Panel Speaker Bios:

Michael Inzlicht​

Michael Inzlicht is a Research Excellence Faculty Scholar at the University of Toronto. His primary appointment is as Professor in the Department of Psychology, but he is also cross-appointed as Professor at the Rotman School of Management. Michael completed his B.Sc. in Anatomical Sciences at McGill University in 1994, his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology at Brown University in 2001, and his postdoctoral fellowship in Applied Psychology at New York University in 2004. Michael conducts research that sits at the boundaries of social psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience. Although he has published papers on the topics of prejudice, academic performance, and religion, his most recent interests have been in the topics of self-control, where he borrows methods from affective and cognitive neuroscience to understand the underlying nature of self-control, including how it is driven by motivation.​

Antonino Raffone

Antonino Raffone completed a Master in “Psychology” and a Doctorate in “Cognitive Psychology and Science” at Sapienza University of Rome. He is currently Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology of Sapienza University of Rome (Italy), and Visiting Professor and Advisory Faculty at Nalanda University (India). He is also Director of the Interuniversity Center ECONA at Sapienza University of Rome,  President of “Consciousness, Mindfulness, Compassion – CMC – International Association”, and Chief Editor of the Specialty Section on “Consciousness Research” of “Frontiers in Psychology”. His internationally recognized research is interdisciplinary, with a particular focus on cognitive neuroscience of consciousness and meditation. Finally, he is a dedicated Soto Zen practitioner. ​

Rael Cahn

Dr. Rael Cahn, MD, PhD, is a psychiatrist and neuroscientist with the University of Southern California Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Cahn works clinically in the Psychiatric Emergency Room at the busy LA County-USC Hospital and does research on mindfulness and other meditative practices in association with the USC Brain and Creativity Institute.   He has researched the neurophysiological changes related to engaging in meditation and mindfulness practies for the past twenty years with a primary focus on EEG and ERP outcomes.  He is currently working on studies assessing the neural correlates to narrative free awareness, the neural mechanisms underlying the efficacy of mindfulness practices for mood disorders and addiction, as well as the impact of psychedelic-assisted therapy for PTSD.    

Maria Kozhevnikov

Maria Kozhevnikov is an Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore and also a Visiting Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. Maria Kozhevnikov received her Ph.D. from Technion (Israel) jointly with UC Santa Barbara. Prior to joining the National University of Singapore, she has held faculty positions at Rutgers University (NJ) and George Mason University (VA).  Her research interests focus on examining the neurocognitive bases of creativity and visualization as well as in exploring ways to boost creativity and cognitive capacities through the use of innovative technologies as well as ancient meditative practices.