Maryam Shanechi

2024 National Award Finalist — Faculty

Current Position:
Alexander A. Sawchuk Chair and Professor

Institution:
University of Southern California

Discipline:
Electrical Engineering

Recognized for:
Pioneering research at the intersection of engineering, AI, and neuroscience to develop advanced neurotechnologies that decode and regulate brain activity for treating brain disorders.

Areas of Research Interest and Expertise:
Neural Engineering, AI, Brain-Computer Interfaces, Neuroscience, Mental Health

Previous Positions:

Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California Berkeley
Postdoctoral Scholar, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology
PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Gregory Wornell, Emery Brown)
SM in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Gregory Wornell)
BASc in Engineering Science, University of Toronto, Canada

Research Summary:

Maryam Shanechi, PhD, is revolutionizing brain and mental health treatments by creating neurotechnologies that decode brain activity to optimize therapies in real-time. Addressing brain disorders like depression and chronic pain, Shanechi’s research combines AI, neuroscience, and engineering to model, decode, and regulate the electrical activity of neurons. This approach has led to significant advancements, including decoders that predict mood variations from brain activity, models that predict brain responses to neurostimulation, and AI algorithms that enhance brain-computer interfaces. Shanechi's innovations represent a paradigm shift from traditional fixed therapies to personalized, adaptive treatments, providing new avenues towards individualized brain and mental health care.

“We work at the intersection of engineering, computation, and neuroscience to develop AI-based neurotechnologies as potentially transformative treatments for brain disorders such as depression, which are a leading cause of disability worldwide.”

Key Publications:

H Abbaspourazad, E Erturk, B Pesaran, MM Shanechi. Dynamical flexible inference of nonlinear latent factors and structures in neural population activity. Nature Biomedical Engineering, 2024.
OG Sani, H Abbaspourazad, YT Wong, B Pesaran, MM Shanechi. Modeling behaviorally relevant neural dynamics enabled by preferential subspace identification. Nature Neuroscience, 2021.
Y Yang, S Qiao, OG Sani, JI Sedillo, B Ferrentino, B Pesaran, MM Shanechi. Modelling and prediction of the dynamic responses of large-scale brain networks during direct electrical stimulation. Nature Biomedical Engineering, 2021.
OG Sani, Y Yang, MB Lee, HE Dawes, EF Chang, MM Shanechi. Mood variations decoded from multi-site intracranial human brain activity. Nature Biotechnology, 2018.

Other Honors:

2024 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow
2023 Blavatnik National Awards Finalist
2022 One Mind Rising Star Award
2021 American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Curtis W. McGraw Research Award
2020 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (DP2)
2019 Science News’ SN 10: 10 Scientists to Watch
2019 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award
2015 Popular Science Brilliant 10
2015 National Science Foundation CAREER Award
2014 MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35

In the Media:

Psychology Today – Measuring Mood Through Artificial Intelligence

MIT Technology Review – Here’s how personalized brain stimulation could treat depression

New Scientist – We've cracked the brain's emotion code and it may help depression

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