Focused Ultrasound for Epilepsy Workshop Participants

Stanford University
[email protected]
Raag Airan MD, PhD is a neuroradiologist at Stanford University who develops low intensity focused ultrasound based interventions for nervous system applications, including for targeted drug delivery, noninvasive neuromodulation and glymphatic modulation. Dr. Airan is currently the operator for a multi-site clinical trial of noninvasive neuromodulation for treatment refractory epilepsy using the NaviFUS system, with trial PI Dr. Bob Fisher at Stanford and colleagues at UVA and MGB.

Pavlos Anastasiadis, PhD

University of Maryland School of Medicine
[email protected]
Dr. Anastasiadis is a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Diagnostic Radiology, and Nuclear Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and an adjunct Assistant Professor in the Fishell Bioengineering Department at the University of Maryland, affiliated with the University of Maryland Medicine Institute for Neuroscience Discovery, and the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center. His research encompasses the development of translational theranostic platforms for controlled, image-guided opening of the blood-brain barrier, liquid biopsy, mechanobiology, neuromodulation, and drug delivery. His training background is in bioengineering, image-guided drug delivery, medical biophysics, molecular imaging, and neuro-oncology.

Jeff Aubry, PhD

Physics for Medicine Paris
[email protected]
Jean-Francois (Jeff) Aubry is a director of research at France’s National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). He works at Physics for Medicine Paris (Paris, France) and is the scientific director of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation center of excellence in Paris. His main research interest is transcranial ultrasound stimulation and he is an expert in focusing ultrasound waves in complex media. Aubry holds five patents on adaptive focusing. He is a co-founder of SonoMind (Paris, France). He has given more than 60 invited talks at international conferences and published more than 100 papers in international scientific journals.

Iris Hongchae Baek, PhD

Focused Ultrasound Foundation
[email protected]
Hongchae Baek, PhD, joined the Focused Ultrasound Foundation in 2025 as a Program Manager, overseeing funded projects and advancing focused ultrasound neuromodulation. She previously worked at the FDA in the Medical Acoustic Program, reviewing devices and conducting research on transcranial focused ultrasound. She completed postdoctoral fellowships at Washington University in St. Louis and the Cleveland Clinic, focusing on neurological applications. Dr. Baek holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Korea National University of Science and Technology and a BS in Molecular Biology from Jeonbuk National University.

Paul Boon, MD, PhD

Ghent University
[email protected]
MD and Neurologist, Ghent University, Belgium (1985, 1990)
Clinical Epilepsy and clinical neurophysiology Fellowship, Yale University, USA (1988-89)
PhD, Ghent University (1994)
Founder and Director of Ghent University Hospital Epilepsy Unit (since 1993)
Professor and Chair of Department of Neurology Ghent University Hospital (2004-2024)
Chairman of Division of Head, Movement and Senses, Ghent University Hospital (since 2009)
Director 4Brain, Laboratory for Clinical and Experimental Neurophysiology and Neurobiology (since 2010)
Professor of Neuromodulation, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands (since 2020)
President of the European Academy of Neurology (2022-2024)
+600 publications in international peer-reviewed journals in the hield of stug resistant epilepsy, epilepsy surgery, electrophysiology, animal mechanistic epilepsy research and neuromodulation

Spencer Brinker, PhD

Yale School of Medicine
[email protected]
FUS neuromodulation and engineering lead for clinical studies in Epilepsy and Schizophrenia. My major roles have been designing stimulation pulse parameters and assessing ultrasound transmission through the human skull. I build, test, and operate several ultrasound platforms in laboratory and clinical settings, while playing a large role in study designs. I’ve had several positions in both industrial and academic sectors for R&D. I’m currently an Assistant Professor Adjunct in the Neurology Department at the Yale School of Medicine and operate in the CRO landscape.

