Leadership

Our team, combining world-leading expertise in neurophysiology, cognitive psychology, brain health, brain performance, neuroergonomics, advanced analytical methods and bio and electrical engineering, has enabled Neuroverse to develop a unique brain interface capable of serious neurocognitive assessments and interventions, in a wearable intuitive form factor.

The critical product development foundations are ensured through the integration of a strong neurosciences and brain health leadership with several years of experience at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and a world-leading multidisciplinary team and advisory board. From the continuous and integrated input of leading experts in mobile technologies, to bioengineering pioneers, mental health clinicians and human performance experts, this technology has been and will continue to be shaped into a truly holistic and unique tool for brain health and performance.

Dr. Ricardo Gil-da-Costa is a neuroscientist and entrepreneur who holds a MSc in Biology and a PhD in Biomedical Sciences - Cognitive Neurosciences. Dr. Gil-da Costa’s research on the neural foundations of human cognition and language, at Harvard University, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (N.I.H.) and the Salk Institute, has been distinguished with multiple awards and honors and is incorporated in textbooks and university curricula. Dr. Gil-da-Costa was selected as a NATO Innovator to integrate the Alliance’s network for technology innovation in Human Health & Performance. He is a reviewer and advisor for leading scientific journals and government and private institutions, such as the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the National Academies Keck Future Initiative and the Bankinter Innovation Foundation. His current focus on neurotechnologies to impact brain performance and brain disorders led to several international patents and to co-founding Neuroverse® Inc., where he leads a team committed to bringing a novel brain interface into everyday life, and to shaping the next generation of Healthcare, Human Performance and Defense.

Ricardo GIL-DA-COSTA, Ph.D.
C.E.O.
Harvard University
National Institutes of Health
Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Mike completed his undergraduate studies in Electrical Engineering before pursuing graduate education in Bioengineering. Leveraging this diverse background, he has contributed to the development of advanced hardware for brain interfaces as well as sophisticated military security systems.

Michael BAJEMA, M.Sci.
Engineering Lead
UCSD
Northwestern University
Kettering University

Dr. Feinstein is an expert in the neuroscience of fear who is trailblazing a new path forward for the treatment of anxiety and PTSD. His research has revealed important clues about the role of the human amygdala and insula in the conscious experience of fear, anxiety, and panic. He has over 75 peer-reviewed publications in some of the world's top scientific journals and his research has been featured in the popular press including the New York Times, NPR, TIME magazine, and CBS National News. His current work is focused on studying the intimate connection between the visceral body and the brain (i.e., interoception), and developing new technologies to help bring this connection to the forefront of awareness. This research has laid the foundation for novel therapies that can naturally alleviate stress and anxiety without the use of drugs including Floatation-REST (Reduced Environmental Stimulation Therapy) and the modulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a form of interoceptive exposure therapy. In 2021, Dr. Feinstein established the Float Research Collective on the island of Maui, a nonprofit organization that is playing a pivotal role in establishing Floatation-REST as an accepted medical treatment.

Justin FEINSTEIN, Ph.D.
Brain Health Lead
Caltech
UCSD
Laureate Inst. Brain Res.

Marco LOPES, M.Sci.
NeuroSoftware Lead
Harvard University
National Institutes of Health
Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Mark Stephenson has over 27 years of experience working in the Human Performance field, and is currently the Director of Mass General Brigham's Center for Sports Performance and Research. He previously served as the program manager of the Human Performance Program at a special operations unit for the Department of Defense (DoD), where he is responsible for all aspects of human performance to include strength and conditioning, sports medicine, nutrition, mental conditioning, combative’s, and research. Prior to working with the DoD, Mr. Stephenson served as the Director of the Human Performance Center at the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) where he developed the Tactical Strength and Conditioning (TSAC) program. His duties while at the NSCA included serving as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Colorado Men’s Ice Hockey team and the Tactical Physiologist for the Colorado Springs Police Tactical Enforcement Unit (SWAT).

Mark STEPHENSON, MS, ATC, CSCS
Human Performance Lead
Harvard University
Naval Special Warfare DEVGRU
NFL Detroit Lions

Poonacha Machaiah is the CEO of The Chopra Foundation, dedicated to improving health, social and planetary wellbeing. Co-founder of Seva.Love the metaverse platform for wellbeing and ChopraX, a venture platform backing transformative entrepreneurs reimagining the future of health and wellbeing, along with world-renowned mind-body medicine pioneer and New York Times best-selling author Deepak Chopra, MD. He has co-founded initiatives such as NeverAlone® to address mental well-being and suicide prevention. Co-founded CIRCA®, an anxiety management platform, along with Srini Pillay, MD — Harvard-trained psychiatrist and brain researcher, and Cyberhuman.ai, a personalized AI platform for optimizing health and wellness. He is on the board of transformative companies such as The Healing Company, Beacon Media, Limitless Minds and Reulay. He has also held senior management positions at Nortel, Iridium, Motorola and Sasken. He holds an MBA from the College of William and Mary, and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Engineering.

