Speakers
Rummana Aslam
Yale School of Medicine
Speech Title: Digitalization of motor Performance
Dr. Aslam is an Associate Professor and Chief of Physical Medical and Rehabilitation at Yale School of Medicine. She is also the Medical Director of Yale New Haven Health Wound and Hyperbaric Center and founder of the new ACGME Accredited PMR residency program, which started at Yale in July 2024. She is Fellowship program director of the Yale Chronic Wound Care and Regenerative Medicine Fellowship program which she both initiated and developed. Her Physiatry practice focuses on brain injury rehabilitation in addition to chronic wound care. Dr. Aslam is the co-lead of the Yale Avascular Necrosis program which offers hyperbaric oxygen therapy in addition to surgery as treatment for early avascular necrosis. She has a keen interest in Rehabilitation Engineering and works closely with engineering students to develop new innovative technologies to enhance mind and body performance.
Glenna Batson
Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University
Speech Title: Embodied Cognition Through the Lens of Dance For Health Glenna Batson, ScD, PT, MA
For the last five decades, Glenna has worked at the intersection of dance, Somatic arts, embodiment studies, and neurorehabilitation. This wayfinding excursion wove in and out of many academic-, pedestrian- and exotic milieus. Whether teacher and mentor in higher dance education, or waitress, maid, or belly dancer, Glenna pursued work as a growth gesture – as a way of unearthing new knowledges that could break down uni-disciplinary silos and cross class boundaries. Glenna engages routinely with multiple sectors both within the academy and other cultural hubs and organizations that place arts for health as a central value to their vision and mission. She is an internationally recognized teacher of the Alexander Technique (qualified 1989) and was pivotal in the establishment of the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science in the 1980s (IADMS.org). A former Fulbright Senior Specialist in dance education (2008-2019), Glenna received the first honorary fellowship award for her contributions to dance science from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance (London, UK). Between 2009 and 2015, she pioneered research on improvisational dance and Parkinson’s disease. Glenna remains an active consultant to arts-for-health initiatives, community dance muse for those living with Parkinson’s, and mentor to dance students - currently teaching Somatics in the dance program at Peabody Institute for Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD USA). For the past decade, Glenna has collaborated with dancer/multimedia artist Susan Sentler in honing a practice-based languaging on bodily folding (the f/old as somatic/artistic practice). She is the author of Body and Mind in Motion: Dance and Neuroscience in Conversation and co-editor/contributor to Dance, Somatics and Spiritualities: Contemporary Sacred Narratives (2014). She awaits the 2024 publication of Embodied Enquiry in Art Making: The F/ol\d (Sentler & Batson, Intellect Books UK). She is a civil rights activist, focusing on abolishing extreme sentences and mass incarceration. At 75, she is a woman who is dancing while aging and she fully intends for her last bloom to be the brightest.
Morris Bell
Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Scientist, Yale University School of Medicine
Speech Title: The Automated Test of Embodied Cognition for Children and Adults: Reliability and Validity
Morris Bell, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry and Senior Research Scientist at Yale University School of Medicine and Senior Research Career Scientist for the Rehabilitation Research and Development Service of the Department of Veterans Affairs, USA. Dr. Bell has been a clinical researcher for 48 years exploring ways to restore cognitive and work capacity for people with persistent mental illness and substance abuse. He was among the first to study the beneficial effects of work activity and to explore determinants of work capacity. He is the founder and director of the VA/Yale Learning Based Recovery Center.
Dr. Bell has developed a number of learning-based interventions to promote recovery in schizophrenia and substance abuse disorders. He has conducted studies that combine new methods of cognitive retraining with employment services to improve functional outcomes. He created a Virtual Reality Job Interview Training program with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) that is now commercially available and widely used in vocational rehabilitation programs.
Dr. Bell has been an important contributor to studies of social cognition and is the co-developer of the Bell Lysaker Emotion Recognition Test (BLERT), which is recommended by NIMH for clinical trials involving social cognition, the Social Attribution Test (SAT), the Bell Object Relations Reality Testing Inventory (BORRTI) and the Bell Relationship Inventory for Adolescents (BRIA). He also developed the Work Behavior Inventory which is used nationally and internationally in rehabilitation programs. Dr. Bell has developed a measure of embodied cognition (Automated Test of Embodied Cognition; ATEC) that uses cognitively demanding physical tasks for children and adults, motion capture technology and AI for scoring performance.
Dr. Bell’s research activities are supported by grants from NIMH, NIDA NIAAA, NSF, DoD, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. He also serves as chairman of his Institutional Review Board at VA CT and consults to industry and other research groups internationally on rehabilitation interventions.
Anna Bottino
Ph.D. Student, Springfield College
Speech Title: Embodied Cognition and Trauma Informed Coaching: An Integrative Perspective
Anna Bottino (they/she) is a third year Ph.D. student in the Springfield College Sport and Exercise Psychology Program, where they are a research and teaching fellow. Their research interests center the experiences of LGBTQIA+ individuals in sport. They are also a 2024 Adidas x Athlete Ally Research Fellow and graduate mental performance consultant for Smith College. Previously, Anna earned a M.S. in Sport Psychology from Ithaca College and B.A. in Psychology from the University at Albany, SUNY.
