News and Announcements

tognoli division of research

Socializing ‘Sweet Spot’: Prescription for Healthy Older Brains is Improving Social Engagement

Congratulations to Emmanuelle Tognoli, Ph.D, a research professor in the Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences, who with collaborators Christopher Beetle, Ph.D., associate professor of physics and Christine Williams, Ph.D., professor emeritus of nursing, were awarded a $675,000 grant from the NIH-NIA entitled “The Mathematics of Relatedness.”  The research will design experiences, or mathematical models, that give older adults a chance to form meaningful social interactions while aiding for age-related impairments. Read more.

 

darwin romulus

Darwin Romulus Defends Doctoral Dissertation

Congratulations to Darwin Romulus who graduated with a Ph.D. in Complex Systems and Brain Science at the Summer Commencement Ceremonies in August, 2021. Darwin’s dissertation was completed under the guidance of Drs. Sang Hong and Howard Hock and entitled “The Assessment of the Role of Microsaccadic Eye Movements in Bistable Motion Perception.” Darwin’s dissertation committee also included William Hahn, Ph.D.. Following graduation, Darwin will move to Seattle where he will start a job with Microsoft.



kenton macdowell

Kenton MacDowell Defends Doctoral Dissertation

Congratulations to Kenton McDowell who graduated with a Ph.D. in Complex Systems and Brain Science at the Summer Commencement Ceremonies in August, 2021. Kenton’s dissertation was completed under the guidance of Summer Sheremata, Ph.D., and entitled “Functional Brain Connectivity Associated with Repetitive Behavior in Autism Spectrum Disorder.” Kenton’s dissertation committee included Ali Danesh, Ph.D., (FAU College of Education) and Mark Halko, Ph.D., (Harvard University). Following graduation Kenton will attend law school at the University of Miami.



james sullivan complex systems Ph.D.

James Sullivan Earns Ph.D. in Complex Systems and Brain Sciences

Congratulations to James Sullivan who graduated with a Ph.D. in Complex Systems and Brain Sciences at the Spring Commencement Ceremonies in May 2021. James’ dissertation was completed under the guidance of Howard Prentice, Ph.D., (co-Chair), Wen Shen, Ph.D., (co-Chair) and Janet C. Blanks, Ph.D., and entitled “A Cell Biological and Electrophysiological Study of Mouse Retina.” James’ dissertation committee included, Howard Prentice, Ph.D., Wen Shen, Ph.D., Robert P. Vertes, Ph.D., Ken Dawson-Scully, Ph.D., and external member Janet Blanks, Ph.D..  James is currently performing postdoctoral research with Robert Vertes, Ph.D., at the center. 

 

bryan conklinBryan Conklin Earns Ph.D. in Complex Systems and Brain Sciences

Congratulations to Dr. Bryan Conklin who graduated with his Ph.D. in Complex Systems and Brain Sciences in December 2020.  Bryan’s dissertation was completed under the guidance of Dr. William Alexander (initially Dr. Steven Bressler), entitled “The Structural Organization and Spectral Characteristics of Visual Working Memory in the Monkey Frontoparietal Network. ”    Bryan’s dissertation committee included Dr. William Alexander (Chair), Dr. Randy D. Blakely, and external members Dr. Charles M. Gray of Montana State University and Dr. Earl K. Miller of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Following graduation, Bryan joined Dr. Dobromir Rahney’s laboratory for Perception, Neuroimaging and Modeling at the Georgia Institute for Technology in Atlanta. 

dimitri falcoDimitri Falco Earns Ph.D. in Complex Systems and Brain Sciences

Congratulations to Dr. Dimitri Falco who graduated with his Ph.D. in Complex Systems and Brain Sciences in August.  Dimitri’s dissertation was completed under the guidance of Dr. Steven Bressler and entitled “A comparison of task-relevant node identification techniques and their impact on network inferences: Group-aggregated subject-specific and voxel wise approaches”   His dissertation committee included, Dr. Steven Bressler (Chair),  Dr. William Hahn, Dr. Elan Barenholtz and external member Dr. Vaibhav Diwadkar of Wayne State University. After turning down post-docs at UPenn and John Hopkins, Dimitri went to Ann Arbor, Michigan to work for NovaDynamics as a Machine Learning Scientist and part of a new software development team. NovoDynamics uses predictive analytics in the healthcare industry.

fuchs

Remembering Professor Armin Fuchs

Sadly, Dr. Armin Fuchs passed away in the early hours of Saturday morning, June 29, 2019, after valiantly struggling to overcome cancer which ultimately, and suddenly, took his life. Dr. Fuchs was a Professor in the Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences and Department of Physics. His passing is a great loss for both programs. Those who knew him well knew him to be a gentleman, a good friend, and a very talented scientist and teacher will miss him dearly.

Armin completed his Ph.D. work with Professor Dr. Herman Haken, the well-known father of Laser Theory, at the Institute for Theoretical Physics and Synergetics, at the University of Stuttgart. From 1991 -1994, Armin was a post-doctoral fellow in the Center working with Professor J.A. Scott Kelso in applying his knowledge in Synergetics and Dynamical Systems to bring new insight to how the brain might function and joined the center as an assistant professor in 1995. Read more