Welcome to our hub where we focus on the future without losing site on today. If you are fascinated by brain development, child development and capacity building come and join us.
Prof. Gerry Leisman
Co-founder & Science Director
Prof. Gerry Leisman is an Israeli neuroscientist educated in Europe and the United States in Medicine, Neuroscience,
and Biomedical Engineering at Manchester University. He additionally received a Ph.D. in Neuroscience and
Biomedical Engineering from Union University, in 1979. He is currently a Full Professor and Research Fellow at the
University of Haifa in Israel. He is concurrently Professor of Restorative Neurology at the University of Medical
Sciences in Havana, Cuba. He is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Brain, Body Cognition. And Neuroeducation section
editor of the journal Brain Sciences.
He has also been influential in examining mechanisms of self-organizing systems in the brain and nervous system
applied to cognitive functions exemplified by his work in movement-cognitive interaction, memory, kinesiology,
optimization, consciousness, autism, and developmental disabilities. He has likewise applied optimization
strategies to movement and gait, cognition. It is in this context that he was one of the first to identify functional
disconnectivities in the brain and nervous system. He was elected Fellow of the Association for Psychological
Science in 1990, a Senior Member of the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society of in IEEE in 1986, and a Life
Fellow of the International Association of Functional Neuroscience and Rehabilitation in 2010, having received its
Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011. He has served as a consultant to the US National Sciences Foundation and
European Commission . He is the co-author of the text with Dr. Robert Melillo on Neurodevelopmental Disorders:
An Evolutionary Perspective, with Dr. Joav Merrick on and on Neuroplasticity. He has published hundreds of
papers in the Neurosciences, Cognitive Science, Biomedical Engineering, and in the Systems Sciences literature.
Maia Vassileva, MA Ed, MBA
Co-founder, Organisational Director
Maia is an early childhood specialist, neurodevelopmental educator and management consultant with international
career in Europe and Australia. Currently she runs a network of educational centres in Europe helping
children with learning, behaviour and developmental issues function better. Her team coaches thousands of
parents and supports them in unlocking their kids potential.
She brings to our community focus, organisational acumen and practice growing expertise.
Her dream is for every child to have a chance to develop to the best of their abilities and the community of the
neurodevelopmental education gives her hope that it is a dream that can come true.
Sir Richard Heygate, IANDE patron
“The children born today will need to acquire skill sets for professions which do not exist yet. The children of today will need more brain power, perseverance, adaptability and agility. Neurodevelopmental education is incremental to building those qualities and assuring that every child develop to their full potential. IANDE is the community of the experts, practitioners and researchers who can make the above a reality.”