Elia Burbidge
MS, Springfield College
Speech Title: Embodied Cognition and Trauma Informed Coaching: An Integrative Perspective
Elia Burbidge is a first year Ph.D. student in the Sport and Exercise Psychology program at Springfield College. She previously studied at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville where she received her M.S in Sport and Exercise Psychology. At SIUE, Elia completed her thesis on perceptions and use of mental skills and sport psychology in collegiate hockey players, and the influence of hockey culture on these ideologies. She also studied at McKendree University where she received her B.A in Psychology with a minor in Sport Psychology. While at McKendree, Elia played four years of DI ice hockey for the Bearcats. She later transitioned into the role of Assistant Coach while completing her M.S for both the Bearcats and St. Louis AAA Lady Blues. Her research interests include perceptions and use of mental skills, hockey culture, and team dynamics.
Terence Ching
Associate Research Scientist, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine
Speech Title: Psychedelics and the Body: Exploring the Impact of Somatic Psychedelic Effects on Mental Health
Terence Ching (he/him) is a licensed clinical psychologist and associate research scientist in the Department of Psychiatry. Terence co-leads the development and conduct of psilocybin clinical trials for OCD as part of the Yale OCD Research Clinic and the Yale Program for Psychedelic Science, under the mentorship of Benjamin Kelmendi, MD, and Christopher Pittenger, MD, PhD. Terence received his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Connecticut. He has interests and expertise in: (1) fear- and trauma-based disorders; (2) exposure-based, integrative cognitive-behavior therapies; (3) culturally attuned care; and (4) therapeutic applications of psychedelics. Terence has completed clinical training in a variety of settings, including the University of Connecticut, the Institute of Living, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and the Connecticut Mental Health Center. Additionally, Terence is a MAPS-certified psychedelic therapist in the MDMA-Assisted Therapy for PTSD Expanded Access Program. Terence also has experience providing ketamine-assisted psychotherapy for individuals with depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
Kayla Cloud
PhD Student, Springfield College
Speech Title: Embodied Cognition and Trauma Informed Coaching: An Integrative Perspective
Kayla Cloud is a current PhD student in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Springfield College. She is the former Director of Rowing Programs for a sports based youth development non-profit in Seattle, Washington. Cloud received a master’s in Exercise and Sport Studies at Smith College in 2020.
Martha Eddy
Founding Director, Center for Embodied Learning - Dynamic Embodiment
Speech Title: Movement, Dance and Aging Panel & Teaching Teachers: Neurommotor Assessment
Martha Eddy, MA (TC, Columbia Uni 1985) EdD (TC, Columbia Uni 1998), MSMT, CMA, EdD is an international speaker, author of Mindful Movement the evolution of somatic arts and conscious action, world-renowned somatic movement therapist, exercise physiologist, and award-winning dance educator. She has been involved with movement research with Columbia School of Public Health/NIH on exercise adherence, with CU Medical Center on exercise efficacy with women of different ages with chronic diseases, and with New York University Langone on the role of her program – Moving For Life – as a lifestyle intervention effects on on weight management and the side effects to breast cancer treatment, now also available for free for older adults with varying chronic diseases. She has innovated healthy and joyous movement programming integrating biobehavioral sciences, somatic therapies, and social emotional learning for 45 years. She was also part of the innovator wave that began the field of Personal Training and has led the development of Somatic Fitness. While at Marymount Manhattan College, she was the first Geraldine Ferraro Fellow of Civic Engagement, and the Coordinator of the Body, Science and Motion program that prepared dance majors for careers in medicine, physical therapy, psychology, and biological research. During the pandemic she was quoted in AARP for her knowledge of aging, neuroscience, creative processes and cognition.
Eddy provides direct services, professional development and curricular designs through her Center For Embodied Learning (formerly Center for Kinesthetic Education) for schools throughout the USA and Europe. She has developed a neuromotor screening for children, teens, and adults with varying physical and learning disabilities. It has been piloted in Head Start programs in Eastern Ohio and has been taught to 3K teachers throughout the NYC Public School system with the Dance Education Laboratory founded by Jody Arnhold. Her Dynamic Embodiment Somatic Movement Therapy has been applied individually and within classrooms to enhance learning capacities of children and youth with ADD, ADHD, autism, Cerebral Palsy, and various perceptual issues. Her older clients have dealt with cancer, cerebellar inflammation, eating disorders, immune deficiency, Parkinson’s Disease, and stroke. Her research interests focus on health, neuroscience, and varying movement rhythms. She greatly values creative expression and its relationship to emotional life and communication. She was sought out by the Arts Education Policy Review to co-edit applied research practices for Socio-Emotional Learning and The Arts. This work overlaps with her research on Conflict Resolution and the Role of Physical Activity in Educational Violence Prevention for Youth. Dr. Eddy maintains a small private practice as a Developmental Movement Therapist. Her clients are all ages – from pregnant women & neonates, through to elders in hospice. She is honored to have worked closely with Dr. Maxine Greene, founder of the Lincoln Center Institute, in her affiliations with Columbia University Dance Education programs and the BioBehavioral Science Department, where is currently an honorary member of the faculty.
Madeleine Hackney
Associate Professor, Emory University and Atlanta VA Medical Center
Speech Title: Building the Evidence for Social Dance as Medicine
Dr. Madeleine E. Hackney, Ph.D, holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, and a Ph.D. in Movement Science from Washington University in St. Louis. She is a tenured Associate professor of Medicine, in the Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, division of Geriatrics and Gerontology, a Research Health Scientist at the Atlanta VA Center for Visual and Neurocognitive Rehabilitation and an Investigator with the Birmingham/Atlanta VA Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center. In 2022, she became an inaugural Research fellow for the Emory University Science Gallery Atlanta.
