[Raise-faculty] Seminar of Potential Interest + Meeting Signup: ShiNung Ching, Feb 5

[erfan.nozari at ucr.edu]

Dear Colleagues,

We are hosting *Dr. ShiNung Ching* *from Washington University in St. Louis
this Thursday, Feb 5th* at the Mechanical Engineering Seminar. ShiNung's
research combines engineering, dynamical systems theory and neuroscience to
explore how dynamics in brain networks relate to function in health and
disease states. His talk is titled *"Engineering states of the brain"* and
more information about his talk can be found below.

I hope ShiNung's talk will be of interest to many of you and you are able
to attend his seminar. If interested *please use this link to sign up for a
one-on-one meeting
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tlomsf9K-NbL1jBdC2fODVpBMbw4occozlVqN9_HunU/edit?usp=sharing>*
with
him and/or join us for lunch or dinner. If you have any questions please
feel free to reach out.

*Seminar Title: Engineering states of the brain*

*Seminar Time & Location: *Thursday Feb 5, 11:00-12:00, WCH 205/206

*Seminar Abstract:* A key problem in neural engineering has been to
understand the internal mechanisms within the brain that give rise to
cognitive function, i.e., our ability to see, hear and think. Such
understanding has the potential to enable new forms of neurotechnology,
such as brain stimulation, to treat diseases and aid rehabilitation.  In
this presentation, I will describe our recent efforts to generate dynamical
systems models that reveal brain mechanisms and their link to cognition.
Specifically, I will describe how we have adapted tools from control
engineering to build, from data, high-dimensional, biophysically
interpretable models of network interactions involving hundreds to
thousands of neural populations. I will highlight two ways in which we are
leveraging the obtained models. First, I will discuss how we are
interrogating the intrinsic dynamics within models, toward assessing the
similarities and differences in brain mechanisms across individual people.
Second, I will describe how we are using models to predict input-output
relationships within brain networks and their responses to exogenous,
causal perturbations, i.e., control. In addition to basic mechanistic
insights, these approaches enable us to design brain stimulation protocols
that are tailored to individuals and defined in terms of dynamical targets
that can be linked to specific functional endpoints.

*Speaker Bio:* ShiNung Ching is Professor of Electrical and Systems
Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. His research interests
are at the intersection of engineering and computational neuroscience,
particularly in using systems and control theoretic concepts to study the
links between dynamics and function in brain networks.  Dr. Ching completed
his B.Eng (Hons.) and M.A.Sc <http://m.a.sc/> degrees in Electrical and
Computer Engineering from McGill University, Canada and the University of
Toronto, Canada. He earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the
University of Michigan in 2009 in the area of systems and control theory.
He subsequently completed post-doctoral training in computational
neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Harvard
Medical School.  Dr. Ching has received the CAREER Award from the US
National Science Foundation, the Young Investigator Program award from the
US AFOSR, a Career Award at the Scientific Interface from the
Burroughs-Wellcome Fund, and has served as principal investigator on
research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National
Science Foundation and the US Department of Defense.

Thanks,
Erfan
---
Erfan Nozari
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Department of Bioengineering
Neuroscience Graduate Program
University of California, Riverside
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