By Dr. Eve Edelstein

{abstract}Dr. Eve Edelstein is a senior research specialist at the University of California, San Diego and an adjunct professor at the NewSchool of Architecture & Design in San Diego.  Edelstein has a doctorate in Neurophysiology from University College London, a Master of Architecture and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from University of California, Berkeley. She has conducted research and provided clinical service at academic and medical centers in the UK and USA. As Principal Investigator for the AIA College of Fellows Latrobe 2005 Fellowship, she investigated the influence of light  on physiological health and human performance indicators, relating biomedical research to design recommendations for circadian lighting. Ongoing research at the University of California, San Diego is based within an immersive virtual reality CAVE, and explores neural bases for the cognitive mapping in real and virtual environments, visual attention to architectural elements, and the influence of acoustic environments on medical and medication error. Edelstein teaches undergraduate and master’s courses in neuroscience and architecture, environmental psychology, and design studios at the NewSchool of Architecture & Design.  Her research-based design practice incorporates scientific methodologies in an evidence-based process that informs planning and design. Projects include international healthcare campuses, mental health facilities, and educational facilities in China, Canada, and the United States.

Edelstein’s contribution will investigate the interrelationship between design process, new technologies, and neuroscientific response. She will be including interactive work that provides examples and new ways of thinking about how design education and practice might incorporate these processes into conceptual and prototyping phases of design development.