She has received funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the NIH, the NSF, the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the Parkinson Foundation and the CDC. She frequently reviews grant applications for the VA and the NIH, and recently for the National Endowment for the Arts. Her research has received media coverage in the New York Times, Scientific American, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, National Public Radio and in Musicophilia, by Oliver Sachs. Dr. Hackney has chaired the Bettye Rose Connell Memorial Lecture committee and event through both 2 virtual events in fall 2020 and spring 2021, and the return to an in-person/hybrid event in spring 2022 engaging three guest lecturers for the events. Dr. Hackney serves in multiple roles as a peer reviewer, on the editorial staff of J Alzheimer's Disease, and as a mentor to several students and scholars. In 2020-2021, she led the CDC STEADI fall implementation program to complete recruitment within Emory primary care, a monumental accomplishment as the entire program shifted to virtual delivery during COVID. She has been a key member of the VA Gerofit implementation team, which is now a thriving, longitudinal physical activity program for older Veterans. Dr. Hackney has presented her work about exercise and dance for those with PD and older adults nationally and internationally, including at the Karolinska Institute Nobel Forum, in Tel Aviv, Hong Kong, and Kyoto. Recently she presented webinars for conferences about older adults, movement disorders, and physical activity combined with the arts in Italy and Denmark. She was awarded the Selma Jeanne Cohen Dance Lectureship from the Fulbright Foundation in 2015, was a finalist for the 2016 Atlanta Magazine's Groundbreaker of the Year and received the Emory Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology Ambassador in Aging award in 2022.
Jennifer Hankenson
Assistant Professor/Program Director of Physiatry, Yale University Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation
Speech Title: Lifestyle Medicine For Neuro Recovery
Dr. Hankenson, a physiatrist, is an Assistant Professor of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation at Yale School of Medicine and Program Director of the Physiatry residency. She is board certified in Physiatry and Lifestyle Medicine. She specializes in neurorehabilitation in both adults and children. She works in a collaborative approach with other medical professionals, providing a patient and their family a multidisciplinary team dedicated to improving function and overall well-being.
Dr. Hankenson's areas of expertise include the following:
Adult and pediatric tone evaluation and management
Botox or chemo denervation as a treatment for spasticity, dystonia and thoracic outlet syndrome
Baclofen pump management
Post stroke or traumatic brain injury
Spinal cord injury
Cerebral palsy
Neurologic rehabilitation
Prosthetics and Orthotics
Lifestyle Medicine interventions
Dr. Hankenson first discovered the specialty of physiatry or physical medicine and rehabilitation during her medical school training at the University of South Florida in Tampa, FL. Her interest in caring for patients with medical conditions requiring complex rehabilitation management grew during her residency at Medstar/Georgetown University in Washington, DC. There she gained exposure to both adult and pediatric rehabilitation in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings. She has a strong interest in gait analysis and looks to restore functional gait through non-operative management. She also works closely with her orthopedic colleagues to help with rehabilitation needs pre- and post-surgery.
When she isn’t in the clinic, she’ll be playing tennis, spending time with her family, and spending time outdoors.
Lijuan Hou
Professor, Beijing Normal University
Speech Title: Neurochemical basis of motivation involved in physical activity
Jasmin Hutchinson
Professor, Springfield College
Speech Title: Post-cognitivist exercise psychology: Interoceptive and affective influences on exercise behavior
Jasmin Hutchinson is a professor of exercise science and director of graduate studies in sport and exercise psychology at Springfield College. She received her PhD in sport psychology from Florida State University in 2004. Hutchinson is a certified mental performance consultant through the Association of Applied Sport Psychology and a certified exercise physiologist through the American College of Sports Medicine. Her research interests center around psychophysiological aspects of exercise behavior and the effects of music during exercise. Hutchinson is a Fellow of the Association of Applied Sport Psychology. In 2018 she was awarded the Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology Paper of the Year by the American Psychological Association for her work entitled “The influence of self-selected music on affect-regulated exercise intensity and remembered pleasure during treadmill running”.
Victoria Isaacson
Doctor of Occupational Therapy, Independent
Speech Title: Preliminary investigation into the cognitive impacts of wheelchair fencing
Victoria has been told that she is a living example of Tim Notke’s quote, “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard”.
She was born with a genetic condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which has led to decreased functional mobility and severe health complications. She was often told by peers and even teachers that she would never be an athlete. She was always chosen last in gym class and often benched in team sports. Despite this, she never gave up on being an equestrian, fencer, or believing she could have a place at the table that is high-level sports. In the most literal sense, she always got back in the saddle, even on the day her horse threw her off twice in a period of ten minutes. As her health has declined over the years, she has learned how to build her own adaptive equipment to allow herself to continue to ride horses and be a competitive fencer. Victoria uses these skills today to help make equipment for her clients, teammates, and students so they can continue to thrive in sports as well. She’s always liked a challenge and never wants to be stopped by external circumstances.
Victoria brings these life lessons and attitudes to her occupational therapy work, always going to bat for her clients and being a strong advocate for individuals with disabilities. While competing internationally to qualify for the Paris Paralympics, she completed a Doctorate of Occupational Therapy at Quinnipiac University. During her time at Quinnipiac, Victoria completed a capstone surrounding the quality-of-life impacts wheelchair fencing has on individuals with disabilities and the surrounding community. Utilizing this research, she continues to advocate for the role of Occupational therapy in adaptive sports, but also for the sport of wheelchair fencing itself. She would love this opportunity to talk about her journey as an athlete and medical professional and her research findings. It is her hope that she can spread the sport of wheelchair fencing, as well as advocate for adaptive sports and occupational therapy at the same time.
Richard Katz
Professor of Clinical Neurology, Washington University, St. Louis, PMR
Speech Title: Does Therapy Work?
Dr. Katz is Clinical Professor of Neurology (PM&R) at Washington University, St. Louis, and was the former Vice President of Medical Affairs and Medical Director of the SSM Rehabilitation Institute before starting his own private practice. He was a contributor, reviewer, and section editor of the 5th and 6th editions of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. He is the author of over 110 scientific publications related to spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, electrophysiology, and spastic hypertonia. He is board-certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine, and the American Board of Independent Medical Examiners.
Dr. Katz completed his Masters Degree Requirements in Piano Performance at the University of Rochester Eastman School of Music, and the Cleveland Institute of Music, and is a performing concert pianist and composer. He has collaborated with numerous members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra including Concertmaster, David Halen and Assistant Associate Concert Master Sylvian Iticovichi. His recent compact discs include Darrell Revisited, Rachel Katz: An American Songbook, and Leaning, a collection of his rock etudes.
Lynne Kenney
Pediatric Psychologist, Wellington Alexander Center
Speech Title: Brief Cognitive-Motor Activities to Strengthen Executive Function
Dr. Lynne Kenney is the nation’s leading pediatric psychologist in the development of classroom cognitive-physical activity programs for students grades K-8. Dr. Kenney develops curriculum, programming, and activities to improve children’s cognition through coordinative cognitive-motor movement, executive function skill-building strategies, and social-emotional learning.
Dr. Kenney’s current educational program is CogniMoves® a classroom cognitive-motor movement program, co-developed with Benjamin S. Bunney, MD, Former Chairman Department of Psychiatry at Yale University. CogniMoves® is designed to strengthen executive function skills in K-3 students.
Dr. Kenney is a pediatric psychologist on the Language & Cognition Team at Wellington-Alexander Center for the Treatment of Dyslexia, Scottsdale, Arizona. She has advanced fellowship training in forensic psychology and developmental pediatric psychology from Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and Harbor-UCLA/UCLA Medical School. As an international educator, researcher, and author, Dr. Kenney is dedicated to improving the trajectory of children's learning, particularly in high-need, under-resourced communities.
Dr. Kenney’s books include Brain Primers, 2020 (Kuczala & Kenney); 70 Play Activities for Better Thinking, Self-Regulation, Learning and Behavior (Kenney & Comizio, 2016); the Social-Emotional Literacy program, Bloom Your Room™; Musical Thinking™; and Bloom: 50 things to say, think and do with anxious, angry and over-the-top-kids (Kenney & Young, 2015).
Dr. Kenney’s most recent endeavor is Cognitivities™, an original collection of portable mats that combine music, art, and movement developed with Fit and Fun Playscapes. Launched in 2024, this is the first Roll-Out Activities® mat of its kind, helping children with cognitive skills, executive function, and self-regulation in a calming and engaging way.
Since 1985, Dr. Kenney has worked as an educator in community service with national organizations including the Neurological Health Foundation, Head Start, Understood.org, HandsOn Phoenix, SparkPE, the First Nations in Canada, and Points of Light (Generation On) Dr. Kenney values working with Title I Schools.
Danielle Kipnis
Graduate Student, Teachers College, Columbia University
Speech Title: Movement and Aging Track: Dancing into Cognition: Quantitative and Qualitative Lessons from the Field
Danielle is a PhD Student in kinesiology at Teachers College, Columbia University with a research focus on integrative movement therapies for individuals with neurological conditions. She is a certified yoga instructor and dancer, using her doctoral education in movement science to research and implement alternative and integrative movement therapy in a rehabilitative setting. Through her training in trauma-informed yoga practices, she has implemented methods of yoga instruction for people with neurological conditions. Her research is the first to examine yoga as a rehabilitative treatment for people with Functional Neurological Disorder. Moreover, her work aims to describe and codify these methods through research, implement them in clinical practice, and train other yoga instructors in the methodology who are in the neurorehabilitation field. She has experience training other practitioners in trauma-informed, inclusivity, and accessibility teaching methods through yoga teacher training programs and conferences. Additionally, she is research coordinator for several large and small projects in the Neurorehabilitation Lab at Teachers College, Columbia University including the Community Movers Project which aims to close gaps in healthcare and Parkinson’s Disease care for under-engaged communities in Harlem and Washington Heights in New York City. She works alongside community partners and a patient advisory council to implement a community-based participatory research approach, create patient-centered and culturally sensitive resources, and organize community events such as annual health fairs and a brain health lecture series.
Jingxia Lin
Assistant Professor, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Speech Title: Mobile application-aided mind-body intervention for improving mental health: pilot trials in Hong Kong
Kun Liu
Dr, Assistant Professor Adjunct, Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry; Founder & Director of Research Brain Peace Science Foundation
Speech Title: Physical exercise ameliorates cognitive impairment and anxiety-like behavior via regulation of dopamine and related neuromodulators in mesocorticolimbic system
Dr. Kun Liu was a visiting associate professor at Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, from 2015 to 2020, where he led Sports-Neuroscience research in the Physical Exercise Affecting Cognition and Emotion (PEACE) program. In 2019, he founded the Brain Peace Science Foundation (BPSF), a 501(c)(3) public charity foundation for clinical consulting, scientific research, and education. Since 2020, he has served as the foundation's director of research. To further his research goals, Dr. Liu has returned to Yale to continue his work in Sports-Neuroscience.
Dr. Kun Liu pioneered Sports-Neuroscience as a multidisciplinary scientific field, drawing on his more than 10 years of experience in clinical medicine, sports medicine, and neurochemistry. He is a leading scientist who has successfully translated basic neurochemistry research into clinical applications and broader social services, including community-based public brain healthcare and athlete performance training. Since 2015, Dr. Liu has received government and non-government funding to conduct PEACE programs aimed at improving brain function in patients with ASD, AD, PD, schizophrenia, and other brain diseases. These programs have benefited more than 30 communities and over 100,000 patients in various regions globally, including Connecticut and Puerto Rico in the US, and Beijing, Shanghai, and Qingdao in China. Dr. Liu has published over 40 papers in peer-reviewed international journals such as PNAS, Journal of Neurochemistry, Neuropsychopharmacology, Analytical Chemistry, ACS Sensors, Brain Research, International Neurochemistry, and Behavioral Neurology. He has also served as a reviewer for Analytical Chemistry, Brain Research, Sports Science, Current Alzheimer's Research, and other international journals. Furthermore, Dr. Liu led the Performance Training and Physical Therapy Team for Chinese Olympic Athletes during the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. He continues to apply Sports Neuroscience methods in coaching top athletes worldwide in fencing, modern pentathlon, and other sports.
Sandra Marchant
Owner/Head Coach/Athlete, Rogue Fencing Academy
Speech Title: How fencing improves cognitive function in adult and elder athletes
Creates drills, classes, private and semi-private lessons, day clinics, semi annual/annual/summer/performance clinics all levels. Responsible for growth in all 5 levels of classes in the program ie: Developmental, Pre-Competitive, Adult, Competitive and Elite. Encourages personal athlete growth through fencing and team building skills. Coaches athletes at tournaments locally, regionally, nationally and internationally both in individual and team events. Responsible for hiring and supervising assistant coaching staff and athletes.
Edith Meeks
Executive & Artistic Director, HB Studio
Speech Title: Theater Performance Practice: an embodied approach to expressive well-being
Edith Meeks has served as Executive and Artistic Director to HB Studio since 2005, leading the Studio through a period of institutional transition from the death of master teacher Uta Hagen to the present.
Edith received her B.A. in Theater and History graduating magna cum laude with honors in History in 1982 from Yale University, where she was a student of Nikos Psacharapoulos, Lynne Meadow, and Austin Pendleton. She trained as an actor with Herbert Berghof and Uta Hagen at HB, and performed under Berghof’s direction in a series of productions at the HB Playwrights Foundation. In 1987 Berghof invited her to join HB’s Acting faculty.
In addition to her 14 years teaching for HB Studio, Edith has taught acting for Swarthmore College, the New York State Summer School for the Arts, and in the film programs of The New School and Hunter College.
Her credits as a professional actor include A QUESTION OF MERCY for Philadelphia Theatre Co.; DANCING AT LUGHNASA for Actors Theatre of Louisville; Rosalind in AS YOU LIKE IT, ABUNDANCE (Best of Philly Award), TARTUFFE, THE STONE HOUSE, and Nora in A DOLL’S HOUSE for the People’s Light & Theatre Company, where she was a company member for 10 years. She has appeared on film in Todd Haynes’ Poison and Safe, Michael Gitlin’s Berenice, and Dan Sallitt’s Honeymoon and All the Ships at Sea.
Before her current role at HB, Edith was Senior Officer, Information and Research, for the New York Foundation for the Arts, where she took part in the development of NYFA Source, a national information resource for performing artists; participated in the development of an MFA business-of-art curriculum for visual artists; and developed a column on career longevity for performing artists in NYFA Quarterly magazine.
Edith has served as a theater panelist for the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and for the State University of New York’s Thayer Fellowship Program/Patricia Kerr Ross Award.
Lisa Morgan
CSU Dance faculty, Colorado State University
Speech Title: Dancing into Cognition: Quantitative and Qualitative Lessons from the Field
Lisa Morgan, Colorado State University (CSU) dance faculty and affiliate faculty with CSU Center for Healthy Aging. Her primary focus is on dance education, integrated arts pedagogy and applied practices in movement as therapy for physical and mental well being. She is founder and director of Moving Through Parkinson's, a movement therapy program for individuals living with Parkinson's and other movement challenges. This program invites collaboration with Music Therapy, Occupational Therapy faculty and students for research and practicum work. She works with regional schools, preK-12 educators and state agencies to increase movement experiences for children in schools across the curriculum and helped to revise the current Colorado Dance Academic Standards for the Colorado Department of Education. She coordinates the dance portion of BRAINY (BRinging Arts INtegration to Youth), a program designed to bring students from Title I schools to the CSU University Center for the Arts for a day of the arts.
Elisabeth Osgood-Campbell
Executive Director, International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association
Speech Title: Embodied Cognition in the Classroom: Polyvagal theory as a framework for teaching and researching self-regulation skills for students
Elisabeth Osgood-Campbell is a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist and Master Somatic Movement Educator who also serves as the Executive Director of a non-profit organization, the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association. As a member of Tamalpa Institute’s faculty and the Continuum Teachers Association, she teaches individuals and groups internationally. Elisabeth served on the ISMETA Board of Directors for nine years, has volunteered as Co-Chair of the Research and Publications and Equity, Justice, and Accessibility Committees, and most recently, acted as Assistant Director. Dedicated to building the base of evidence for somatic movement education and therapy practices, she has delivered presentations on cultivating neuroplasticity through interoception in somatic movement practices at academic conferences at Harvard Medical School and Tel Aviv University. Currently, she is also a doctoral student investigating interoceptive awareness in integrative healthcare practices at the University of Utah College of Nursing.
