Best of CASE District VII Award
 

Institution: University of California, San Francisco

Title of entry: UCSF Magazine, “The Future of Neuroscience: Building a Silicon Brain”

About this entry: This striking portrait from the Winter 2025 issue of UCSF Magazine features Shailee Jain, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Edward Chang at the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. The image was photographed by Elena Zhukova, whose thoughtful approach visually embodies the bold scientific ambition at the heart of Jain’s work: building a “silicon brain,” an artificial neural network so advanced it could decode thought, restore speech in individuals who have lost it, and ultimately generate a personalized model of an individual’s brain activity. In the portrait, Jain is positioned in front of large-format scans of her own brain and holds a 3D-printed model of it. This powerful juxtaposition of the tangible — physical representations of her own anatomy — with the conceptual frontiers of artificial intelligence and neuroscience reflects both her personal commitment and the cutting-edge science she pursues.