Neurosciences Research Center welcomes new postdoctoral fellows

Neuroscience Research | May 15, 2024 | Christos Papadelis, Ph.D.

The Jane and John Justin Institute for Mind Health at Cook Children's is pleased to welcome two new postdoctoral fellows. These researchers will join the Neurosciences Research Center under the mentorship of Director Christos Papadelis, Ph.D.

Mozhde Askari, M.D., was born and raised in Iran, where she earned her medical degree in 2019 from the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, one of the most prestigious academic institutes in the country. In 2022, Dr. Askari joined the Neurology Department at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital as a research scholar. During that time, she focused her research on developing potential pathological biomarkers for neuroimmunological diseases like multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica. During her tenure in research, Dr. Askari actively participated in several clinical trials, which led to the publication of peer-reviewed scientific articles. As part of the Neurosciences Research Center team, Dr. Askari will study feeding patterns in infants hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, and how these patterns correlate with findings from structural and functional neuroimaging methods.

Ioannis Ntoumanis, Ph.D., graduated from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2018 with a BSc in mathematics and earned an MSc in statistics and modeling from the same university in 2020 with the highest-ranking graduate award. Later, Dr. Ntoumanis went to the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, for a research internship, where he used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore attentional processes and the default brain mode network. Back in 2021, he moved to Moscow, Russian Federation, to earn his Ph.D., in cognitive science. Working in the International Laboratory for Social Neurobiology at HSE University, he contributed to projects spanning from cognitive to clinical neuroscience. Dr. Ntoumanis has published several peer-reviewed research articles and presented his findings at international conferences. He also holds a patent for a graphical user interface toolbox facilitating multivariate pattern analysis of EEG data collected during naturalistic stimulation. As part of the Neurosciences Research Center team, Dr. Ntoumanis will focus on mapping the eloquent cortex in children with drug resistant epilepsy using innovative child-friendly paradigms based on videogames. He will also examine the emotional processing in children with autism spectrum disorders.

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