THE MEMORY EXPERTS
Dr. Eric Kandel
Dr. Kandel is University Professor Emeritus; Founding Codirector of Columbia's Zuckerman Institute; Founding Director of Columbia's Kavli Institute for Brain Science; SagoI Professor Emeritus of Brain Science at the Zuckerman Institute; Professor Emeritus of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Psychiatry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, and Neuroscience. He has been recognized with the Albert Lasker Award, the Heineken Award of the Netherlands, the Gairdner Award of Canada, the Wolf Prize of Israel, the National Medal of Science USA and the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
Dr. Silvana Riggio
Dr. Riggio is Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, Rehabilitation Medicine and Human Performance at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York. Dr. Riggio started several innovative programs in neuropsychiatry and has authored over 50 articles and book chapters, edited 7 books, 2 journal supplements, and co-authored one book. Dr. Riggio serves as the Primary Medical Advisor (PMA) for the NFL on Neurological issues and a Consultant on Psychiatric issues. She is a member of the Sports Neurology Section of the American Academy of Neurology and of the International Sport Psychiatry Section of the American Psychiatric Association.
Dr. Daniela Schiller
Dr.Schiller is Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the Friedman Brain Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, where she directs the Schiller Affective Neuroscience Laboratory. Dr. Schiller's line of research focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying emotional control. Dr. Schiller has been continuously funded by NIH, and has received numerous awards. She is a Fulbright scholar, a recipient of the Blavatnik Award, a Klingenstein-Simons fellow, and a Kavli fellow of the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Paul Browde
Dr. Browde is a psychiatrist and former Professor of Narrative Medicine at Columbia University. He co-founded, the company Narativ Inc., which aims at transforming individuals, teams, and organizations through the simple, timeless, and universal art of storytelling.
Cheryl D. Brown, LCSW
Cheryl is a Psychoanalyst, Imago Relationship Therapist (Advanced Clinician and Consultant), a PACT (Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy) level 2 therapist and a Somatic Experience Practioner.
Dr. Robert Elvove
Dr.Elvove is Assistant Professor of clinical psychiatry at the Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons where he supervises medical students, residents, and fellows and is medical director at The Valley Hospital general psychiatric unit in Ridgewood, New Jersey
Dr. Gerald Epstein
Dr.Epstein was a pioneer in the use of mental imagery for healing physical and emotional illness and the author of the bestselling book Healing Visualizations. He was the Director of the American Institute for Mental Imagery (AIMI) and is Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City.
THE FILMMAKERS
Writer, Director, Producer & Painter,
Viviane Silvera
Viviane Silvera is a New York Emmy-nominated director, painter, filmmaker, and public speaker whose work explores memory, trauma, imagination, and healing through hand-painted film.
Her PBS film See Memory, created from more than 30,000 individually painted frames, has been nominated for three New York Emmy Awards, including Health/Medical Documentary, Graphic Arts, and Director, and received the Telly Award for 2D Animation. The film has been presented in universities, museums, medical humanities programs, clinical education settings, and mental health organizations as a catalyst for conversation about how memory is formed, altered, and reimagined.
Silvera has presented at institutions including UCLA Semel Institute, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Fralin Museum of Art at UVA, Yale University, Tufts University, Columbia University, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Her talks bridge studio practice, neuroscience, trauma, imagination, and storytelling, inviting audiences to consider memory not as a fixed record, but as a living process that shapes identity, care, and healing.
Producer,
Jon Cornick
Jon is an Emmy-nominated television and film producer. He was executive producer of the film "State and Maine" written by David Mamet, and "Nuremberg" starring Alec Baldwin, for which he won the Gemini Award for Outstanding Mini Series. He began his career as associate producer on "Super Mario Brothers" and went on to form the production company El Dorado Pictures with Alec Baldwin. Jon is a member of the Directors Guild of America and is an avid photographer.
Impact Producer,
Sophia Michelen
As a first-generation American, passing stories from generation to generation is a driving thread in the fabric of Sophia’s life. While she began her career in neurobiology and public health, it was her passion for international relations that led her to live, work, and travel to over 80 countries in 6 continents. A fearless explorer who has ventured to remote locations across the globe from trekking in Eastern Africa and dog sledding in the Arctic circle, to sailing the Nile River and hiking the jungles of Southeast Asia, Sophia is co-host of a new travel PBS show, America: The Land We Live In. Her work has been published in Forbes, National Geographic Traveller, Ms. Magazine, TeenVogue, amongst others, and has been featured in exhibitions at Harvard University and the International Center of Photography in New York.
Assistant Producer,
Alyssa Melani
Alyssa is an NYC-based Producer and Artist and Pittsburgh-native turned NYC transplant, Alyssa is a production self-starter with a track record of success in the narrative and commercial spaces. Her goal is to support projects that have a positive social impact and encourage change. In 2023 she launched Lubird Media Co.; a media production company with a mission to increase gender equity in front of and behind the camera.
Editor, Thomas R. Montes
Thomas’s editing credits include Bronx Gothic, a feature documentary about Bessie winner Okwui Okpokwasili, from Emmy-nominated director Andrew Ross. Thomas edited The Gospel According to Andre, a documentary about the life of Vogue editor Andre Leon Talley, which premiered at TIFF, and he recently finished editing Karim Amir and Jehane Noujaime's Sundance release, The Great Hack on Netflix.
Music, Paul Brill
Paul has received 3 Emmy Award nominations for his scores for the films, “Full Battle Rattle”, “The Devil Came on Horseback”, and “The Trials of Darryl Hunt” (HBO). Paul won the first-ever Best Music Award from the International Documentary Association for his score for the film, “Better this World.” He collaborated with Rock legends U2 on the HBO film, “Burma Soldier,” composing a new string arrangement for an acoustic version of their classic song, “Walk On.”
Sound, James Guastaferro
James is a founding member of the NYC indie electronic band Tones From The Underground with which he released four albums. He has had his music used in “The Last Ghost of War” and “Behati Supreme” and his songs are used by choreographers in performances at Alvin Alley, Bryant Park, Jacob’s Pillow, Flushing Town Hall and the NYC based dance company Barkin/Sellisen Project.