Nitish Thakor, PhD, is a scientist with 40 years of experience, an inventor and an entrepreneur who has co-founded four companies. He directs the Neuroengineering and Medical Instrumentation Lab at Johns Hopkins University, and, from 2012 to 2020, led the Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology (SINAPSE), where he published extensively and patented the development, experimentation and translation of multiple neuromedical devices and technologies. He has co-founded three active medical device companies and has been elected to the National Academy of Inventors. He was the editor in chief of IEEE Transactions on Neural and Rehabilitation Engineering for six years and will served in that position for the journal Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing.
Sri Sarma, PhD, is an electrical engineer and neuroscientist with 15 years of experience pursuing research involving modeling, estimation and control of neural systems using electrical stimulation with applications to epilepsy, chronic pain, and motor control. At Johns Hopkins University she is PI of the Neuromedical Control Systems Lab where she has mentored over 50 undergraduates, masters & PhD students, postdoctoral fellows and research scientists. Sri also has leadership experience as the Vice Dean for Graduate Education and Lifelong Learning (GELL) in the JHU Whiting School of Engineering. As Vice Dean, she oversees 30+ masters programs (residential and online), 9 PhD programs, 200+ postdoctoral fellows, and LifeLong Learning Initiatives. She is President and cofounder of Neurologic Solutions, Inc., an early-stage start-up company developing EEG Analytics tools for improving diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy. She raised over $1M in non-diluted funds for Neurologic Solutions and their first product received a 510(k) FDA clearance in 2020. She is a recipient of the GE Faculty for the Future Scholarship, a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow, a L’Oreal For Women in Science fellow, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Careers at the Scientific Interface Award, the Krishna Kumar New Investigator Award from the North American Neuromodulation Society and a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). Sri has also been recognized for her exeptional teaching and mentoring as a recipient of the Whiting School of Engineering Robert B. Pond Excellence in Teaching Award and the Capers and Marion McDonald for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising.