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Applying Human Computer Interaction to Brain Injuries

A woman smiles for the camera.

With an appreciation for the value of education and an athlete’s work ethic, Akuadasuo Ezenyilimba brings a unique perspective to her research.

Published April 19, 2024

By Nick Fetty

Athletes, military personnel, and others who endure traumatic brain injuries (TBI) may experience improved outcomes during the rehabilitation process thanks to research by a Fellow with Arizona State University and The New York Academy of Sciences.

Akuadasuo Ezenyilimba, a member of the inaugural cohort of the Academy’s AI and Society Fellowship, conducts research that aims to improve both the quality and the accessibility of TBI care by using human computer interaction. For Ezenyilimba, her interest in this research and STEM more broadly can be traced back to her upbringing in upstate New York.

Instilled with the Value of Education

Growing up in Rochester, New York, Ezenyilimba’s parents instilled in her, and her three younger siblings, the value of education and hard work. Her father, Matthew, migrated to the United States from Nigeria and spent his career in chemistry, while her mother, Kelley, grew up in Akron, Ohio and worked in accounting and insurance. Akuadasuo Ezenyilimba remembers competing as a 6-year-old with her younger sister in various activities pertaining to their after-school studies.

“Both my mother and father placed a strong emphasis on STEM-related education for all of us growing up and I believe that helped to shape us into the individuals we are today, and a big reason for the educational and career paths we all have taken,” said Ezenyilimba.

This competitive spirit also occurred outside of academics. Ezenyilimba competed as a hammer, weight, and discus thrower on the track and field team at La Cueva High School in New Mexico. An accomplished student athlete, Ezenyilimba was a discus state champion her senior year, and was back-to-back City Champion in discus as a junior and senior.

Her athletic prowess landed her a spot on the women’s track and field team as an undergraduate at New Mexico State University, where she competed in the discus and hammer throw. Off the field, she majored in psychology, which was her first step onto a professional path that would involve studying the human brain.

Studying the Brain

After completing her BS in psychology, Ezenyilimba went on to earn a MS in applied psychology from Sacred Heart University while throwing weight for the women’s track and field team, and then went on to earn a MS in human systems engineering from Arizona State University. She then pursued her PhD in human systems engineering at Arizona State, where her dissertation research focused on mild TBI and human computer interaction in regard to executive function rehabilitation. As a doctoral student, she participated in the National Science Foundation’s Research Traineeship Program.

“My dissertation focused on prototype of a wireframe I developed for a web-based application for mild traumatic brain injury rehabilitation when time, finance, insurance, or knowledge are potential constraints,” said Ezenyilimba. “The application is called Ụbụrụ.”

As part of her participation in the AI and Society Fellowship, she splits her time between Tempe, Arizona and New York. Arizona State University’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society partnered with the Academy for this Fellowship.

Understanding the Societal Impacts of AI

The Fellowship has provided Ezenyilimba the opportunity to consider the societal dimensions of AI and how that might be applied to her own research. In particular, she is mindful of the potential negative impact AI can have on marginalized communities if members of those communities are not included in the development of the technology.

“It is important to ensure everyone, regardless of background, is considered,” said Ezenyilimba. “We cannot overlook the history of distrust that has impacted marginalized communities when new innovations or changes do not properly consider them.”

Her participation in the Fellowship has enabled her to build and foster relationships with other professionals doing work related to TBI and AI. She also collaborates with her fellow cohort postdocs in brainstorming new ways to address the topic of AI in society.

“As a Fellow I have also been able to develop my skills through various professional workshops that I feel have helped make me more equipped and competitive as a researcher,” she said.

Looking Ahead

Ezenyilimba will continue advancing her research on TBI. Through serious gamification, she looks at how to lessen the negative context that can be associated with rehabilitation and how to better enhance the overall user experience.

“My research looks at how to increase accessibility to relevant care and ensure that everyone who needs it is equipped with the necessary knowledge to take control of their rehabilitation journey whether that be an athlete, military personnel, or a civilian,” she said.

Going forward she wants to continue contributing to TBI rehabilitation as well as telehealth with an emphasis on human factors and user experience. She also wants to be a part of an initiative that ensures accessibility to and trust in telehealth, so everyone is capable of being equipped with the necessary tools.

