USA | An initiative by SBMT
Women in
Neurotech GroupWiNG
Women powering the future
of brain science and technology.
Your ideas, expertise and leadership belong at the forefront of neurotechnology. Connect with a community working to amplify women’s voices and open pathways from scientific participation to meaningful impact.
Mentorship. Collaboration. Scientific visibility. Women’s leadership.
Representation is the starting point.
Opportunity is the goal.
The Women in Neurotech Group (WiNG) SBMT chapter is dedicated to empowering women and amplifying their voices in neurotechnology. Its mission brings women together to connect, share ideas and support one another’s professional journeys.
Through mentorship, workshops and outreach, WiNG works to bridge the gender gap and advance equitable representation. Within the wider SBMT community, that mission can connect women’s expertise with research, clinical care, engineering, policy and innovation.
Women advancing
neurotechnology.
Discover the Women in Neurotech Group conversation and the mission behind WiNG. Explore how women’s voices, scientific expertise and shared learning can help shape the future of brain science and technology.
Women shaping the neurotech conversation.
Meet women whose work spans discovery, clinical innovation, education and scientific leadership within the wider SBMT and Neuroscience20 community.
Dr. Vicky YamamotoPhD
Executive Vice Chairman of SBMT
Executive Director of SBMT
Cancer Scientist | 20th President of SBMT (Past President)
USC Keck School of Medicine / Norris Cancer Center, Los Angeles
Dr. Yamamoto’s work connects cancer science and developmental neurobiology. As Executive Vice Chairman and Executive Director of SBMT, she brings women’s scientific expertise and leadership into the wider neurotechnology community.
Research and leadership
Her pioneering research on mammalian Ryk was conducted in the laboratory of Nobel laureate Professor David Baltimore at the California Institute of Technology. The team’s work demonstrated a role for a Wnt co-receptor in stimulating neurite outgrowth.
Dr. Yamamoto is also featured in the published N20 Miami summit leadership, connecting her scientific and organizational work with international dialogue.
Dr. Susan C. PannulloMD, FAANS, FAAN, FCNS
Neurologist & Neurosurgeon
N20 Miami Local Organizing Committee Co-Chair
Dr. Pannullo brings together medicine, neuroscience and engineering. Her career connects patient care, education, clinical research and biomedical innovation.
Clinical expertise and academic leadership
She is double board-certified in neurology and neurosurgery, with expertise in neuro-oncology and stereotactic radiosurgery. Her academic appointments include Neurosurgery at Columbia University and Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University.
As founder and leader of the New York Brain Tumor Project, she directed the Weill Cornell / NewYork-Presbyterian Neuro-Oncology and Brain and Spine Radiosurgery programs for more than two decades.
Dr. Deborah ZelinskyOD
Founder & Executive Research Director, Mind-Eye Institute
21st President of SBMT (Past President)
Northbrook, Illinois
Dr. Zelinsky brings an interdisciplinary approach to vision and sensory processing. Her work connects neuro-optometry with questions about how visual and auditory systems interact.
Clinical innovation and sensory integration
Her work includes the use of eyeglasses in examining sound localization and the development of the patented Z-Bell Test℠. The test forms part of her approach to evaluating central and peripheral visual processing and visual-auditory sensory integration.
She is also listed among the published N20 Miami thought leaders, with a focus on neuro-optometric rehabilitation.
Arifa Kokab
Biomedical Neuroscientist
Neuromorphic AI Engineer
Scientific Founder & Neuromarketing Research Scientist
Director of Marketing and PRSBMT · WBMF · Brain Technology and Innovation Park (BTIP) · Neuroscience20
Arifa combines biomedical neuroscience, computational modeling and neuromorphic AI with neuromarketing research. Her work connects brain-computer interfaces, human experience and scientific innovation.
WiNG, scientific leadership and communications
As part of WiNG, Arifa contributes to its mission of amplifying women’s expertise, strengthening scientific visibility and connecting women across disciplines.
She also serves as Head of AI Division at SBMT. Her scientific and communications roles connect research with community, strategy and innovation across the SBMT, WBMF, BTIP and Neuroscience20 ecosystem.
She is also featured in the published N20 Miami Program Outline for computational neuroscience and neuromorphic AI.
