The Advisory Board
Bruce Vaughn
Airbnb Head of Experiences Creative and VR Advisor
Bruce Vaughn is the Chief Creative Officer of Dreamscape Immersive, the leading VR company in enterprise, education and entertainment.
He was CEO of Dreamscape for its first four years, overseeing the company from its inception.
Vaughn was previously Chief Creative Executive, Walt Disney Imagineering for The Walt Disney Company, for eight years. In this role, he led the integrated creative teams of Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI), Disney’s Creative Entertainment (DCE) and WDI Research and Development to drive excellence in product development and innovation. The scope of Vaughn’s responsibilities included theme park attractions and special effects, innovative theater experiences, and new business opportunities that leverage invented and emerging technologies. Disney’s Avatar land, Star Wars lands and Shanghai Disneyland are among the many projects he creatively oversaw.
Chris Van Dusen
CGO of Balanced Health Botanicals (BHB Marketing Advisor)
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Diana Rivas
Shroom Room Project Manager and Grower
Diana Rivas graduated in Mexico with a B. A. in Graphic Design. Pursuing her love for the arts, she designed the visual identities and collaterals of various temporary exhibitions as well as educational materials for Carlos Slim’s Soumaya Museum.
In 2011, Diana joined Maya Biosana to develop the corporate identity for its large-scale cacao operation. Moving into the corporate, she served as project manager, overseeing various teams for the infrastructure construction and government relationships for a 1200 acres plantation in the Yucatán peninsula.
Continuing her love of functional foods and wellness agricultural enterprises, two years later, she joined Ashley and Jim Walsh in their mezcal company, Kimo Sabe Mezcal. Diana has been serving since as COO for the Mexico branch of the award-winning better for you mezcal.
She has an avid curiosity about the human mind and emotions as well as consciousness and mental health. Following this interest, she gained her Core Energetics Practitioner Certification (a type of body-oriented psychotherapy). Combining these passions of wellness, therapy, and functional agriculture she will helm the Shroom Room as facilitator and project manager in Oregon.
David Matthews
MD. Science Advisory Board
David strives for human performance through physiological and psychological means, spending almost 10 years in the realm of peak human performance.
Dave has cut a wide swath of influence in the Human Performance industry, whether its working with Olympic and Professional Athletes on their Mental Fitness, or Biohacking with wellness influencers in Southern California. He has consulted with the Calm App, to provide Fortune 500 companies with Mindfulness, Stress management and Mental Fitness courses. The path for building Mental Fitness and Resilience originally led Dave to become a Master Resilience Trainer for the United States Army. Here his applied Performance Psychology career took off, teaching Resilience, Mindfulness, and Leadership to Soldiers across the U.S. Military. It was shortly after this that he took his talents to Southern California to be a more holistic wellness coach, becoming a personal trainer in Beverly Hills at Upgrade Labs. Helping clients establish metabolic health, holistic nutrition, and recovery techniques using the most cutting-edge technologies to “optimize” the human body. Learning how to leverage wearable technologies, workout programming, and health coaching practices, to “Biohack” a whole new level of mental and physical wellbeing for his clients.
Dave recently has been involved in the non-profit called the Institute of Neuro Innovation in Santa Monica, CA. where he is Director of Neuro-Integration.
Mauro Zappaterra
MD, PHD Chairman of the Science Advisory Board
He obtained his MD and PhD from Harvard medical school.
He is the director of multidisciplinary care and clinical research at Synovation Medical Group and is staff physician at the VA Greater Los Angeles healthcare system. He completed his PhD on the role of the Cerebrospinal Fluid in brain development while he was studying Craniosacral therapy and investigates the CSF as a potential fluid to convey source information to the body. He teaches mindfulness to patients with chronic pain. He has published numerous scientific papers, medical book chapters and books exploring topics of awareness. He researches and designs new programs and techniques to help alleviate pain, improve function, decrease suffering and increase quality of life.
Dr. Amir Vokshoor
M.D. Neurosurgeon Science Advisory Board
Dr. Vokshoor is a board certified neurosurgeon specializing in minimalistic brain and spine surgery. With over 18 years of dedicated surgical experience…
He has mastered the latest techniques in robotics and artificial disc replacements. Having served as chief of spine surgery at Providence Saint John’s Health Center, he has championed a cohesive and multidisciplinary path for the care of patients. He is the founder of Neurosurgical Spine Group, Neurovella Brain Spa and the Institute of Neuro Innovation, a non-profit research and philanthropy foundation dedicated to brain and spine health and recovery, with emphasis on the neuropsychological and mental aspects influencing healing. “The most gratifying privilege of a doctor is to see a patient recover from an injury or disease.” Adjunct Assistant Professor, John Wayne Cancer Institute; Spine Surgery Chief: Providence Saint John’s Health Center.
