Addiction is a complex process that changes a person’s physiology and psychology. What are some of the biological and environmental factors that affect addiction and recovery? In this conversation with Shane Mayson, we delve deep into the complex underpinnings of addiction and the long road to recovery. Shane shares his deeply personal journey from addict to recovery coach along with several tipsto break persistent cognitive loops. Tune in to this educational and deeply human episode. Over two episodes, Shane will deepen your understanding of the lived experience of addiction.

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Shane Mayson is a seasoned professional with over four decades of experience in the hospitality industry. As a former restaurateur, Shane built and operated successful dining establishments known for their exceptional service and welcoming environments. Now, he has transitioned his passion for service into a new calling as a Coach, specializing in sobriety and recovery.

With 21 years of personal sobriety, Shane brings not only lived experience but also deep empathy and insight into the challenges of addiction and the transformative journey of recovery. His coaching approach is grounded, compassionate, and purpose-driven, helping individuals build sustainable, fulfilling lives free from substance use. Shane is committed to guiding others with honesty, accountability, and hope—core values that have shaped both his personal and professional evolution.

Contact him via: shane@steadfast-support.com

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Dr. Jaya Viswanathan is a neuroscientist, author, and artist born and raised in India. She earned an engineering degree, a Master’s in neuroscience, and a Doctorate in cognitive neuroscience. Since her post-doctoral fellowship, she continues to deepen her neuroscientific expertise as a contractor at the National Institutes of Health. She was inspired to illustrate and write Baby Senses: A Sensory Neuroscience Primer for All Ages to convey complex scientific concepts through art and whimsy in terms of sensory “superpowers”. She has been interviewed on written, audio/podcasts, and video platforms where she makes neuroscience accessible to lay audiences. Tune intoher podcast “Know Brainer” and other projects through which she disseminates science via ⁠https://babysensesbook.com/⁠.

Addiction is a complex process that changes a person’s physiology and psychology. What are some of the biological and environmental factors that affect addiction and recovery? In this conversation with Shane Mayson, we delve deep into the complex underpinnings of addiction and the long road to recovery. Shane shares his deeply personal journey from addict to recovery coach along with several tipsto break persistent cognitive loops. Tune in to this educational and deeply human episode. Over two episodes, Shane will deepen your understanding of the lived experience of addiction.

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Shane Mayson is a seasoned professional with over four decades of experience in the hospitality industry. As a former restaurateur, Shane built and operated successful dining establishments known for their exceptional service and welcoming environments. Now, he has transitioned his passion for service into a new calling as a Coach, specializing in sobriety and recovery.

With 21 years of personal sobriety, Shane brings not only lived experience but also deep empathy and insight into the challenges of addiction and the transformative journey of recovery. His coaching approach is grounded, compassionate, and purpose-driven, helping individuals build sustainable, fulfilling lives free from substance use. Shane is committed to guiding others with honesty, accountability, and hope—core values that have shaped both his personal and professional evolution.

Contact him via: shane@steadfast-support.com

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Dr. Jaya Viswanathan is a neuroscientist, author, and artist born and raised in India. She earned an engineering degree, a Master’s in neuroscience, and a Doctorate in cognitive neuroscience. Since her post-doctoral fellowship, she continues to deepen her neuroscientific expertise as a contractor at the National Institutes of Health. She was inspired to illustrate and write Baby Senses: A Sensory Neuroscience Primer for All Ages to convey complex scientific concepts through art and whimsy in terms of sensory “superpowers”. She has been interviewed on written, audio/podcasts, and video platforms where she makes neuroscience accessible to lay audiences. Tune into her podcast “Know Brainer” and other projects through which she disseminates science via https://babysensesbook.com/.

What insights can be gained from epidemiology in the study of neurodegenerative disorders? In this insightful conversation with Dr. Beth Shaaban, we explore the interdisciplinary study of population neuroscience and how to address dementia from a public health and policy lens. Sharing deep insights from working with patients, outreach, research and public health organizations, Dr. Shaaban bridges these normally siloed topics with ease. Tune into this episode that will enrich your understanding of population neuroscience. Over two episodes, Dr. Shaaban covers essential topics such as building resistance and resilience to disorders and addressing issues of health access in equitable ways for diverse populations. The insights from these episodes will enrich your understanding of both epidemiology and neuroscience.

