapid-acting neuromodulation approach for treatment-resistant depression. He has published papers in high-impact peer-reviewed journals including Brain, American Journal of Psychiatry, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Results from his studies have gained widespread attention in journals such as Science and New England Journal of Medicine Journal Watch as well as in the popular press and have been featured in various news sources including Time, Smithsonian, and Newsweek. Dr. Williams received two NARSAD Young Investigator Awards in 2016 and 2018 along with the 2019 Gerald R. Klerman Award. Dr. Williams received the National Institute of Mental Health Biobehavioral Research Award for Innovative New Scientists in 2020.