| About Dr Shankardass Dr Shankardass is a Clinical Neurophysiologist specializing in the EEG-based diagnosis and treatment of children with neurological disorders. She is currently a consultant neurophysiologist with a private neurology clinic for children with branches in the UK (London) and the US (Los Angeles and San Francisco). In addition, she is a Neuroscience Writer, completing a book entitled 'Causal Theories of Dyslexia', to be published in 2008. She also serves as Board Member of the 'Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation', a US-based organisation devoted to raising global awareness of various neurological and psychiatric disorders. Dr Shankardass has a broad background in Neuroscience, spanning neurophysiology, which was the focus of her Physiology bachelors degree, neuroanatomy, in which she trained during her Neuroscience masters degree, and neuropsychology, which was the subject of her doctoral thesis. In particular, her PhD research involved the study of event-related EEGs to investigate visual and auditory dysfunction in dyslexics. Thus, she has substantial experience in the recording and study of human EEG, and a significant knowledge of and interest in children's neurological disorders. Dr Shankardass was born in the UK, did her schooling in India, did her undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate training in the UK, and currently resides between the UK and the US. Curriculum Vitae Education PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience 1997 - 2003 Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield Title: Neurophysiological Evidence of Multisensory and Cognitive Deficits in Dyslexia Supervisor: Professor R. I. Nicolson MSc in Neurological Science 1993 - 1994 Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, University College London, University of London Main subjects: Neurobiology of Neurodegenerative Diseases; Learning and Motivation MSc thesis title: An investigation into PKC changes in the hippocampus of the rabbit during associative learning BSc in Physiology 1990 - 1993 Department of Physiology, Kings College London, University of London Main Subjects: General and Experimental Physiology, Neurophysiology, Cardiovascular Physiology, Reproductive Physiology, Pharmacology, Immunology, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Genetics, General Psychology and Behavioural Science, Physics, Chemistry and Statistics for Biologists BSc Final Year thesis title: The use of in vitro extracellular recording techniques to demonstrate long term potentiation in the CA1 cells of the hippocampus of the rat and study the involvement of PKC in its induction and maintenance Work Experience Consultant in Clinical Neurophysiology Dec 2005 - present Bright Minds Institute, San Francisco, California, USA Board Member and Director of Neuroscience Knowledge Centre Jan 2005 - present Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation, Los Angeles, California, USA Science Writer and Editor April 2004 - present London, UK Science Consultant Nov 93- Mar 00 Science Line, BBC Broadcasting Support Services, London Consulted by the national public in the BBC studios after the science documentaries Equinox, Horizon, Pulse, Tomorrow's World; Consulted by the national public live on BBC radio; Consulted by the national and international public on the ScienceLine phone and ScienceNet web services TV Presenter Jun 93 - Sept 93 TV Asia and Zee TV, London Voluntary Work Experience Trustee Dec 00 - present Manuj Kalyan Kendra, Charity for Human Welfare, India Ward Assistant Aug 89 - Jan 91 Cancer, Urology and Geriatric Wards and Hospital Radio, Charing Cross Hospital, London Volunteer May 88 - Jun 89 Old Age Concern, London Volunteer July 84 - Mar 88 Interact Club, New Delhi Providing aid to old-age homes, blind schools and the homeless as well as in several North Indian villages Research Experience Research Assistant Mar 96 - Jun 97 MRC Cognitive Development Unit, London Under the supervision of: Professor Mark. H. Johnson Involved with: Testing infants and children in auditory and visual ERP and behavioural experiments on language, face and object recognition; Coding and judging results in eye movement tracking experiments; Processing data; Running the Babylab Research Assistant Dec 94 - Jan 96 Behaviour and Neuroscience Group, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, University College London Under the supervision of: Professor Christopher. H. Yeo Involved with: Sectioning of the cerebellum and hippocampus of rabbit brains, Immunohistochemistry; Image analysis; Processing data; Assisting in cerebellar and hippocampal implant surgery in rabbits Teaching Experience Lecturer in Neuroscience 1998 -2001 Mature Access Diploma Course, University of Sheffield Undergraduate Tutor 1997 -2001 Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield Lab Class Demonstrator 1998 -1999 Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield Neuroscience Exam Marker 1998 -1999 Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield Positions wth Professional Organisations Member 2005 - present Society of Applied Neuroscience Postgraduate Representative for Pure Science 1998 -2001 Psychology Postgraduate Affairs Committee, University of Sheffield MSc Rep for Neurological Science 1993 -1994 Anatomy Staff-Student Consultative Committee, University College London BSc Representative for Physiology 1990 -1992 Physiology Staff-Student Liaison Committee, Kings College London Chairperson 1992 -1993 Physiology Staff-Student Liaison Committee, Kings College London President 1992 -1993 Physiology Society, Kings College London Scholarships and Awards Prize Winner "Best Presentation" 19 Mar 2001 Presentations by Britain’s Younger Scientists, Engineers Technologists at the House of Commons, London 2nd Prize Winner "Best Poster Presentation" 30 Sept 1999 International Conference on Basic Mechanisms of Language and Language Disorders, Leipzig, Germany PhD Fee Waiver Scholarship 1997 -2000 University of Sheffield Presentations Shankardass, A., Nicolson, R. I., Fawcett, A. J. and Gilbert, P. (2001) An Investigation into the Visual and Auditory Processing Mechanisms Impaired in Dyslexia Using Event Related Brain Potentials. Poster presentation. 31st Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, USA. 10-15 November 2001. Shankardass, A., Nicolson, R. I. and Fawcett, A. J. (2001) An Investigation into the Visual and Auditory Cognitive Processing Mechanisms Impaired in Dyslexia Using Event Related Brain Potentials. Poster Presentation. 33rd Annual Meeting of the European Brain and Behaviour Society, Marseille, France. 8-12 Sept 2001. Shankardass, A. (2001) A Study of the Neural Mechanisms Impaired in Dyslexia Using Event Related Brain Potentials. Oral presentation. 5th BDA International Conference, York. 18-21 April 2001. Shankardass, A., Nicolson, R. I. and Fawcett, A. J. (2001) Brain Imaging Identifies a Brain Process Impaired in Dyslexia. Poster presentation. Presentations by Britain’s Younger Scientists, Engineers and Technologists at the House of Commons, London. 19 March 2001. Shankardass, A. (2000) An insight into the neuronal mechanisms that are affected in dyslexia using event related brain potentials. Oral presentation. Postgraduate Conference, University of Sheffield. 15-16 May 2000. Shankardass, A., Nicolson, R. I., Fawcett, A. J. and Pascalis, O. (1999) Visual event related brain potentials in dyslexia. Poster Presentation. 29th Annual Meeting of Society for Neuroscience, Miami, USA. 23-28 Oct 1999. Shankardass, A., Nicolson, R. I. and Fawcett, A. J. (1999) Visual event related brain potentials in dyslexic children. Poster presentation. 31st Annual General Meeting of European Brain and Behaviour Society, Rome, Italy. 1-4 Oct 1999. Shankardass, A., Nicolson, R. I. and Fawcett, A. J. (1999) Visual event related brain potentials in dyslexic children. Poster presentation. International Conference on Basic Mechanisms of Language and Language Disorders, Leipzig, Germany. 26-30 Sept 1999. Shankardass, A., Nicolson, R. I. and Fawcett, A. J. (1999) Event related brain potentials to visual stimuli in dyslexic children. Poster presentation. British Association Annual Festival of Science, Sheffield. 14-15 Sept 1999. Shankardass, A., Nicolson, R. I. and Fawcett, A. J. (1999) Event related brain potentials to visual stimuli in dyslexic children. Poster presentation. XVI BPS Annual Cognitive Psychology Section Conference, York. 13-15 Sept 1999. Shankardass, A. (1999) Event related brain potentials in dyslexics. Oral presentation. Postgraduate Conference, University of Sheffield. 