Dr. Justin Sanchez was named Director of BTO in May 2016, after serving as Acting Deputy Director of BTO since December 2015. He joined DARPA as a Program Manager in 2013 to explore neurotechnology, brain science and systems neurobiology. Dr. Sanchez’s research portfolio at DARPA includes unprecedented visualization and decoding of brain activity, new neuroprosthetic devices to help patients with memory deficits or neuropsychological illness, and advanced upper-limb prosthetic arm systems to restore movement and sensation that result from injury.
Before coming to DARPA, Dr. Sanchez was an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience at the University of Miami, and a faculty member of the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. He directed the Neuroprosthetics Research Group, where he oversaw development of neural-interface medical treatments and neurotechnology for treating paralysis and stroke, and for deep brain stimulation for movement disorders, Tourette’s syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
Dr. Sanchez holds Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Engineering degrees in Biomedical Engineering, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Science, all from the University of Florida.
The Future of Brain-Machine Interfaces
Connecting computers with the human brain has become a buzzworthy topic, but you may not realize just how far existing technologies have already taken us toward that goal. New types of neural interface technology currently in development, including light-based communication with the brain, stand to vastly improve the scale and precision with which machines and neurons interact. What might become possible with this new communication channel to the mind? How do we maximize its value while minimizing risk?
Circuits of the Mind: Biology is the Model for The Ecorithm Era
Neural interfaces between human and digital worlds will soon allow machines to learn through an evolutionary process similar to but more efficient than nature’s. Neuroscientist Dr. Justin Sanchez (head of DARPA’s Biological Technologies office) and Harvard Computer Scientist Leslie Valiant explore the complex mechanisms that will enable humans and machines to learn to communicate.
Conferences
Techonomy 17
“The idea that fake news on Facebook…influenced the election in any way, I think is a pretty crazy idea,” said Mark Zuckerberg onstage at Techonomy 2016. He has subsequently recanted.
Conferences
Techonomy 16
MANkind’s evolving relationship with tools and MACHINES is nothing new. But the speed at which we, and everything around us, are becoming more closely connected and NETWORKed is.
