The Helix Center is pleased to announce receipt of a grant from the John Templeton Foundation in support of a series of fourteen roundtables addressing big questions in the physical, natural, and biological sciences and the humanities. The topics are: Knowledge and Limitations; The Span of Infinity; Complexity and Emergence; The Search for Immortality; The Sublime Experience; The Meditative State; The Realm of Mystery; The Changing Nature of Free Will; Genes, Computers, and Medicine; Epigenetics at Work; Speak, Memory; Apprehending Consciousness; Understanding Genius; and The Mind of a Child. Dates to be announced.
All Helix Center events are free and open to the public, including this one!
Roundtables are streamed live our website and the recording remains available after the event events.
This is a past event that happened on Through 2015.
Participants
Megan Abbott
Author
Megan Abbott is the award-winning author of seven novels, including Dare Me, The End of Everything and her latest, The Fever, which won both the International Thriller Writers and Strand Critics Award for Best Novel and was chosen one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, Amazon, the Boston Globe and the Los... read more! »
Cristina Alberini
Professor in the Center for Neural Science, New York University
Cristina Alberini, Professor in the Center for Neural Science, New York University, has been studying the biological mechanisms of long-term memory for the last 20 years. Her studies explore the biological mechanisms of memory consolidation and reconsolidation, the processes by which newly learned information become long-lasting memories, and how memories are modulated and integrated into... read more! »
Sven Bernecker
Professor of Philosophy, the University of California, Irvine
Sven Bernecker is Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Irvine. After obtaining his doctorate in philosophy from Stanford University, he held research positions at the University of Munich, Birkbeck College London, the University of Manchester, and the University of Vienna. He is a recipient of a Humboldt Research Award, a Member of the... read more! »
Tom Carew
Professor of Neuroscience, NYU Center for Neural Science
Thomas Carew is the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science at New York University, where he is also a Professor of Neural Science. Tom trained with Eric Kandel, a pioneer in the field of memory research. Tom is an elected fellow of both AAAS and the American Academy of... read more! »
Frances Champagne
Associate Professorof Psychology, Columbia University
Frances A. Champagne Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Columbia University. Dr. Champagne’s main research interest concerns how genetic and environmental factors interact to shape the brain and behavior through epigenetic changes in gene expression. Studies in rodents suggest that the quality of maternal care received in infancy can lead... read more! »
Martin Conway
Professor of Cognitive Psychology, City University London
Professor of Cognitive Psychology, head of the psychology department at City University London, Martin A. Conway has been studying human memory for more than thirty years. He is known for his pioneering theoretical work on autobiographical memory, as well as for his studies of the neuropsychology of memory and memory’s neurological basis. His research also... read more! »
James Dahlman
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Tech
James Dahlman is a chemical / bioengineer who works at the interface of nanotechnology, genomics, and gene editing. He is studying gene editing with Feng Zhang at the Broad Institute. He received his PhD from MIT and Harvard Medical School in 2014, where he studied RNA delivery and gene therapies with Robert Langer and Daniel... read more! »
Steve Hsu
Vice-President for Research and Professor of Theoretical Physics at Michigan State University
Steve Hsu is Vice-President for Research and Professor of Theoretical Physics at Michigan State University, where he oversees over $500 million in annual research expenditures. Educated at Caltech and Berkeley, he was a Harvard Junior Fellow and held professorships at Yale University and the University of Oregon. Hsu was founder and CEO of SafeWeb, an... read more! »
Rex Jung
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of New Mexico
Rex Jung received his training in clinical psychology, specializing in neuropsychology, at the University of New Mexico, in Albuquerque. He completed an internship at Baylor College of Medicine in the Departments of Neurosurgery and Behavioral Medicine, and postdoctoral training at the University of New Mexico in Psychiatry Research. He has been on the Neurosurgery faculty... read more! »
Zachary Kaminsky
Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Zachary Kaminsky is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and jointly appointed in the Department of Mental Health in the Bloomberg School of Public Health. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto where he studied psychiatric epigenetics and helped to... read more! »
Joseph Kohn
Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, Princeton University
