Adam Gazzaley

Bio

Adam currently serves as Chief Scientist at JAZZ where he advises the firm and its portfolio companies on scientific, research and technological operations. Adam is lab director and professor of neurology, physiology and psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees in Neuroscience through the NIH-sponsored Medical Scientist Training Program at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He went on to complete an internship in internal medicine and residency in neurology at the University of Pennsylvania. Following residency, Dr. Gazzaley was awarded a research fellowship at University of California, Berkeley where he worked with Dr. Mark D’Esposito and Dr. Robert Knight. The research involved studying memory and attention in humans and the changes that occur with normal aging using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG). During this time, he also completed a clinical fellowship in cognitive neurology at the Memory and Aging Center, under the direction of Dr. Bruce Miller, and became board-certified in neurology. Adam is the founding director of the Neuroscience Imaging Center at the University of California, San Francisco; an Associate Professor in Neurology, Physiology and Psychiatry; and Principal Investigator of a cognitive neuroscience laboratory. His laboratory studies neural mechanisms of perception, attention and memory, with an emphasis on the impact of distraction and multitasking on these abilities. His unique research approach utilizes a powerful combination of human neurophysiological tools, including fMRI, EEG and transcranial stimulation (TES). Through this research, Adam has been able to expand our understanding of alterations in the aging brain that lead to cognitive decline. His most recent studies explore how we may enhance our cognitive abilities via engagement with custom-designed video games, neurofeedback and TES. Adam has authored over 100 scientific articles, delivered almost 400 presentations globally, including TED and TEDMED, and his research and perspectives have been consistently profiled in national and international media outlets that include The New York Times, New Yorker, Wired, NBC Nightly News, and others. Recently Adam wrote and hosted the nationally televised, PBS-sponsored special “The Distracted Mind with Dr. Adam Gazzaley.” 2017