Ilse Pfeifer
Teacher, HB Studio
Speech Title: Theater Performance Practice: an embodied approach to experience wellbeing
Is a dancer, singer, choreographer, teacher and coach of movement and voice for the performing artist. She is also a bodyworker of somatic practices. A longstanding advocate for holistic training to support wellbeing for the performing artist Ilse holds degrees in dance from London’s Royal Academy of Dancing and the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. She is a Fitzmaurice Voicework® teacher and trainer in the Fitzmaurice Voicework® international certification teachers training program. Fitzmaurice Voicework® is a holistic voice training for the theater with several somatic disciplines. At its core it is an exploration of the dynamic relationship of breath and voice. As a theater and movement artist Ilse has received the honor by the Pew Fellowships in the Arts Discipline winner in “Choreography” and “Dance-based Performance Art”. She graduated as a bodyworker in Ohashiatsu® and is trained under the founder Mr. Ohashi who has worked extensively within the professional field of performers and dancers. Ilse has studied Somatic Experiencing® which is a naturalistic and neurobiological approach to healing trauma. She has trained under Maureen Gallagher PhD. Nancy J.Napier, and with Kathy L. Kaine who is the author with Stephen J. Terrell of the book “Nurturing Resilience”. Ilse is a member of the Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals, the Voice and Speech Trainers Association and the Fitzmaurice Institute. Ilse Pfeifer’s teaching credits include: HB Studio and HB Studio’s Hagen Core Training (a one -year conservatory), Atlantic Acting School, NYU, The Studio Conservatory NYC. She has taught at the Actors Center NYC as well as various universities as resident guest artist in the US and abroad. Ilse was born in Germany and is currently a resident in New York City.
Christopher Pittenger
Mears & Jameson Professor and Deputy Chair of Psychiatry, Yale University
Speech Title: Psychedelics and Mental Health
Christopher Pittenger, MD, Ph.D. is Mears and Jameson Professor of Psychiatry, Deputy Chair for Translational Research in the Department of Psychiatry, and Director of the Yale Program for Psychedelic Science at Yale University. He completed his MD and his Ph.D. in Neurobiology & Behavior at Columbia University, where his Ph.D. studies were performed with Nobel Prize-winning psychiatrist Eric Kandel. He completed his residency training in adult psychiatry and a concurrent research fellowship at Yale before joining the faculty in 2007. His work spans several areas, including the pathophysiology and treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder and related conditions, the use of animal models to understand disease-relevant brain processes, the identification of predictors of clinical response in psychiatric disease, and (more recently) the use of psilocybin and other psychedelic drugs as therapeutic agents in a variety of conditions. His work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, a number of private foundations and philanthropic donors, and various industry partners and has been acknowledged by awards from the Society for Neuroscience, the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the American Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and other organizations.
John Ratey
Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
John J. Ratey, MD, is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and an internationally recognized expert in Neuropsychiatry. He has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles, and 12 books published in over 20 languages, including the groundbreaking ADHD “Driven to Distraction” series with Ned Hallowell, MD. With the publication of his bestseller, "Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain", (2013) Dr. Ratey established himself as one of the world's foremost authorities on the brain-fitness connection in areas such as ADD, Autism, and Aging and Cognition.
John grew up in the steel working town of Beaver, Pennsylvania, where an unlikely love of tennis led to competing in the US National Juniors and being offered an athletic scholarship to college. He attended Colgate University, where he was a Washburn scholar, receiving his BA in philosophy before moving to Boston. Finding work at Harvard’s Massachusetts Mental Health Center (MMHC) as an attendant, John was often assigned with caring for some of the most difficult patients, inspiring him to learn more about how to help those with mental health challenges. Seeing a career in Psychiatry as the path, he completed his science requirements at Harvard before returning to Pennsylvania to attend the University of Pittsburgh Medical School, where he won multiple awards for scholastic achievement in Psychiatry. Returning to Harvard for his Psychiatric training, John was eventually named inpatient chief resident. Upon graduation, he was awarded the Elvin Semrad Teaching fellowship at Harvard Medical School, and was appointed Harvard’s Assistant Director of Residency and Medical Student Training, a position he held for 9 years. It was during these early years at Harvard Medical School that he began his groundbreaking research on aggression, autism and ADD, leading to a career of speaking and teaching around the world.
Dr. Ratey’s work in Attention Deficit Disorder came after he and his former student, Ned Hallowell, recognized and diagnosed their own ADD, prompting them to write a book to raise awareness and an understanding of the diagnosis to a lay audience. Published in 1994, “Driven to Distraction” became a bestseller, with over 2 million copies in print, and is still considered one of the Bibles of ADD today. Dr. Ratey and Dr. Hallowell went on to write “Delivered to Distraction” and “Answers to Distraction”, and have become recognized around the world as authorities on the subject. They continue to collaborate and recently released ADHD 2.0, exploring new science and strategies.
As an author, Dr. Ratey’s other groundbreaking work includes, “A Users’ Guide to the Brain” and “Shadow Syndromes”. With the publication of “Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain”, Dr. Ratey has embarked on a world-wide mission to re-engineer schools, corporations, and individual lifestyle practices by incorporating exercise to achieve peak performance and optimum mental health. A highly sought after speaker, Dr. Ratey has lectured extensively throughout the US, Canada, Asia, Australia and Europe. His work is frequently profiled in the media, where he’s been featured on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and NPR, as well as in The New York Times, Newsweek, The Washington Post, US News and World Report, Men’s Health, and other national publications.
Dr. Ratey has functioned as an Adjunct Professor of Sport Science at the National Taiwan Sport University, and as a consultant to the President of Taiwan and the Minister of Education in South Korea. He has served at co-head of the Advisory Board of the California Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sport, a consultant to ANTA Kids in China, and on Reebok’s non-profit before school fitness program, BOKS, where he was named Ambassador for Active Kids.