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Dr. Beth Shaaban is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health and the Associate Core Leader of the University of Pittsburgh ADRC Outreach, Recruitment, and Engagement (ORE) Core. She integrates epidemiology, biostatistics, neuroscience/ neuroimaging, and psychology to study vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID), including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), using a Population Neuroscience framework. Her research focuses on identifying promoters of cerebral small vessel integrity to prevent AD and related disorders and has included evaluation of growth factors, physical activity, and vascular risk factor reduction. Her present work includes an NIA-funded K01 award applying a Population Neuroscience approach to evaluate gender/sex influences on the cerebral small vessel disease-to-AD cascade and evaluation of cognition and brain health in people with a history of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. She has an interest in analytic and recruitment/inclusion approaches to enhance external validity. Her aim is to gain insight into gender-related and sex-specific intervention targets to reduce AD and promote brain health equity.

You may contact Dr. Shaaban through:

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethshaaban/⁠

X: ⁠https://x.com/PopNeurosci⁠

Website: ⁠https://www.publichealth.pitt.edu/directory/c-elizabeth-shaaban⁠

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Dr. Jaya Viswanathan is a neuroscientist, author, and artist born and raised in India. She earned an engineering degree, a Master’s in neuroscience, and a Doctorate in cognitive neuroscience. Since her post-doctoral fellowship, she continues to deepen her neuroscientific expertise as a contractor at the National Institutes of Health. She was inspired to illustrate and write Baby Senses: A Sensory Neuroscience Primer for All Ages to convey complex scientific concepts through art and whimsy in terms of sensory “superpowers”. She has been interviewed on written, audio/podcasts, and video platforms where she makes neuroscience accessible to lay audiences. Tune into her podcast “Know Brainer” and other projects through which she disseminates science via ⁠https://babysensesbook.com/⁠.

What insights can be gained from epidemiology in the study of neurodegenerative disorders? In this insightful conversation with Dr. Beth Shaaban, we explore the interdisciplinary study of population neuroscience and how to address dementia from a public health and policy lens. Sharing deep insights from working with patients, outreach, research and public health organizations, Dr. Shaaban bridges these normally siloed topics with ease. Tune into this episode that will enrich your understanding of population neuroscience. Over two episodes, Dr. Shaaban covers essential topics such as building resistance and resilience to disorders and addressing issues of health access in equitable ways for diverse populations. The insights from these episodes will enrich your understanding of both epidemiology and neuroscience.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Beth Shaaban is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health and the Associate Core Leader of the University of Pittsburgh ADRC Outreach, Recruitment, and Engagement (ORE) Core. She integrates epidemiology, biostatistics, neuroscience/ neuroimaging, and psychology to study vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID), including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), using a Population Neuroscience framework. Her research focuses on identifying promoters of cerebral small vessel integrity to prevent AD and related disorders and has included evaluation of growth factors, physical activity, and vascular risk factor reduction. Her present work includes an NIA-funded K01 award applying a Population Neuroscience approach to evaluate gender/sex influences on the cerebral small vessel disease-to-AD cascade and evaluation of cognition and brain health in people with a history of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. She has an interest in analytic and recruitment/inclusion approaches to enhance external validity. Her aim is to gain insight into gender-related and sex-specific intervention targets to reduce AD and promote brain health equity.

You may contact Dr. Shaaban through:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethshaaban/

X: https://x.com/PopNeurosci

Website: https://www.publichealth.pitt.edu/directory/c-elizabeth-shaaban

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Dr. Jaya Viswanathan is a neuroscientist, author, and artist born and raised in India. She earned an engineering degree, a Master’s in neuroscience, and a Doctorate in cognitive neuroscience. Since her post-doctoral fellowship, she continues to deepen her neuroscientific expertise as a contractor at the National Institutes of Health. She was inspired to illustrate and write Baby Senses: A Sensory Neuroscience Primer for All Ages to convey complex scientific concepts through art and whimsy in terms of sensory “superpowers”. She has been interviewed on written, audio/podcasts, and video platforms where she makes neuroscience accessible to lay audiences. Tune into her podcast “Know Brainer” and other projects through which she disseminates science via https://babysensesbook.com/.

How can we deepen our connection with our bodies with neuroscientific tools? In this conversation with Dr. Whitney McFadden, we delve deeply into somatic therapy, a critically important emerging area of study in medicine. Using her knowledge of cellular and genetic neuroscience coupled with deep insight into hormone cycles, Dr. McFadden approaches her clinical practice with a vision towards improving the lives of patients holistically. Tune in to thisessential episode to learn more about how to use tools from somatic therapy to embrace the signals and wisdom from our bodies. Over two episodes, Dr. McFadden shares her expertise in clinical practice to address complex disorders, the insights from which will enrich your mind-body connection.