PUBLISHED IN: Southern California Super Doctors 2021, Southern California Super Doctors 2020, Southern California Super Doctors 2019, Southern California Super Doctors 2018,Southern California Super Doctors 2017, Southern California Super Doctors 2016.
Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz
M.D. F.A.C.O.G. Science Advisory Board
A Diplomat of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz received her medical degree in 1996 from the USC School of Medicine and completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Gilberg-Lenz is involved in women’s empowerment and public education, and appears frequently as an expert in women’s health and integrative medicine on TV, in print and on-line. She completed her clinical Ayurvedic Specialist degree at California College of Ayurveda in 2010 and was board certified in Integrative and Holistic medicine in 2008. Dr. Gilberg-Lenz has appeared on Dr. Drew’s “Lifechangers”, The Tyra Banks Show, The Today Show, Headline News and Bill O’Reilly’s “No Spin Zone”. Dr Gilberg-Lenz is co-founder of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Green Committee and is deeply committed to the promotion of healing that involves individuals, families, communities and the planet. She and her family give back by devoting their time to charities including the Big Sunday Organization and Gramercy Housing Group.
James T. Dalton
Ph.D. is Executive Vice President and Provost at the University of Alabama.
Dr. Dalton previously served as Dean and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Michigan from 2014 to 2020.
He received his Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Cincinnati (1986) and Doctor of Philosophy in pharmaceutics and pharmaceutical chemistry from Ohio State University (1990). Dean Dalton rose through the faculty ranks in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Tennessee (1992-2000) before returning to Ohio State where he served as Professor and Chair in the Division of Pharmaceutics (2000-2007). He began an entrepreneurial leave of absence from Ohio State in 2005 and finally left OSU in 2007 to devote his full-time effort as Chief Scientific Officer at GTx, Inc. in Memphis, TN (2007-2014) where he oversaw the preclinical and clinical development of selective androgen receptor modulators. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS). He has co-authored over 300 original abstracts and peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts and is an inventor on over 400 United States and international patent applications related to selective androgen receptor modulators and other new drugs.
Elyse Friedman
Serial Entrepreneur and Business Development Strategist.
Currently, Elyse is Director of Investor Relations for Solyco Capital, a boutique Private Equity/Venture Capital firm and is an advisor to Innovate Health Management Group, (United Kingdom.)
With a background in health services including having received her degree in nursing and time spent in business development Elyse has launched, sold and advised a range of companies. She established the first nurse owned and operated Medical Management Firm in the Midwest. She launched and sold Victory Hearing Aids with multiple Texas locations. As Strategist and Director of Business Development for a local Acoustical Design Firm she led the company through multiple stages of expansion, increasing revenues over 100% at each stage of growth gaining them award-winning projects such as the 1.4 B Tom Bradley Terminal Expansion. Simultaneously, she consulted with Health Care Resource Group.
Personal accomplishments include two adult children who are successful members of the California Bar; mentoring CEO’s and Business Development Professionals in operations and decision-making including M & A, future sectors of development and scaling; mentoring Youth at Risk in the LA area and dis-advantaged women in life and career goals.
Dr. Sonny Mattek
PhD in Psychological & Brain Sciences
Dr. Sonny Mattek received her PhD in Psychological & Brain Sciences from Dartmouth College, and has conducted research in the Psychology Departments at Stanford University and University of Oregon.
She has 12 years of experience conducting behavioral research with a focus on using neuroimaging methods to understand how brain function is related to emotion. Her work has been published in top peer-reviewed journals, including Perspectives on Psychological Science.
Dr. Mattek founded the Interdisciplinary Research Institute at Shasta (IRIS), which is home for a number of ambitious and creative collaborative research projects. These projects aim to integrate information across approaches and disciplines, including meditation, neuroscience, music, and plant medicine, in order to create data and tools that help people alleviate their suffering.
Dr. Mattek also holds a master’s degree in Digital Musics from Dartmouth College and has played piano for 28 years. She also holds plant dietas with the master plants Bobinsana and Ayahuasca, received through the Shapibo plant medicine tradition. She is an avid meditation practitioner and has formally received precepts through the Order of Interbeing, a Vietnamese Zen lineage.