Ellen Bubrick, MD

Brigham and Women’s Hospital
[email protected]
Dr. Bubrick is a clinician-scientist with expertise in epilepsy neurology. Her research has focused on non-pharmacologic treatments for drug-resistant epilepsy. Most recently she has led clinical trials using focused ultrasound neuromodulation in epilepsy and has become an international expert in the field.

Kim Butts Pauly, PhD

Stanford University
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Kim Butts Pauly is Professor, and Vice Chair for Research, in the Department of Radiology at Stanford University. She has worked in the area of therapeutic ultrasound for 2 decades, having working in MR-guided ultrasound ablation for prostate and other cancers, in MR-guided ultrasound ablation and MR thermometry for essential tremor, and most recently in transcranial ultrasound stimulation. She is senior author of the ITRUSST consensus papers on Standardized Reporting and on Safety for transcranial ultrasound stimulation..

Alexander Bystritsky, PhD

Brainsonix Corporation
[email protected]
Dr. Bystritsky has been on the UCLA Faculty since 1987. He is currently a Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA where he founded and directed for many years the Anxiety Disorders and Targeted Brain Stimulation Program. Dr. Bystritsky published over 260 peer-reviewed papers and has served as the PI on several NIH, foundations, and industry sponsored grants. He earned several honors and awards including the Brain and Behavior Distinguished Investigator Award. He invented transcranial Low Intensity Focused Ultrasound Pulsation effects on brain using fMRI and has several patents in this space. He is the Founder and CEO of Brainsonix Corporation, a company manufacturing LIFUP/MR compatible devices for research that are currently in 26 major Universities around the globe.

Gabriela Cantarero, PhD

FDA
[email protected]
Accomplished neuroscientist with 20 years of pioneering experience in scientific research, product evaluation, and program management within the medical device and neurotechnology fields. She received her PhD in Neuroscience from Johns Hopkins and later served as an Assistant Professor there in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. She also served as Captain in the US Army stationed at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Her expertise spans from foundational research to global clinical program development, FDA regulatory oversight, and strategic commercialization. She is passionate about advancing innovations in neurological devices to improve patient outcomes.

Charles Caskey, PhD

Vanderbilt University Medical Center
[email protected]
Charles Caskey’s research focuses on diagnostic and therapeutic uses of ultrasound, particularly in image-guided therapy applications. He received his doctoral degree for studies about the bioeffects of ultrasound during microbubble-enhanced drug delivery under Dr. Katherine Ferrara at the University of California at Davis in 2008, and in 2018, he received the Fred Lizzi Early Career Award from the International Society of Therapeutic ultrasound. He currently leads the Laboratory of Acoustic Therapy and Imaging at the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science where his laboratory focuses on developing new uses for ultrasound, spanning neuromodulation, drug delivery, and functional imaging.

Rees Cosgrove, MD

Mass General Brigham
[email protected]
Rees Cosgrove is the Chief of the Division of Functional Neurosurgery at Mass General Brigham and an early adopter of MRgFUS having performed > 700 FUS procedures. He is also an epilepsy surgeon with more than 40 years of experience in the field.

Kathryn Davis MD, MSc

University of Pennsylvania
[email protected]
Dr. Kate Davis is an Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania.  She is the epilepsy division chief at Penn and Associate Director of the Penn Center for Neuroengineering and Therapeutics.  The Davis Lab focuses on the evaluation and clinical translation of novel methods for localizing and characterizing seizure foci.  Her work utilizes both the advancing fields of multimodality neuroimaging in addition to electrophysiology with an ultimate goal of improving the treatment of epilepsy patients.

Tommaso Di Ianni, PhD

University of California, San Francisco
[email protected]
Tommaso Di Ianni is an Assistant Professor at the University of California San Francisco in the Departments of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Radiology & Biomedical Imaging. He is the Director of the UCSF Basic Ultrasound Research Program and co-Director of the UCSF Focused Ultrasound in Neuroscience Program. His research focuses on developing focused ultrasound innovations for image-guided intervention in neurology and psychiatry. Dr. Di Ianni has received a Stephen I. Katz Early Stage Investigator award from the National Institutes of Health, a New Investigator Award from the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, a Stanford School of Medicine Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellowship, and he is a member of the Technical Program Committee of the IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium.

