Lulu Ge places first at IEM Annual Conference Poster Competition

Doctoral student Lulu Ge has won first place at the 2022 IEM Annual Conference Poster Competition in the neuroengineering area. Her poster was titled "Studying the putative effect of transcranial magnetic stimulation on human cognitive control with hyperdimensional computing." She is also a recipient of an IEM fellowship and is working on her dissertation research under the guidance of Keshab Parhi, Distinguished McKnight University Professor and Erwin A. Kelen Chair in Electrical Engineering. 

Ge's research interests include molecular computing, machine learning, hyperdimensional (HD) computing, and neuroscience. Given the potential of HDC and her own interest in neuroscience, her dissertation research explores, theoretically and practically, the ability of HD computing in classifying and clustering problems for two neurological disorders: epilepsy and major depressive disorder (MDD). 

In Ge's poster, she presents the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for the treatment of MDD with two key highlights. Firstly, the TMS mechanism and its effects on cognition are not well understood. Secondly, all patients are administered the same standard doze of TMS. She hypothesizes that if the effects of the mechanism are better understood, TMS treatment could be more effective through the application of a customized dosage. To achieve this goal, she is working on applying hyperdimensional (HD) computing to analyze the longitudinal data collected by Professor Alik Widge (Department of Psychiatry) and his group. If successful, this research will pave the way for customized TMS treatment protocol in neuromodulation, and enrich the application of HD computing.