Joseph Kohn was born in Prague, on May 18, 1932. He emigrated to Ecuador in 1939 and to the US in 1945. There, he received his BS at MIT 1953, and his Ph.D. at Princeton, in 1956. He served as a Professor at Brandeis University 1958-1968 and at Princeton since 1968. Professor Kohn’s research regards the Theory... read more! »
Sara Lazar
Assistant Professor in Psychology, Harvard Medical School
Sara W. Lazar, Ph.D., is an Associate Researcher in the Psychiatry Department at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Assistant Professor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School. The focus of her research is to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of yoga and meditation, both in clinical settings and in healthy individuals. She is a contributing author to Meditation... read more! »
Francis Lee
Mortimer D. Sackler Professor & Vice Chair for Research, Department of Psychiatry, Weill-Cornell Medical College
Francis Lee is the Mortimer D. Sackler Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Psychiatry at Weill-Cornell Medical College, and attending psychiatrist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He received his MD and PhD from the University of Michigan, and psychiatry training at Payne Whitney Clinic and completed postdoctoral training, at New York University... read more! »
Penelope Lewis
Senior Lecturer of Neuroscience, University of Manchester
Penelope A. Lewis is a neuroscientist at the University of Manchester, where she runs the Neuroscience and Psychology of Sleep (NaPS) lab. Her research specifically investigates the role of sleep in strengthening and altering memories – and ways we can use this to our advantage. She is the author of The Secret World of Sleep, which has sold... read more! »
Fei Li
Assistant Professor of Biology, New York University
Fei Li is an Assistant Professor of Biology at New York University. He received his Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from the University of Texas at Austin. He then conducted his postdoctoral research at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and University of California at Berkeley. He has been with the Department of Biology... read more! »
Peter Malinowski
Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liverpool John Moores University
Peter Malinowski, PhD, is the founding director of the Meditation and Mindfulness Research Group at the Research Centre for Brain and Behaviour, Liverpool John Moores University and Honorary Lecturer at the University of Liverpool. In his work he builds on his expertise in Cognitive Neuroscience and on his extensive experience in practicing and teaching meditation... read more! »
Karen Maschke
Researcher Scholar, The Hastings Center
Karen J. Maschke is a Research Scholar at the Hastings Center, a bioethics research institute in Garrison, New York. She has a PhD in political science from Johns Hopkins University, a master’s degree in bioethics from Case Western Reserve University, and was a Bioethics Fellow at the Cleveland Clinic, an academic medical center in Cleveland,... read more! »
Darrin McMahon
Mary Brinsmead Wheelock Professor of History, Dartmouth College
Darrin M. McMahon is the Mary Brinsmead Wheelock Professor of History at Dartmouth College, and formerly the Ben Weider Professor and Distinguished Research Professor at Florida State University, where he taught from 2004-2014. Educated at the University of California, Berkeley and Yale, where he received his PhD in 1998, McMahon is the author of Enemies... read more! »
Priyamvada Natarajan
Professor of Astronomy and of Physics, Yale University
Priyamvada Natarajan’s research is focused on exotica in the Universe-dark matter, dark energy and black holes. She is noted for her key contributions to two of the most challenging problems in cosmology: mapping the distribution of dark matter and tracing the growth history of black holes. Her work using gravitational lensing has provided a deeper... read more! »
Koshin Paley Ellison
Co-Founder of the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care
Rev. Dr. Koshin Paley Ellison, MFA, LMSW, DMIN, cofounded the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, the first Zen-based organization to offer fully accredited ACPE clinical chaplaincy training in America, which delivers contemplative approaches to care through education, direct service, and meditation practice. Paley Ellison is the academic advisor for the Buddhist students in... read more! »
Carol Rovane
Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University
Carol Rovane is Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, where she has served as Director of Graduate Studies and Chair of the Philosophy Department, and was recently awarded the Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award. She publishes widely in the areas of metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of action and ethics, and has authored two books: The... read more! »
Joanne Ruthsatz
Assistant Professor of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Mansfield