Jeff Elias, MD

University of Virginia
[email protected]
Dr. Elias has been very involved in focused ultrasound therapy since 2011.  The early clinical trials led to FDA approvals for essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease.   He has an active clinical practice in the surgical treatment of epilepsy including stereoencephalography, resective surgery, laser ablation, and neuromodulation.  He currently serves as the interim chairman for the department at UVA.

Joline Fan, PhD

University of California, San Francisco
[email protected]
Joline Fan, MD, MS, is an Assistant Professor at UCSF in the Departments of Neurology (Epilepsy Division) and Psychiatry. Her research focuses on developing novel neurostimulation technologies for epilepsy and neuropsychiatric disorders and exploring the complex relationship between sleep and epilepsy through multimodal neuroimaging. She is spearheading multiple clinical trials to understand the robustness of network responses with focused ultrasound in both healthy and disease cohorts. Dr. Fan earned her bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University and her master’s in Bioengineering from Stanford University. She completed her medical education, neurology residency, and epilepsy fellowship at UCSF.

Robert Fisher, MD, PhD

Stanford University
[email protected]
Dr. Fisher is Past-President of the American Epilepsy Society, Editor-in-Chief of Epilepsia and epilepsy.com. Dr. Fisher led the projects to on definition and classification of epilepsy and research on epilepsy devices. He led clinical trials on deep brain stimulation and tachycardia-triggered vagus nerve stimulation. Dr. Fisher cares for epilepsy patients in the Stanford Epilepsy Clinics and inpatient epilepsy unit. He has published papers on animal and human FUS studies and has led FUS trials.

Nathan Fountain, PhD

University of Virginia
[email protected]
Nathan B. Fountain, MD is Professor of Neurology, and Director of the Dreifuss Comprehensive Epilepsy Program at the University of Virginia. He is founding co-chair of the Epilepsy Foundation’s Research Roundtable for Epilepsy which overcomes regulatory hurdles in therapy development. His research focuses on clinical drug and device treatments for epilepsy, including clinical trials of high intensity FUS for seizure focus ablation and low intensity FUS for epilepsy modulation.

Issabelle Fung, PhD

NaviFUS Corp.
[email protected]
I am Issabelle Fung, PhD, the Manager of the Clinical Research Department from NaviFUS Corp. with over 3 years of experience in focused ultrasound (FUS) clinical trials. I am responsible for overseeing clinical studies in Taiwan, Australia, and the US, with a focus on drug-resistant epilepsy neuromodulation and blood-brain barrier opening (BBBo) using therapeutic agents for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma (rGBM). I am major in managing multicenter trial operations and coordinating cross-functional teams to advance the development of FUS-based therapies.

Katie Gant, PhD

Insightec
[email protected]
Dr. Katie Gant is a dedicated and collaborative scientist with a mission to enhance the quality of life for individuals with neurological injuries and disorders. With extensive neurotechnology expertise in both industry and academia, Dr. Gant currently leads Medical Affairs at Insightec. Her career includes roles in clinical research, education, and community outreach. Dr. Gant has a strong record of service and advocacy, holding leadership positions in various community organizations, demonstrating a commitment to societal impact and patient care.

Augusto Grinspan, MD

Insightec
[email protected]
Augusto Grinspan, MD is a global healthcare leader committed to improving
patients’ outcomes through talent development and fast implementation
of innovative solutions. Augusto received his medical degree
from National University of Cordoba, Argentina where he also pursued
specialty training in Neurology. He sought additional Neurology and Epilepsy
training at Louis Pasteur University, France. After several years of
clinical practice, he joined the pharmaceutical industry where he worked
in CNS space, mainly in Medical Affairs and Clinical Development.
Augusto joined Insightec as Chief Medical Officer in May 2023.

