Research Assistant experienced designing/conducting laboratory and clinical studies to support neurostimulation research and assisting with the development, implementation and analysis of global health intervention projects. Expertise developing MRI-based finite element models to understand current flow distribution during stimulation, performing comprehensive testing, leading analysis to validate/optimize data and liaising with global constituents. Notable experience developing complex databases to improve data management and analysis.
EXPERIENCE
Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY
Research Assistant (2013 to present)
• Perform patient recruitment and screening through community outreach, physician communication and electronic chart review, and assist with administration of neurophysiological testing and EEGs to support research on Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) memory and learning in epileptic subjects.
• Assist with EEG analysis, voltage map modeling and Institutional Review Board (IRB) submissions.
• Developed patient information database to manage results from ongoing clinical studies and analyzed preliminary data to optimize study design.
The Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York NY (2013 to 2015)
E-Health Analyst, Monitoring & Evaluation Team (February 2014 to January 2015)
• Oversee design, development, implementation, quality assurance and real-time data analysis of a health intervention phone-based app used in African countries to gather data that enables improved intervention methods for healthcare, as part of the Millennium Villages Project to reduce poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Manage full lifecycle development of a questionnaire and algorithm-based Verbal/Social Autopsy Android app, enabling electronic data gathering on the medical/social causes of death, improving data accuracy/efficiency and reducing labor time.
• Lead testing and rollout in 11 African countries; develop documentation, user manual and analytical reports.
• Manage real-time data and monitor key indicators and data validation to ensure consistency and mitigate duplication on a daily basis.
• Communicate regularly with Monitoring & Evaluation Team coordinators in Africa and project leads in NY to ensure data quality and troubleshoot app functionality.
Health Systems Coordinator (2013 to January 2014)
• Assisted with all aspects of administration of 11 Health Sector projects under the Millennium Villages Project initiative.
• Served as liaison between staff in NY and Africa for all projects, facilitating daily communication, coordinating status meetings, taking minutes and providing project reports with detailed action steps.
• Centralized all project information and created and managed a resource database.
City College of New York, New York, NY
Research Assistant, Laboratory of Neural Engineering (2011 to 2013)
• Worked with clinicians from various institutions to develop optimal tDCS stimulation parameters (based on individual clinician research interests) through the use of individualized MRI-derived finite element models.
• Continued previous undergraduate collaborations with The University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University and Burke Rehabilitation Center to publish findings from prior modeling studies.
Undergraduate Researcher, Laboratory of Neural Engineering (2008 to 2011)
• Conducted preliminary research on the design, safety and efficacy of tDCS, working closely with principal investigator.
• Collaborated with research colleagues at The University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University to develop individualized MRI-derived finite element models of adolescents to establish safety/dosage guidelines for using tDCS in the pediatric population.
• Designed and led a clinical study at Burke Rehabilitation Center and the National Institutes of Health to validate a tDCS design model mentioned in Datta et al., 2008.
• Published significant research, including three first author papers in leading journals.
PUBLICATIONS
• Kessler SK, Woods AJ, Minhas O, Rosen AR, Gorman C, Bikson M. Dosage considerations for transcranial direct current stimulation in children: a computational modeling study. PLOSE ONE In Press 2013
• Minhas, P., Bikson, M., Woods, A.J., Rosen, A.R., Kessler, S.K. (2012). Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Pediatric Brain: A computational modeling study. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2012
• Edwards D, Cortes M, Datta A, Minhas P, Wassermann EM, Bikson M. Physiological and modeling evidence for focal transcranial electrical brain stimula...
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