While he enjoys writing and lecturing, first and foremost, John is a psychiatrist who cares deeply about his patients. Recognized by his peers as one of the Best Doctors in America since 1997, in 2016 he was honored as “Outstanding Psychiatrist of the Year for Advancing the Field” by the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society. Married, with two children and two grandchildren, Dr. Ratey maintains a private practice in both Cambridge, Massachusetts and Los Angeles, California.
Megaera Regan
University Supervisor, Southern Connecticut State University
Speech Title: Physical Activity in School: From Research to Practice
Megaera Regan is a retired elementary Physical Education from the Port Washington School District on Long Island, NY. Megaera taught in Port Washington for 31 years, with the last 26 at Manorhaven Elementary School. Before Port Washington, Megaera taught at the Lexington School for the Deaf as the first through fourth grade PE teacher. Prior to that Megaera worked with autistic children and adolescents as a paraprofessional in the NYC Department of Education. In 2018 Megaera was the recipient of the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (NYS AHPERD) Elementary PE Teacher of the Year award. She was also honored in 2020 to receive the Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) America Eastern District Elementary PE Teacher of the Year award. Most recently Megaera was awarded the 2022 NYS AHPERD Joy of Effort Award. Megaera continues to remain active in the field by providing professional development to physical educators on the local, state and national levels. She is currently working as a University Supervisor for Physical Education student teachers at Southern Connecticut State University, and with the Connecticut Cadre of Physical Education Trainers. Megaera continues in retirement to be a strong advocate for quality physical education, and has attended the National Speak Out Day, and serves on committees with NYS AHPERD and SHAPE America. One of Megaera’s favorite quotes is from Fred Rogers: “Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning.” With this as a guiding principle, Megaera strives to keep physical education playful for her students so they can learn, experience, and grow in a joyful environment.
Joseph Roach
Sterling Professor of Theater and Professor of English Emeritus, Yale University
Speech Title: Eloquence and Happiness
Gerard Sanacora
Professor, Yale University
Speech Title: From Mesmer to heart surgery: Appreciating the power of non-specific treatment effects
Dr. Sanacora is the George and Ester Gross Professor of Psychiatry, Director of the Yale Depression Research Program, and Co-Director of Yale’s Interventional Psychiatry Program. Dr. Sanacora’s work employs both preclinical and clinical research methodologies in attempts to expand our understanding of the underlying pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders and mechanisms of effective treatment actions, with the goal of ultimately developing novel diagnostic and treatment approaches. He has served as PI on numerous NIH, foundation, and industry sponsored studies ranging from rodent models of pathogenesis, through mechanistic neuroimaging studies introducing novel methods to assess brain metabolism, to large multi-center phase III clinical trials. His personal experience over the arc of this journey has provided him with unique perspectives on the challenges that impede the successful application of neuroscience advances to neuropsychiatric clinical practice and led him to foster a diverse interdisciplinary collaborative team approach to translational neuroscience. In recognition of these efforts he recently received the 2022 Association for Clinical and Translational Sciences award for Team Science in addition to previous awards including the Anna-Monkia Stiftung international award for investigation of the biological substrate and functional disturbances of depression, the Joel Elkes Research Award for Outstanding contributions to Psychopharmacology from the American College of Neuro-Psychopharmacology.
Jessica Savner (Davis)
Fencing: The chess of sports, Rogue Fencing Academy
Speech Title: Building up stronger fencing style by recognizing personal strengths and weaknesses
My name is Jessica Savner (Davis) and I am an Olympic qualifier for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris in the modern pentathlon. I’ve done, trained and competed at high levels at many sports but made my first US team in the modern pentathlon in 2016 and since then have been on 6 world championship teams. Also having earned a gold medal in the pan American games and a DIV 1A national championship in fencing.
Emmanuelle Schindler
Assistant Professor of Neurology / Medical Director Headache Center of Excellence, Yale School of Medicine / VA Connecticut Healthcare System
Speech Title: Psychedelic Drugs in Headache Medicine
Dr. Schindler is Medical Director of the Headache Center of Excellence at Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System and Assistant Professor of Neurology at Yale School of Medicine. She is a board-certified Neurologist and Headache Medicine specialist. Among her efforts to optimize the management of headache disorders, she has executed the first controlled trials of psilocybin in cluster, migraine, and post-traumatic headache. Previously, Dr. Schindler studied the neuropharmacology of psychedelics and other serotonergic compounds in the context of receptor binding and intracellular signaling. Her neuropharmacology background frames her endeavor to investigate the potential for psychedelics to serve as safe and effective headache medicines. Currently, she seeks to identify the source of sustained reductions in headache burden after limited dosing of psilocybin, considering several neurobiological systems.
