The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has awarded Indian American biomedical engineer, Bharat Biswal, has been named the recipient of the 2024 Excellence in Research Award.
Biswal, known for contributing to brain imaging and neural connectivity, revolutionized brain imaging in the early 1990s by introducing resting-state functional MRI (fMRI), enabling the study of neural networks during baseline conditions. This technique has since become a cornerstone in neuroscience, especially for examining infants, elderly patients, and individuals with neurological impairments.
Biswal’s current focus includes studying differences in neural signaling between normal aging and Alzheimer’s patients. Using advanced analytics and machine learning, his team is identifying functional networks in the brain’s white matter and correlating weak connections with cognitive deficits.
Collaborating globally, Biswal’s research team has compiled a database of over 100,000 fMRI scans, ensuring consistent testing methodologies to enhance reliability. The study aims to improve diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment efficacy for Alzheimer’s while assessing therapeutic outcomes.
Since joining NJIT in 2012, Biswal has secured more than $8 million in extramural funding and earned over 48,000 citations. Atam Dhawan, NJIT’s senior vice provost for research, called Biswal’s achievements “a paradigm shift in neuroscience.”
Expressing gratitude, Biswal highlighted the contributions of his students and colleagues. “I’m particularly grateful to all the undergraduate researchers who, in spite of their very busy schedules, still make time to do research and contribute very meaningful work, and to the graduate students, postdocs and colleagues who helped me in this research,” he said.
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