Monica Lopez-Gonzalez, Ph.D., M.A.

Headshot of Monica Lopez-Gonzalez
  • Joint Appointment in Neurology

Background

Dr. Monica Lopez-Gonzalez is a cognitive scientist leading the way for an ethical, safe, and sustainable future with artificial intelligence. She takes a human-centric approach to the development and application of emerging smart technologies and advocates interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, and entrepreneurial integration to drive innovation and connected communities.

Dr. Lopez-Gonzalez works on developing innovative research collaborations with Hopkins faculty for novel AI-based healthcare applications.

She is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Cognitive Science of the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences and faculty in the Artificial Intelligence Program - Engineering for Professionals of the Whiting School of Engineering. Her courses uniquely intersect Science, Technology, Design, Public Policy, and Ethics.

Dr. Lopez-Gonzalez earned her BA degrees in Psychology and French, and a MA and PhD in Cognitive Science, all from Johns Hopkins University, and a Certificate of Art in Photography from Maryland Institute College of Art. She completed her postdoctoral research fellowship in musical creativity in the Department of Otolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She has used a variety of behavioral, physiological and brain measures (i.e. functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)) and techniques.

As her work in human creativity has intersected with artificial intelligence development and its consequences for national security and foreign policy, she also completed a Graduate Certificate in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University's School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Dr. Lopez-Gonzalez is the co-founder and CEO of the Institute for Human Intelligence designing and executing original research and consulting projects dedicated to defining the future of safe and trustworthy artificial intelligence-based technology. Prior to that she co-founded the consulting company La Petite Noiseuse Productions (LPNP) in 2014. As CEO and Chief Science Officer at LPNP she created a novel R&D platform using the arts to empirically investigate critical questions on human intelligence. Prior to co-founding LPNP, she worked in the biotech industry as director of business development for various biotechnology companies and applied her scientific and storytelling acumen to bridge the business of healthcare with rising digital challenges.

Dr. Lopez-Gonzalez is a program committee member for IS&T's Human Vision & Electronic Imaging international conference. She has been a subject editor for the Social Sciences & Humanities Open Journal of Elsevier, Oxford, UK. She is also a member of the Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity (SfNC). She has also been a STEMM research advisor in the Department of Neurology for the annual Johns Hopkins Internship in Brain Science (JHIBS) where she advised high school students in the areas of industry practices across the brain sciences as well as research design and analysis methods.

Dr. Lopez-Gonzalez is a sought-after plenary and keynote speaker, panelist, consultant, adviser, and guest in various local, national, and international venues. Her work has been presented and published in a range of formats for various audiences.

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Titles

  • Joint Appointment in Neurology

Departments / Divisions

Education

Degrees

  • B.A.; Johns Hopkins University (Maryland) (2005)
  • M.A.; Johns Hopkins University (Maryland) (2007)
  • Ph.D.; Johns Hopkins University (Maryland) (2010)

Research & Publications

Selected Publications

López-González, M. (2021). Applying Human Cognition to Assured Autonomy, International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction - Late Breaking Papers, Springer LNCS.

López-González, M. (2020). Regaining Sight of Humanity on The Roadway towards Automation, IS&T Electronic Imaging Symposium: Autonomous Vehicles and Machines 2020, (IS&T, Springfield, VA, 2020); DOI: 10.2352/ISSN.2470-1173.2020.16.AVM-088

López-González, M. (2019). Today Is To See and Know: An Argument and Proposal for Integrating Human Cognitive Intelligence into Autonomous Vehicle Perception, IS&T Electronic Imaging Symposium: Autonomous Vehicles and Machines, (IS&T, Springfield, VA, 2019). DOI: 10.2352/ISSN.2470-1173.2019.15.AVM-054

López-González, M. (2018). Theoretically Automated Conversations: Collaborative Artistic Creativity for Autonomous Machines, IS&T Electronic Imaging Symposium: Human Vision and Electronic Imaging, (IS&T, Springfield, VA, 2018). DOI: 10.2352/ISSN.2470-1173.2018.14.HVEI-531

López-González, M. (2017). Trading Conversations Between Science and Art: When Musical Improvisation Enters the Dialogue on Stage, IS&T Electronic Imaging Symposium: Human Vision and Electronic Imaging, (IS&T, Springfield, VA, 2017); DOI: 10.2352/ISSN.2470-1173.2017.14.HVEI-156

Activities & Honors

Honors

  • Outstanding Recent Graduate Award, Office of the President and Alumni Association, Johns Hopkins University, 2019
  • One of Baltimore’s Top 10 BioHealth Startup CEOs, The Business of Biotechnology, 2019
  • A millennial leader of the BioHealth Capital Region (MD, DC, VA), BioHealth Innovation, Inc., 2018
  • A particularly imaginative polymath, magination Institute, Positive Psychology Center, University of Pennsylvania, 2016
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