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Meet the SBMT President

SBMT President’s Message It is an incredible honor to serve as the President of the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics (SBMT) Annual Meeting in Los Angeles from February 28- March 2, 2025. SBMT is a truly unique organization where scientists from various backgrounds converge on the unified goal of advancing the neurosciences.  The theme of this year’s meeting will focus on the convergence of human consciousness and neuroscientific innovation. The new era of brain-computer interface, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and robotics will completely change the landscape of healthcare.  The incredible stories of human perseverance, deep, thoughtful experiments and revolutionary therapies ultimately come from a source that is deep and personal to everyone.  It is that passion and drive that forces us to unlock our real potential for healing humanity.  The discoveries yet to unfold lie in a much deeper realm of consciousness, and we hope you will tap into that curiosity at our meeting, where the cutting edge of neuro innovation thrives. Our collective consciousness promotes diversity, curiosity, and humility to engage with the next great discovery to help humanity.  Our mission at SBMT is to travel the road less traveled and encourage cross-pollination between science, technology and human consciousness.  That realm of consciousness is where an idea to transform humanity exists, and I hope you will bring this excitement to our meeting. The 2025 SBMT meeting will have incredible speakers meant to challenge what you know, help you embrace the unknown, and leave you energized about the future.  By unlocking your imagination and curiosity, we hope to leave you as better scientists and deep thinkers for advancing the greater good of helping our patients. I truly look forward to seeing you. Warmest WishesAbilash Haridas, MD, FAANS, FCNS, FABPNSNeurosurgeon22nd President SBMTLos Angeles, California

Deborah Zelinsky

Her global reputation is due, in part, to her discovery of the use of eyeglasses to alter sound location and subsequent development of the Z-Bell Test℠.   The patented test allows Dr. Zelinsky and her team to prescribe lenses and use other optometric interventions that balance processing of central and peripheral eyesight, while synchronizing the integration between auditory and retinal sensory systems. The Mind-Eye Institute was created with the objective to make new science discoveries pertaining to eyes more accessible to patients both domestically and globally. Dr. Zelinsky’s vision is to train other eyecare professionals on enhancement of retinal processing using her patented methods, with a short-term goal to have accredited doctors practicing in most major population centers globally. The 20/20 eye testing standard is over 150 years old and does not consider the peripheral processing or auditory integration both of which are critical.  Dr. Zelinsky is pioneering a campaign to “Leave 20/20 in the 20th Century” and shift into a more updated assessment protocol including moving targets and overall awareness of surroundings.  Using brain mapping of the retina (which is comprised of brain tissue) the optometric profession can perform brain, rather than eye, examinations.  Patients needing this updated testing include those who have been diagnosed with a brain that isn’t functioning at its full potential.  This includes a wide range of issues, including genetic mutations, autism, attention problems such as ADD and ADHD, dyslexia, learning problems, concussions, and stroke among others. In addition to her work with the Mind-Eye Institute, Dr. Zelinsky is a fellow in both the College of Optometrists in Vision Development and the Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association.  She is a board member of the Society for Brain Mapping and a community leader for the Society of Neuroscience. More on Deborah Zelinsky: Here

