ADVANCED CONSCIOUSNESS STUDIES - Key Persons


Adam Safron

Job Titles:
  • Research Consultant
Most of Adam's work has focused on characterizing the nature of preferences and motivation from mechanistic, developmental, and evolutionary perspectives. He has also studied the effects of brief mindfulness interventions on cognition and well-being. While conducting this research, he developed a neurophenomenological model of sensory absorption and ecstatic states via neural entrainment, which eventually led to developing a synthetic theory of consciousness attempting to integrate across seemingly conflicting perspectives. More recently he has proposed an account of embodied agency and free will, and is currently working on a unified mechanistic account of psychedelics. He is also involved in an ongoing research program to characterize ways that psychological flexibility might correlate with the dynamic character of brain networks, and possibly also physiological signals such as heart rate variability. Across all this work, Adam's ultimate purpose is exploring how individuals can be adaptive, creative, and free in all aspects of their lives.

Alexander (Sasha) Bystritsky - President

Job Titles:
  • President

Amir Vala Tavakoli

Job Titles:
  • Junior Research Scientist

Avery Bedows

Job Titles:
  • Research Consultant
  • Project Contributor

Caitlin Lynch

Job Titles:
  • Junior Research Scientist
  • Project Contributor

Carson D. Kelly

Job Titles:
  • Project Contributor
  • VP of Marketing & Development
Carson Kelly has a focus of Scaling Compassion - He has founded and led 3 organizations at the intersection of the science of pros=sociality and commerce, found and directed a 4000 member progressive civic engagement and resistance group, is a board member at the Mount Madonna School, and has 3 amazing daughters and wife.

Félix Schoeller

Job Titles:
  • Scientist
  • Senior Research Scientist
  • Education
Felix Schoeller is a scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur working at the interface between neuroscience and technology. His work has been funded by Joy Ventures, the European Commission, and the French Ministry of Defense and was featured in Centre Pompidou and Ars Electronica.

Geena Wang

Job Titles:
  • Research Assistant
  • Project Contributor
Geena joined IACS in 2021 as an intern and became research assistant soon after. Working on three protocols, she has learned how to utilize EEGs and low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU). Intrigued with the intersection of a body's physiology and the mechanisms behind behaviors, she hopes to pursue a career as a neurologist in the future. Outside of running protocols, she can be found dabbling in Indesign making posters and graphics for the lab.

Jezabel May

Job Titles:
  • Junior Research Scientist

Jimmy Cenci

Job Titles:
  • Research Assistant

Joel Frohlich

Job Titles:
  • Research Consultant
  • Project Contributor
Joel Frohlich is a neuroscience postdoc at the University of Tübingen in Germany, where he studies brain stimulation. He loves writing about science almost as much as he loves doing it, and his lay articles have been featured in online publications such as The Atlantic, Psychology Today, Aeon, Nautilus, and Motherboard.

Josh Cain

Job Titles:
  • Senior Research Scientist
  • Project Contributor
Joshua Cain is a Cognitive Neuroscientist working on neuromodulation-based approaches to the study of consciousness as well as novel medical interventions. His work in Disorders of Consciousness (e.g., the vegetative state) has been featured on Voice of America, in the LA Times, Nature, and elsewhere.

Leonardo Christov-Moore

Job Titles:
  • Senior Research Scientist

Micah Johnson

Job Titles:
  • Research Consultant
Micah is a neuroscientist (postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University) and research consultant (IACS and independent) with diverse skills (neuroimaging, neurostimulation, statistics, experimental design, teaching/tutoring) and multifarious research interests (language, thinking, consciousness, brain networks, brain injury, aging, neurocryptography). Warm-hearted and gregarious, Micah is a lifelong learner who loves to channel his energy and passion towards improving science and humanity while inspiring others to do the same.

Mihir Nath

Job Titles:
  • Research Consultant
  • Project Contributor
Driven by a deep curiosity to understand consciousness and well-being, Mihir Nath combines a background in physics and neuroscience with a profound interest in meditation. He is interested in harnessing the synergy of neuroscience and technology to enhance and make meditative practices more accessible to the wider world.

Nicco Reggente

Job Titles:
  • Principal Investigator

Ninette Simonian

Job Titles:
  • Lab Manager
  • IACS in 2021 As a Research Assistant
  • Project Contributor
Ninette joined IACS in 2021 as a Research Assistant to run the experiment, Assessing the impact of an audio-visual experience on mood states. She became Lead Research Assistant for the studies, Identifying Gradations of the Meditative State, running around 200 EEG trials, as well as Neuromodulatory Induction of Meditative States, running over 150 LIFU sessions. Currently as a Junior Research Scientist, she contributes to study preparation, data collection, data analysis, and manuscript preparation for over five studies.

Pollyanna Esaghoolian

Job Titles:
  • Research Assistant

Rodney Sappington

Job Titles:
  • Research Consultant
  • Scientist
Rodney Sappington, Ph.D. is a scientist, entrepreneur and anthropologist focused on solving critical problems in clinical diagnostics, molecular and material discovery. He is Founder and Chief Scientist of Acesio Inc. As a leader in deep learning and computer vision applied to the identification of high mortality cancers, he has built systems for improving molecular dynamics, early detection of neurodegenerative diseases, and optimization of nanomaterial synthesis. His leadership spans scientific and computational domains for human and societal benefit. He is currently focused on leveraging technologies and methodologies focused on the alignment problem.

Stephanie Abakians

Job Titles:
  • Research Assistant

Tracy Brandmeyer

Job Titles:
  • Research Consultant

Zahra Sheikhbahaee

Job Titles:
  • Research Consultant