Outside of her professional work, Ezenyilimba enjoys listening to music and attending concerts with family and friends. Some of her favorite artists include Victoria Monet and Coco Jones. She is also getting back into the gym and focusing on weightlifting, harkening back to her days as a track and field student-athlete.

Like many, Ezenyilimba has concerns about the potential misuses of AI by bad actors, but she also sees potential in the positive applications if the proper inputs are considered during the development process.

“I think a promising aspect of AI is the limitless possibilities that we have with it. With AI, when properly used, we can utilize it to overcome potential biases that are innate to humans and utilize AI to address the needs of the vast majority in an inclusive manner,” she said.

Read about the other AI and Society Fellows:

Partner with Us: Fellowships

Our Unique Approach to Fellowships

Our fellowships are designed to attract talented international, interdisciplinary scholars who combine expertise in science with an understanding of the social, cultural, economic and technological challenges that science must address.

We take a holistic approach to scientific training, with the goal of developing a new community of scientists who embrace the critical role they play, today and in the future, to solve the world’s most pressing problems.

Our fellowship experience is person-centric, guided by the individual rather than the institution. Our Fellows experience a thoughtfully curated educational journey where they are exposed to diverse perspectives across various disciplines under the mentorship of esteemed academics. In addition, we facilitate internships where our Fellows work directly with professionals in policy groups or in industry to gain valuable insights into the real-world potential applications for their research.

Our fellowships put an emphasis on science communication to ensure that scientists can effectively engage with society and build trust in science. To exercise these skills, Fellows give talks, write articles for publication on Academy channels and engaging in various other collaborative initiatives including participate on steering committees to plan our scientific conferences. In these ways, our Fellows provide an influx of exciting new research and ideas from around the world, augmenting the existing intellectual assets we are proud to have at the Academy.

Why Partner with Us?

We are a collaborative partner who seeks to provide high-quality, career-enhancing opportunities for early career scientists, creatively achieving alignment with our partner’s objectives. To this end, there are two ways we develop fellowships:

We can advance an existing program for you. If your organization has an established fellowship program that you would like to elevate, we can work with you to broaden its scope and expand your recruitment beyond the institutions where you currently seek talent.

We can work with you to develop a brand-new program. Give us your area of scientific interest and we can design a fellowship that meets our rigorous fellowship standards as well as align with your organizational objectives.

From the Academy Blog

Contact Us

To explore the development of a fellowship program with the Academy, contact development@nyas.org.

The Artificial Intelligence and Society Fellowship Program

Overview
The logo for The New York Academy of Sciences.

In response to the urgent need to incorporate ethical and humanistic principles into the development and application of artificial intelligence (AI), The New York Academy of Sciences offers a new AI and Society post-doctoral fellowship program, in partnership with Arizona State University’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society.

Merging technical AI research with perspectives from the social sciences and humanities, the goal of the program is the development of multidisciplinary scholars more holistically prepared to inform the future use of AI in society for the benefit of humankind.

Promising young researchers from disciplines spanning computer science, the social sciences, and the humanities will be recruited to participate in a curated research program. Fellows’ time will be divided between New York City, Arizona State University, and on-site internships, working alongside seasoned researchers who are well-versed in academia, industry, or policy work.

From the Academy Blog

Learn about the accomplishments of AI and Society Fellows.

Program Requirements

Applications are now closed.

To qualify, candidates must have a PhD in a relevant field such as computer science, artificial intelligence, psychology, philosophy, sociology, ethics, law (JD), or a related field. Strong research background and expertise in the field of AI and Society, including publications in leading academic journals, is recommended.

Fellows

2023 Fellows

Akuadasuo Ezenyilimba, PhD

Akuadasuo Ezenyilimba is a recent Human Systems Engineering PhD graduate. Her academic background consists of a Bachelor’s in Psychology, Master’s in Applied Psychology, and a Master’s in Human Systems Engineering, Her research interest include human computer interaction, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and TBI rehabilitation. She is looking forward to beginning her post doctoral work focused on Artificial Intelligence in Society with Arizona State University and The New York Academy of Sciences.