-------------------------------------------------------------------Dr. Whitney McFadden started her career with deep admiration for her father, a passionate psychiatrist, who instilled in her a love for biology and the joy of a fulfilling career. She delved into molecular and cell biology with an emphasis on neurobiology at University of California Berkeley and later pursued medical education to University of Calfornia San Diego. Driven by a research passion, she completed psychiatry residency at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City alongside a deep study of neuroscience, studying brain cells, schiozphrenia genetics. After graduating, she worked at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Genetics with Dr. George Church studying genetics and schizophrenia and brain organoids. Intruiged by women's psychiatry, she began to explore reproductive mental health, hormone health, and treatments in the nervous system. She immersed herself in these fields notonly for her personal healing, but also to make a profound impact on those around her. Her sister created her ownbusiness and inspired her to create her own practice that included innovations in mental health. After seeing patients transform their own lives with these innovations, she saw a huge opportunity to share this with women committed to living their life healthy, powerfully, and passionately.

You can learn more about Dr. McFadden and contact her through: ⁠https://willowmindhealth.com/⁠ .

-------------------------------------------------------------------Dr. Jaya Viswanathan is a neuroscientist, author, andartist born and raised in India. She earned an engineering degree, a Master’s in neuroscience, and a Doctorate in cognitive neuroscience. She was inspired to illustrate and write Baby Senses: A Sensory Neuroscience Primer for All Ages to convey complex scientific concepts through art and whimsy in terms of sensory “superpowers”. She has been interviewed on written, audio/podcasts, and video platforms where she makes neuroscience accessible to lay audiences. Tune into her podcast “Know Brainer” and other projects through which she disseminates science via ⁠https://babysensesbook.com/⁠ .

How can we deepen our connection with our bodies with neuroscientific tools? In this conversation with Dr. Whitney McFadden, we delve deeply into somatic therapy, a critically important emerging area of study in medicine. Using her knowledge of cellular and genetic neuroscience coupled with deep insight into hormone cycles, Dr. McFadden approaches her clinical practice with a vision towards improving the lives of patients holistically. Tune in to thisessential episode to learn more about how to use tools from somatic therapy to embrace the signals and wisdom from our bodies. Over two episodes, Dr. McFadden shares her expertise in clinical practice to address complex disorders, the insights from which will enrich your mind-body connection.

-------------------------------------------------------------------Dr. Whitney McFadden started her career with deep admiration for her father, a passionate psychiatrist, who instilled in her a love for biology and the joy of a fulfilling career. She delved into molecular and cell biology with an emphasis on neurobiology at University of California Berkeley and later pursued medical education to University of Calfornia San Diego. Driven by a research passion, she completed psychiatry residency at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City alongside a deep study of neuroscience, studying brain cells, schiozphrenia genetics. After graduating, she worked at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Genetics with Dr. George Church studying genetics and schizophrenia and brain organoids. Intruiged by women's psychiatry, she began to explore reproductive mental health, hormone health, and treatments in the nervous system. She immersed herself in these fields notonly for her personal healing, but also to make a profound impact on those around her. Her sister created her ownbusiness and inspired her to create her own practice that included innovations in mental health. After seeing patients transform their own lives with these innovations, she saw a huge opportunity to share this with women committed to living their life healthy, powerfully, and passionately.

You can learn more about Dr. McFadden and contact her through: https://willowmindhealth.com/ .

-------------------------------------------------------------------Dr. Jaya Viswanathan is a neuroscientist, author, andartist born and raised in India. She earned an engineering degree, a Master’s in neuroscience, and a Doctorate in cognitive neuroscience. She was inspired to illustrate and write Baby Senses: A Sensory Neuroscience Primer for All Ages to convey complex scientific concepts through art and whimsy in terms of sensory “superpowers”. She has been interviewed on written, audio/podcasts, and video platforms where she makes neuroscience accessible to lay audiences. Tune into her podcast “Know Brainer” and other projects through which she disseminates science via https://babysensesbook.com/ .

How can we quantify changes in biology using rigorous, reliable and reproducible methodologies? In this conversation with Dr. Paul R. Territo, we delve deep into this critical aspect of neuroscience research. Changes in biology are caused by endogenous (eg., due to growth/ aging/ disease) or exogenous (eg., due to exposures/ pharmaceuticals) factors. Dr. Territo explains these complex processes and the approaches his team uses to measurethese changes to develop reliable ‘biomarkers’ to measure these changes. Tune in to this informative episode that is fundamental to research and development of therapeutics. Over two episodes, Dr. Territo deconstructs the complexity ofbiomarker development and will deepen your understanding of biology more holistically.

