Bikson to give NIH Keynote at Academy of Aphasia 2020

Prof. Marom Bikson to give the NIH keynote at the Academy of Aphasia 58th Annual Meeting 18-20 October, 2020 (online)

Title:  transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) boosts capacity for plasticity

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) applies low-intensity current across the scalp in order to modulate brain function including to enhance neurorehabilitation. This talk explains the basics of tDCS technology, how tDCS can be customized to patients with brain injury, and how tDCS boosts the capacity for brain plasticity. 

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General keynote speaker is Dr. Elissa Newport of Georgetown University. Dr. Newport is a Professor of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine at the Georgetown University Medical Center, where she directs the Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery. Dr. Newport runs the Learning and Development Lab, which studies the acquisition of language, the relationship between language acquisition and language structure, and the Pediatric Stroke Research Project, which studies the recovery of language after damage to the brain early in life.She has been recognized by a number of organizations for the impact of her theoretical and empirical contributions to the field of language acquisition. She has been elected as a fellow in the Association for Psychological Science, the Society of Experimental Psychologists, the Cognitive Science Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences. Her research has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the McDonnell Foundation, and the Packard Foundation. In 2015 she received the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science.

Now in its third year, the NIDCD-funded Academy of Aphasia conference grant (R13 DC017375-01) will sponsor student fellows for focused mentoring and training, and includes a of state-of-the-art New Frontiers in Aphasia Research seminar. This year's topic will focus on transcranial direct current stimulation, and the NIH keynote speaker will be Dr. Marom Bikson of The City College of New York. Dr. Bikson is the Shames Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering where he directs the Neural Engineering Group. His work studies the effects of electricity on the human body and applies this knowledge toward the development of medical devices and electrical safety guidelines, including transcranial direct current stimulation. Both U.S. and international students are eligible to apply. Please contact Swathi Kiran (kirans@bu.edu) with inquiries.