Members' Meeting 2026

Akshatha Chengalvala

Akshatha Chengalvala is a biosciences undergraduate at the University of Manchester, an independent researcher, science communicator, and public speaker. She is passionate about neuro-oncology, the cognitive effects of cancer therapies, and advancing medical technology through AI and innovative solutions. Akshatha translates complex neuroscience into accessible insights, driving real-world impact and shaping the future of patient-centered care.

Atrim Das

I am Atrim, and my interest in neuroscience stems from my curiosity to understand human behaviour. Ever since childhood, I have always been plagued by existential questions. As I studied more about technology, politics, sociology and history, I became increasingly fascinated by how the human brain has evolved.

Viviane Dasilva

Dr. Viviane Dasilva is a neuroscientist and Director of the Brain Performance Neurocognitive Research and Rehabilitation Center. Currently affiliated with the University of Parma, she specializes in personalized neurorehabilitation using qEEG, neurofeedback, and non-invasive brain stimulation. Her work focuses on transforming biological data into precise protocols for addiction and cognitive recovery.

Pradeep Dheerendra

Dr Pradeep D, PhD is a neuroscientist with interdisciplinary expertise in auditory neuroscience, neuropsychiatry, and signal processing. His research experience involves non-invasive neurophysiology, MEG and fMRI. He is working on understanding the brain system underlying auditory working memory. He is a research affiliate at University of Glasgow, UK.

Cosmin Ichim

Cosmin Ichim is a PhD student in the Machine Intelligence group at the University of Cambridge, under the supervision of Prof. Richard Prager. His research focuses on linking cerebellar circuit structure with learning algorithms.

João Ferreira

psychophysiologist, psychologist, and data scientist, and a PhD candidate in Health Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra.

João Miguel Alves Ferreira is a psychophysiologist, psychologist, and data scientist, and a PhD candidate in Health Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra. His research focuses on neuroscience, psychophysiology, burnout and the societal impacts of health and historical memory. He serves as Ambassador for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Coimbra and as Faculty of Medicine Ambassador in institutional student representation bodies. João is an EBRAINS Ambassador and General Student Representative and Chair of the 1st EBRAINS Student Conference on Interdisciplinary Brain Research (2026). He collaborates with the European Reference Networks on Neuromuscular and Rare Neurological Diseases (ERN-NMD and ERN-RND) as a Portuguese contact and official translator. He has received two National Merit Scholarships from DGES and three Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowships, and he is the recipient of the Portuguese Volunteering Trophy (Rising Category).

Carl Hodgetts

Associate Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology Royal Holloway, University of London

Carl Hodgetts is an Associate Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience at Royal Holloway, University of London, where he leads the Connected Memory Lab. He gained his Ph.D. in Cognitive Science at Cardiff University under the supervision of Ulrike Hahn and Nick Chater. Following a postdoctoral position with Kim Graham at the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, he was awarded a Wellcome ISSF Fellowship to investigate the functional role of hippocampal subfields using 7-Tesla MRI at the University of Oxford. He joined Royal Holloway in 2019, where his lab applies advanced neuroimaging methods to explore how the human brain constructs representations of scenes and events — and how these representations support memory, perception, and navigation.

Adnan Levent

I am a Postdoctoral Teaching Associate in Psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London, with a PhD from Birkbeck, University of London. My teaching focuses on cognitive psychology, research methods, and statistics. My research examines how recreational substance use affects cognition, alongside factors contributing to addiction, as well as metacognition, academic performance, and the effectiveness of inclusivity strategies in higher education.

Polina Lobacheva

Polina Lobacheva is a Laboratory Scientist with a background in neuroscience and human biosciences. Her research interests include neural interfaces, biomaterials, and in vitro modelling of neuronal networks. She is particularly interested in bridging experimental neuroscience with translational and clinically relevant applications.

Mihaela Lyutskanova

I’m a PhD researcher in Neuroscience working with brainwaves (EEG) in Parkinson’s disease. I compare patients and healthy people to uncover patterns to help diagnose neurodegenerative disease. I am especially interested in apathy, a common but often overlooked non-motor symptom that can greatly affect motivation, quality of life, and mortality risk in patients.