Jason Hauptman, MD

Phoenix Children’s
[email protected]
As a pediatric neurosurgeon, I can help one child at a time. As a program
leader, I can play a role in helping potentially thousands of children by
developing programs and policies that will impact a greater number of lives. Dr. Hauptman is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in the use of robotic stereo-electroencephalography (sEEG), awake surgery in children, laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT), functional hemispherectomy and neuromodulation, including deep brain stimulation (DBS) and responsive neurostimulation (RNS). Before joining Phoenix Children’s, Dr. Hauptman served as an associate professor of neurosurgery and helped direct the surgical epilepsy program, hydrocephalus program and tuberous sclerosis complex clinic at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Vibhor Krishna, MD

UNC Department of Neurosurgery
[email protected]
Dr. Vibhor Krishna, Associate Professor and Vice Chair of Inpatient Operations in the UNC Department of Neurosurgery, is a board-certified functional neurosurgeon and NIH-funded surgeon-scientist specializing in the treatment of movement disorders, chronic pain, and epilepsy. Since joining UNC in 2021, he has led the development of the institution’s focused ultrasound program, producing landmark studies in NEJM, JAMA Neurology, and Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences that have advanced patient care. Dr. Krishna is deeply committed to mentoring future neurosurgeons and driving innovations that define the future of functional neurosurgery.

Jan Kubanek

Washington University in St. Louis
[email protected]
Jan Kubanek is an Associate Professor at Washington University in St. Louis. His lab has been investigating the mechanisms underlying ultrasonic neuromodulation, and developing devices for controlled modulation of deep brain circuits in humans. The applications have included essential tremor, chronic pain, and depression.

Suzanne Leblang, MD

Focused Ultrasound Foundation
[email protected]
With her prior clinical experience as a neuroradiologist and having performed hundreds of focused ultrasound procedures since 2004, Suzanne LeBlang, MD, now represents the Focused Ultrasound Foundation by interacting with various researchers, clinicians, and manufacturers to foster collaborations. As the Director of Clinical Relationships, she interfaces with the medical community at various meetings to update the Foundation staff. In coordination with the communications team, she helps increase awareness through oral presentations and articles. She also assists the Chairman and the development team with building relationships with individuals, other foundations, and non-profits.

Chengchia Lee

Taipei Veterans General Hospital
[email protected]
Dr. Lee is a functional neurosurgeon at Taipei Veteran General Hospital, who specializes in Gamma Knife radiosurgery, epilepsy surgery, focused ultrasound, and intra-operative neuromonitoring. He is the Secretary General of the Taiwan Society for Stereotactic Functional Neurosurgery and Radiosurgry (TSSFNR) during 2015 to 2021. Currently, he is Committee Board member of International Gamma Knife Research Foundation, Taiwan representative of International Committee of AANS and CNS Tumor Section, Committee Board member of Asian-Oceanic Society for Intraoperative Neurophysiology (AOSIN). He has ever hosted several Asian meetings, such as 11th meeting of Asian-Australian Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (AASSFN) in 2018, 13th Asian Epilepsy Surgery Congress (AESC) in 2020, 7th Asian Leksell Gamma Knife Society meeting (ALGKS) in 2020, and 3th/5th meeting of Asian-Oceanic Society for Intraoperative Neurophysiology (AOSIN) in 2021 and 2023.
His research interests mainly focus on epilepsy network, SEEG signal analysis, and radiosurgery for brain metastasis. Until now, he has published 263 articles and 65 international conference papers. Since 2014, he got several awards including Outstanding Paper Award from Taiwan Neurosurgerical Society, Young Researcher Scholarship from Taiwan Epilepsy Society, Young Researcher Scholarship from Taiwan Pain Society, and Young Neurosurgery Award (Top 15) from World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS).

