LOS ANGELES — On Saturday, April 5th, trailblazers in science and technology will headline On the Cutting Edge of Science and Tech: CA and Armenia Together, a conference by the USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies and Armenian Society of Fellows.
The conference will include keynote lectures from three renowned scientists in AI, neuroscience, and astrophysics, and highlight collaborations between the California Armenian diaspora and Republic of Armenia in advancing global innovation. It will also explore the university’s role in addressing urgent challenges through science and technology.
Sarkis Mazmanian, Luis and Nelly Soux Professor of Microbiology in the Division of Biology and Biological Engineering at the California Institute of Technology, will deliver a keynote lecture titled The Gut Microbiome as a Contributor and Therapeutic Target for Parkinson’s Disease. Named by Discover Magazine as one of the “Best Brains in Science Under 40,” Prof. Mazmanian’s pioneering work on the human microbiome has won him global distinction, including a MacArthur Fellowship.
Vahe Petrosian, Professor of Physics and Applied Physics and Chairman of the Astronomy Program at Stanford University, will deliver a keynote lecture titled Gravitational Lensing: Measuring the Universe the Way Einstein Said Could Not Be Done. With more than 60 years of pioneering research, including the development of the Petrosian Radius and Magnitude method, his work has advanced understanding of astronomical objects, from the sun to galaxy clusters.
Armen Aghajanyan, Co-Founder & CEO of Perceptron AI, will deliver the final keynote lecture titled The Intelligence Arbitrage. Perceptron AI is pioneering advanced artificial intelligence models that integrate diverse data types—such as video, audio, and text—to create real-time, adaptable intelligence for a wide range of industries, bridging the digital and physical worlds. Prior to founding Perceptron AI, Aghajanyan was a research scientist at Meta’s Foundational AI Research division and Microsoft’s Turing team.
In addition to keynote lectures, two panel discussions featuring renowned scholars from USC and beyond will explore how academic progress in science and technology can be applied to real-world problems.
In a panel discussion titled Outside the Ivory Tower: Bringing University Expertise to the World, Dean of USC Viterbi School of Engineering Yannis Yortsos, Director of USC Dornsife’s Public Exchange Kate Weber, and Associate Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology at Keck School of Medicine of USC Dr. Thomas Lee will discuss the unique role of the university in addressing today’s most urgent challenges through science and technology. The director of USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies, Dr. Shushan Karapetian, will moderate their conversation.
In a second panel discussion titled Beyond Words: Armenia-Diaspora Networks in Action, aerospace engineer and founder of the ARPA Institute (Analysis Research & Planning for Armenia) Dr. Hagop Panossian, Chief Technologist and Fellow at Synopsys Dr. Yervant Zorian, and keynote lecturer Armen Aghajanyan will discuss how robust transnational networks between the California Armenian diaspora and Republic of Armenia have contributed to advancing innovation. Ani Aprahamian, Frank M. Freimann Professor of Physics at the University of Notre Dame, will moderate their conversation.
Co-sponsored by USC Viterbi School of Engineering, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and ARPA Institute, the conference will be held at USC’s Ginsburg Hall at 10:00 AM.
The event is free of charge and open to the public. The conference will not be live-streamed—RSVP here to join in person. [**RSVP here to join in person.**](https://usc.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1e22308e1f7882963ac3e0a43&id=b061567cf9&e=d6d2c65462)