DCPS to Host Two-Day 'Building Learning
Capacity' Summit
Keynote speakers Dr.Mike Merzenich and Dr.Paula Tallal will discuss applying
neuroscience insights to education and local services
Five-hundred leaders in Jacksonville’s
education, health care, government and business communities are
expected to converge on the Prime Osborne Convention Center to attend a
two-day “Building Learning Capacity” summit sponsored by
Duval County Public Schools
(DCPS). The invitation-only event will be held on Thursday, July 26 and
Friday, July 27 and will focus on how advances in the field of brain-based
research can be used to create a positive impact on every member of the
Duval County community, from pre-school pupils to the elderly.
Experts in the fields of neuroscience, education,
psychology and child development will give presentations and hold breakout
sessions on various ways of improving the brain power of the entire
community. “This event can change the way we think about every kind of
public service offered to the Duval County public,” said DCPS superintendent
Dr. Joseph Wise. “We have an ‘information overload’ society, but if we train
our brains like we’re supposed to train our bodies, we’ll be able to process
and retain more information more efficiently. The brainpower of a community
is what will define it and allow it to be successful in the 21st century.”
The keynote speakers at the summit are
Dr.
Michael Merzenich, the Francis A. Sooy Professor of Otolaryngology at
the Keck Center for Integrative Neurosciences at the University of
California San Francisco, and
Dr. Paula Tallal,
founder and co-director of the Center for Molecular and Behavioral
Neuroscience at Rutgers University.
A leading pioneer in
brain plasticity
research for the past 30 years, Merzenich is the recipient of numerous
awards and prizes. Merzenich has published more than 200 articles, including
many in leading peer-reviewed journals, such as Science and Nature.
In addition, his work has been covered in the New York Times, The
Wall Street Journal, Time and Newsweek, as well as
Sixty Minutes II, CBS Evening News and Good Morning America.
Tallal is a world-recognized authority on
language-learning disabilities, a cognitive neuroscientist and a
board-certified clinical psychologist. She has published over 200 scientific
papers and reviews, as well as three edited volumes, and has been the
recipient of many honors, awards and special lectureships including a Decade
of the Brain Lecture for Congress. In addition, Tallal was selected by the
Library of Congress to be Commentator for the Field of Psychology at its
Bicentennial Celebration.
Other presenters at the summit include:
-
Laura L. Bailet, Ph.D. is the executive director,
Nemours BrightStart! Dyslexia Initiative. A licensed school
psychologist, she is the author of several peer-reviewed journal
articles and book chapters.
-
Tris Barber, MA, is the lead infant/toddler coach
at the Jacksonville Children’s Commission and has co-developed the
Foundations for Success: Infant/Toddler Model.
-
Dr. David Boulton is the executive director of the
acclaimed “Children of the Code” project and the producer and
interviewer of the “Children of the Code Documentary” series. Articles
about his work have been featured in journals and books, including
The Journal of Developmental Education, Poisoned Apple: The Bell
Curve Crisis and How Our Schools Create Mediocrity and Failure.
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Dr. Jarik E. Conrad is the president of Conrad
Consulting Group, LLC. He is also the executive director of Blueprint
for Prosperity, a partnership of the city of Jacksonville, the
Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce and WorkSource to improve the
city’s quality of life.
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Dr. Bill Jenkins is an expert in learning-based
brain plasticity, behavioral algorithms, and psychophysical methods, as
well as an expert in multimedia and Internet technology.
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Henry Mahncke, Ph.D., leads the Research & Outcomes
team for PositScience, designing scientific research and implementing
outcomes trials to advance the company's product development.
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Dr. Steven Miller developed novel training programs
for building reading intervention software using models of
neuroplasticity and learning. Discovery Magazine recognized his
work in their 1996 Annual Awards for Technology Innovations, and Miller
also received the 2000 Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award in Medicine.
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Mary E. Nash, M.A., team leader of school readiness
programs at the Jacksonville Children’s Commission, has a decade of
intensive experience working with infants and toddlers and co-developed
the Foundations For Successs: Infant/Toddler Model.
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The summit is being presented with the help of
Oakland, California-based Scientific
Learning Corp., which combines the latest advances in brain research
and proprietary technology to create products and services that develop
learning and communication skills. Also supporting the event is the
Jacksonville-based Nemours BrightStart! Dyslexia Initiative.