Laura Lubbers, PhD

CURE Epilepsy
[email protected]
Dr. Laura Lubbers is Chief Scientific Officer at CURE Epilepsy and is responsible for developing and executing the organization’s research strategy and all research programs that seek to cure epilepsy, not just treat the symptoms. Importantly, Dr. Lubbers’ sister, Ellyn, suffered from intractable epilepsy from an early age, and her mother was diagnosed later in life.  The impact of epilepsy on her family fuels her passion to find better healthcare solutions for people with epilepsy.  Before joining CURE Epilepsy, she spent 15 years in a large pharmaceutical company as a drug discovery scientist and group leader. Dr. Lubbers holds a Bachelor of Science in Physiology, as well as a Master’s and a PhD from the University of Illinois, Urbana.

David Moore, MS

NaviFUS Corp.
[email protected]
David Moore is the Clinical Applications Manager, North America for NaviFUS Corp. He has almost 20 years of experience in focused ultrasound ranging from technical, preclinical, and translational applications for focused ultrasound in thermal ablation, neuromodulation, and sonodynamic therapy. 

Shayan Moosa, MD

University of Virginia
[email protected]
Dr. Shayan Moosa is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Virginia with a focus on Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery. He cares for patients with epilepsy, movement disorders, chronic pain, brain tumors, and peripheral nerve conditions, while also contributing to departmental leadership and training programs. His research explores the use of focused ultrasound for neuromodulation and sonodynamic therapy, including clinical trials in epilepsy, essential tremor, and glioblastoma. He has published in these areas and remains committed to advancing less invasive and more targeted treatment options for neurological disease.

Matthew Myers, PhD

Puente Translational Sciences
[email protected]
I was a research physicist in the Medical Acoustics Laboratory of the U. S. FDA for over 30 years. My research areas included noninvasive methods for characterizing HITU transducers and bioeffects of ultrasound energy on the brain. I consulted on numerous regulatory submissions involving transcranial ultrasound. In early 2025, I left FDA to start Puente Translational Sciences, where I perform research to expedite the path to market for therapeutic ultrasound devices. I am also a research faculty member in the Mechanical Engineering Department at University of Binghamton.

Henrik Odéen, PhD

University of Utah
[email protected]
Dr. Henrik Odéen is an MRI physicist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences at the University of Utah. His research focuses on advancing MRI techniques for the targeting, monitoring, and assessment of thermal therapies throughout the body, as well as exploring the use of microbubbles in focused ultrasound applications for the central nervous system.

Imran Quraishi, MD, PhD

Yale School of Medicine
[email protected]
Dr. Quraishi is Associate Professor of Neurology at Yale School of Medicine. He is the director of the Yale Center for Neurostimulation in Epilepsy and the Yale New Haven Hospital Epilepsy Monitoring Unit. He is PI of ongoing pilot studies using FUS and tDCS for status epilepticus, as well as studies using neurostimulation to assess fundamental processes of cognition including memory, attention, and consciousness.

Ahmed Raslan, MD

Oregon Health and Science University
[email protected]
I am a Professor and John Raaf Chair of Neuroscience, Chairman of Neurological Surgery at Oregon Health and Science University. I am the President of the North American Neuromodulation Society.

Trae Robison, MD

University of Virginia
[email protected]
Trae Robison is a neurosurgical resident in his final year at UVA who is completing a functional-stereotactic neurosurgery fellowship this year and plans to complete a pediatric neurosurgery fellowship next year. He has a strong interest in neuromodulation for epilepsy and discovering novel uses for these less invasive technologies.