Nitin Verma, PhD

Nitin is an incoming Postdoctoral Research Scholar at Arizona State University’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society in collaboration with the New York Academy of Sciences. His doctoral dissertation research at the School of Information at The University of Texas at Austin investigated the notion of public trust in video with the emergence of deepfake and allied generative-AI technologies. Nitin’s broader research interests include the interrelationship between society (individuals, platforms, governments, and other stakeholders) and AI, the role of the photographic record in shaping history, and in the deep connection between human curiosity and the continuing evolution of the scientific method.

Marjorie Xie, PhD

Dr. Marjorie Xie serves as an AI & Society fellow at The New York Academy of Sciences, joint with Arizona State University’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society. Marjorie’s work combines AI, mental health, and education. Her goals are: 1) Develop technology to enable social-emotional learning and to facilitate collaborative interpersonal relationships; 2) Develop systems for effective AI governance. As an AI researcher, engineer, and social entrepreneur, she hopes to collaborate with mental health professionals, educators, business leaders, and social media experts.

Prior to serving as a fellow, Marjorie interned at Basis Research Institute, building AI tools for reasoning about collaborative intelligence in animals. Marjorie completed her Ph.D. in Neurobiology & Behavior at Columbia University, where she used AI tools to build interpretable models of neural systems in the brain. Before her PhD, she designed and completed an independent major in computational neuroscience at Princeton University, where she also pursued intensive studies in philosophy, literature, and history. Born in France and raised in Seattle, Washington by Chinese immigrants, she currently lives and serves as a resident fellow at the International House in New York City.

Ethical Implications in the Development of AI

An AI researcher poses for the camera.

The research of Betty Li Hou, who presented a seminar as part of The New York Academy of Sciences’ Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Society Lecture series, explores the educational, philosophical, sociological, and legal dimensions that should be considered when developing ethical AI systems to benefit society.

Published November 21, 2023

By Nick Fetty

Betty Li Hou, a Ph.D. student in computer science at the New York University Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, presented her lecture “AI Alignment Through a Societal Lens” on November 9 at The New York Academy of Sciences.

Seminar attendees included the 2023 cohort of the Academy’s AI and Society post-doctoral fellowship program (a collaboration with Arizona State University’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society), who asked questions and engaged in a dialog throughout the talk. Hou’s hour-long presentation examined the ethical impacts that AI systems can have on societies, and how machine learning, philosophy, sociology, and law should all come together in the development of these systems.

“AI doesn’t exist independently from these other disciplines and so AI research in many ways needs to consider these dimensions, otherwise we’re only looking at one piece of the picture,” said Hou.

Hou’s research aims to capture the broader societal dynamics and issues surrounding the so-called ‘alignment problem,’ a term coined by author and researcher Brian Christian in his 2020 book of the same name. The alignment problem aims to ensure that AI systems pursue goals that match human values and interests, while trying to avoid unintended or undesirable outcomes.

Developing Ethical AI Systems

As values and interests vary across (and even within) countries and cultures, researchers are nonetheless struggling to develop ethical AI systems that transcend these differences and serve societies in a beneficial way. When there isn’t a clear guide for developing ethical AI systems, one of the key questions from Hou’s research becomes apparent: What values are implicitly/explicitly encoded in products?

“I think there are a lot of problems and risks that we need to sort through before extracting benefits from AI,” said Hou. “But I also see so many ways AI provides potential benefits, anything from helping with environmental issues to detecting harmful content online to helping businesses operate more efficiently. Even using AI for complex medical tasks like radiology.”

Social media content moderation is one area where AI algorithms have shown potential for serving society in a positive way. For example, on YouTube, 90% of videos that are reviewed are initially flagged by AI algorithms seeking to spot copyrighted material or other content that violates YouTube’s terms of service.

Hou, whose current work is also supported by a DeepMind Ph.D. Scholarship and an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, previously served as a Hackworth Fellow at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics as an undergraduate studying computer science and engineering at Santa Clara University. She closed her recent lecture by reemphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary research and collaboration in the development of AI systems that adequately serve society going forward.

“Computer scientists need to look beyond their field when answering certain ethical and societal issues around AI,” Hou said. “Interdisciplinary collaboration is absolutely necessary.”

Lost in Translation

A postdoc presents his researcher and poster to conference attendees.

