Recipient of the 2022 Alumni Titan Award

Jasmine Kwasa, PhD, is a National Institutes of Health post-doctoral fellow and Special Faculty at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Originally from the south side of Chicago, Jasmine developed a passion for creating outreach, access, and exposure opportunities for underrepresented groups at IMSA after she attended EXCEL. Graduating in 2009, she went on to study biomedical and electrical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis on a full ride as an Ervin Scholar, and went on to earn her M.S. and Ph.D. from Boston University and CMU, respectively. Her dissertation focused on the cognitive neuroscience of attention in young adults with ADHD using electroencephalography (EEG) and signal processing. During her schooling, she created and maintained several leadership roles in outreach / exposure activities serving Black and Brown students through the National Society of Black Engineers, the Clinton Global Initiative, and an independent non-profit for which she served as National Director, the E^3 Mentoring Program. As a post-doctoral fellow and lead engineer at Precision Neuroscopics Inc., Jasmine now researches and develops emerging neuro-technologies optimized for coarse, curly hair and dark skin, such as EEG and functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Through this work, she fiercely advocates for racially and phenotypically inclusive medical device design within and beyond the neurosciences. Her work in the ethics space has been featured in Nature Neuroscience (link), the International Neuroethics Society, the Emory Neuroethics Blog, and the international #BlackInNeuro initiative. Jasmine has received several honors and awards to fund her burgeoning scientific career, including being named a New Face in Engineering (2013), a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and Ford Foundation Fellow (2015), a Society for Neuroscience Fellow (2017), a National Institutes of Health Brain Initiative F99/K00 Fellow (2019), a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Fellow (2022), and a “Rising Star in Biomedical Engineering” by MIT. In her free time, Jasmine is a dance fitness instructor and enjoys staying involved with IMSA through the Black Alumni Association (link), which she co-founded in Summer of 2020. She also enjoys travel and relishes time with her enormous half-Chicagoan, half-Kenyan family. Dr. Kwasa is available for speaking engagements related to best practices for inclusive design, STEM education pedagogy, and DEI&J in higher ed; technical talks on her findings in auditory neuroscience and inclusive EEG design; training and workshops for grant writing, essay writing, resume/CV polishing, and admissions at the high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels; and inspirational lectures for youth and college students in STE

Highlights From the Annual Meeting of the American Epilepsy Society 2022

With more than 6000 attendees between in-person and virtual offerings, the American Epilepsy Society Meeting 2022 in Nashville, felt as busy as in prepandemic times. An ever-growing number of physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals gathered to learn a variety of topics about epilepsy. The program was carefully tailored to meet the needs of professionals with different interests and career stages. This article summarizes the different symposia presented at the meeting. Basic science lectures addressed the primary elements of seizure generation and pathophysiology of epilepsy in different disease states. Scientists congregated to learn about anti-seizure medications, mechanisms of action, and new tools to treat epilepsy including surgery and neurostimulation. Some symposia were also dedicated to discuss epilepsy comorbidities and practical issues regarding epilepsy care. An increasing number of patient advocates discussing their stories were intertwined within scientific activities. Many smaller group sessions targeted more specific topics to encourage member participation, including Special Interest Groups, Investigator, and Skills Workshops. Special lectures included the renown Hoyer and Lombroso, an ILAE/IBE joint session, a spotlight on the impact of Dobbs v. Jackson on reproductive health in epilepsy, and a joint session with the NAEC on coding and reimbursement policies. The hot topics symposium was focused on traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic epilepsy. A balanced collaboration with the industry allowed presentations of the latest pharmaceutical and engineering advances in satellite symposia

Effects of Ephrin-B2 Signaling from Fibroblasts on Schwann Cell Differentiation

Mentor: Shelly Sakiiyama-Elbert From the Washington University Undergraduate Research Digest: WUURD, Volume 7, Issue 1, Fall 2011. Published by the Office of Undergraduate Research, Joy Zalis Kiefer Director of Undergraduate Research and Assistant Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences; Kristin Sobotka, Editor

Effects of Signaling from Fibroblasts on Schwann Cell Differentiation

Mentor: Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert From the Washington University Undergraduate Research Digest: WUURD, Volume 7, Issue 2, Spring 2012. Published by the Office of Undergraduate Research, Joy Zalis Kiefer Director of Undergraduate Research and Assistant Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences; Kristin Sobotka, Editor

eyeReader EEG Brain Computer Interface for Turning eBook Pages

Mentor:Arye Nehorai From the Washington University Undergraduate Research Digest: WUURD, Volume 9, Issue 1, Fall 2013. Published by the Office of Undergraduate Research. Joy Zalis Kiefer Director of Undergraduate Research and Assistant Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences

Demographic reporting and phenotypic exclusion in fNIRS

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) promises to be a leading non-invasive neuroimaging method due to its portability and low cost. However, concerns are rising over its inclusivity of all skin tones and hair types (Parker and Ricard, 2022, Webb et al., 2022). Functional NIRS relies on direct contact of light-emitting optodes to the scalp, which can be blocked more by longer, darker, and especially curlier hair. Additionally, NIR light can be attenuated by melanin, which is accounted for in neither fNIRS hardware nor analysis methods. Recent work has shown that overlooking these considerations in other modalities like EEG leads to the disproportionate exclusion of individuals with these phenotypes—especially Black people—in both clinical and research literature (Choy, 2020; Bradford et al., 2022; Louis et al., 2023). In this article, we sought to determine if (Jöbsis, 1977) biomedical optics developers and researchers report fNIRS performance variability between skin tones and hair textures, (2a) fNIRS neuroscience practitioners report phenotypic and demographic details in their articles, and thus, (2b) is a similar pattern of participant exclusion found in EEG also present in the fNIRS literature. We present a literature review of top Biomedical Optics and Human Neuroscience journals, showing that demographic and phenotypic reporting is unpopular in both fNIRS development and neuroscience applications. We conclude with a list of recommendations to the fNIRS community including examples of Black researchers addressing these issues head-on, inclusive best practices for fNIRS researchers, and recommendations to funding and regulatory bodies to achieve an inclusive neuroscience enterprise in fNIRS and beyond

Bethliz Irizarry, Jasmine Kwasa, Anisha Vyas, Troy Nelson, Ariel Liu, and John Stark

Five members of IMSA\u27s class of 2009 - friends and former roommates - speak with John Stark, former German teacher, at their five-year reunion. Bethliz Irizarry first visited IMSA while in middle school and then applied once she was in high school. The other four interviewees all came to IMSA as freshmen, or \u27shmen. Jasmine Kwasa comes from the south side of Chicago and applied to IMSA at the same time as she was applying to other high schools in the city. Anisha Vyas says the challenge of coming to IMSA, as well as the greater opportunities, attracted her. Ariel Liu had an older brother who attended IMSA and she also wanted more opportunities and to be with other nerdy students. Liu says after the anticipation of coming, the first day felt like summer camp. Kwasa participated in Excel, which helped her get to know people and transition into the new environment. Vyas said that being a \u27shmen didn\u27t feel that different at the time, but looking back on it, it seems like it was more challenging because they had less time to prepare for college. Kwasa says that most days being a \u27shmen didn\u27t make a difference, and she also had to deal with other factors, including race, and gender, and being from the city, but once in a while she did wonder if having a freshman year of high school would have made a difference. In terms of extracurriculars, Kwasa says she was very involved, including with the Peer Multicultural Educators and as a student ambassador. Vyas tended to be more involved in one thing at a time. They also all participated in Diwali and Lunar New Year. Irizarry took up fencing, which then became a big part of her life in college. They were all academically involved and studied together as well. They reflect on how they learned a lot from each other. Looking back on class experiences, Irizarry says Russian classes stand out for her. Kwasa says a lot of teachers were influential: two English teachers, Ms. Townsend and Mrs. Cain, stand out in her mind, as well as Don Dosch, in biology. Vyas also fondly recalls Mrs. Cain, and how her class challenged her to do better work. Liu recalls pulling all-nighters working on projects for Dr. Victory\u27s history classes, and in retrospect, she is now a web developer and that\u27s where she first applied her interests in that field to her academic work. Kwasa also found Dr. Victory\u27s classes challenging, but once she understood the purpose it transformed how she saw her work. During intersession, Kwasa and Vyas both went on trips to Paris as part of the French class. Kwasa also recalls and intersession class on education reform in Chicago public schools, something she remains interested in. Nelson didn\u27t travel abroad as part of an IMSA trip, but as a result of what they learned in Spanish class, she and Irizarry participated in a volunteer program providing health care support in Nicaragua. Vyas and Irizarry also took part in an exchange program with a school in South Korea. Overall, they reflect on the value of the IMSA experience - from friendships, to being challenged academically, and learning how to work collaboratively. Duration: 38:33https://digitalcommons.imsa.edu/oral_histories/1015/thumbnail.jp

sj-docx-1-cpx-10.1177_21677026221112117 – Supplemental material for Whose Signals Are Being Amplified? Toward a More Equitable Clinical Psychophysiology

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-cpx-10.1177_21677026221112117 for Whose Signals Are Being Amplified? Toward a More Equitable Clinical Psychophysiology by Daniel E. Bradford, Angelica DeFalco, Emily R. Perkins, Iván Carbajal, Jasmine Kwasa, Fallon R. Goodman, Felicia Jackson, Lietsel N. S. Richardson, Nina Woodley, Lindsay Neuberger, Jennifer A. Sandoval, Helen J. Huang and Keanan J. Joyner in Clinical Psychological Science</p