The Turing Lectures: The science of movement
Thursday 28 Oct 2021
Time: 15:30 - 17:00
Bio
Anujan was a PhD student in the Brain Mapping Unit at the University of Cambridge and The Alan Turing Institute. Training with Professor and Physicist John Suckling, his doctoral project aims to map brain circuits governing cognition to guide neurosurgery and rehabilitation. Prior to this, Anujan trained at Vancouver Functional Neurosurgery under the guidance of Professor and Neurosurgeon Christopher Honey where he developed and refined circuit-based therapeutics for neurological and psychiatric illnesses. Outside academia, Anujan is actively involved in classical Indian music and youth outreach.
Research interests
Anujan’s scientific work intersects at functional neurosurgery, behavioural neuroscience, and brain mapping. His main work focuses on the frontal lobes of the brain and their connections with other regions. To date, modern medicine is dependent on clustering clinically observed symptoms and their evolution over time. This observer-driven approach is not biologically-driven and does not naturally align with the brain’s physiological dynamics. To address this problem, Anujan uses connectomics ('brain cartography') coupled with surgery to establish causal relationships between brain structure/function and resultant behaviour. This work aims to guide the development of circuit-based therapeutics for drug-resistant neurological and psychiatric illnesses.
At the Turing, Anujan will apply AI and machine learning tools to advance our understanding of neuroscience and the practice of medicine.