-------------------------------------------------------------------Dr. Territo received his Bachelors (1991) and Masters (1993) from California Polytechnic University, in Pomona CA, and his Ph.D. in 1996 from UNLV. During his postdoctoral fellowship at the Laboratory of Cardiac Energetics at the NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), he received medical retraining and in the areas of noninvasive imaging technology and biophysics, which included Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Computed Tomography (CT), and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). From that time forward, his research has focused on the development and application of imaging technologies to study disease progression, and evaluate the role of novel therapeutics on physiologicalprocesses. Leveraging these experiences, from 2001 to 2008, Dr. Territo as part of Eli Lilly’s drug discovery team developed novel imaging based biomarkers for therapeutic development in neuroscience, oncology, and cardiovascular disease. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Territo joined the faculty of Indiana University School of Medicine in the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, where served as the Director of the Preclinical Imaging Core. Over this interval, Dr.Territo continued to develop novel imaging-based biomarkers for both preclinical and clinical assessment. In 2016, Dr. Territo began his independent laboratory focusing his research on developing state-of-the-art biomarkers formonitoring disease progression and then leveraging these for assessing therapeutic response for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia (ADRD). Learn more about Dr. Territo via: https://medicine.iu.edu/faculty/6529/territo-paul Contact Dr. Territo through: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-territo-696226a/

-------------------------------------------------------------------Dr. Jaya Viswanathan is a neuroscientist, author, andartist born and raised in India. She earned an engineering degree, a Master’s in neuroscience, and a Doctorate in cognitive neuroscience. Since her post-doctoral fellowship, she continues to deepen her neuroscientific expertise as a contractor at the National Institutes of Health. She was inspired to illustrate and write Baby Senses: A Sensory Neuroscience Primer for All Ages to convey complex scientific concepts through art and whimsy in terms of sensory “superpowers”. She has been interviewed on written, audio/podcasts, and video platforms where she makes neuroscience accessible to lay audiences. Tune into her podcast “Know Brainer” and other projects through which she disseminates science via https://babysensesbook.com/.

How can we quantify changes in biology using rigorous, reliable and reproducible methodologies? In this conversation with Dr. Paul R. Territo, we delve deep into this critical aspect of neuroscience research. Changes in biology are caused by endogenous (eg., due to growth/ aging/ disease) or exogenous (eg., due to exposures/ pharmaceuticals) factors. Dr. Territo explains these complex processes and the approaches his team uses to measurethese changes to develop reliable ‘biomarkers’. Tune in to this informative episode that is fundamental to research and development of therapeutics. Over two episodes, Dr. Territo deconstructs the complexity of biomarker development and will deepen your understanding of biology more holistically.

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Dr. Territo received his Bachelors (1991) and Masters (1993) from California Polytechnic University, in Pomona CA, and his Ph.D. in 1996 from UNLV. During his postdoctoral fellowship at the Laboratory of Cardiac Energetics at the NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), he received medical retraining and in the areas of noninvasive imaging technology and biophysics, which included Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Computed Tomography (CT), and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). From that time forward, his research has focused on the development and application of imaging technologies to study disease progression, and evaluate the role of novel therapeutics on physiological processes. Leveraging these experiences, from 2001 to 2008, Dr. Territo as part of Eli Lilly’s drug discovery team developed novel imaging based biomarkers for therapeutic development in neuroscience, oncology, and cardiovascular disease. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Territo joined the faculty of Indiana University School of Medicine in the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, where served as the Director of the Preclinical Imaging Core. Over this interval, Dr.Territo continued to develop novel imaging-based biomarkers for both preclinical and clinical assessment. In 2016, Dr. Territo began his independent laboratory focusing his research on developing state-of-the-art biomarkers formonitoring disease progression and then leveraging these for assessing therapeutic response for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia (ADRD).

Learn more about Dr. Territo via: https://medicine.iu.edu/faculty/6529/territo-paulContact Dr. Territo through: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-territo-696226a/-------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Jaya Viswanathan is a neuroscientist, author, and artist born and raised in India. She earned an engineering degree, a Master’s in neuroscience, and a Doctorate in cognitive neuroscience. Since her post-doctoral fellowship, she continues to deepen her neuroscientific expertise as a contractor at the National Institutes of Health. She was inspired to illustrate and write Baby Senses: A Sensory Neuroscience Primer for All Ages to convey complex scientific concepts through art and whimsy in terms of sensory “superpowers”. She has been interviewed on written, audio/podcasts, and video platforms where she makes neuroscience accessible to lay audiences. Tune into her podcast “Know Brainer” and other projects through which she disseminates science via https://babysensesbook.com/.