photos: Jack Thompson

These days, I’m most excited about my daughter, she is my first child. Apart from all the love and wonder as a father, as a neuroscientist, the experience is special in additional ways. It is amazing to think about nervous system development as she quickly gains a new understanding of the world and begins to interact with it.

Some words that come up are thoughtful, inquisitive, warm, and funny. One comment that I have liked is that, while I am painfully slow at making decisions, when I finally do make one, it is often the best one. In science there is a saying that people often study what they aren’t very good at. Perhaps I study the neuroscience of decision-making because of my inability to make quick decisions. 

I’ve always had a deep interest in understanding how things in the world work, especially with a love of living systems. I was drawn to ways to bring mathematical and engineering approaches to the study of biology and life. In school, I focused a lot of my work on biomedical engineering. Apart from these studies, I found enjoyment in sports, especially basketball and tennis.

I did not study neuroscience until I started my PhD work. In graduate school, one of my classmates encouraged me to try neuroscience research. I quickly fell in love with questions like ‘how does the brain change when we form a memory?’ and ‘how does the brain reason which decision will have the best outcome?’. I became intrigued by how groups of brain cells work together in a circuit and can lead to thoughts, memory, and cognition.

I am deeply interested in how form and function are balanced and harmonized. This is a consistent theme in biology. Evolution has found different forms for similar functions. Also, specific forms can uniquely allow particular functions. The creativity of designers to link form and function in different ways is inspiring and beautiful to me. 

My first watch was a Swatch watch when I was a child. They were very popular among my friends at the time due to their bold and colorful designs.

I first came across Ressence about six years ago. My neuroscience research was investigating how the brain operates at different timescales which led me to think about timescales as fundamental component of nervous system organisation. As a result, I became intrigued about how time is represented in other forms. This led me to become interested in watches, and clocks. I became particularly excited about the different ways that time is represented in watches and the meanings and inspirations underlying those representations.

When I first came across Ressence, I was drawn to the thoughtfulness and creativity that went into their way of representing time. I was excited to see that Ressence is deeply focused on what the depiction of time means and how to execute it in a new way. I find Ressence’s incarnation of time to be simple, intuitive, and interesting in its flexibility for incorporating different elements of design. 

The TYPE 1 RS and the TYPE 1 Squared X.

Wearing my Ressence watches is a wonderful reminder to think about problems in new ways. I feel this is such an important part of life – to reimagine even the oldest and most established paradigms. Ressence’s approach serves as an inspiration for this direction.

I only became very interested in watches as my research turned toward understanding how the brain keeps track of time.

I wore my TYPE 1 when my wife and I got married in Las Vegas. It was a perfect day!

When my daughter was born, I heard from many people the saying that “the days are long, but the years are short”. I’ve learned to appreciate this saying, in particular with the understanding that it is important to value each moment. In this spirit, I try to be aware of enjoying every moment of a process, not just the final goal. This is true in research as well. The breakthroughs are often far between, so it is important to enjoy the small steps and the hard and careful work of carrying out experiments.

One’s legacy can take on many forms. For myself, I see it two ways. First, I hope that my life’s dedication to neuroscience research will contribute to our collective knowledge about how the brain works and how it dysfunctions in diseases of mental health. Scientific research works by building on the earlier findings of others, and I hope that the findings from my research will serve as a springboard for future discoveries. Second, our impact on the future of the world depends in great degree on how we influence and affect others around us. I think about this a lot with my daughter and about how I will pass along the values I have developed and help her to grow into her own person. I also think about this because I serve as a mentor to many younger scientists and hope to have a positive role in shaping their development as scientists and individuals. 

One’s legacy can take on many forms. For myself, I see it two ways. First, I hope that my life’s dedication to neuroscience research will contribute to our collective knowledge about how the brain works and how it dysfunctions in diseases of mental health. Scientific research works by building on the earlier findings of others, and I hope that the findings from my research will serve as a springboard for future discoveries. Second, our impact on the future of the world depends in great degree on how we influence and affect others around us. I think about this a lot with my daughter and about how I will pass along the values I have developed and help her to grow into her own person. I also think about this because I serve as a mentor to many younger scientists and hope to have a positive role in shaping their development as scientists and individuals. More generally, as the world is in a period of rapid change, now is more important than ever to be vigilant about what is happening around us and to think about how our actions influence the future of our communities and the world.