15-16 Apr, 1999. Shankardass, A. (1998) Dyslexia: Insights into the neural impairments underlying the performance deficits using brain imaging techniques. Oral presentation. Postgraduate Conference, University of Sheffield. June 1998. Publications Shankardass, A., Nicolson, R. I., Fawcett, A. J. (in preparation) Visual Processing Mechanisms Impaired in Dyslexia: Event Related Brain Potential Studies Shankardass, A., Nicolson, R. I., Fawcett, A. J. (in preparation) Auditory Processing Mechanisms Impaired in Dyslexia: Event Related Brain Potential Studies Shankardass, A (2004) Neurophysiological Evidence of Multisensory and Cognitive Deficits in Dyslexia. Doctoral Dissertation. Dissertation Abstracts. Shankardass, A., Nicolson, R. I., Fawcett, A. J. and Gilbert, P. (2001) An Investigation into the Visual and Auditory Processing Mechanisms Impaired in Dyslexia Using Event Related Brain Potentials. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 25: 490 Shankardass, A., Nicolson, R. I. and Fawcett, A. J. (2001) An Investigation into the Visual and Auditory Cognitive Processing Mechanisms Impaired in Dyslexia Using Event Related Brain Potentials. Neural Plasticity, Suppl 1: 163 Shankardass, A., Nicolson, R. I. and Fawcett, A. J. (2001) An Investigation into Visual and Auditory Processing Mechanisms Impaired in Dyslexia Using Event Related Brain Potentials. Presentations from the 5th British Dyslexia Association International Conference 18th - 21st April 2001. Shankardass, A., Nicolson, R. I. and Fawcett, A. J. (1999) Visual Event Related Brain Potentials In Dyslexic Children. Neural Plasticity, Suppl 1: 163 Shankardass, A., Nicolson, R. I., Fawcett, A. J. and Pascalis, O. (1999) Event Related Brain Potentials in Dyslexia. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 25: 490 Skills Technical ~ Sound knowledge of Mac OS 9 and X, and Windows 98, 2000 and XP; ~ Experience with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, StatView and SoundEdit; ~ Advanced knowledge of EGIS Stimulus Presentation, Net Station Experimental Control and BEL Data Analysis packages; ~ Extensive experience in the design, implementation and analysis of visual and auditory EEG and behavioural experiments Research ~ Two years experience in organising, conducting and assessing dyslexia screening tests using: The Dyslexia Early Screening Test (DEST) for children aged 4-7 The Dyslexia Screening Test (DST) for children aged 8-16 The Dyslexia Adult Screening Test (DAST) for adults; ~ Broad experience in conducting a range of physiological and psychological experiments; ~ Experience in presenting research to the media: Interviewed regarding research and filmed running experiment for a science documentary on BBC TV; Research selected twice by the Society for Neuroscience for publication in their Annual Press Book: Press releases on research published by the US press General ~ Ability to work both independently and as part of a research team; ~ Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines; ~ Well developed communication, small and large group presentation and writing skills Languages ~ Fluent in English and Hindi (involved in the translation from English to Hindi of a book by the writer Salman Rushdie); ~ Basic knowledge of Sanskrit and Punjabi Interests Music ~ Trained in Classical Indian Vocal Music for 4 years and in basic Harmonium and Tabla; President of the school Vocal Music Club and Leader of the school Choir ~ Numerous live performances, including: On the BBC World Service Radio In concerts in the UK and India ~ Several studio recordings, including: A charity album with the Sarodist Ustad Amjad Ali Khan in India The backing vocals for the musical 'Mapping the Edge' in UK) ~ Currently recording a solo album in Indian music Sport ~ Riding: Awarded school colours and member of the President's Estate Polo Club of India ~ Swimming: Member of the school house team and swimming and diving coach for children ~ Tennis: Member of the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association ~ Athletics and Gymnastics: Member of the school teams General ~ Dancing: Trained in Indian Kathak and Latin-American Salsa ~ Acting: Acted in the lead role in two children’s films on national Indian television Performed in several plays and ballets and directed two school plays ~ Painting: Trained in fabric painting, tie-dye painting and block printing Travel Travelled throughout India, UK, Europe and USA References Available upon request ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
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| Dr Aditi Shankardass |
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| Consultant Neurophysiologist |
| © Aditi Shankardass |