Vicky Yamamoto

Dr. Yamamoto’s pioneering work on mammalian Ryk was conducted at the laboratory of Professor David Baltimore, a Nobel laureate-1975, at California Institute of Technology. In this project, Drs. Baltimore, Yamamoto and the team have demonstrated that a Wnt co-receptor is required for stimulation of neurite outgrowth. The significant finding was published in a prestigious journal, Cell (Cell Press). This work opened new possibilities for scientists to investigate the role of Wnt signaling in cellular growth and differentiation in the central nervous system. Dr. Yamamoto received a prestigious fellowship from California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to investigate the role of cleavage of Wnt co-receptor Ryk in regulating neuronal differentiation during cortical neurogenesis. She published her results in Developmental Cell (Cell Press), which identified a key mechanism that regulates the development of stem cells into neurons. Dr. Yamamoto’s current research at Keck School of Medicine of USC in the Department of Head and Neck Surgery focused on a) The effect of Wnt small molecule inhibitor in enhancing chemo-radiation sensitivity of cancer cells. b) Investigating the roles of cancer stem cells in head and neck cancer progression and metastasis. c) IL-6/STAT3 signaling as a therapeutic target and for early diagnosis. She has been a recipient of many prestigious awards including: an industry award, the young investigator award from Society for Brain Mapping & Therapeutics (SBMT), a pre-doctoral fellowship from The Edwin Everest Foundation, CIRM pre-doctoral fellowship from California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, as well as numerous awards from Mount St. Mary’s College including President’s Medal, Sister Rebecca Doan’s award, community service award, and the honors certificate. She graduated with Magna Cum Laude from Mount St. Mary’s College with a BS in biological sciences and a BA in chemistry. She received a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from Keck School of Medicine of USC. Dr. Yamamoto has been a founding member of the board of the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics (SBMT). She has served on many committees including publication committee as a member of the editorial board and co-chaired the industry committee of SBMT where she provided a liaison with near 3,000 industry partners of the society. Dr. Yamamoto is also an active board member of the Brain Mapping Foundation.

Robert Hariri

Dr. Hariri pioneered the use of stem cells to treat a range of life-threatening human diseases and continues today to make transformative contributions in the fields of immuno-oncology and cell therapeutics along with tissue engineering and functional regeneration. He is widely acknowledged for his discovery of pluripotent stem cells derived from the human placenta, and as a member of the team that discovered the physiological activities of tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Dr. Hariri and his team of scientists were the first to obtain FDA approval to use its cryopreserved allogeneic, off-the-shelf Natural Killer (NK) cell therapy to treat COVID-19 infected adults. He holds over 170 issued and pending patents for discoveries including placenta-derived stem cells, which Nature recognized as one of the ten most important patent estates in the field. He has authored over 150 published chapters, articles, and abstracts. Dr. Hariri was the recipient of the Pontifical Medal for Innovation awarded by Pope Francis in 2018 for his discovery of placental stem cells and advances in immunotherapy and regenerative medicine. Dr. Hariri twice received the Thomas Alva Edison Award for invention, in 2007 and 2011, and is a recipient of the Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation’s Fred J. Epstein Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Hariri was recipient of the Genius of New Jersey Award in 2019 and over the years has received numerous other honors for his many contributions to the fields of biomedicine and aviation. Dr. Hariri is an Adjunct Professor of Neurosurgery and member of the Board of Overseers of the Weill Cornell Medical College and a former member of the board of visitors of the Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the Science & Technology Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is a member of the X PRIZE Foundation scientific advisory board for the Archon X PRIZE for Genomics. Dr. Hariri is a trustee and vice-chair of the Liberty Science Center. In 2010 he was appointed a Commissioner of Cancer Research by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Dr. Hariri completed his undergraduate training at Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Columbia College. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell University, where he was the recipient of both the Julian R. Rachele Award and the Doctoral Dissertation Award. He was a surgical resident and fellow in neurosurgery at The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center and served as an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and Associate Research Professor of Surgery at Cornell and Co-director of the Aitken Laboratory in Neurosurgery.