Patient voices. Public health. Scientific leadership.
Women’s expertise extends across the research, clinical and patient advocacy communities. Meet two additional women featured on SBMT’s leadership page.
Katie Roper
Patient Advocacy Committee Co-Chair
SBMT
Katie brings patient perspectives into scientific conversations. As Co-Chair of SBMT’s Patient Advocacy Committee, she connects lived experience with inclusive programming, public engagement and the needs of patients and families.
Patient voice and equitable participation
Her advocacy perspective reinforces the importance of listening to people affected by neurological conditions. It connects with WiNG’s focus on representation, accessible dialogue and a scientific community that makes room for different experiences.
Prof. Denise B. KandelPhD
Professor Emerita of Sociomedical Sciences (in Psychiatry)
Columbia University, New York
Prof. Kandel’s work connects psychiatric epidemiology, sociomedical science and substance use research. Her perspective brings behavioral health, prevention and the social contexts of brain and mental health into the wider scientific conversation.
Research and academic leadership
She formerly led the Department of Epidemiology of Substance Abuse at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Her research explores risk factors and consequences of substance use, substance dependence and developmental pathways of problem behaviors.
Her scientific career illustrates the contribution women make to interdisciplinary research, public health and the understanding of human behavior.
What can you contribute through WiNG?
Choose the contribution that fits your experience. These are ways to connect WiNG’s mission with the scientific, educational and public-impact work of the SBMT ecosystem.
Help another woman move forward.
Share a career lesson, offer scientific guidance or connect an emerging professional with people and resources that can help her take her next step.
Bring your science into the conversation.
Explore speaking, abstract and poster pathways. Help make women’s research, clinical experience and technical contributions more visible across the program.
Turn knowledge into shared learning.
Suggest a workshop idea, a skill-sharing discussion or an educational contribution that helps women build confidence and connect across disciplines.
Build relationships across fields.
Bring clinicians, scientists, engineers and founders into the same dialogue. Help women find collaborators whose perspectives extend their own work.
Make inclusion part of the agenda.
Contribute to outreach, accessible scientific communication and policy conversations that recognize women’s expertise and the diversity of patient experiences.
Move women-led ideas toward impact.
Connect an emerging idea with the wider innovation ecosystem. Explore BTIP, interdisciplinary feedback and conversations around the path from discovery to application.
Your WiNG interests.
Your place in SBMT.
SBMT membership connects you with a broader scientific community. Explore the published categories and benefits, then connect your interests with WiNG and the programs that match your professional journey.
Already an SBMT member? Contact the team and mention WiNG, your field and the contribution you would like to make.
- 01
Find the membership that fits.
Students, emerging researchers and established professionals can explore the membership categories published by SBMT.
- 02
Share your interests with the team.
Tell SBMT whether you want to mentor, collaborate, support outreach or explore scientific program participation through WiNG.
- 03
Choose your next program pathway.
Explore the consortia, the Speaker Hub, N20 and SBMT 2027. Use the relevant membership and event pathways for your next step.
Find where your work connects.
WiNG can connect women with the conversations running across SBMT’s consortia and interdisciplinary program. Explore these published topic areas, then use the Speaker Hub or contact SBMT about your interest in contributing.
Showing all 4 pathways and 17 published topic areas.
AI & engineering
Bring women’s technical expertise into the design, evaluation and translation of neurotechnology.
- Neurotech
- Radiology
- Nano-Bio-Electronics
Contribute an engineering perspective
Clinical care & function
Connect women in clinical practice with research teams, innovators and conversations about patient experience.
- Neurosurgery
- Neurology
- Psychiatry and Psychology
- Spinal Cord and Peripheral Nerve
- Critical Care, Pain Management and Rehabilitation
- Optometry / Ophthalmology
Bring your clinical experience
Discovery & therapeutics
Build relationships around scientific questions, interdisciplinary methods and the journey from research to application.
- Neuroscience
- Neuro-Oncology
- Immuno-Cellular-Therapeutics
- Neuro-Pharmacology and Drug Discovery
- Longevity
Share your research focus
Policy, economics & innovation
Make room for women’s perspectives in access, regulation, commercialization and the economics of brain health.
