The Brain Surgeon's Take

The Neuralink N1 chip is a brain-computer interface (BCI) device with 1,024 electrodes across 64 ultra-thin, flexible threads that are surgically implanted into the brain by a robotic system. The coin-sized implant records neural activity, processes the signals, and transmits them wirelessly via Bluetooth to a connected app, which allows users to control external devices like a computer cursor with their thoughts. It is designed to be fully implantable, hermetically sealed, and wirelessly charged. 

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Dr. McCarthy is a board certified Reproductive Endocrinologist practicing at the South Florida Institute for Reproductive Medicine in Jupiter, Florida.  Dr McCarthy completed her undergraduate work at Dartmouth before attending medical school at the University of Michigan where she graduated with distinction in research.  Dr. McCarthy completed a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology and a clinical and research fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of Michigan Medical Center. She is one of only a handful of physicians selected by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology to complete her training as a combined, 6 year residency/fellowship. After completing her training in 2010, Dr McCarthy moved to Florida because, after growing up in New England and training in Michigan, she was tired of not being able to feel her fingers.  She loves living in South Florida with her husband and 2 grown children.  Dr McCarthy focuses on providing her patients with patient-centered care with a personal touch.  She is an active member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), the Society for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility (SREI), and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). She is an ad-hoc reviewer for ASRM and the International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 

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Hailing from Ottawa, Ontario, Akheem Mesidor has taken a unique path to his future in the NFL. After a stint at the Royal Imperial Collegiate of Canada, Mesidor made waves at Clearwater Academy International in Florida, racking up 92 tackles and 10 sacks in his senior year. His dominance caught the eye of college recruiters, earning him a 4-star rating from ESPN. Mesidor’s college career began at West Virginia, where he quickly established himself as a defensive standout. In just two seasons with the Mountaineers, he amassed 70 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, and 9.5 sacks. His freshman campaign was particularly impressive, earning him spots on multiple Freshman All-America teams and All-Big 12 Second Team honors. Transferring to Miami (FL) for his junior season, Mesidor continued to wreak havoc in the backfield. Despite an injury-shortened 2023 campaign, his 2022 performance showcased his potential, notching 38 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, and a team-leading seven sacks. His standout game against Virginia Tech, where he recorded 3.5 sacks, earned him national recognition as the Walter Camp National FBS Defensive Player of the Week.

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Mr. Phillips served as Counselor to the Secretary at the U.S. Treasury from January 2017 to January 2019. Under Secretary Mnuchin, he focused on financial institution and capital markets policy, fiscal operations, government asset and liability management and general economic policy. He led the development for policy under the Core Principles established by Executive Order 13772. He supported Secretary Mnuchin in the development of policy for comprehensive housing finance reform and in oversight of Treasury’s investment in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Between 2008 and 2017, Mr. Phillips was a Managing Director of BlackRock where he founded and led the Financial Markets Advisory Group, a global risk consulting group that leveraged the strengths of BlackRock’s Aladdin risk platform. Mr. Phillips is a pioneer in the securitized products industry. He led numerous innovations in residential mortgage, asset-backed and commercial real estate securitization markets. From 1994 to 2006 he was a Managing Director of Morgan Stanley and led its global Securitized Product Group. Mr. Phillips serves on the Board of Directors of Ripple, a leading financial technology company that has developed a real-time gross settlement system powered by blockchain ledger that is revolutionizing the speed and efficiency of cross-border payments.

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J. Mack Slaughter Jr. is an American emergency physician, philanthropist, youtuber, tiktoker and retired actor and singer. Slaughter began acting in local theatre as a child. At the age of 15, he successfully auditioned for a boy band called Sons of Harmony started by a radio station in Dallas. They toured with Destiny’s Child and opened for Bon Jovi and Jessica Simpson. Three years later, in 2001, the band broke up, after which Slaughter moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. In 2003, he won the role of Keith in the WB sitcom Like Family. The following year, Slaughter had a role in the comedy film, Fat Albert, starring Kenan Thompson and Kyla Pratt. In 2008, he founded the non-profit Music Meets Medicine, where musicians volunteer with children and youth at local hospitals, performing and teaching music. In 2018, Music Meets Medicine teamed up with non-profit, Kidd’s Kids, to raise $150,000 to create a therapeutic arts space at Dallas Children’s Medical Center.

Slaughter eventually left acting to attend UT Southwestern Medical School, graduating in 2013 and is currently an emergency room physician, at several hospitals in the Fort Worth area.