Joanne Ruthsatz is Assistant Professor of Psychology at The Ohio State University, Mansfield. She graduated from Bowling Green State University with a BA in psychology, receiving Phi Beta Kappa. She completed her PhD in Experimental Psychology at Case Western Reserve University. Training on the Mental Retardation Research Grant, she studied the full range of human cognitive... read more! »
Dean Keith Simonton
Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis
Dean Keith Simonton is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis, he received his 1975 PhD in Social Psychology from Harvard University. His research program spans various questions associated with genius, creativity, leadership, talent, and aesthetics. Simonton’s curriculum vita lists more than 500 publications, including 13 books, namely: Genius, Creativity, and Leadership;... read more! »
Sheldon Solomon
Professor of Psychology and Ross Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Skidmore College
Sheldon Solomon is Professor of Psychology and Ross Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Skidmore College. As an experimental social psychologist (with a B.A. in psychology from Franklin and Marshall College, and PhD from the University of Kansas), his interests include the nature of self, consciousness, and social behavior. His work with Jeff Greenberg (at the... read more! »
Morgan Stebbins
Supervising Analyst, Jungian Psychoanalytic Association in New York
Morgan Stebbins was a supervising analyst, faculty member and Director of Training at the Jungian Psychoanalytic Association in New York, where he also maintains a private practice. He teaches Religious Studies and Hermeneutics at the New York Theological Seminary in the Pastoral Care and Counseling program. He began his Zen training at the San Francisco... read more! »
Yi-Yuan Tang
Professor of Psychological Sciences, Texas Tech University
Dr. Yi-Yuan Tang is a Professor of Psychological Sciences, Presidential Endowed Chair in Neuroscience at Texas Tech University and founding Director of Texas Tech Neuroimaging Institute. He is also Professor of Internal Medicine at TTU Health Science Center, Adjunct Professor of Psychology, University of Oregon. He is Fellow of Association for Psychological Sciences (APS), Fellow... read more! »
Michael S. Turner
Bruce V. and Diana M. Rauner Distinguished Service Professor of Physics, the University of Chicago
Michael S. Turner is a theoretical astrophysicist and the Bruce V. and Diana M. Rauner Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. He is also Director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at Chicago, which he helped to establish, and formerly served as the President of the American Physical Society. He received his... read more! »
Jessica Tyler
Professor, Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Jessica Tyler was born in England in 1969. After graduating from the University of Sheffield with a Bachelors degree and Hans Krebs prize in Biochemistry, she performed her PhD studies at the MRC Virology Unit in Glasgow, Scotland. During her postdoctoral studies at the University of California San Diego identified the key factors that package... read more! »
Hans-Guido Wendel
Principal Investigator at the Cancer Genetics Laboratory at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Dr. Hans-Guido Wendel, M.D. is a Principal Investigator at the Cancer Genetics Laboratory at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He works to identify new cancer therapies based on the genetic origins of the disease. He come from Germany and trained in medicine in Aachen and Edinburgh and is currently an Associate Member of the Sloan-Kettering Institute.... read more! »
Elliot Wolfson
Marsha and Jay Glazer Chair Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies, the University of California, Santa Barbara
Elliot R. Wolfson, a Fellow of the American Academy of Jewish Research and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, is the Marsha and Jay Glazer Chair Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His main area of scholarly research is the history of Jewish mysticism but he has brought... read more! »
Susan Wolfson
Professor of English, Princeton University
Susan Wolfson has taught at UC Berkeley, Rutgers University, and is now Professor of English at Princeton University. She’s a specialist in the literature of British Romanticism, the era of “enlightenment” quests for knowledge and new philosophies of social freedom and social responsibility. She teaches regularly in this field, and when possible, Shakespeare, and Milton’s... read more! »
I am a well known global science communicator, futurist and social activist based in Australia. I would like to attend the round tables but the cost of travelling to the US would be exorbitant.
I hope you are making plans to use globally distributed locations to
overcome this problem for the
Tens of tbousands of other
supporters who would like to
enjoy the experience of attending-in person- not digitally.
thankyou for creating such a great concept
Dear David,
Thank you for your support and positive comments. Your vision will hopefully become reality one day not too far in the distant future.
Ed