The Underrecognized Challenges of Non-Native Postdocs in the English Scientific Wonderland

Published September 19, 2023

By Andrew Chang, PhD

Andrew Chang explaining his research to colleagues at the International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition in Tokyo in August 2023. One is from Hong Kong, previously trained in UK, Germany, and Taiwan, now a postdoc in Japan. And the other is from Korea, previously trained in Germany, the UK, and the US, currently a postdoc in Germany. We communicated and chatted in English. Photo credit: ICMPC17 (https://jsmpc.org/ICMPC17/.)

Scientific communication has transcended borders, yet scientists often encounter significant language barriers.

English, hailed as the universal standard language of science, grants a significant advantage to native speakers. For non-native scientists, bridging this gap requires extensive preparation, and this journey can be isolating and anxiety-inducing, particularly for early-career postdoctoral researchers.

As a Taiwanese, Mandarin was my sole mode of communication until I embarked on my Ph.D. journey in Canada. While I was in Taiwan, English had only served as a tool for test-taking and reading imported textbooks.

My first semester in Canada proved to be an all-encompassing experience. Beyond adapting to English-based coursework, acclimatizing to the rapid and colloquial conversations of my peers presented a considerable hurdle. I had to familiarize myself with the natural flow of conversations, replete with slang and cultural references I had never encountered in a classroom in Taiwan.

Moreover, I lacked common ground with most Canadians/Americans, as I wasn’t familiar with their childhood pop culture, trivial facts, or internet memes. Despite being known for my sense of humor among my peers in Taiwan, I felt rather dull, unable to communicate beyond the realm of my science.

A Journey of Improved English Proficency

I vividly recall one evening when I was with fellow new graduate students. We were playing a party board game, and we drew a card that required my teammate and me to chat non-stop for a minute. Everyone anticipated the challenge it posed to me. I wore a reassuring smile, unwilling to disrupt the jovial atmosphere.

However, when the timer began, my partner launched into a rapid, uninterrupted monologue, denying me the opportunity to contribute. Although I knew she did it out of kindness to spare me embarrassment, I couldn’t help but feel frustrated and excluded. It seemed that overcoming the language barrier was an insurmountable expectation, and perhaps people would never recognize my talent or charisma because I couldn’t adequately express myself in a foreign language.

Over the past decade, my English proficiency has significantly improved since the start of my Ph.D. I’ve also assimilated Canadian/American social norms, enabling me to engage with my peers while maintaining my individuality.

Now, tools like ChatGPT make proofreading and editing, including this very article, much more manageable. However, while I can attain good results to a certain extent, the process remains time-consuming and mentally taxing. It can even lead to anxiety: If I fail to make a lasting impression within the first 30 seconds on someone I meet at a conference, particularly a leading scientist in my field, using highly fluent language to express my ideas, I risk losing their interest and potentially missing out on valuable career opportunities.

Diving into the Research

It wasn’t until recently that I stumbled upon a study surveying over 900 scientists, which revealed that many early-career non-native English-speaking scientists encounter similar obstacles. Non-native speakers spend approximately 91% more time reading a paper, 51% more time writing a paper, are 2.6 times more likely to face language-related rejection, encounter 12.5 times more language-related revisions, and invest 94% more time in preparing and practicing presentations.

Also, unfortunately, it appears that overcoming language barriers has largely been left to the efforts of non-native English speakers (Amano et al., 2023). These statistics, based on academia, likely underestimate the extent of the challenges, as many promising scientists may have already abandoned their research pursuits due to language-related frustration (Ortega, 2020).

One might argue that language barriers should not be considered excuses since individuals willingly choose to pursue scientific careers in the United States. However, the reality is that when one opts to become a scientist, they inevitably commit to English as their primary professional language throughout their career.

Exclusively in English

Given the United States’ predominant position across various scientific disciplines and the fact that all top-tier scientific journals, including Science and Nature, are published exclusively in English, achieving a successful scientific career within the current academic landscape without proficiency in English is an extremely daunting, if not impossible, task. (Note: Perhaps the sole exception is Nobel laureate Tu Youyou.) Scientific findings published in non-English journals are often, if not always, overlooked (Amano et al., 2016).