Dr. Warren Vidrine
Physical organic chemistry
Born and raised on a farm in rural French Louisiana, Dr. Warren Vidrine’s formal education is in brain lipid biochemistry and physical organic chemistry. He worked for the first half of his career as chief scientist and director of technology in several scientific instrument companies. Subsequently, he founded and operates Vidrine Consulting, specializing in industrial chemistry, biochemistry, instrumentation design, and virtual project management, consulting in Europe and Asia as well as the U.S. and Canada. He has held many positions in various scientific societies and organizations, and has spent about 3 years speaking and consulting in Europe and Asia.
Over his career, he’s published over 50 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals and authored over a dozen patents, a substantial fraction of them currently incorporated in commercial products. He is the recipient of the Coblentz Society’s Williams-Wright Award.
Warren has also maintained several serious amateur activities over the years in botany, mycology, winemaking, hiking, and horticulture. He learned mushroom foraging with relatives in France. Since then, he’s been active in mushroom clubs, including membership in the Santa Cruz Fungus Federation for the past 35 years. His wines have been awarded over 130 medals in blind-judged competitions at the Orange County Fair and the California State Fair.
Dr. Charles Williams
Founder and Chairman of B.R.A.I.N.S.
He completed his PhD in Clinical Psychology w/an emphasis in Sports Performance. Utilizing his weight training background and his science of quantum physics, explosive movements and reaction times, Charles traveled the globe training professional athletes in all genres such as the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, WTA, FIVB, and (WBF/WBC/IBF), to name a few. Charles has helped these athletes excel to the pinnacle of their sport. A former sprint champion and professional athlete himself, Charles has attained the titles of Mr. America, Mr. Universe, and IFBB Light Heavyweight World Bodybuilding Champion, as well as Full contact NHB champion.
A trained scientist, admitted into Harvard medical certification program for human genome and gene sequencing, certified in neuropsychology at Berkeley, a master’s degree in clinical psychology at Pepperdine. Charles specializes in nanotechnology, looking at nanomolecular (exosomes), to determine leakage in the neurons in concussion events. With this technology, Charles identifies biological signatures such as TAU or APOE3. The results of his findings have led him to utilize his nutritional background as the former expert technical and nutritional advisor for Unipro Sports/Metagenics to develop unique formulas using nanomaterials to promote neurogenesis and synaptogenesis and then apply artificial intelligence to deliver these nutrients packaged, which assist in the maintenance and support in the healing of the brain; thus, a targeted delivery system.
As the Chairman of BRAINS, Charles quest is to continue in the science of nanotechnology and artificial intelligence, to develop innovative nutraceuticals to combat the ravages of such diseases as Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Bipolar Depression, etc. Then armed with data, create a multi-phasic therapeutic approach to mental health and wellness. Our motto at BRAINS: “Improving Health Spans to Enhance Life Spans”
Lauren Maher
LMFT
Lauren Maher, LMFT, is a licensed psychotherapist who works in private practice. She specializes in anxiety management and trauma therapy, and is trained in EMDR, Trauma Resiliency Model, and other somatic methods. Lauren enjoys teaching her clients concrete, practical tools that they can use to improve their daily lives, and believes in drawing upon her clients’ inherent strengths and sense of resiliency. She is particularly interested in the link between the body and the mind.
In addition to her counseling work, Lauren is a certified yoga therapist (C-IAYT) and yoga teacher (ERYT-500). Since 2001, she has taught yoga, mindfulness, and meditation in a wide variety of settings, including hospitals, weSPARK Cancer Support Center, and a residential eating disorder facility. Lauren has also been a frequent guest lecturer at Providence Mission Hills Hospital’s “Wellness Through Awareness” program about the benefits of yoga for cancer patients.
Lauren is the author of Mindfulness Workbook for Panic Attacks: Healing Strategies to Reduce Anxiety, Manage Panic, and Live in the Moment, published by Rockridge Press. Before specializing in mental health, Lauren worked as an actor in film and theatre. Though it may seem to be a seemingly disparate field at first glance, Lauren has found that the insights she gained from this industry in regard to self-inquiry, psychology, body awareness, and teamwork have been invaluable and highly applicable to the world of health and wellness.
Dr. Suzy Ross
Over the past three decades, Dr. Suzy (Susan) Ross has systematically and scientifically analyzed the phenomenon of biospychospiritual transformation from transdisciplinary perspectives. Her ground-breaking doctoral research from the California Institute of Integral Studies, which drives her life’s work, places into question seminal understanding about what transformation is and how it unfolds.