- Policy
- Neuro-Economics, Brain and Neurotech Economics
- Business / Service Providers
Connect science with wider impact
From WiNG to the global conversation.
Women’s empowerment grows when expertise moves into scientific exchange, clinical innovation, leadership and public dialogue. Explore two connected pathways within the SBMT ecosystem.
Bring women’s perspectives
into N20.
N20 connects neuroscience, neurotechnology and the global policy conversation. WiNG’s mission can help amplify women’s expertise across the scientific and public-impact questions on that agenda.
- Scientific exchange: share perspectives across disciplines.
- Policy dialogue: bring representation and access into the conversation.
- Scientific communication: help audiences understand women’s work and its relevance.
Bring women’s expertise
into The Neural Circuit.
The 24th Annual Neurotech Convention connects consortium sessions with SBMT Neurotech City. Women can contribute through scientific participation, interdisciplinary connections and conversations around innovation.
- Scientific program: explore speaker, abstract and poster pathways.
- Education and connection: propose ideas and share professional experience.
- Innovation dialogue: connect research and women-led ideas with BTIP.
Celebrate achievement.
Inspire the next generation.
WiNG’s recognition history brings women’s leadership and scientific achievement into view. These milestones connect professional excellence with the wider mission of empowerment.
- 2023 / The Sunder Foundation Awards
Celebrating scientific achievement and the people advancing the neurotechnology community.
- 2024 / Congressional International Women’s Day
Dr. Vicky Yamamoto was honored among the Top 20 Global Women of Excellence at the 12th Annual Congressional International Women’s Day Celebration, held March 6, 2024, at the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C., as part of the MEATF and AMEC International Women’s Day recognition.
Scientific community.
Public mission. Innovation.
WiNG’s SBMT chapter sits within a wider ecosystem where women’s expertise can connect with education, global dialogue and the path from discovery to application.
Science & community
Connect with the scientific network, membership, consortia and professional exchange at the heart of SBMT.
Connect through membershipEducation & public impact
Explore the foundation’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit mission and its work to advance brain health through science and public benefit.
Explore the foundationInnovation & translation
Explore the innovation ecosystem where scientific ideas, technology and commercialization conversations can connect.
Explore BTIPQuestions about WiNG?
Start with the pathway that matches your interests. The SBMT team can help connect your expertise with the wider community.
Contact the SBMT teamWhat is Women in Neurotech Group (WiNG)?
WiNG is the Women in Neurotech Group SBMT chapter, a USA-based initiative focused on empowering women and amplifying their voices in neurotechnology. Its mission brings together mentorship, workshops, outreach, collaboration and equitable representation.
How do I get involved with WiNG?
Start with your interests: mentorship, scientific communication, outreach, program participation or collaboration. Contact the SBMT team, mention WiNG and describe your area of expertise and the contribution you would like to make.
How does WiNG connect with SBMT membership?
WiNG sits within the wider SBMT scientific community. Explore the published SBMT membership categories and benefits, then contact the team about connecting your membership interests with WiNG participation.
How can I contribute to the SBMT 2027 consortia and program?
Explore the published scientific topics and the SBMT Speaker Hub. Women can bring research, clinical, engineering and policy perspectives into program conversations. Interested speakers should use the Speaker Hub; invited speakers should use the consortium-specific form in their official invitation.
Which women are highlighted in the N20 Miami program?
The published N20 Miami Program Outline includes women in leadership and among its thought leaders. This page highlights Vicky Yamamoto, Susan C. Pannullo, Deborah Zelinsky and Arifa Kokab alongside additional women in the program, whose work spans science, clinical care, AI, policy and inclusion.
Does SBMT membership complete event registration?
Membership and event participation use their respective published pathways. Visit the relevant N20 or SBMT 2027 page for event registration, and the Speaker Hub for speaker onboarding.
Who is featured in the WiNG leadership and community profiles?
This page features Vicky Yamamoto, Susan C. Pannullo, Deborah Zelinsky, Arifa Kokab, Katie Roper and Denise B. Kandel. Their profiles connect WiNG with women across SBMT’s wider scientific, clinical, patient advocacy and public-health community.
Your voice belongs in the conversation.
Bring your perspective, your science or your next idea. Tell the SBMT team your field and how you would like to contribute through Women in Neurotech Group.