Indeed, choosing to pursue a postdoctoral position in a foreign country is a deliberate decision, driven by the belief that it will benefit our careers. This choice entails willingly embracing the additional challenges of overcoming not only language barriers but also navigating various other obstacles, including cultural differences (where I’m expected to network in an American way, likely with plenty of socializing over drinks), geographical distances from family and friends (with round-trip flights between New York and Taipei consistently exceeding $2,000, and a 12-hour time difference), dealing with laws, costs, and bureaucracy for obtaining and maintaining a visa and adapting to different daily routines (such as handling taxes, accessing healthcare, and obtaining a driver’s license).

However, as international scientists make greater sacrifices, the tolerance for failure diminishes, and it can evolve into unbearable stress.

Creating a Welcoming Environment for Non-Native Speakers

It is imperative for academia to recognize and address this issue to ensure that scientific progress remains unbiased and uninhibited by language barriers. Losing potential talent and dedicated international scientists due to these barriers is not only a disservice to individuals but also compromises the quality of scientific inquiry, potentially introducing biases rooted in the linguistic and cultural backgrounds of scientists.

Consider my research field of cognitive neuroscience of audition, which explores how the human brain perceives speech and music. Without contributions from international scientists, understanding the universal and culturally specific mechanisms underlying these perceptions would be severely limited and biased.

I extend my heartfelt appreciation to all my colleagues who have valued my contributions as a scientist and treated me equally, regardless of my occasionally peculiar English phrasing and my penchant for using amusing words. My hope is that other international scientists, especially those in the early stages of their careers, receive the support they need as they diligently work to overcome their barriers.

Ultimately, I aspire to witness a future in which language differences evolve from barriers into diverse perspectives that benefit the scientific community as a whole.

References

  1. Amano T, et al. (2016). Languages are still a major barrier to global science. PLOS Biology, 14(12), e2000933. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2000933
  2. Amano T, et al. (2023). The manifold costs of being a non-native English speaker in science. PLOS Biology 21(7): e3002184. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002184
  3. Henrich J, et al. (2010). Most people are not WEIRD. Nature, 466(7302), 29-29. https://doi.org/10.1038/466029a
  4. Ortega RP. (2020). Science’s English dominance hinders diversity—but the community can work toward change. Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.caredit.abf4697

Andrew Chang, PhD, is a 2023 Leon Levy Scholar in Neuroscience.

This piece was originally published on the National Postdoctoral Association member blog as part of 2023 National Postdoc Appreciation Week. Current Academy Members can receive a 20% discount on a National Postdoctoral Association postdoc individual membership by emailing info@nyas.org and requesting the NPA membership discount code

Supporting International Postdocs: “How Can We Make This Place More Like Home?”

Thiago Arzua smiles while working in a lab

Every international postdoc has a multitude of interests, experiences, fears and dreams. Supporting them means taking into account all of those things, as opposed to just focusing on their research project.

Published September 18, 2023

By Thiago Arzua, PhD

Even after doing this countless times before, I was still nervous waiting outside my advisor’s office to talk about some experiments that did not work.

“What if they ask for more data than I have? What if I picked the wrong project?” These thoughts quickly devolve into something darker like: “Do I deserve to be here? Have I done enough?” My own internal imposter syndrome aside, my advisor’s response was comforting, “Cool, now we know that doesn’t work.” By contrast, his feedback made me realize that support is something we need.

International postdocs leave behind all of their support systems – family, friends, culture – in their home country and are often expected to adjust and start working right away. In reality, the support international scientists need is not unusual. Instead, it is something we do not realize we missed or needed until it is gone.

At the most fundamental level, supporting international postdocs looks like increasing support for all postdocs – temporary visa holders still represent a majority of postdocs in the U.S. It can be a bit of a conundrum. Being involved with science policy and advocacy for a while, a conversation with a political consultant once made that clear to me – “No matter how rational it is to fund international scientists, in some politicians’ minds, you are constituents ­– you are not voters”.

In that sense, support comes from peers, advisors, and the universities themselves fiercely advocating for their international researchers at every level. Internally and institutionally, this can also look like providing reliable advice and resources for international postdocs who need to navigate a new world of healthcare, taxes, visas, and more that people born and raised here in the United States take for granted.

At the core of this international postdoctoral account of “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs” are the basic things every postdoc needs, e.g. fair salaries, good working conditions, etc. At the top of this hierarchy, there is something less tangential – something that took me a while to realize I needed.

The U-Shaped Curve of Culture Shock

There is a famous U-shaped curve used to describe the emotional states of culture shock. In it, people go from a happy honeymoon stage, then through anxiety and adjustment periods, to finally get back up to an adapted stage. I went through that whole curve at least three times since leaving Brazil; once for every career level which came with a location change.

At every stage, the excitement for science was so front and center that I would lose track of the fact that everything was culturally changing around me. During those times, the support I needed had nothing to do with scientific research, but receiving an abundance of humanity and compassion from others.

Credit: Verto Education

Case in point, Thanksgiving of my first year in grad school, I was, in essence, adopted by the family of another student for the week. Years later, as a postdoc in a new city, almost as a repeat, other international postdocs and I were stranded by visas or simply by the weather and decided to host a potluck Christmas. So, when the next holiday season comes up, make sure to ask the international postdocs around you if they have plans, and if not, make a point to invite them.

Do Your Part to Make International Postdocs Feel Welcome

Having spaces where international postdocs can thrive means not just helping them adjust to the U.S., but fully acknowledging and incorporating their individualities in how they work, and above all, understanding that people cannot dissociate their personality from how they do research. In my case that has sometimes looked as simple as having my peers text me when they hear some news from Brazil.

It also means having an advisor who knows I enjoy science communication and connects me to opportunities I would not find by myself. Every international postdoc contains a multitude of interests, past experiences, current fears, and future dreams. Supporting them means supporting all of those and not just a finite research project.

At the end of the day, the question “So, do you think you’ll go back home?” is always present whether in talking to people or back in my internal voice. We all have our reasons either way, but in thinking critically about how my international peers can be supported while in the U.S., I think a much better question might be “How can we make this place a little more like home?”

Thiago Arzua, PhD is a 2023 Leon Levy Scholar in Neuroscience. You can learn more about him and the Leon Levy Scholars HERE.

This piece was originally published on the National Postdoctoral Association member blog as part of 2023 National Postdoc Appreciation Week. Current Academy Student Members can receive a 20% discount on a National Postdoctoral Association postdoc individual membership by emailing info@nyas.org and requesting the NPA membership discount code

Fellowships

The Leon Levy Scholarships in Neuroscience (LLSN)

The Leon Levy Scholarships in Neuroscience (LLSN) aim to promote groundbreaking neuroscience research in New York City. The scholarships support the most innovative young researchers during their postdoctoral research — a critical stage of their careers. 

Learn More

Artificial Intelligence and Society Fellowship Program

The Artificial Intelligence and Society Fellowship Program is designed to incorporate ethical and humanistic principles into the development and application of AI. Launched by The New York Academy of Sciences in partnership with Arizona State University, its goal is to develop a new generation of multidisciplinary scholars prepared to counsel the future use of AI in society for the benefit of humankind.

Learn More

The New York Academy of Sciences Announces First Cohort of Post-Doctoral Fellows in Inaugural Artificial Intelligence and Society Fellowship Program with Arizona State University

The AI & Society Fellowship was developed to address the unmet need for scholars who are trained across technical AI and social sciences and the humanities.

New York, NY | August 14, 2023 – Three post-doctoral scholars have been named as the first cohort of Fellows for the Artificial Intelligence and Society Fellowship program.

Launched by The New York Academy of Sciences and Arizona State University in April 2023, the fellowship was developed to address the unmet need for scholars who are trained across technical AI and social sciences and the humanities. This innovative training program will produce the next generation of scholars and public figures who are prepared to shape the future use of AI in ways that will advance the public good.

The Fellows are:

Nitin Verma, PhD, University of Texas at Austin, School of Information

Nitin studies the ethical, societal, and legal impacts of deepfakes and other generative AI technologies. His multidisciplinary research interests include misinformation, trust, human values, and human-computer interaction. He is a native of India, and attended the University of Delhi, graduating with a B.Sc. in electronic science.