In addition to being an Associate Professor of Recreation Therapy at San José State University, her personal and professional journey has led Dr. Ross to become an author of more than a dozen refereed journal articles, keynote speaker, and thought leader. In her book The Map to Wholeness, Suzy translates her model to wide-audiences where voyagers discover the phases of transformation through real-life intimate stories of crisis, change, and reinvention.
With more than twenty years of experience, Dr. Ross has a demonstrated history of being an influential, award-winning, transformative educator. She prepares students to practice recreation therapy, which facilitates play as medicine. As a recognized pioneer of the trending zeitgeist called transformative travel, Dr. Ross leads journeys to sacred sites where participants aim to transform through ancient energy healing exercises called pukllay or sacred play.
Michael Guy
METAVERSE ADVISORY BOARD
Michael Guy is the CCO of Decentral Games (DG) and the founder and CEO of Neo Optimum. Decentral Games is a leader and pioneer in blockchain gaming. DG’s play-and-earn metaverse poker game (ICE Poker) is among the most popular metaverse games and is the number one NFT project on Polygon’s network. Neo Optimum operates as a full service web3 development and consulting group composed of top talent in the space; offering expertise in NFT project creation and management, blockchain and metaverse endeavors.
Curtis Augspurger
Curtis is a classically trained Architect who after earning a Master’s degree from Columbia University GSAPP went on to become an accomplished Producer with 20+ years of creative production experience in feature animation, visual effects, live action, animation studio building, and VR/MR/XR production.
With a passion for the evolution and growth of blockchain, spatial computing and the forward-facing opportunities provided by decentralized smart contract systems and personal information ownership, Curtis recently guided his career trajectory into web3.0.
Partnering with industry leading colleagues to build the next generation of brand activations, Curtis joined the start-up agency, Buoy.Studios. Together, their leadership and creative team have consulted for and are guiding brands like Samsung’s 837x, Acura, Google, Meta, Patron, Grey Goose, the US Open, World of Warcraft, Coca-Cola, Vogue, Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Fidelity into their web3.0 emergence.
Ryan Yates
is a Principal Scientist at the National Center for Natural Products who focuses on discovery, development, and commercialization of innovative natural product health and wellness solutions by leveraging his background in pharmacy, research, and entrepreneurialism.
Ryan holds doctorate degrees in clinical pharmacy and clinical pharmacology, has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and has been granted multiple patents in fields including molecular biology, drug discovery, and natural product ingredient innovation. As a pharmacist scientist entrepreneur, Ryan believes that the key to human health lies in our ability to unlock nature’s secrets using sustainable agricultural practices that protect and promote the health of our planet.
Tom Zuber
Tom Zuber, recognized nationwide by both Chambers USA and Legal 500, is a Founder and the Managing Partner of Zuber Lawler, a national law firm representing clients throughout the world from offices in Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix, and Silicon Valley.
Mr. Zuber personally manages relationships with more than 10 of the firm’s Fortune 1000 clients, as well as funds and government entities. In addition to his work relating to iconic companies within traditional industries, Mr. Zuber represents many of the leading companies in the legalized cannabis industry and the legalized psychedelics industry in respect of their highest-stakes matters.
Mr. Zuber is a leading voice in the global cannabis and psychedelics industries. He is a founder of the leading international cannabis consultancy Global Go, the print magazine Global Cannabis Times, and the print magazine Psychedelia. He sits on the Board of the Psychedelic Medicine Coalition, and on the Advisory Board of the Council for Federal Cannabis Regulation. He has been named one of High Times “100 Most Influential People in the Cannabis Industry.”
Tom earned a J.D. degree Columbia Law School, a master’s in public policy degree from Harvard University, and a biomedical engineering degree from Rutgers University, where he graduated with highest honors.
Joe Moore
Co-founded Psychedelics Today in 2015 with Kyle Buller. As CEO
Joe has created one of the world’s best known psychedelic podcasts, blogs and training platforms. Joe combines twenty years of avid research and training in psychedelics with twenty years of experience in software and multinational project management. Joe is an expert in transpersonal breathwork and much sought after international speaker on the intersecting subjects of psychedelic medicine and healing, breathwork, drug policy, medical innovation, international justice and environmentalism.
VR PROJECT LEAD TEAM
Jennifer Magee-Cook
Lead Producer
Curtis Augspurger
Lead Producer
Jonathan Masterson
Auto-Gen Visuals / Audio
MIKKO
Engineering Lead
Matt Hermans
Viz Development / Build