Artificial Intelligence and Brain-Computer Interfaces in Healthcare

Dr. Chandra P. Sharma is an Adjunct Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal University, and Hon. Emeritus Professor, College of Biomedical Engineering & Applied Sciences, Purbanchal University, Kathmandu, Nepal. Dr. Sharma is a Solid-State Physicist from IIT Delhi and received his training in Biomaterials area in the University of Utah with Prof. D.J. Lyman as a graduate student and in the University of Liverpool, England with Prof. D.F. Williams as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate. Dr. Sharma has been awarded FBSE (Fellow Biomaterials Science & Engineering) by The International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science & Engineering (IUS-BSE) in 2008 and FBAO (Fellow Biomaterials and Artificial Organs) by Society for Biomaterials & Artificial Organs (India) (SBAOI) in 2011 and shares Whitaker and National Science Foundation Award – International Society for Artificial Organs (ISAO) USA, invited member ACS (2015-2018).

Dr. Vinoy Thomas is an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, with secondary appointments in Biomedical Engineering, Physics, and Environmental Science & Health. He's also an Associate Scientist at the Center for Nanoscale Materials and Biointegration and the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences. Following his PhD in Biomaterials & Technology, he completed postdoctoral training at Friedrich-Schiller University, Germany, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), USA. His research focuses on biomaterials processing–property relationships and nanomaterials for tissue engineering and drug delivery. Dr. Thomas has published over 120 articles and co-edited two books on tissue engineering and AI in regenerative medicine. He serves as Associate Editor of Heliyon (Engineering) and has received multiple honors, including FBAO, FAAS, and the IAAM Scientist Medal. He currently leads several professional organizations in biomaterials and materials science.

Arie Nakhmani joined the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2013. Prior to that, he completed his postdoctoral training at Georgia Tech and Boston University. Presently, he is an Associate Professor, Co-Director of the Center for Integrated Systems, and Director of ANRY lab at the UAB. He is the author of over 150 peer-reviewed research publications and book chapters on robust control, machine learning, and signal and image analysis.

Rachel June Smith joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Neuroengineering Program as an assistant professor in August 2022. She completed her Ph.D. with Dr. Beth Lopour at UC Irvine in 2019. Her doctoral work focused on the development of computational metrics in scalp EEG data that reflected disease burden and predicted response to treatment in patients with infantile spasms (IS), a potentially devastating epileptic encephalopathy. Rachel completed her postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University with Dr. Sridevi Sarma, where she used dynamical systems and control theory techniques to localize the onset of seizures in the epileptic brain from intracranial EEG recordings during single-pulse electrical stimulation. As an assistant professor at UAB, Rachel will continue to collaborate with expert neurologists and use her computational skills to develop novel measures of therapeutic response in patients with neurodegenerative disorders.