Akuadasuo Ezenyilimba, PhD, Arizona State University (ASU), The Polytechnic School; Human Systems Engineering

As a National Science Foundation Research Trainee, Akuadasuo has worked on citizen-centered solutions for real-world problems. Currently, she is researching the relationship between human-computer interaction and traumatic brain injury, executive function, and traumatic brain injury rehabilitation.

Marjorie Xie, PhD, Columbia University Medical Center, Center for Theoretical Neuroscience

Marjorie’s work combines AI, mental health, and education. She interned at Basis Research Institute, building AI tools for reasoning about collaborative intelligence in animals. Marjorie completed her Ph.D. in Neurobiology & Behavior at Columbia University, where she used AI tools to build interpretable models of neural systems in the brain.

Developing the Next Generation of AI Researchers

“AI now permeates every facet of our society,” said Nicholas Dirks, Ph.D., President and CEO, The New York Academy of Sciences. “The technology holds extraordinary promise. It is crucial that researchers have the training and capacity to bring an ethical perspective to its application, to ensure it is used for the betterment of society. That’s why our with partnership with Arizona State University, where much of the pioneering research in AI and society is being conducted, is so imperative.”

“ASU is very excited to join with The New York Academy of Sciences for this fellowship,” said David Guston, professor and founding director of ASU’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society, with which the post-docs will be affiliated. “Our goal is to create a powerhouse of trainees, mentors, ideas, and resources to develop the next generation of AI researchers poised to produce ethical, humanistic AI applications and promote these emerging technologies for the public interest” he added.

Beginning in August 2023, the promising young researchers will participate in a curated research program and professional development training at the Academy’s headquarters in New York City, Arizona State University, and on-site internships, with seasoned researchers from academia, industry, or public policy organizations.

About Arizona State University

Arizona State University, ranked the No. 1 “Most Innovative School” in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for eight years in succession, has forged the model for a New American University by operating on the principles that learning is a personal and original journey for each student; that they thrive on experience and that the process of discovery cannot be bound by traditional academic disciplines. Through innovation and a commitment to accessibility, ASU has drawn pioneering researchers to its faculty even as it expands opportunities for qualified students.

As an extension of its commitment to assuming fundamental responsibility for the economic, social, cultural and overall health of the communities it serves, ASU established the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, the world’s first comprehensive laboratory dedicated to the empowerment of our planet and its inhabitants so that all may thrive. It is designed to address the complex social, economic and scientific challenges spawned by the current and future threats from the degradation of our world’s systems.

This platform lays the foundation to anticipate and respond to existing and emerging challenges and use innovation to purposefully shape and inform our future. It includes the College of Global Futures, home to four pioneering schools including the School for the Future of Innovation in Society that is dedicated to changing the world through responsible innovation. For more information, visit globalfutures.asu.edu.

The New York Academy of Sciences, Leon Levy Foundation Name First 10 Leon Levy Scholars in Neuroscience

The program supports exceptional young researchers from New York City’s five boroughs as they pursue innovative investigations in neuroscience.

New York, NY | June 14, 2023 — The New York Academy of Sciences and the Leon Levy Foundation announced today the first cohort of Leon Levy Scholars in Neuroscience; a continuation of an earlier fellowship program started by the Foundation in 2009 that has supported 160 fellows in neuroscience.

This highly regarded postdoctoral program supports exceptional young researchers across the five boroughs of New York City as they pursue innovative investigations in neuroscience and advance in their careers toward becoming independent principal investigators. Designed to broaden the field and to support researchers who might otherwise not have equal opportunity to secure postdoctoral funding, ten (10) scholars were selected for a three-year term from more than a dozen institutions across New York City that offer postdoctoral positions in neuroscience.

Honoring Leon Levy

“My husband, Leon, had a keen interest in studies of the brain after taking a psychology course as an undergraduate at City College of New York. He was fascinated by the minds of scientists,” said Shelby White, founding trustee of the Leon Levy Foundation. “We see these Leon Levy Scholars as the pathway to making great strides in neuroscience, so we are proud to support these gifted young researchers, providing them financial and career support, along with recognition, to advance their careers.”