Wes Ashford

Dr. Ashford is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (affiliated) at Stanford University and the Director of the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. Dr. Ashford also serves as a Senior Research Scientist at the Stanford / VA Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical Research Centers. He is Chair of the Memory Screening Advisory Board of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America and a Senior Editor of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. He received his MD (1974) and PhD (1984) from UCLA, completing his dissertation under Dr. Joaquin Fuster. His dissertation was a finalist for the Lindsley Prize for the best in Behavioral Neuroscience (1984). He completed Psychiatry Residency at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute (1979; board certified in Psychiatry, 1981). While serving as the first Chief Resident on the UCLA Geriatric Psychiatry, unit 1978 to 1979, he conducted the first double-blind study of an anti-cholinesterase drug (physostigmine) to treat Alzheimer patients (Ashford et al., 1981); anti-cholinesterase drugs are now the first-line treatment for Alzheimer’s dementia. From 1980 to 1985, Dr. Ashford directed the Geriatric Psychiatry Out-patient Clinic at UCLA and initiated the UCLA/Alzheimer PET scan study with Dr. David Kuhl. With Dr. Fuster, he made the first proposal and neurophysiologic demonstration of massive parallel information processing in connections between different regions of the cerebral cortex (Ashford & Fuster, 1985), a critical finding for understanding neuroplasticity and memory (Ashford, Coburn, and Fuster, 1998). His work in Alzheimer’s disease and neurophysiology led to the water-shed proposal that neuro-plastic memory mechanisms of the brain are specifically affected by Alzheimer pathology (Ashford & Jarvik, 1985, Ashford, 2015). Dr. Ashford has served in leadership positions in several academic institutions. He helped to establish NIA-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Centers at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and the University of California, Davis. While in Illinois he published the first study of Modern Test Theory in the field of Medicine, “Item-Response Theory” analysis of the Mini-Mental State Exam (Ashford et al., 1989). At the University of Kentucky, as tenured Associate Professor in Psychiatry, Neurology, and the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, and Vice-Chair for Research, Department of Psychiatry, and a scientist in the NIA-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, he proposed a “Time-Index” method to measure Alzheimer dementia severity (Ashford et al., 1995; Ashford & Schmitt, 2001), which was used in the UK Nun study (Butler, Ashford, Snowden, 1996), and a study of the loss of cerebral perfusion in Alzheimer patients (Ashford et al., 2000). With Dr. James Geddes he showed the crucial role of paired helical filament pathology in destroying neuronal processes (Ashford et al., 1998). In addition to publishing extensively in nearly all areas of the Alzheimer field, Dr. Ashford has studied numerous other neuropsychiatric illnesses. He provides leadership, mentorship and expert consultation in a wide range of fields touching on and synergistic to brain health and disease. He is currently developing early detection and measurement methods for cognitive function and reformulating theories of Alzheimer pathology. He continues his life-long interest and passion for improving health and slowing aging.

Aaron G. Filler

Dr. Aaron Filler is the world’s leading expert in treatment of nerve pain. He has revolutionized nerve-pain treatment by inventing several new technologies. One such technology, MR Neurography, enables doctors to use an MRI scanner to examine nerves, previously a difficult-to-impossible tissue to visualize with MR imaging. Dr. Filler’s research in axonal transport is leading to a whole new generation of advanced pain medications. He has developed many new “minimal access” surgery methods that allow him to treat complex nerve problems with small outpatient surgeries. He has also pioneered the use of the Open MRI scanner to do surgeries and other therapies with the ultra-high precision and safety of the magnetic resonance imaging.

Michael J. Roy

Michael Roy, MD, Col. (Ret.) is professor of Medicine and director of the Division of Military Internal Medicine at Uniformed Services University and director of Recruitment for USU’s Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine. He is a graduate of Brown University and Brown University School of Medicine. Dr. Roy completed an internal medicine residency and a general medicine fellowship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and retired as a Colonel after 24 years’ active duty in the Army. He has twice served as president of the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics (SBMT), and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. He has authored more than 100 publications including the books Physician’s Guide to Terrorist Attack and Novel Approaches to the Diagnosis and Treatment of Post traumatic Stress Disorder. Dr. Roy is currently the principal investigator on multiple active studies seeking to improve the early identification and treatment of post traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. Many of the studies incorporate cutting-edge technologies, including functional MRI to both detect PTSD and document a response to treatment, the use of virtual reality to enhance the treatment of PTSD, and the use of smart phones and tablet devices to reach out to patients and help them with their symptoms at a distance.