Use Your Head: The Future of Mind Hacks

David Pescovitz (david@pesco.net) is co-editor of the popular weblog BoingBoing.net and a research director with the Institute for the Future. He is also editor-at-large for MAKE: and writer-in-residence for UC Berkeley’s College of Engineering. Pescovitz co-wrote the book Reality Check, based on his long-running forecasting column in Wired magazine where he remains a correspondent. He also has contributed to Scientific American, Popular Science, the New York Times, the Washington Post, New Scientist, Business 2.0, and many other publications. In 2002, he won the Foresight Prize in Communication, recognizing excellence in educating the public and research community about nanotechnology and other emerging technologies. Pescovitz holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Electronic Media from the University of Cincinnati and a Master’s in Journalism from UC Berkeley.

Daniel Marcus directs the Neuroinformatics Research Group at Washington University School of Medicine. He architected the XNAT platform for running brain imaging data centers. Through his open access data projects, he has helped make thousands of brain scans freely available to researchers across the world. Dr. Marcus is also president of NRG Technologies, a commercial neuroimaging services venture.

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Alvaro Fernandez is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of www.SharpBrains.com, a leading online brain fitness destination and consulting company. A sought-after voice and thought-leader in the growing science-based brain fitness market, Alvaro has been quoted by Los Angeles Times, Forbes, MSNBC, MarketWatch, Technology & Learning, and is a frequent speaker at health, neurotechnology and education events. He co-authored with neuroscientist Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg the pioneering Brain Fitness 101 eBook. Alvaro holds an MBA and MA in Education from Stanford University.

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Timo Hannay is Publishing Director, Nature.com at the Nature Publishing Group, publishers of Nature and over over seventy other scientific journals, plus numerous online resources for scientists and those interested in science. His areas of responsibility include classified advertising as well as new online initiatives in social software, databases and audio-visual content. Timo trained as a neurophysiologist at the University of Oxford and worked as a journalist (The Economist, Nature Medicine) and a management consultant (McKinsey & Co.) before becoming a publisher. He lived in Japan for over five years and retains a strong interest in, and connections with, the country.

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