Legacy, Voice, and Complexity in Science and Storytelling.

Dr. Ruffin will speak at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Seattle. He joins a panel discussing the documentary film, Moonlight Sonata. This film is the latest release of the award-winning filmmaker, Irene Taylor Brodsky. Moonlight Sonata shares the journey of her young son receiving a cochlear implant and how his identity as a person with hearing loss changes.

The topic of the panel is “Legacy, Voice, and Complexity in Science and Storytelling." It is an exciting subject as Ms. Brodsky’s prior work includes documentaries about her parents’ journey with Deafness and the impact of the cochlear implant on a series of young adults.

Also on the panel are Ms. Brodsky, journalist Lydia Denworth, and neuroscientist Daniel Levitin. Ms. Denworth has published works on a memoir of her family’s journey with cochlear implants as well as a new book on the importance of friendship and social connections. Dr. Levitin specializes in the neuroscience of music and memory.

Dr. Ruffin has previously published in Science, the preeminent publication of the AAAS.