““As a neuroscientist who has worked with severely brain-injured patients for more than 25 years, I have seen first hand how research in this area can dramatically improve the lives of patients and their families. As a member of the board, I will continue to push for further progress in our understanding and treatment of these complex and challenging conditions.” ”
Adrian M. Owen, OBE, PhD
Adrian M. Owen OBE, PhD is currently a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Imaging in the Departments of Physiology & Pharmacology and Psychology at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. He also directs the Azrieli program in Brain, Mind, and Consciousness funded by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), is on the Executive Committee of the CFREF funded initiative BrainsCAN and was previously the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience and Imaging at Western University. Dr Owen is best known for showing that functional neuroimaging can reveal conscious awareness in some patients who appear to be entirely vegetative and can even allow some of these individuals to communicate their thoughts and wishes to the outside world. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles and chapters and a best-selling popular science book ‘Into the Gray Zone: A Neuroscientist Explores the Border Between Life and Death. Dr. Owen was recently awarded Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen’s Honors List, 2019, for services to scientific research.
“Conrad Smiles provides hope not just for victims of pediatric non-fatal drowning, but the families and communities impacted by this state. Through groundbreaking scientific research and data-driven trials, we move past the numbers to heal and better the lives of individuals.”
Steven Laureys, MD, PhD
Steven leads the Coma Science Group at the GIGA (ULg) and Department of Neurology, Sart Tilman Liège University Hospital . He is Clinical Professor (ULg) and Research Director (tenure) at the Belgian National Fund of Scientific Research (FNRS). He graduated as a Medical Doctor from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel Belgium, in 1993. While specializing in Neurology he entered a research career and obtained his M.Sc. in Pharmaceutical Medicine working on pain and stroke using in vivomicrodialysis and diffusion MRI in the rat (1997). Drawn by functional neuroimaging, he moved to the Cyclotron Research Center at the University of Liège, Belgium, where he obtained his Ph.D. (2000) and his "thèse d'agrégation de l'enseignement supérieur" (2007) studying residual brain function in coma, vegetative, minimally conscious and locked-in states . He is board-certified in neurology (1998) and in palliative and end-of-life medicine (2004) and presently is invited professor at the Collège Belgique (Belgian Royal Academy of Sciences) and chair of the "European Neurological Society Subcommittee on Coma and disorders of consciousness".
Suhail Arastu
Suhail Arastu was raised in San Antonio, Texas and studied Neurobiology & Classics at The University of California, Berkeley where he competed as an NCAA Gymnast. In Philadelphia he began graduate studies before moving to a small Japanese mountain village for a year of contemplation, deep sea fishing, hiking, skiing and teaching. He then travelled the world by ship under the auspices of the United Nations Economic & Social Council before returning home in 2008. Suhail works in Institutional Advancement for Musical Bridges Around the World, a non-profit performing arts company charged to unite, educate and inspire through culturally diverse visual and performing arts. He served two terms as a Trustee of The Mind Science Foundation, one term on the Board of Directors of Gemini Ink and is the Arts & Culture Chair for Anuja San Antonio - the organization managing San Antonio’s Sister City Relations with Chennai, India. Suhail is the Mayor's appointee to the Public Art Commission and enjoys serving on the Board of Directors of Constitution Cafe & The Lone Star Art Alliance. He was elected to the 40th Class of Leadership San Antonio and completed a Marshall Memorial Fellowship in Spring of 2018; in August of the same year he was appointed to serve on the Board of Sister Cities International, a Washington DC based organization that grew out of the League of Cities under President Eisenhower. Suhail was named 40 Under 40 by the Business Journal in 2020. He leads Yoga privately and at Yoga in Motion while serving on the Advisory Council of International Yoga Day - a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2014. A collection of Suhail’s photographs from seven continents was shown at PechaKucha Volume 5.