Tzata #35

BEATRIZ LUNA

Beatriz Luna, PhD is the Staunton professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics and Professor of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. She is the founder and Director of the Laboratory for Neurocognitive Development, as well as the founder and president of the Flux Society for Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. Dr. Luna studies brain development using multimodal neuroimaging methods, examining the neurobiological mechanisms that underlie the adolescent period, from decision-making to vulnerabilities to the emergence of mental illness. Dr. Luna has published over a hundred peer-reviewed articles describing her innovative studies, in addition to theoretical papers discussing her models of development. She has received numerous awards, notably the U.S Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (PECASE). Her research has been continuously supported by the National Institutes of Mental Health, and has informed US Supreme Court briefs regarding extended sentencing in the juvenile justice system. Her extensive media history also includes a cover story in National Geographic and a PBS Special with Alan Alda - “Brains on Trial”.

IAN MACNAIRN- Moderator

Ian MacNairn is a professional mountain athlete, explorer, and adventurer based in Calgary. He came into the path of endurance and mountain sport recreationally throughout his life before turning his sights on exploring and studying sport as an anthropologist and researcher at the University of Calgary, where he has studied the body that athletes create and the community they share through trail and ultrarunning. This May, Ian completed and published his doctoral research on ultrarunning community around the world after visiting 19 countries and interviewing nearly 4,000 ultrarunners over the past five years. In July, he began medical school at the Cumming School of Medicine at the UofC as part of the Leaders in Medicine Program. He has published numerous articles in both scientific and popular press and has had his work and adventures documented in television, film, news, and magazine.

September 15, 2019