Neuro-Art Symposium

Speakers

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  Professor S. Ama Wray Professor of dance and creator of Embodiology®
  

  Professor S. Ama Wray

  Professor of dance and creator of Embodiology®

  Dr. S. Ama Wray is an Professor of dance and the University of California, Irvine. She is a former U.K NESTA Fellow (National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts – similar to the MacArthur Awards)—an improviser, choreographer, director, teacher and scholar. She self-titles as a ‘Performance Architect’, receiving her Ph.D. from the University of Surrey where she developed her theory and practice of Embodiology®, a neo-African approach to contemporary dance improvisation. Her TED talk articulates its distinctions and philosophy http://www.tedxorangecoast.com/videopick/sheron-wray-bodily-steps-to-innovation/ In 2016 an essay on her neo-African approach to dance improvisation is in Black Dance British Routes, edited by Adair and Burt, 2017 published by Routledge. In 2014 two essays on jazz dance were published in the anthology Jazz dance: A History of its Roots and Branches, edited by Guarino and Oliver.

  As a performer in the UK she danced with London Contemporary Dance Theatre and Rambert Dance Company between 1988 and 2001. Wray is widely known for her role as the leading performer and legal custodian of Harmonica Breakdown (1938), choreographed by Jane Dudley. As its custodian she continues to restage the work globally and has completed a motion capture/Labanotation research project funded by the UK Arts and Humanities research Council 2014-16. The dance is also the title subject of a documentary about Jane and this work. Her other films are for JazzXchange Special Request, depicting a journey from Nyabinghi drums to Hip Hop, shot on various locations in NY; and Red as Expected, an award winning film by Dennis Morrision with music by Byron Wallen. Re-inspired after her solo role in Wynton Marsalis’ Harvard Lecture Series in 2012 and her residency at The Institute of Advanced Study (in Princeton) she re-launched JazzXchange in the USA and is developing an interdisciplinary festival of jazz and hip hop performance in Orange County. Currently her improvisation practice is extending into clinical research with UCI medical centre, using her dance improvisation methods as a form of therapy for patients who suffer from chronic diseases. And in 2015 UK’s National Resource Centre for Dance invited her to place her archive within their permanent collection. In the realm of theatre she has successfully directed two of Mojisola Adebayo’s plays directed Moj of the Antarctic – An African Odyssey and Muhammad Ali and Me which have toured the UK and South Africa supported by the British Council.

  In London between 1992 and 2004 Wray was artistic director of JazzXchange Music and Dance Company, collaborating with musicians including: Gary Crosby – OBE, Julian Joseph, Wynton Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin and Zoe Rahman. For the UK’s 2012 Cultural Olympiad Festival she was commissioned to choreograph The Brown Bomber, collaborating with Joseph once again, supported by the PRS Foundation. As a result of her 4-year NESTA fellowship, dance of the African diaspora, jazz and improvisation intersect in her concept of digitally enabled improvisation which manifests in the award-winning Texterritory. Texterritory is an interactive performance platform created in collaboration with Fleeta Siegel. Recent productions include Texterritory Congo, Digitally Ever Present and Texterritory USA.

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  Mike Yassa Director, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory University of California, Irvine
  

  Mike Yassa

  Director, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory University of California, Irvine

  Research Abstract
  We are interested in understanding how our brains can store and retrieve massive amounts of information and in using this knowledge to improve the human condition. We use cutting-edge human neuroscience tools to understand learning and memory in healthy and diseased brains. In particular, we are trying to uncover ways in which our memory abilities change throughout the lifespan from childhood to older adulthood. We are also trying to develop ways to diagnose and treat memory disorders present in patients with progressive diseases like Alzheimer’s disease or mood disorders like depression. More recently, we have begun to explore the impact of lifestyle factors like sleep, diet, and exercise on memory and cognition. Our toolkit is dynamic and diverse. It includes cross-species brain imaging as well electrical recordings from the brains of epilepsy patients before they undergo neurological surgery. We develop and refine cognitive assessment tools that specifically target learning and memory functions, with the goal of developing improved diagnostic and prognostic tests that we can use in community mental health settings. We also develop new tools for imaging and recording brain function to explore its architecture at very fine levels of detail. We collaborate vigorously and widely with investigators across the globe and provide support with open tool development and data banks to facilitate discovery science.

