News & Insights
CBR Attends the Academy of Aphasia Annual Meeting 2025
October 26th – 28th, 2025 Eight researchers from the Boston University Center for Brain Recovery (CBR) attended the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Aphasia this October to present their work and gain new insights from peers in the fields of neuroscience and speech, language, and hearing sciences. Platform Sessions Shalom Henderson... More
AIAS Best Paper: Gaining Insight into Brain Damage and Rehabilitation through Digital Twins
October 27th – 28th, 2025 Center for Brain Recovery researchers Swathi Kiran (CBR Founding Director) and Risto Miikkulainen (CBR Affiliate) were invited to present their work in the Best Paper Presentation session at the 2025 Chen Institute Symposium for AI Accelerated Science (AIAS). Out of more than 60 submissions and 29... More
Student Spotlight: Manuel Marte
Congratulations, Dr. Manuel Marte! Dr. Marte successfully defended his dissertation on October 22nd, 2025, completing his PhD at Boston University's Sargent College in the Department of Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences. Throughout his doctoral studies, Manuel was mentored by Dr. Swathi Kiran, director of the Boston University Center for Brain Recovery. Dr. More
CBR Seminar Series: Jet Vonk
CBR Seminar Series: Jet Vonk, November 17, 2025 Title: Quantifying Language in Dementia through Automated Speech Analysis Abstract: Language offers a uniquely sensitive window into brain health, yet traditional approaches to its assessment have been manual, slow, and dependent on specialized expertise. This talk will discuss how automated speech and language analysis... More
Newly Released: The Cambridge Handbook of Language and Brain
The first edition of The Cambridge Handbook of Language and Brain was recently released and is now available to readers. This state-of-the-art handbook was co-edited by Dr. Swathi Kiran, Founding Director of the Boston University Center for Brain Recovery, and Dr. Edna Andrews from Duke University. This text serves as a... More
Learning in Action: Boston Public School Students Explore Research at CBR
November 7th, 2025 On Friday, November 7th, the BU Center for Brain Recovery (CBR) welcomed a group of juniors and seniors from various local Boston Public Schools (BPS). In an effort coordinated by BU’s Office of Government & Community Affairs in partnership with BU Admissions, BPS students visited Boston University’s campus, More
HealthDay: Healthy Habits Slash Genetic Dementia Risk in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes
HealthDay quoted Dr. Hugo Aparicio, a CBR Core Faculty member, on the importance of heart health in relation to brain health. Read the full article
CBR Interns Selected for UROP Funding
Interview with CBR Interns Amelia Andre and Helen Blans This semester, two CBR interns were selected to receive UROP funding for their research project applications. Congratulations to Amelia Andre and Helen Blans, both undergraduate students in the neuroscience program in the College of Arts and Sciences. Amelia and Helen both joined the... More
Advances in AI: Diagnosis & Treatment of Neurological and Neurodegenerative Disorders Symposium
October 24th, 2025 On Friday, October 24th, leading researchers from the Boston University Center for Brain Recovery (CBR) traveled to the San Francisco Bay Area to present their ground-breaking work leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning tools for detection, treatment, and prediction of neurological and neurodegenerative disorders. Hosted in collaboration with the... More
Faculty Feature: Stacy Andersen
Dr. Andersen is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, a Core Faculty member for the Center for Brain Recovery, and the co-director of the New England Centenarian Study. Q&A with Stacy Andersen What is your current research focus, and how does it align with... More
Identifying Priorities in Aphasia Care: CBR to collaborate with NAA on PCORI Awarded Research
Funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), the Boston University Center for Brain Recovery (CBR) will be partnering with the National Aphasia Association (NAA) and Nova Southeastern University (NSU) on an initiative to identify the most significant impacts faced by people with aphasia and establish research priorities for... More
Medical Xpress: How hair and skin characteristics affect brain imaging: Making fNIRS research more inclusive
Medical Xpress featured CBR Core Faculty member Meryem Yücel's research examining the impact of hair and skin characteristics on the quality of brain signals recorded using fNIRS. This research discovered inequities in data collection, and provides recommendations for best practices to optimize data collection across diverse populations. This study also... More
CBR Seminar Series: Rhoda Au
CBR Seminar Series: Rhoda Au, September 29, 2025 Title: Precision Brain Health: Getting from Here to There Abstract: Clinical research in Alzheimer's disease has been slow to embrace the technological advances that could address many long standing representative gaps. This hesitancy has led to more incremental science. Our precision brain health initiative... More
What Causes Aphasia?
What is Aphasia? Aphasia is a language disorder that is caused by a stroke or brain trauma. This disorder affects how people communicate and understand language, as it may affect their ability to speak, understand, read, or write. According to the National Aphasia Association, there are more than 2 million people in... More
Forecasting Recovery: CBR Faculty Awarded $3.2M NIH Grant
Center for Brain Recovery (CBR) faculty members Drs. Archana Venkataraman and Swathi Kiran have been awarded a $3.2M NIH grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders to develop computational tools that will predict language recovery in people with post-stroke aphasia. Venkataraman, an expert in machine learning, and... More