Zach Sanger, PhD

Medtronic
[email protected]
Zach Sanger, PhD is a Senior Scientist within Medtronic’s Neuromodulation Research and Technology team. Dr. Sanger earned his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Minnesota with an emphasis on neuromodulation and bioelectrical engineering. His prior research work has spanned computational modeling, pre-clinical, and clinical trials investigating optimization of DBS for epilepsy, real-time closed-loop systems, novel electrodes therapies, electrode-tissue interfaces, and processing of neural signals. At Medtronic, Dr. Sanger’s work focuses on developing next-generation neuromodulation features and modalities, tailored to patient specific needs.

Steven Schachter, MD

Harvard Medical School
[email protected]
Dr. Steven Schachter is Chief Academic Officer for Cimit in Boston and a Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. He is Past President of the American Epilepsy Society. Dr. Schachter has published over 250 articles and chapters and edited or written 40 books. He is the founding editor and past editor-in-chief of the medical journals Epilepsy & Behavior and Epilepsy & Behavior Case Reports. His focus is accelerating medical technologies from the bench to commercialization. His efforts have helped to establish a new model of translational research for medical technologies that is now widely applied across multiple funding agencies.

David Segar, MD

Nudge
[email protected]
Dr. David Segar is a functional neurosurgeon and Medical Director at Nudge. He completed his neurosurgical residency at Brigham and Women’s/Boston Children’s and a fellowship in functional and epilepsy neurosurgery at UCSF. Previously a professor of functional neurosurgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, his work spans intracranial neurophysiology, focused ultrasound thalamotomy, and technology development to make deep brain neuromodulation safer, less invasive, and more effective.

John Snell, PhD

Histosonics
[email protected]
John Snell is a biomedical engineer with 30 years of experience in image guided neurosurgical procedures. He is currently leading procedure planning and simulation development for Histosonics. John previously led the Focused Ultrasound Foundation’s Brain Program.

John Stern, MD

University of California, Los Angeles
[email protected]
Dr. John Stern is Professor and Director of the Epilepsy Clinical Program in the Department of Neurology at the Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is also Director of UCLA’s Epilepsy Fellowship Training Program and Medical Director of UCLA’s Seizure Disorder Center.

Nicolle Sul

Focused Ultrasound Foundation
[email protected]
I currently work at the Focused Ultrasound Foundation as a gap year intern while I apply for medical school. I assist with funding pipeline management, organizing papers and workshops, and as general extra hands for the Research and Education team at the Foundation.

Jerzy Szaflarski, MD, PhD

University of Alabama at Birmingham
[email protected]
I am a clinical neurologist/epileptologist with extensive training and experience in the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy. I completed post-graduate research work at the University of Michigan in a basic neuroscience laboratory, residency/fellowship at the University of Cincinnati and neuroimaging fellowships with focus on fMRI at Medical College of Wisconsin, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and at the Montreal Neurological Institute. Since then, my research interests have focused neuroimaging of brain plasticity in acute, subacute, and chronic brain injury including neuroimaging of neuroinflammation and of the effects of neurorehabilitation and neuromodulation on brain plasticity.

Nitin Tandon, MD

UT Health Houston
[email protected]
Nitin Tandon is Professor of Vivian L Smith Department of Neurosurgery at the McGovern Medical School and Vice-President for Neurosciences, Strategy and Development at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston Texas. He holds the Nancy, Clive, and Pierce Runnells Distinguished Chair in Neuroscience and the BCMS Distinguished Professor in Neurological Disorders and Neurosurgery. He co-directs the Texas Institute of Restorative Neurotechnologies and the Functional and Stereotactic Neurosurgery Program. He also holds a joint appointment as a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University.

Dr Tandon’s practice spans the surgical treatment of epilepsy, brain tumors, trigeminal neuralgia and face pain syndromes, radiosurgery and general neurosurgery. He has pioneered innovative techniques in robotic stereo-electroencephalography, laser interstitial ablation and other minimally invasive approaches to brain tumors and epilepsy. He has a particular interest in functional mapping and preservation of eloquent cortical and subcortical regions during cortical resections. His research focus is the study of the neurobiology of language and of epilepsy via intracranial recordings and direct cortical stimulation. He has been the recipient of multiple NIH and NSF grants over the years and a STARS award by the State of Texas. He has authored over 150 peer reviewed publications and over a dozen book chapters.

