Making Memories: Neurons, Quantum Computing, and Art

Harsh is a graduate student in the Puri group at the Yale Quantum Institute from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He’s working on measurement-based quantum computing with Schrödinger Cat codes, closely collaborating with the Schoelkopf group. Prior to joining Yale, he completed a bachelor’s in electrical engineering at Princeton University, with minors in Computer Science and Engineering Physics.  Harsh collaborated with Serena during her residency and created visualization tools based on his researchers to allow Serena to create a collaborative art installation for YQI.

Dr. Florian Carle is the Managing Director of the Yale Quantum Institute. A French rocket scientist and engineer with a background in theater, Florian transitioned to quantum science, where he develops science and art outreach programs for the Yale and New Haven communities. His goal is to demystify quantum physics and science in general, making them enjoyable and accessible to inspire new generations to pursue careers in STEM. In 2017, Florian launched one of the world’s first Artist-in-Residence program dedicated to quantum science for the Yale Quantum Institute. Leveraging his theater experience, he helps create installations, exhibitions, live shows, albums, and music videos. Florian received the 2024 Connecticut Science Center STEM Achievement Award for this program.

Donna Fedus is a gerontologist educator, adjunct professor, program strategist, instructional designer, researcher, and entrepreneur. Her life’s work - pursued enthusiastically for more than 35 years so far - is to provide and elicit new perspectives on issues of aging, caregiving, and dementia. Donna founded gerontology education and evaluation company Borrow My Glasses (BMG) in 2013. BMG offers scalable learning solutions, training and evaluation services for individuals, professionals, and organizations looking to embrace the many opportunities brought by longevity. Critical to Donna’s mission is offering alternatives to the tragedy narrative and stigma that often surround aging, caregiving, and dementia.

Dr. Higley studied behavioral neuroscience at Cornell University. He then completed his MD and PhD in the MSTP Program and the laboratory of Dr. Diego Contreras at the University of Pennsylvania. He continued his scientific training as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Bernardo Sabatini at Harvard Medical School. In 2010, Dr. Higley joined the faculty of the Yale Department of Neuroscience and the Program in Cellular Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration, and Repair (CNNR). He was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2020. He has received numerous honors for his research, including a Sloan Research Fellowship, a Klingenstein Fellowship, and most recently the NIH Director's Pioneer Award. Dr. Higley has a secondary appointment in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and is a member of the Wu Tsai Institute. He also serves as an Associate Director for the Yale MD-PhD Program.

Serena Scapagnini graduated at La Sapienza University, Rome with a dissertation in Art Theory, Semiotics and History of Religion (2006) and she received her master’s degree in Middle Age Art History, Iconography and Iconology at the University of Siena (2020). Her Art Education began in Paris (Universitée de Vincennes, Paris VIII, 2005) and proceeded in New York, where she accomplished a Master Program in Painting and Mixed Media at the School of Visual Arts (2007). Since 2021, she became a Young Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science. Her work has been shown and collected in the United States, China, India, Sweden, Hungary, Spain, Italy. She is the recent winner of the 2024-25 AiR, artist-in-residence program for the Yale University Quantum Institute, for which she is working alongside laboratory researchers, on a collaborative project that fuses quantum physics and art. She lives and works in Rome and New Haven.