Alireza Chaman Zar

Dr. Alireza Chamanzar is an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at University of Pittsburgh and PI of the NeuroVision Lab. The focus of NeuroVision Lab is to: (i) advance our understanding of how the brain processes visual information by combining cutting-edge neuroscience with computational modeling and behavioral and electrophysiological experiments, (ii) uncover the neural basis of visual disorders and develop innovative noninvasive diagnostic and monitoring solutions for patients with brain injuries.

He obtained his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in 2022, advised by Prof. Pulkit Grover and Prof. Marlene Behrmann. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the CMU Neuroscience Institute, and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Department of Neurology, working with Drs. Eric Rosenthal and David Chung.

His research demonstrated the first localization and tracking of “neural silences" in the brain using noninvasive EEG (2023 A.G. Milnes award by CMU for the best Ph.D. thesis in Electrical and Computer Engineering). He recently initiated a multicenter collaboration between hospitals in the US and Europe. Drawing on the large-scale data generated through this collaboration, he has made significant advances in understanding the dynamic neural mechanism that gives rise to poor prognosis following brain injury. These studies have appeared in journals such as Nature Communications Medicine and Nature Communications Biology, enabled by multidisciplinary collaborations with clinicians, scientists and engineers that he initiated and has led.

He holds 5 patents which are licensed to medical device companies, with a focus on detecting worsening brain injuries, and equitable, and inclusive access to healthcare.