Leading neurobiologist Dr. Greg Hickok, neuroscientist Dr. Robert Bowser, FDA and regulatory expert Michele Chin-Purcell and data analytics strategist Tyler Knutson added to the board
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — FEB 6, 2020 — Aural Analytics, Inc., a privately held digital health company developing the world’s most advanced speech analytics platform, today announced the appointments of Greg Hickok, Ph.D., professor of cognitive sciences at the University of California, Irvine; Robert Bowser, Ph.D., chief scientific officer, professor and chairman of neurobiology, director of the Gregory W. Fulton ALS and Neuromuscular Research Center, Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center; Michele Chin-Purcell, Ph.D., vice president, regulatory affairs and quality assurance, Nalu Medical, Inc.; and Tyler Knutson, head of the data analytics hub, Aetna, a CVS Health Company, to its advisory board.
“We are delighted to welcome Greg, Robert, Michele and Tyler to the Aural Analytics advisory board,” said Eric Reiman, M.D., Aural Analytics advisory board chairman and chief executive officer, Banner Research and executive director, Banner Alzheimer’s Institute. “Their industry knowledge, combined with deep scientific, technical, regulatory and operational expertise, will help to further shape the company’s approach within the digital healthcare space.”
The independent experts who comprise the Aural Analytics advisory board will serve as strategic resources as the company continues to advance its proprietary speech analytics platform technology.
“Our advisory board plays an important role in how Aural Analytics approaches the industry’s most challenging areas, notably the complexities of clinical-grade speech analytics in various settings across the continuum of care in neurology,” said Daniel Jones, co-founder, chief executive officer, Aural Analytics. “I look forward to Greg, Robert, Michele and Tyler providing important counsel around our strategic direction and helping to expand our reach and impact.”
About the New Aural Analytics Advisory Board Members
Greg Hickok, Ph.D., Dr. Hickok’s research focuses on the neurobiology of language, speech and hearing with application to understanding the nature of acquired language disorders (aphasia). He has published over 165 peer-reviewed scientific papers and book chapters and edited several book volumes on the neurobiology of language and hearing. His research uses a multi-method approach including functional MRI, electrocorticography, neuropsychology and computational modeling, and has been funded by the National Institutes of Health for the last three decades. He is also a PI on the NIH-funded Center for the Study of Aphasia Recovery (C-STAR). Dr. Hickok was the inaugural Chair of the Society for the Neurobiology of Language, founding director of UC Irvine’s Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, and Editor-in-Chief of Psychonomic Bulletin & Review from 2014-2019. He is the author of The Myth of Mirror Neurons: The Real Neuroscience of Communication and Cognition.
Dr. Hickok received his Ph.D. in Psychology and Linguistics at Brandeis University in 1991 and did post doctoral training in Cognitive Neuroscience at MIT and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. He joined the faculty at UC Irvine in 1996, where he is currently Professor of Cognitive Sciences and Language Science.
Robert Bowser, Ph.D., is chief scientific officer, professor and chairman of neurobiology, and director of the Gregory W. Fulton ALS and Neuromuscular Research Center at the Barrow Neurological Institute and St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Ariz. He was a faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine for 18 years prior to his recruitment by the Barrow Neurological Institute in 2011. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific publications and has seven issued patents around technologies developed in his laboratory. Dr. Bowser is co-Founder of two biotechnology companies, Knopp Biosciences, LLC and Iron Horse Diagnostics, Inc., companies advancing new drug treatments and ways to diagnose neurologic disorders. Dr. Bowser’s research interests are to determine the molecular and cellular basis of motor neuron cell death in ALS and translate these findings to the clinic. His laboratory was the first to publish a panel of protein biomarkers that can distinguish ALS patients from healthy individuals or other diseases with high accuracy. Additional work in his lab includes the use of nanoparticles to target drug therapies to motor neurons and the central nervous system, and the discovery of new RNA binding proteins linked to ALS. He has national and international leadership positions in the field of ALS, and co-Chairs the NEALS Biofluid Biorepository.
Dr. Bowser earned his bachelor of science degree in biological sciences from Carnegie Mellon University and his doctor of philosophy degree in cell biology from Yale University School of Medicine and completed fellowship training at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Michele Chin-Purcell, Ph.D., has over twenty years of experience in Research, Quality and Regulatory Affairs in the life sciences. Dr. Chin-Purcell is currently the Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance at Nalu Medical. She has served in several senior leadership roles at medical device companies such as St. Jude Medical, Spinal Modulation, Inc., and Boston Scientific. She has extensive successful experience working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European Notified Bodies to obtain and sustain market approvals.
Dr. Chin-Purcell received her Ph.D. and MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and her BS in the same discipline from the University of California, Berkeley.
Tyler Knutson is the head of the data analytics hub at Aetna, a CVS Health Company. Knutson has over twelve years of experience in the U.S. healthcare sector and focuses on combining a strategy consulting approach with data science methodologies. Knutson has worked as a director for the natural language processing (NLP) technology startup Quid, and previously as an engagement manager for Strategy& (formerly Booz & Co.), one of the world’s premier strategy and management consultancies. In his current role, Knutson partners with clinical leadership and advanced analytics teams to find and deliver new sources of value for the enterprise.
Knutson earned his bachelor of science degree in finance and international business from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.
The Aural Analytics advisory board is comprised of the following members:
- Michael del Aguila, Ph.D., chief science officer, Doctor Evidence
- Robert Bowser, Ph.D., chief scientific officer, professor and chairman of neurobiology, director of the Gregory W. Fulton ALS and Neuromuscular Research Center, Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center
- John Caviness, M.D., Professor of Neurology, Founder, Movement Neurophysiology Lab, Mayo Clinic
- Michele Chin-Purcell, Ph.D., vice president of regulatory affairs and quality assurance at Nalu Medical, inc.
- David Dodick, M.D., medical director, headache & concussion, professor of neurology, Mayo Clinic
- Gregory S. Hickok, Ph.D., professor, cognitive sciences school of social sciences, center for language science. B.A., University of California, Irvine.
- Tyler Knutson, senior director, head of the data analytics hub, Aetna, a CVS Health Company
- Eric M. Reiman, M.D., executive director, Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, chief executive officer, Banner Research, professor of psychiatry, University of Arizona, professor of neuroscience, Arizona State University, clinical director, neurogenomics, Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and director, Arizona Alzheimer’s Consortium
- Stacy Rudnicki, M.D., senior director, clinical research, Cytokinetics
- Todd Schwedt, M.D., professor of neurology, chair of research, neurology, Mayo Clinic
- Jeremy Shefner, M.D., head of neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute
Aural Analytics, Inc. is a privately held digital health company developing the world’s most advanced speech analytics platform, built on a foundation of 25 years of speech neuroscience research and data. The Company’s platform technology is based on pioneering research from Arizona State University and reinforced by multiple high-caliber peer-reviewed publications. Winners of the 2017 Global SCRIP Award for Best Technology in Clinical Trials, Aural Analytics’ first-to-market technology platform powers health applications all over the world. The Company maintains headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz. For more information, please visit auralanalytics.com or follow Aural Analytics on Twitter, LinkedIn, Medium and Facebook.
Contacts
Aural Analytics, Inc.
John Caviness
press@auralanalytics.com