Rajita Sinha
Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Med, Yale Stress Center, Yale University
Speech Title: Stress Biology, Cognition and Decision Making: Implications for Illness and Wellness
Rajita Sinha is the Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry, and Professor of Neuroscience and of Child Study at Yale University School of Medicine. She is Deputy Chair for Psychology in Department of Psychiatry and Chief of Psychology in Psychiatry at Yale and also the Founding Director of the Yale Interdisciplinary Stress Center. Her research focuses on the science of stress and trauma and their effects on the pathophysiology of chronic physical and mental diseases, including addiction, PTSD and other chronic diseases. Dr. Sinha’s clinical and translational research focuses on understanding the neurobiological mechanisms underlying stress, trauma and alcohol and substance use behaviors as well as related conditions such as chronic pain, comfort food intake and obesity. She has developed novel drug craving, stress, pain and food reward provocation experimental paradigms to understand stress adaptive mechanisms that drive resilient and maladaptive states and related pathologies in humans. Her lab has also developed and tested novel pharmacological and behavioral interventions to address addictive behaviors including alcohol and substance misuse and behavior change in the context of stress and trauma to decrease addiction relapse risk. Additional areas of study and discoveries include understanding the neurobiology of stress, trauma and resilient versus vulnerable coping mechanisms that promote neuropsychiatric diseases such as alcohol use disorders, substance use disorders, chronic pain, PTSD and other chronic diseases. She has been supported by a series of NIH funded research projects continuously for over 27 years and she has published over 350 scientific peer reviewed publications in these areas. She has served on a number of Scientific Advisory Boards and panels for the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) including as a member of the NIH Expert Scientific Panel for the NIH Common Fund’s Science of Behavior Change program, and the NIH/NIAAA Scientific Advisory Council from 2014-2018 and currently on the NIH/NIDA Scientific Advisory Council. She has presented at numerous national and international conferences, and her work is widely cited. She has been featured as an expert on stress and trauma and its effects on memory, cognition, emotion and health behaviors for numerous news outlets including the NBC Nightly News, CNN Health, Wall Street Journal, HBO Documentaries, Dr. Oz Show and USA Today to name a few. She conducts workshops, lectures and retreats on stress management, self-care for the stressed professional and for senior executives, and on ways to reduce stress to enrich and enhance work, family and life.
Bhing-Leet Tan
Associate Professor and Cluster Director, Singapore Institute of Technology
Speech Title: Using Augmented Reality in Cognitive Remediation for Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Associate Professor Bhing-Leet Tan is the Cluster Director of Health and Social Sciences at the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT). She oversees the allied health and nursing faculty and teaches mental health in the occupational therapy program at SIT. Her research interests are in cognitive remediation, psychiatric rehabilitation and using technological solutions in promoting recovery of persons with mental health conditions. Bhing-Leet completed her undergraduate occupational therapy and postgraduate mental health training in the United Kingdom. She also graduated from the University of Queensland with a PhD in Psychiatry. Bhing-Leet is a recipient of the National Day Award Commendation Medal, National Healthcare Group Allied Health Senior Educator Award, SIT Teaching Excellence Award and Connie Lieber Science to Practice Award. She has also served in several national and international committees such as the World Health Organization Development Workgroup for Schizophrenia.
Bessel van der Kolk
Bessel van derk Kolk, MD
Speech Title: The Body Keeps the Score
Bessel A. van der Kolk M.D. is a pioneer clinician, researcher and teacher in the area of posttraumatic stress. His work uniquely integrates developmental, neurobiological, psychodynamic, somatic and interpersonal aspects of the impact of trauma and its treatment.
His #1 New York Times Science best seller, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Treatment of Trauma (translated in 38 languages), transforms our understanding of traumatic stress, revealing how it literally rearranges the brain’s wiring - specifically areas dedicated to pleasure, engagement, control, and trust. He shows how these areas can be reactivated through innovative treatments including neurofeedback, psychedelic therapy, psychodrama, mindfulness techniques, parts work, yoga, and body work. Dr. van der Kolk and his various collaborators have published extensively on the impact of trauma on development, such as dissociative problems, borderline personality and self-mutilation, cognitive development, memory, and the psychobiology of trauma. He has published over 150 peer reviewed scientific articles on such diverse topics as neuroimaging, self-injury, memory, neurofeedback, Developmental Trauma, yoga, theater and EMDR.
He is founder of the Trauma Center (now the Trauma Research Foundation) in Boston, MA; past President of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University Medical School and Principal Investigator Boston site of MAPS sponsored MDMA assisted psychotherapy study. He regularly teaches at universities and hospitals around the world. Visit traumaresearchfoundation.org and besselvanderkolk.com for more information.
Bruce Wexler
Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University
Speech Title: An Integrated Program of Digital and Physical Exercises Improves Speed of Processing and Memory in Older Adults
Bruce E. Wexler is Professor of Psychiatry and a neuroscientist at Yale University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard College, received his MD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, studied psychiatry at Anna Freud’s Hampstead Clinic, neurology at Queen’s Square Institute of Neurology in London, and psychiatry at Yale. Professor Wexler’s book “Brain and Culture” presents new ideas about neuroplasticity and the relationship between people and their social and cultural environments (MIT Press, Chinese Edition ZUP). Oliver Sacks called it “a major achievement, touching the deepest biological and human issues…a very powerful and very important book.” Professor Howard Gardner of Harvard called it “A pioneering and bold effort to construct a bridge between scientific findings about the brain and the diversity, strengths, and fragilities of human cultures.” Professor Wexler is also a world leader in harnessing neuroplasticity to improve cognition and treat neuropsychiatric disorders through brain exercises. He and colleagues developed the first program that integrates computerized brain exercises and physical exercises to improve executive function cognitive skills and academic outcomes in children. The program can dramatically reduce achievement gaps related to poverty. He has also developed programs that help children with ADHD without medication, treat depression in older adults when medications fail, and improve cognitive function in older adults. He received an NIH Director’s Award for “high innovation, high impact, paradigm changing research.”
Jacky Yeung
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Yale University
Speech Title: The Potential Role of Connectomics in Neuropsychiatric Disorders
Fu-Ming Zhou
Professor, University of Tennessee College of Medicine
Speech Title: The dopamine system is a key mediator of embodied cognition