Poonacha MACHAIAH, M.B.A.
Human Wellbeing Lead
The Chopra Foundation
Coll. William & Mary
Motorola

Founding Mentors

Irwin Jacobs

Irwin Jacobs is the co-founder and chairman of QUALCOMM Incorporated, a San Diego-based Fortune 500 company known for its innovative cellular phone technology and as the largest supplier of semiconductors to wireless phone manufacturers. Qualcomm pioneered the development and commercialization of CDMA mobile wireless technology, now adopted for all third-generation cellular communications and in use by over eight hundred million consumers worldwide for voice and mobile broadband Internet access. He holds thirteen CDMA patents. QUALCOMM has been named for 11 consecutive years to the Fortune list of The 100 Best Companies To Work For, ranking 16th in 2009. He was an Assistant/Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at MIT, and was a founding faculty member of UC San Diego as Professor of Computer Science and Engineering. He has received numerous awards, including the National Medal of Technology from the President, for his achievements in the corporate world as well as for his leadership in the San Diego community. He serves as Chairman of the National Academy of Engineering and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Dr. Jacobs served as a Trustee of the Foundation Board for 12 years, from 2000 to 2012, and was elected as a Trustee Emeritus in 2018. He is an Honorary Chair of the Campaign for UC San Diego, and serves on the Health Board of Advisors and the Jacobs School of Engineering Dean's Council of Advisors. Irwin and his wife, Joan Jacobs, were recognized in 2020 with the inaugural Lifetime Legacy Award for their commitment to UC San Diego and the community. He received a B.E.E. degree from Cornell University, and a M.S. and Sc.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Shu ChieN

Dr. Shu Chien is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was the recipient of the US National Medal of Science in 2011. He joined UCSD in 1988 becoming the founding chair of the Department of Bioengineering in 1994. In 2008, Dr. Chien became the founding Director of UC San Diego's new Institute of Engineering in Medicine to foster collaborations among the faculty of UCSD and with research institutes and biomedical companies in San Diego. As principal investigator on the Whitaker Foundation Development Award (1993) and Leadership Award (1998), Dr. Chien played a major role in establishing UCSD' bioengineering program as one of the top programs in the country. As founding Director of the UC Systemwide Bioengineering Institute in California, he has contributed to collaborations in research and education among the ten UC campuses. In September 2006, Dr. Chien was named the inaugural holder of the Y.C. Fung Endowed Chair in Bioengineering at the Jacobs School. Dr. Chien received his M.D. from the National Taiwan University and his Ph.D. in Physiology from Columbia University, where he was a professor from 1969 to 1988.

Advisory Board

Jean-Pierre Changeux

Prof. Jean-Pierre Changeux is Emeritus Professor of Neuroscience at the Institut Pasteur and Professor in the chair of Cellular Communications at the Collège de France and Honorary President of the Neuroscience Department at Institut Pasteur. Since 2006, he is International Faculty at the Kavli Institute for Brain & Mind, University of California (San Diego).Prof. Changeux is internationally recognized for his exceptional scientific achievements and leadership in the field of neuroscience and especially for his pioneering contributions to the science and understanding of neuroreceptors for the past 50 years. His breakthrough discovery of the acetylcholine receptor as a model membrane receptor was ground-breaking since it has proven to be one of the most central regulatory mechanisms in biology. This has led to an original insight into the chemistry of the brain and ultimately the brain-mind relationship. In recognition of his work, Professor Changeux has been acknowledge by several prestigious prizes and awards, among which the: Albert Einstein World Award of Science (2018), Goldman-Rakic Prize (2018), Olav Thon international research award in biomedicine (2016), National Academy of Sciences Award in the Neurosciences (2007), Balzan Prize for Cognitive Neuroscience (2001), Linus Pauling medal (1998, 1999), Louis Jeantet Prize for Medicine(1993), Wolf Foundation Prize in Medicine (1983), Richard Lounsbery Prize (1983), Gairdner Foundation International Award (1978), etc. Professor Jean-Pierre Changeux authored more than 600 papers (h-index: 153).