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  Carol Penn DO, Dipl. ABOM, MA, FACCE From Dancer to Doula to Doctor
  

  Carol Penn

  DO, Dipl. ABOM, MA, FACCE From Dancer to Doula to Doctor

  About Dr. Carol

  Dr. Carol A. Penn, DO, MA, ABOM, FACOFP doubly Board Certified in Family Medicine and Obesity Medicine as well as being a Master movement, meditation, and mindset coach brings more than 40 years of experience and expertise in Mind Body Medicine and the movement sciences. Gifted with the ability to inspire and educate about self care, Dr. Penn brings a unique set of skills to her work as a physician. Her work in Mindful Movement and the dynamic small group facilitation work in the Mind Body Spirit Medicine series is designed to assist each participant in their journey of deep self care and in learning how to prioritize themselves on behalf of achieving their best and highest self. In her online Mind Body Medicine series you will learn how to balance your Sympathetic and Parasympathetic nervous system as well as how to uncouple the amygdala and hippocampus regions of the brain from fear based behaviors that hold us back and keep us stuck. Dr. Penn hoping to guide each person on their own unique journey, holds national certifications in Mind Body Medicine from the Center for Mind Body Medicine; Health, Wellness and Fitness Coach from Wellcoaches; and is a certified Personal Trainer from the National Council on Strength and Fitness. Additionally, she has a 500 hour certification in yoga from Soma Yoga and is certified in Organ Cleansing QiGong. She also brings her artistic sensibilities to the marriage of the arts and medicine with her background as a professionally trained dancer and choreographer with the world famous Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and a Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Teaching Fellow, Dr. Penn will get you moving and keep you moving on your path to health and wellness.

  Having achieved a rare standard of excellence in the Academic community, Dr. Penn is a Fellow in the American Academy of Osteopathic Family Physicians and is Clinical Faculty with Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, the Center for Mind Body Medicine, and the Medical Moguls Academy. She is a recent graduate of the Whole Health Medical Institute and serves as a leader in her community as a member of the Board of Health and in her capacity as a Trustee with Lunch Break Inc. She is also a two time best selling author and her book: Meditation In a Time of Madness, launched in 2019 as a number 1 best seller in the category of meditation and alternative medicine.

  A business woman, servant leader and entrepreneur, Dr. Penn is a Founder/Activist and Chief Visionary Officer of Penn Global Visions LLC, a health and education multi-media firm changing the world one meditation at a time. Soon the doors to Penn Mogul Medical Group, her concierge medical practice will be open! She is a medical correspondent for WURD Radio in Philadelphia where she is a frequent guest and Podcastor as well as the host of her own weekly show and podcast: Weightless in Mind, Body and Spirit. A creative forever, she continues to direct her all volunteer women’s dance ensemble Core of Fire.

  An activist, Dr. Penn has most recently taken on as her mission, ending racism globally. Viewing racism as a chronic disease, Dr. Penn is the content creator for both a seminar/webinar; The Mindful Genogram: The Examination of Ancestral Bias and a course that is gaining national recognition; Unpacking Racism Through the Lens of Mind, Body, and Spirit Meditation and Movement.

  She is super proud wife, mom, and daughter living and loving in the midst of a beautiful blended family, surrounded by a beloved extended family and connections and kinship with friends and colleagues.

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  Richard j. Davidson Founder & Director of the Center For Healthy Minds At The University of Wisconsin–Madison
  

  Richard j. Davidson

  Founder & Director of the Center For Healthy Minds At The University of Wisconsin–Madison

  Davidson is best known for his groundbreaking work studying emotion and the brain. A friend and confidante of the Dalai Lama, he is a highly sought after expert and speaker, leading conversations on well-being on international stages such as the World Economic Forum, where he serves on the Global Council on Mental Health. Time Magazine named Davidson one of “The 100 Most Influential People in the World” in 2006.

  His research is broadly focused on the neural bases of emotion and emotional style as well as methods to promote human flourishing, including meditation and related contemplative practices. His studies have centered on people across the lifespan, from birth through old age. In addition, he’s conducted studies with individuals with emotional disorders such as mood and anxiety disorders and autism, as well as expert meditation practitioners with tens of thousands of hours of experience. His research uses a wide range of methods including different varieties of MRI, positron emission tomography, electroencephalography and modern genetic and epigenetic methods.

  Davidson has published hundreds of scientific papers, numerous chapters and reviews, and is co-author with Daniel Goleman of “Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body” (Avery, Sept. 5, 2017). He is also the author, with Sharon Begley, of The New York Times bestseller “The Emotional Life of Your Brain” (Penguin, 2012). He has been featured widely in popular media, including the Today Show, ABC’s Nightline, National Public Radio, National Geographic Magazine, Time Magazine, Newsweek, O: the Oprah Magazine, PBS’s The Charlie Rose Show, Harvard Business Review, and additional national and international news outlets.

