2022 Keynote Speakers
Dr. Aysha Akhtar, President/CEO of the Center for Contemporary Sciences
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Aysha Akhtar, M.D., M.P.H., is a double Board-certified neurologist and preventive medicine/public health specialist. She is the Co-founder, President and CEO of the Center for Contemporary Sciences, which is catalyzing the replacement of unreliable animal testing with more effective human-specific research techniques. A U.S veteran, she previously served as Deputy Director of the U.S. Army Traumatic Brain Injury Program developing the Army’s brain injury prevention and treatment strategies for soldiers. For a decade, Aysha was a Medical Officer at the Food and Drug Administration, most recently in the Office of Counterterrorism and Emerging Threats, implementing studies on vaccine effectiveness and safety. She is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, and the author of two books, Our Symphony With Animals and Animals and Public Health.
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Genesis Butler, Environmental and Animal Rights Activist and Marvel Hero
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Genesis Butler is a 15-year-old environmental and animal rights activist and one of the youngest people to ever give a TEDx talk. Inspired by her great uncle civil rights leader Cesar Chavez, Genesis’ talk "A 10 Year Old's Vision for Healing the Planet" discusses the negative impact of animal agriculture on the environment. She went vegan at the age of 6 and was featured on an episode of Marvel’s Hero Project by Disney+. She has won several recognitions and awards for her activism, including being named by BBC as one of the top 8 activists changing the world. Genesis is currently leading the Youth Climate Save movement, the first youth-led environmental organization that focuses on animal agriculture’s impact on climate change and aims to give all young voices a platform.
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Jonathan Balcombe, Ethologist and Author of What a Fish Knows and Super Fly
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Jonathan Balcombe is a biologist with a PhD in ethology, the study of animal behavior. He is the author of a number of popular science books on the inner lives of animals, including the New York Times best-seller What a Fish Knows, Super Fly: The Unexpected Lives of the World’s Most Successful Insects, Pleasurable Kingdom, and Second Nature. His most recent work is the children's book Jake And Ava: A Boy And A Fish. He has published over 60 scientific papers and book chapters on animal behavior and animal protection. He is the former Department Chair for Animal Studies with the Humane Society University, and Director of Animal Sentience with The Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy. A popular speaker, Jonathan has lectured on six continents (the penguins eagerly anticipate his arrival in Antarctica).
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