Who are we?

With over 30 years of experience in his own life, Thiago has a first-person perspective on how unique it is to be himself. For several years, he believed there were two types of people: the right ones and the wrong ones. In other words, there were the ones who were and thought like him, and the ones who didn't, respectively. He used his experiences to determine how the world should be and think. When exposed to different people from different backgrounds, countries, cultures, religions, and levels of knowledge, Thiago realized there was another world outside his own box - his "mind." With the help of real-world experiences and exploration of different fields, he may have started learning something. Thiago inherited analytical thinking from his work in Computer Science and his training in exegesis - believe it or not, that is a real word! Finally, his involvement with Theology and Product Management made him question everything, giving birth to his love for Psychology and Philosophy.
Now, what intrigued Thiago was when he learned that he had both a BRAIN and a MIND! He heard there was this field called Neuroscience that would allow him to study that mind and brain. And, although he dreamed of completing a Ph.D. in neuroscience, he knew it was not possible to do it anytime soon, so Thiago decided to absorb as much information as possible in the short term! Thiago started by challenging his perception of reality and questioning what he thought he knew about himself. He firmly believes that the best way to unite humans is not to impose ideas onto one another but to, instead, do the homework of understanding ourselves first. 

Katie is deeply passionate about the intersection between man and machine. She believes that we are at the beginning of an amazing inflection point in which we’ll see even more innovation as it relates to humans and our ability to augment cognitive functions with technology. Katie has spent most of her career working in artificial intelligence in which she’s helped to launch Salesforce Einstein’s AI platform and is making it possible to speak to machines with voice technology at her current start-up.

Katie has more recently pursued her interest in neuroscience for two reasons. One, she’s fascinated by how the brain works - when she was little her favorite part of science was learning about the brain! Two, she feels that neuroscience is our key to creating a symbiotic relationship between man and machine - if we understand how the brain works we can advance technologies like brain machine interfaces and uncover new neuromodulation therapies to treat cognitive diseases. In short, Katie has taken neuroscience classes at UC Berkeley and Stanford, is on the advisory board of a neuromodulation start-up, and has volunteered at Neuroscape to explore these intersections further. 

Katie couldn’t be more thrilled to have you listening to our podcast and hopes that you come away with a better understanding of the brain, regardless of your starting point. We are excited to get to know you and always available if you have any questions about the topics that we cover!