The work of two IDSA Medical Design Conference 2016 keynote speakers is in the global spotlight.
Adam Gazzaley, MD, PhD, of Neuroscape, is scheduled to deliver an inspirational presentation. His groundbreaking discoveries in neuroscience—profiled in The Wall Street Journal and on NBC, CNN, PBS and NPR—exemplify the power of cross-sector initiatives by combining design, healthcare, technology and research. “His work commands respect,” declares The New York Times.
Gazzaley is featured in an October 2016 report on CNN’s “Vital Signs” by fellow neurologist Sanjay Gupta, MD, who asks whether someday, will doctors prescribe video games like they would a medicine?
The Boston Globe‘s Kelly O’Brien reports on Gazzaley’s new book, The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-tech World, co-authored with Larry Rosen, professor emeritus at Cal State. “The two researchers combine their expertise to show how modern technology keeps us in thrall by exploiting neurological limitations and what that means for our relationships, our productivity and our mental health,” writes O’Brien.
At #IDSAMedical, Gazzaley will speak on Technology Meets Neuroscience: A Vision of the Future of Brain Fitness. “A fundamental challenge of modern society is the development of effective approaches to enhance brain function and cognition in both the healthy and impaired,” says Gazzaley. “For the healthy, this should be a core mission of our educational system—and for the cognitively impaired, this is the primary goal of our medical system. Unfortunately, neither of these systems have met this challenge effectively.”
Gazzaley will describe a novel approach at his renowned lab that uses custom-designed video games to achieve meaningful and sustainable cognitive enhancement. He will share the next stage of the research program, which integrates video games with the latest technological innovations in software (i.e., brain computer interface algorithms, GPU computing, cloud-based analytics) and hardware [i.e., virtual reality, mobile EEG, motion capture, physiological recording devices (watches), transcranial brain stimulation] to further enhance the brain’s information processing systems with the ultimate aim of improving quality of life.
Another keynote address is set from Roy Smythe, MD, of Valence Health, on Healthcare’s New Culture Code. “What is your first memory of healthcare?” asks Smythe. “For most of us, that question conjures images of white coats, needles and pain. However, that is actually not our first experience. A future of healthcare environmental design based on a new “culture code”—one generated by our earliest memories of healthcare—could revolutionize how we experience medicine.”
Smythe has been a successful clinician; biomedical investigator; medical school and health system academic—and corporate administrative leader, writer and entrepreneur. He serves as chief medical officer for Valence Health and as CEO of HX360, a HIMSS medical leadership organization. Previously, he served as chief medical officer for AVIA—a provider-led technology accelerator. An expert in integrated delivery strategy and leveraging technology, process and structure to change healthcare, Dr. Smythe writes and lectures about the future of more humane and effective medicine. He is a contributing writer to Forbes and to the LinkedIn Healthcare Channel. He also writes for Healthcare IT News.
“It strikes me that while we’ve been well intentioned in regard to healthcare design, we haven’t thought a great deal about how to include some ideas that matter,” says Smythe. “While colorful artwork, healing gardens and sunlit open spaces may engender a sense of needed calm, I’m not sure that any of them transmit a sense of caring or love.”
He adds, “Admittedly, some healthcare providers view the delivery of care as simply a scientific or professional exercise, and many of us have unfortunately experienced that. There’s no denying at its core the best medicine includes competent practice. However, to practice with the ultimate competence, where our patients believe they are supported and are likely to do well—we must love, and care. The spaces where we work should reflect, and promote those beliefs.”
Meet Gazzaley and Smythe at the IDSA Medical Design Conference. See the Nov. 11–12 schedule and other speakers and sessions. Register now.