Adam Gazzaley, MD, PhD, ISMMS '98

Biography

Dr. Gazzaley is the David Dolby Distinguished Professor in Neurology, Physiology, and Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. He is also the Founder and Executive Director of Neuroscape, a translational neuroscience center engaged in technology creation and scientific research, and Co-Founder and Chief Science Advisor of Akili Interactive, a company that develops therapeutic video games. He received a dual MD/PhD degree in Neuroscience in 1998.

You have many accomplishments: What are you focused on now?

My main focus at Neuroscape is to more closely integrate our efforts across the many approaches that we engage in: closed-loop video game treatments, noninvasive brain stimulation, multimodal biosensing, immersive multisensory stimulation, machine learning, neuroimaging, and psychedelic treatments. At Akili, I am focused on helping the company scale our Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment to millions of people across multiple clinical conditions, as well as advance the development of novel treatments.

What were some of the most challenging career issue(s) you faced?

One of the most challenging areas for me was to learn how to translate ideas, inventions, and discoveries from my lab into the real world. I did not know anything about intellectual property, company formation, investments, business development, regulatory approval. It was a steep learning curve, but finding the right partners to trust and learn from was the key to my success. 

How, specifically, did your training at Mount Sinai contribute to your success?

I learned how to be a scientist at Mount Sinai—not just how to approach a problem, but the tenacity to take a complex project through to completion. 

Any advice for today’s students?

Dream big, but learn how to be comfortable playing the long game. Few people do that very well; it will be a strong differentiator.