Deepak Chopra

Dr. Chopra is Neuroverse’s Chief Advisor for the Public Understanding of MindBody Wellbeing. He is the founder of The Chopra Foundation and the Chopra Center for Wellbeing, is a world-renowned pioneer in mind-body medicine and personal transformation, and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Metabolism. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists.
He has authored more than 80 books, published in more than 43 languages, including 22 New York Times best sellers, two of them recognized on The Books of The Century Bestsellers List. For the last three years, Greatist.com recognizes Dr. Chopra as one of “The 100 Most Influential People in Health and Fitness “. The World Post and The Huffington Post global internet survey ranked him #17 influential thinker in the world and #1 in Medicine Fitness. TIME magazine has described Dr. Chopra as “one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century”. He serves as the Co founder of Jiyo, Founder of The Chopra Well on YouTube, as a Professors in various top universities, including, Columbia, UCSD and Northwestern universities, and as Faculty at Walt Disney Imagineering, and Senior Scientist with The Gallup Organization.

Gari Cheever

Mr. Cheever is a founding partner of Gunderson Dettmer's San Diego and Los Angeles offices. He has extensive experience developing, managing, and representing emerging growth companies, public corporations, venture capital and private equity firms. He spent two decades in Silicon Valley, where he represented numerous technology companies-from start-ups to Fortune 100 enterprises, including Cisco Systems, from its early days, through venture financing and IPO.

Isabel Pavão-Martins

Professor Pavão-Martins is the Director of the Language Research Laboratory at Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon. She has over 20 years of both clinical and research experience on the fields of neural processing of language and migraine, with scientific publications on both subjects, and held previous positions at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, London, UK, and at the Dept. Neurology, The Hospitals for Sick Children, London, UK.

KIANA ARAN

Professor Aran also serves as Co-Director of the Center for Technologies for Healthy Aging at the Institute of Engineering in Medicine at UC San Diego, where she leads initiatives to improve health technologies for aging populations. She is also an active member of New Voices for the National Academy of Sciences and Engineering, contributing to U.S. STEM policy reforms aimed at translating academic discoveries into impactful innovations. In addition to her academic leadership, Dr. Aran co-founded Cardea Bio, a company focused on developing graphene-based biosensors, which was successfully acquired. She also co-founded CRISPR QC, a biotechnology firm that advances precision CRISPR analytical tools. Dr. Aran’s work has been widely recognized with numerous prestigious awards. In 2024, she was named a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors and awarded Distinguished Engineer of the Year by the San Diego Society of Engineers. She was also named to New Voices in Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in 2023, the same year she was honored as a Distinguished Engineer by the Society of Women Engineers and was selected as Inc. USA’s Top 200 Female Founders. In 2022, she received the Distinguished Engineering Medal of Excellence from Rutgers University and became a member of the World Minds community. Among her many accolades, Aran was the overall winner of the Nature Research Awards for Inspiring Women in Science in 2021, earned the NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, and was recognized by The Scientist for developing one of the Top 10 Innovations of the year. Her earlier honors include the Athena Pinnacle Award in 2020 and the Clinical OMICs 10 Under 40 Award, as well as being featured in Nature’s Behind the Paper Top 10 List and Most Read Nature Biomedical Engineering Paper in 2019. She also received accolades from the San Diego Venture Group for leading one of the Coolest Companies of 2019, along with the CONNECT Most Innovative Product Award in the Life Sciences and Healthtech category that same year. Dr. Aran holds more than 32 issued or pending patents, reflecting her innovative contributions to biotechnology.

Allen Braun

Dr. Allen Braun is a Senior Scientist at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress and the Uniformed Services University. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature at Washington University in St. Louis in 1968 and did graduate work in Neuroendocrinology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison prior to attending Rush Medical College, where he received an MD in 1980. Dr. Braun is board certified in Neurology (ABPN) and Nuclear Medicine (ABNM). Following his postdoctoral training, Dr. Braun remained at the NIH and joined the intramural faculty at the NIMH and NIDCD, where he received tenure in 2003. As a PI, Dr. Braun directed a laboratory largely devoted to clinical and preclinical neuroimaging. In addition to his research activities at the NIH, Dr. Braun served on the NIH IRB, the Animal Care and Use Committee, the Imaging Probe Development Core and as intramural consultant on several extramural study sections. He retired from the NIH in 2016 and joined the Behavioral Biology Branch at WRAIR as a fellow in the ORISE knowledge preservation program. At WRAIR, Dr. Braun was involved in the development of projects designed to characterize the electrophysiological and cognitive effects of novel hypnotic agents and use neuroimaging methods to identify the CNS effects of chronic sleep restriction. The overarching goal of his work has been to develop imaging methods that will serve as outcome measures to investigate and monitor the efficacy of therapeutic interventions. Dr. Braun has published over 140 peer-reviewed publications, in journals such as Science, Nature Neuroscience, PNAS, PLOS One, Brain and Cerebral Cortex, which have received over 14,000 citations. He is a member of the American Academy of Neurology, Society for Neuroscience, Cognitive Neuroscience Society and the Society for the Neurobiology of Language and has served as associate editor of Human Brain Mapping and on the editorial board of a number of additional publications.