Jasmine Thum, MD

University of Alabama Birmingham
[email protected]
Dr. Thum is an epilepsy and functional neurosurgeon at UAB who is setting up the first focused ultrasound system in Alabama. She is very interested in the treatment of epilepsy, consciousness, psychiatric disorders and movement disorders. She is interested in exploring high and low frequency ultrasound as a therapy for some of these pathologies.

Chaotan Wang

NaviFUS Corp.
[email protected]
Chaotan Wang is a Director of Regulatory Affairs with 11 years of medical device industry experience and 4 years at the TFDA authority. Specialized in GCP, innvoative devices and consultation processes. She works closely with clinical, medical, and regulatory teams to support trials and foster innovation. By engaging with healthcare professionals and thought leaders, Chaotan promotes collaboration, informed decision-making, and the development of safe, effective medical technologies..

Peter Warnke, MD

The University of Chicago
[email protected]
Medical School at the University of Freiburg, Germany.
Neurosurgery Residency in Chicago, Northwestern and Homburg, Germany.
Fellowship trained in Neurooncology, Pediatric Neurosurgery and Functional Neurosurgery.
Fogarty Fellow NIH
Former Faculty at Harvard Medical School an now Professor of Neurosurgery, Neurology and Pediatrics at the University of Chicago.
Chief, Section of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery

Kelly Wei, PhD

Medtronic
[email protected]
Kelly Wei, PhD, is a business leader and innovation strategist with deep expertise in med-tech and business transformation. As Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Medtronic, she drives enterprise strategy, shaping portfolio priorities across operating units. Previously, she led Medtronic’s internal startups as Vice President of New Therapies and served as General Manager of Kanghui Orthopedics. With 60+ patents, Kelly has spearheaded groundbreaking advancements in neuromodulation, robotics, orthopedics, cardiology, and bioelectronic medicine. Her career spans R&D, general management, business development, and board governance. She is known for building high-performance teams through purpose, accountability, and psychological safety. A trusted advisor to corporate leaders, investors, and boards, Kelly leverages her business, technology, and people skills to drive meaningful innovation that transforms lives.

Emily Whipple, PhD, MBA

Focused Ultrasound Foundation
[email protected]
At the Focused Ultrasound Foundation, Emily C. Whipple, PhD, MBA, leads the organization’s Cancer Immunotherapy Program and, as Director of Strategic Initiatives, drives high–impact external partnerships and internal efforts to accelerate the translation of focused ultrasound technologies into clinical and therapeutic use. She builds disease‐specific collaborations, identifies and stewards co-funding opportunities, oversees strategic convenings, and supports the full lifecycle of the Foundation’s research-funding pipeline, with special oversight of the cancer immunotherapy portfolio at the University of Virginia. Previously, Dr. Whipple held leadership and scientific roles in academia, research administration, and health technology. At OpenQ, she supported the development of software solutions designed to help life science companies identify and engage key opinion leaders and manage compliance. Dr. Whipple earned her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the Darden School of Business at UVA. She completed her undergraduate studies at Cornell University, combining a strong foundation in science with business and strategic training to advance the translation of medical innovations.

Chengyuan Wu

Thomas Jefferson University
[email protected]
Dr. Chengyuan Wu is Professor of Neurosurgery and Radiology at Thomas Jefferson University, where he serves as Chief of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery and Fellowship Director for the CAST-accredited Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery Fellowship. He specializes in epilepsy and movement disorder surgery, integrating advanced MR imaging into clinical practice. His research focuses on translational neuroimaging and brain biomechanics to improve the precision of neurosurgical interventions and to advance minimally invasive approaches for the surgical treatment of neurological disorders.