BIOGRAPHY
Moran Cerf is a trail-blazing neuroscientist whose work is re-defining how we think about human consciousness, emotion and decision-making.
He is Professor of Neuroscience and Business at the Kellogg School of Management and at Northwestern University’s Neuroscience Programme. He is also a member of the university’s Institute on Complex Systems and a visiting faculty member at the MIT Media Lab.
Prior to his academic career, Moran Cerf spent nearly ten years as a hacker, breaking into government and financial institutions to test and improve their security. This hacker’s mindset has led him to approach neuroscience in non-traditional and novel ways. For example, he works with patients undergoing brain surgery to monitor the activity of individual neurons via electrodes implanted directly into their brain.
Moran Cerf’s pioneering research addresses questions such as: “How are conscious percepts formed in our brain?”, “How can we control our emotions?”, “What determines whether we find content engaging?”, “How do our memories shape the way we behave?”, “What is the future of Human-Machine interaction?”
Moran Cerf holds numerous patents and his research has been widely published in leading academic journals such as Nature and Science. His work has also received wide attention in the mainstream media such as the Scientific American Mind, Wired, The New Scientist, Time, BBC and CNN.
Moran’s many projects include founding B-Cube, which aims to harness the power of neuroscience and business to benefit society.
He is also the host and curator of PopTech, an annual conference and fellowship programme that aims to help scientists and social innovators tackle the biggest problems facing humanity.
In addition, Moran is a scientific consultant on films and TV shows such as Bull, Limitless, Falling Water and more. He is also a multiple award-winning story-telling champion (The Moth) and the Alfred P. Sloan Screenwriting Professor at the American Film Institute.
For more information on Moran Cerf’s speaking topics, fees and availability, contact VBQ founding agent Leo von Bülow-Quirk at leo@vbqspeakers.com.
MORAN CERF: SPEAKER
Moran Cerf is a hugely popular speaker, with his talks at TED, Google Zeitgeist, PopTech and DLD receiving millions of views worldwide.
This is testimony both to his skill as a story-teller, and to his ability for making cutting-edge scientific research accessible to a wide audience.
- How can advances in neuroscience help improve individual and business performance?
- What do these advances mean for the evolution of humankind?
- How should businesses and governments engage with the ethical questions presented by scientific advances?
In addition, Moran Cerf can draw on his previous life as a hacker to talk about advances in cyber security and blockchain technology.
Media links
“A neuroscientist reveals the 6 most important choices you can make” – Business Insider, 2017
“This neuroscientist thinks he knows the future of evolution. It will surprise and inspire you” – INC, 2017
“A neuroscientist who studies decision-making reveals the most important choice you can make” – World Economic Forum 2017