  Davidson is the William James and Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison where he has been a faculty member since 1984. He is the founder of Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc., an external, affiliated nonprofit dedicated to supporting the mission of the Center for Healthy Minds.

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  Elikem Nyamuame Visiting Assistant Professor State University of New York
  

  Elikem Nyamuame

  Visiting Assistant Professor State University of New York

  Background

  Samuel Elikem Kwame Nyamuame is a visiting assistant professor in the departments of music and theatre. He received a PhD in ethnomusicology (world music) at the University of Florida, MA in ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University, BFA in dance and music) and Diploma in Music at the School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana, Legon. His area of expertise is musical cultures of Africa and African Diaspora, African music (drumming) and dance traditions, especially that of Ghana.

  Prior to coming to Binghamton University, Nyamuame was an adjunct lecturer teaching ethnomusicology (world music), co-director of Agbedidi African Ensemble and associate director of the Pazeni Sauti Africa Choir at the University of Florida. He was affiliated faculty for the Center for African Studies and assisted in organizing outreach programs in the Alachua county public schools. Nyamuame also lectured at Wesleyan University and University of Ghana respectively, in the departments of music and dance and he has directed several ensembles.

  Nyamuame taught African music and dance, facilitated workshops and choreographed dances for ensembles at many institutions including Howard University, Mt. Holyoke College, the Five College Consortium (of western Massachusetts), University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Western Connecticut State University, Naugatuck Valley Community College, Brown University, Yale University, College of Central Florida, New World School of the Arts, University of Mississippi and University of Ghana, among others. He has also performed with several renowned artists including Harry Belafonte, Stevie Wonder, Danny Glover and Brazil’s greatest pandeiro player, Carlinhos Pandeiro de Ouro.

  Besides his performances, Nyamuame has presented scholarly works at regional, national and international conferences in ethnomusicology and African studies. He is an experienced master drummer, dancer, choreographer and a scholar who has taken a keen interest in researching the concept and foundation of traditional African, especially Ghanaian, musical performance practices.

  Education
  PhD, University of Florida
  MA, Wesleyan University
  BFA, University of Ghana
  Research Interests
  Ethnomusicology
  Musical Cultures of Africa
  Dance Traditions of Ghana
  African Dance
  Drumming

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  Dr Dele Oladije The Advocacy Project - Chair Board of Trustees
  

  Dr Dele Oladije

  The Advocacy Project - Chair Board of Trustees

  Dr Dele Olajide is Chair of the Board of Trustees. He previously worked as Associate Medical Director, Caldicott Guardian and Governor at the South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.

  What experience do you bring to The Advocacy Project?
  “I worked for many years as consultant psychiatrist at the South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLAM). People with mental health conditions are vulnerable, often disenfranchised, disempowered and not able to advocate for themselves, unless they have assertive and engaged relatives. I am a firm believer in giving service users and their carers voices in the care provided for them. It is not surprising I should want to become a trustee – and now Chair – of The Advocacy Project.

  As a Caldicott Guardian, my role included empowering patients and improving organisational transparency – especially when we get things wrong so we learn from our mistakes. My role also included making sure we adhered to the laws protecting patient confidentiality in our clinical and research undertakings.

  At SLAM I was also involved in developing electronic systems so professionals and patients can co-produce patient records. Doctors could project information onto a screen in real time during a meeting, so a patient can see what’s written about them and update factual information. This also means professionals are thoughtful and compassionate about what they write in patient notes. It engenders trust and has led to fewer complaints. This was a welcome shift in the professional/ patient power relationship resulting in greater empowerment and autonomy for patients.

  I also led on greater openness in sharing information with carers and families. Carers play an important role in managing symptoms, behaviour and effect of medication on their loved ones. They are able to carry out their caring roles more effectively if information in the patients’ records is shared with them.”

  What do you like about being on the Board of Trustees?
  “As a trustee of The Advocacy Project, I’m establishing robust quality initiatives to help us track what we do. Having quality data helps to make our work more effective. I am very supportive of the board reflecting the diversity of the London communities it serves”

  What do you do in your spare time?
  “I recently retired from the NHS and have been excited to be able to focus on The Advocacy Project and my other interests. I am an honorary medical adviser to the Actors Benevolent Fund, which provides financial support for actors who have fallen on hard times, usually because of an illness. I am passionate about opera, classical and jazz music. I love to take walks in our local park and engage in inspirational cooking for relaxation.”