Dr. Melina Uncapher presented her research from Stanford's Memory Lab to members and scholars of the MacArthur Research Network on Law and Neuroscience. Findings included demonstrating that people can use simple strategies to 'beat' a brain-based (fMRI) memory detector. Collaborators Dr. Anthony Wagner and Dr. Jesse Rissman presented related work. Dr. Uncapher has been recognized as a MacArthur Scholar for her work in the field.

IAN welcomes Samantha Graff to our advisory board! Samantha is a Harvard- and Yale-trained public interest lawyer who will guide our translation of research into effective policy recommendations. Samantha has helped shape local, state, and federal policies to combat tobacco marketing, junk food advertising to children, unhealthful school and neighborhood environments, and online privacy threats. She has published and supervised scores of academic journal articles, amicus briefs, model ordinances, and op-eds clarifying how various constitutional doctrines shape options for government to promote public health and safety. IAN is thrilled to welcome Samantha to our senior team!

Dr. Anthony Wagner of Stanford University spoke in the National Bar Association's 89th annual convention about work from his lab that is positioned at the intersection of law and neuroscience. This work included findings from Dr. Melina Uncapher on how our brains respond differently to faces from our own race vs. other races, and how that may affect memory. The findings have implications for eyewitness memory that includes other-race faces. 

IAN's Dr. Melina Uncapher was appointed to the editorial board of the Journal of Science & Law, a journal that provides a forum for scholarship at the intersection of scientific research and legal policy. Dr. Uncapher will be bringing to the journal her experience as a MacArthur Scholar conducting novel neuroscientific research for applications to law policy and practice, as well as her background in communicating neuroscientific issues in law to judges, attorneys, and the general public.   

IAN's co-founder and CEO, Dr. Melina Uncapher, sat on a panel for public officials and law policymakers to discuss issues of memory in the law, held by the San Francisco Public Defender's Office. Topics included how false memories can occur, how eyewitness identification should be corroborated because our memories are inherently incomplete and often jumbled, but that this should not discourage victims or eyewitnesses from coming forward. 

The Justice Summit was televised and airs throughout the year on SFgov.tv

Press coverage

IAN's co-founder and CEO, Dr. Melina Uncapher, named a MacArthur Network Scholar in recognition of the depth and impact of her ongoing work with the MacArthur Foundation's Research Network on Law and Neuroscience.

The work of IAN's co-founder and CEO, Dr. Melina Uncapher, is featured on a PBS special, Brains on Trial with Alan Alda. She is featured in episode one, highlighting her work with Dr. Anthony Wagner on memory detection using functional brain imaging, as well as their work using wearable technology to study real-world memories in the brain.