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Dr. Dipen J. Parekh is a globally renowned urologic oncologist, healthcare innovator, and leader in academic medicine. He was appointed Executive Vice President for Health Affairs at the University of Miami and Chief Executive Officer of its health system (UHealth) on June 1, 2025. He remains Founding Director of the Desai Sethi Urology Institute and is an accomplished researcher and professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine who holds the Victor A. Politano Endowed Chair in Urology and is widely celebrated for his groundbreaking contributions to the field of robotic-assisted urologic oncology. Having served as Chief Operating Officer of UHealth from 2020-2025, Chief Clinical Officer from 2017-2020, Chairman of the Department of Urology since 2012, Executive Dean of Clinical Affairs at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and Director of Robotic Surgery for UHealth, Dr. Parekh brings a wealth of academic, clinical, administrative, and institutional experience to the role.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Parekh has performed more than 6,000 robotic urologic cancer surgeries, making him one of the most experienced practitioners worldwide. He led the groundbreaking RAZOR trial, published in The Lancet in 2018, which established the efficacy of robotic-assisted radical cystectomy as comparable to open surgery for bladder cancer. He is an NCI funded surgeon scientist with over 200 peer reviewed publications in urologic oncology. His dedication to innovation has also included establishing advanced robotic surgery programs in academic centers across the globe.

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Don is a coach & fitness expert known for his work with celebrities & athletes. With a passion for helping individuals achieve their best selves, he emphasizes the importance of strength training, especially as we age. He opened his first NYC Gym in 2005. After operating gyms for 15 years, he expanded to a global online fitness business. He has developed a reputation for training some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Chip & Joanna Gaines, Sebastian Stan, Annie Hathaway, Matt Bomer, John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Liev Schreiber, Hugh Jackman, Drew Powell, & David Harbour are among his roster of clients. As a trusted fitness expert, Don’s advice and programs have been featured in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, and Muscle & Fitness, as well as People, US Weekly, Origins, In Touch, Cosmopolitan, and Shape. He has demonstrated workouts and shared his training philosophy on The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Golf Channel, Page Six TV, People NOW, E! News, Fox News, and WebMD. He also serves on the advisory board for Men’s Health magazine.

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Prior to coming to NYU, Dr. Caplan was the Sidney D. Caplan Professor of Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia, where he created the Center for Bioethics and the Department of Medical Ethics. He has also taught at the University of Minnesota, where he founded the Center for Biomedical Ethics; the University of Pittsburgh; and Columbia University. He received his PhD from Columbia University. Dr. Caplan is the author or editor of 35 books and more than 880 papers in peer reviewed journals. His books include Vaccination Ethics and Policy, with Jason Schwartz, and, Getting to Good: Research Integrity in Biomedicine, with Barbara Redman. He has served on a number of national and international committees including as the chair of the National Cancer Institute Biobanking Ethics Working Group; chair of the Advisory Committee to the United Nations on Human Cloning; and chair of the Advisory Committee to the Department of Health and Human Services on Blood Safety and Availability. He has also served on the Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Illnesses, the Special Advisory committee to the International Olympic Committee on Genetics and Gene therapy, the Special Advisory Panel to the National Institutes of Mental Health on Human Experimentation on Vulnerable Subjects, the Wellcome Trust Advisory Panel on Research in Humanitarian Crises, and as the co-director of the Joint Council of Europe/United Nations Study on Trafficking in Organs and Body Parts.

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Edward Miguel is Distinguished Professor of Economics, the Oxfam Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics, & Faculty co-Director of the Center for Effective Global Action at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 2000. He earned S.B. degrees in both Economics and Mathematics from MIT, received a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University, where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow, and has been a visiting professor at Princeton University and Stanford University. Ted’s main research focus is African economic development, including work on the economic causes and consequences of violence; the impact of ethnic divisions on local collective action; interactions between health, education, environment, and productivity for the poor; and methods for transparency in social science research. He has conducted field work in Kenya, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and India. He has published over 130 articles and chapters in leading academic journals and collected volumes, and his work has been cited over 50,000 times according to Google Scholar.

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The “Whole Eye Transplant Moon Shot” refers to the ambitious research initiative at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute to transplant a whole eye, including the optic nerve, with the goal of restoring vision in blind patients. This project is considered a “moonshot” due to the immense scientific and technical challenges involved in successfully transplanting and reconnecting all the intricate components of the eye, particularly the optic nerve.  The goal is to achieve whole eye transplantation, including the optic nerve, to restore vision in individuals with blindness. The project involves a team of experts in various fields, including ophthalmology, neurosurgery, and immunology.  The primary challenge is regenerating and reconnecting the optic nerve, which is part of the central nervous system and does not readily regenerate in adults.  The research is expected to lead to significant advancements in transplantation techniques, nerve regeneration, and potential cures for other diseases. 

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