Gregory Light

Dr. Gregory Light is a Professor and Vice Chair of Education and Training in the UCSD Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Light also serves as the Director of Mental Health Research and the Director of the Mental Illness, Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC) at the VA San Diego Healthcare System. In these roles, he provides leadership, supervision, and administrative support across several clinical, education, and multidisciplinary research programs. Dr. Light has published over 175 peer-reviewed papers (h-index=63). This work has been prominently featured in policy reports from the Institute of Medicine for next-generation strategies for personalized treatments of psychotic disorders.

Dayu Teng

Dr. Dayu Teng is a serial entrepreneur in innovations in combinatorial drug profiling, 3D-printed vascular structures, and medical devices. He received his Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego, studying under Professor Shu Chien, a distinguished scientist and one of the founding fathers of Bioengineering. Together with Professor Chien, he co-founded a biotechnology company that optimizes cancer and bacterial therapies using biochip and 3D bioprinting technology. At UC San Diego, Dr. Teng is 3D printing live-cell aneurysms to test drugs and devices. Dr. Teng joined the Ally Bridge Group, a healthcare-focused fund, as a Venture Partner and Scientific Advisor since its inception in 2013. At Ally Bridge, Dr. Teng participated in numerous MedTech and Diagnostic investments including NxThera, Shockwave, Axonics, Pulmonx, Grail, Ceribell, among others.

François Ferré

Dr. Ferré is the co-founder and co-CEO of ALMA Life Sciences LLC, a healthcare investment and consulting firm with a portfolio of over twenty private investments with a major focus on disease prevention. Dr. Ferré co-founded Althea Technologies and served as co-CEO from 1998 until 2008 and he is now a Director of Althea following its acquisition by Ajinomoto. He is also co-Founder of AltheaDx, a precision medicine company. He currently serves on the board of a number of private companies including Biomatrica and Portable Genomics. He is co-Chairman of the Advisory Board of MD Revolution. He serves as a Director of the La Jolla Institute and of the Chopra Foundation. Dr. Ferré is a leader in genomics and has published several authoritative reviews in this field, including the co-edition of a bestseller book on PCR with Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Kary Mullis. He received his PhD in molecular oncology from the Pasteur Institute, France, and did his post-doctoral training at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Ferré was the winner of the 2005 E&Y Regional Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Life Sciences category. In 2016, Dr. Ferré was inducted into the CONNECT Entrepreneur Hall of Fame.

Magda Marquet

Dr. Marquet is a life sciences entrepreneur, investor and community leader. She is the co-founder and co-CEO of ALMA Life Sciences LLC, an investment and consulting firm with a focus on prevention. She is also the chairman and co-founder of Althea, and served as co-president and CEO for 10 years before the company’s acquisition by Ajinomoto. Marquet co-founded Althea Dx, a spin-off of Althea Technologies focusing in precision medicine. She previously held management positions at numerous biotechnology companies, and serves as a Board member and advisor for many others. She has received numerous awards throughout her career as a business leader passionate about entrepreneurship including the Regional Entrepreneur of the Year award in Life Sciences and the Director of the Year award. She holds the honor of being the first woman inducted into the CONNECT Entrepreneur Hall of Fame.

Julia Brown

Julia R. Brown, an executive from the life science industry, is a member of the Board of Directors of Targacept, Inc., Labopharm, Inc., and MediQuest Therapeutics, Inc. and of the National Association of Corporate Directors. From 2000-2003 was Executive Vice President of Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and served as Advisor to the CEO until 2008. She is a member of the board of CONNECT, from which she received the award for "Distinguished Contribution to the Life Science Industry".

Alan Portela

With more than 25 years of healthcare industry experience and a passion to lead via disruptive and continuous innovation, Alan Portela is currently the CEO of DEPTH Health. He previously served as the CEO of AirStrip, where his vision of healthcare mobility has led the company to a solid stand in the healthcare industry. Before joining AirStrip, Mr. Portela was the President of CliniComp, Intl. and previously led the implementation of high-acuity EHR systems at the U.S. Military Health System, Veterans Health Administration (VA) and a number of prestigious healthcare organizations in the private sector. Mr. Portela has held senior executive roles with a number of innovative healthcare technology vendors and was among the leaders who pioneered Global Care Quest, an mHealth company that emerged from UCLA Medical Center Department of Neurosurgery more than a decade ago.