The brains behind The Brain Observatory

The Brain Observatory was founded in 2005 by Dr. Jacopo Annese as a research lab at The University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Today, the Observatory operates as an independent, nonprofit institute that bridges science, art, and education to make neuroscience accessible and meaningful.

Directors

  • Dr. Jacopo Annese graduated from the University of Rome in Italy with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology and zoology. He earned a master’s degree in neurological sciences at University College London, U.K., and completed the Ph.D. program in cognitive neuroscience at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH. He subsequently trained in computational anatomy at the Montreal Neurological Institute, Canada, and at the Laboratory of Neuroimaging at the University of California, Los Angeles. He joined the UCSD Dept. of Radiology in 2005 where he served as a research faculty member until 2015. His research has been featured in a variety of broadcasting and publishing media, including PBS NOVA, National Geographic, BBC, Discovery Channel, The New York Times, Bloomberg News, Financial Times, Esquire Magazine, and Discover Magazine.

    He is currently working on his California teaching credentials.

  • Craig “Spike” Decker is the owner and CEO of Spike & Mike’s Festival of Animation. The Spike & Mike’s Festival famously premiered works by the directors of “Toy Story,” “Finding Nemo,” and “Monsters Inc.” effectively launching Pixar as an independent animation studio. The Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation, targeted to adult audiences, has also premiered works by Mike Judge of “Beavis & Butthead,” Matt Stone and Trey Parker of “South Park,” and Bill Plympton, among others. Spike lives in La Jolla, California. He continues to contribute to Comicon and trading original comic art.

  • Dr. Katarzyna Brzezicka graduated from the Jagiellonian University of Kracow, Poland with a Bachelor’s degree in chemistry. She subsequently earned a Master’s degree in biological chemistry from the University of Orleans, France, and a Ph.D. in Industrial Chemistry at CICbiomaGUNE, Spain. She conducted her postdoctoral work at Scripps Research in 2018 (Departments of Molecular Medicine & Immunology and Microbiology). Her research focuses on the modulation of immune responses using glycoproteins and nanoparticles to target specific immune cell receptors for the treatment of autoimmune disorders and allergic reactions. She has co-authored high-impact studies in ACS Nano, Cell Reports, and Molecular Aspects of Medicine, and holds a U.S. patent for hybrid nanoparticles that induce immune tolerance. At The Brain Observatory, Dr. Brzezicka mentors students and supports experimental work in immunology and neurobiology. She is passionate about scientific illustration and about art education as applied to scientific communication.

  • Professor Emeritus Radiology, UC San Diego

Advisory Board

Marius Qwint, M.Phil.
Reader in Visual Culture
University of Portsmouth 

Dana Small, Ph.D.
Psychiatry and Psychology, Yale University (New Haven, CT)

Ken Arnold
Director of Medical Museion and Professor at Copenhagen University (Copenhagen, Denmark)

Jennifer McNab Ph.D.
Radiology, Stanford University (Stanford, CA)

Santosh Kesari, MD, Ph.D.
Chair and Professor of Translational Neuro-oncology and Neurotherapeutics, Saint John’s Cancer Institute. (Santa Monica, CA)

Jack Glaser, Ph.D.
President, MBF Bioscience (Burlington, VT)

Todd Herrington M.D., Ph.D.
Neurology, Harvard Medical School (Cambridge, MA)