“New York is an epicenter of neuroscience, with some of the best brain research being conducted in the United States,” said Nicholas Dirks, the Academy’s president and CEO. “Our distinguished jury selected 10 outstanding neuroscientists across the five boroughs conducting cutting-edge research. We are excited to be working with the Leon Levy Foundation to usher in this new group of young neuroscientists, providing guidance and financial support to encourage ground-breaking discoveries that will ultimately result in growth in this crucial field.”

The Scholars program features structured mentorship by distinguished senior scientists. Workshops will help Scholars with grant writing, as well as developing leadership, communications, and management skills. The programs will encourage networking, data sharing, cross-institutional collaboration and an opportunity for networking at an annual Leon Levy Scholars symposium.

The 2023 Leon Levy Scholars

Recognized for: How information about stressful events is encoded in the brain and how it can be passed through generations.

Recognized for: How contact system activation could affect the brain, and most notably the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease.

Recognized for: How the body’s physiological states—particularly hunger— affect value-based decision making.

Recognized for: Identifying the neural circuit and genetic elements that undergo the strongest selective pressures to enhance survival through the study of escape responses in closely-related fly species.

Recognized for: How music and speech is perceived, processed and distinguished in the human brain and its relevance for individuals with communication disorders.

Recognized for: Distinguishing the neural circuits that are correlated with odor identity and behavioral choice.

Recognized for: The neural circuitry of how we perceive visual social signals and how it relates to and integrates with other somatic sensory social input to shape social awareness.

Recognized for: The role of RNA regulation in non-neuronal brain cells and its impact on neuronal function.

Recognized for: Combining neuroeconomics and transcriptomics to examine decision-making dysfunction underlying regret processing in rodent stress models.

Recognized for Examining the morphology and connectivity of inhibitory neurons and subsequently, their functional ability to generate brainwaves.

About the Leon Levy Foundation

The Leon Levy Foundation continues and builds upon the philanthropic legacy of Leon Levy, supporting preservation, understanding, and the expansion of knowledge, with a focus on the ancient world, arts and humanities, nature and gardens, neuroscience, human rights, and Jewish culture. The Foundation was created in 2004 from Leon Levy’s estate by his wife, founding trustee Shelby White. To learn more, visit: leonlevyfoundation.org

For more information about the Scholarship program, contact: LeonLevy@nyas.org

The New York Academy of Sciences Launches New Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Artificial Intelligence and Society with Arizona State University

Merging technical AI research with the social sciences and humanities, the program aims to inform the future use of AI for the benefit of humankind.

In response to the urgent need to incorporate ethical and humanistic principles into the development and application of artificial intelligence (AI), The New York Academy of Sciences has partnered with Arizona State University’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society to launch an AI and Society post-doctoral fellowship program. Merging technical AI research with perspectives from the social sciences and humanities, the program’s goal is to develop a new generation of multidisciplinary scholars prepared to inform the future use of AI in society for the benefit of humankind.

“The New York Academy of Sciences is thrilled to launch this unique partnership with Arizona State University, where much of the pioneering research in this field is being conducted,” said Nicholas B. Dirks, President and CEO of The New York Academy of Sciences. “AI is transforming our society at lightning speed. It is essential, however, that we work to better understand the range and nature of AI’s impact and what we can do to anticipate, and then navigate, the many ethical, regulatory, and governance questions that we have only recently begun to comprehend and debate, even as we press forward with leveraging AI’s benefits,” he added.

“ASU is very excited to join with The New York Academy of Sciences for this fellowship,” said David Guston, professor and founding director of the School for the Future of Innovation in Society. “Our goal is to create a powerhouse of trainees, mentors, ideas, and resources to develop the next generation of AI researchers poised to produce ethical, humanistic AI applications to promote science for the greater good” he added.

Recruiting Promising Young Researchers

Beginning in September 2023, this program will recruit promising young researchers from disciplines spanning computer science, the social sciences, and the humanities to participate in a curated research program housed at the Academy. Fellows’ time will be shared between New York City, Arizona State University, and on-site internships, with seasoned researchers who are well-versed in academia, industry, or policy work.

To qualify, candidates must have a PhD in a relevant field such as computer science, artificial intelligence, psychology, philosophy, sociology, ethics, law (JD), or a related field. Strong research background and expertise in the field of AI and Society, including publications in leading academic journals, is recommended.

To learn more, click here.

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