Laura Piccardi | Cognitive Neuroscience | Women Researcher Award

Published on by Cognitive Scientist Awards

Prof. Dr. Laura Piccardi | Cognitive Neuroscience | Women Researcher Award

Sapienza University of Rome | Italy

Laura Piccardi is a distinguished scholar and full professor in the Department of Psychology at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Renowned for her expertise in spatial cognition, neuropsychology, and individual differences, she has made significant contributions to understanding how humans navigate and process spatial information across the lifespan. Her academic journey has been marked by prestigious positions, extensive research output, and influential collaborations with leading institutions worldwide, including Harvard Medical School, Karolinska Institutet, and the National University of Singapore. With over two hundred peer-reviewed publications, she is recognized for integrating experimental and clinical approaches to explore cognitive decline, hemineglect, and navigational memory. Beyond research, she is a dedicated educator, mentoring undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students in psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Her work bridges theoretical insight with applied relevance, making her a leading figure in cognitive neuroscience and a sought-after expert in multidisciplinary research on spatial and cognitive processes.

Profile

Google scholar

Education

Laura Piccardi pursued her academic formation at Sapienza University of Rome, where she earned her doctoral degree in cognitive neuroscience. Following her doctoral studies, she engaged in advanced postdoctoral research at the prestigious Collège de France and the Hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière in Paris, working under world-leading experts in spatial navigation and neuropsychology. She began her academic career as a researcher in the Life, Health, and Environmental Science Department at the University of L’Aquila, where she deepened her focus on spatial memory and cognitive differences. Her progression from researcher to associate professor reflected her outstanding contributions to the field, leading to her eventual appointment as full professor at Sapienza University of Rome. Throughout her academic training, she complemented her formal education with international collaborations, advanced methodological training, and interdisciplinary research experiences, shaping her into a versatile scholar with strong expertise at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience, clinical neuropsychology, and spatial cognition research

Experience

Laura Piccardi’s professional experience spans research, teaching, and clinical practice. She has held faculty positions at the University of L’Aquila and Sapienza University of Rome, where she teaches courses in general psychology, cognitive neuropsychology, spatial cognition, and learning disabilities. Her research has been supported by competitive grants, leading projects on spatial cognition, navigational memory, emotional-cognitive variables, and eco-sustainable decision-making. In addition to academic roles, she has collaborated extensively with rehabilitation and medical institutes, such as the IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia and San Raffaele facilities, integrating clinical work with cognitive neuroscience research. Internationally, she has engaged in partnerships with institutions in Singapore, Spain, Sweden, France, and the United States, expanding her research impact across cultural and methodological contexts. Her experience reflects a balance between laboratory-based research, applied clinical studies, and educational leadership, establishing her as a versatile academic committed to advancing both scientific knowledge and practical applications in psychology

Awards and Honors

Awards and Honors (150 words)
Laura Piccardi’s work has earned recognition through prestigious awards, editorial appointments, and invitations to speak at international conferences. Early in her career, she received the Young Researcher Award from Sapienza University of Rome, highlighting her potential for impactful contributions to cognitive neuroscience. She serves as an associate editor for prominent journals, including Frontiers in Cognitive Neuroscience, and as a guest editor for thematic issues in learning and memory. Her reputation in the field is further underscored by her role as a symposium organizer, invited speaker, and scientific reviewer for leading academic outlets. Her research collaborations with globally renowned universities and medical centers also reflect her standing in the international scientific community. These honors, combined with sustained funding for innovative projects, demonstrate her influence in shaping current discourse in spatial cognition, neuropsychology, and cognitive aging, while also inspiring a new generation of researchers through mentorship and cross-disciplinary engagement.

Research Focus

Laura Piccardi’s research centers on spatial cognition, exploring how individuals perceive, process, and remember spatial information, and how these abilities vary across populations. She investigates individual differences in spatial abilities, the cognitive mechanisms underlying navigation, and the neural bases of these processes in both healthy and clinical groups. Her work encompasses neuropsychological conditions such as hemineglect, multiple sclerosis, and cognitive decline, aiming to identify cognitive markers that could inform rehabilitation strategies. She has developed innovative experimental paradigms using virtual reality to study spatial memory, navigational skills, and the role of emotional and cognitive factors in decision-making. Additionally, her research addresses how environmental, social, and psychological factors influence spatial abilities, particularly in aging populations. By integrating clinical, experimental, and technological approaches, her work contributes to theoretical models of spatial cognition while offering practical implications for education, clinical rehabilitation, and human-environment interaction design

 

Publications

 

Title: Neural bases of personal and extrapersonal neglect in humans
Year: 2007
Citation: 403

Title: Development of neuropsychiatric symptoms in poststroke patients: a cross‐sectional study
Year: 2004
Citation: 321

Title: Gender effects in young road users on road safety attitudes, behaviors and risk perception
Year: 2016
Citation: 314

Title: Where do bright ideas occur in our brain? Meta-analytic evidence from neuroimaging studies of domain-specific creativity
Year: 2015
Citation: 311

Title: The meditative mind: A comprehensive meta‐analysis of MRI studies
Year: 2015
Citation: 278

Title: Walking in the Corsi test: which type of memory do you need?
Year: 2008
Citation: 195

Title: Frontal EEG asymmetry of mood: a mini-review
Year: 2017
Citation: 165

Title: Cognitive reserve in healthy aging and Alzheimer’s disease: a meta-analysis of fMRI studies
Year: 2016
Citation: 133

Conclusion

Laura Piccardi stands out as a leading figure in spatial cognition and neuropsychology, seamlessly integrating research, teaching, and clinical expertise. Her contributions span fundamental theory, experimental innovation, and applied practice, making her work relevant to both scientific and societal challenges. Through sustained international collaborations, influential publications, and impactful mentorship, she has advanced understanding of spatial memory, cognitive decline, and navigational processes. Her ability to bridge interdisciplinary perspectives ensures her research remains at the forefront of cognitive neuroscience. With a career defined by intellectual rigor, creativity, and collaborative spirit, she continues to shape the future of spatial cognition research worldwide.

Zhang Shuangqing | cognition | Best Researcher Award

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Prof. Zhang Shuangqing | cognition | Best Researcher Award

Dr. Shuang-Qing Zhang is a distinguished professor at the Department of Nutrition and Metabolism, National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese CDC, Beijing. With a robust academic background in pharmaceutics and over two decades of research experience, he has significantly contributed to the fields of pharmacokinetics, nutritional toxicology, and functional food safety. His global expertise is enriched through international collaborations, notably as a visiting senior fellow at the National University of Singapore and postdoctoral research in the USA. Dr. Zhang is a prolific author with numerous high-impact publications and is a respected editor across 20+ international journals. His research interests span selenium and cognitive function, nanoparticle drug delivery, and health food safety evaluation. He actively serves on multiple scientific committees and advisory boards in China. Through his innovative projects and policy-informing studies, Dr. Zhang continues to shape national nutrition, drug safety, and public health discourse.

Profile

🎓 Education

Dr. Shuang-Qing Zhang holds a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics from Peking University (2002–2005), after earning both B.S. and M.S. degrees in Pharmaceutics from Shenyang Pharmaceutical University (1995–2002). His academic foundation was solidified through extensive training in drug formulation, pharmacokinetics, and pharmaceutical sciences. He further advanced his expertise as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Mississippi and Texas Tech University (2005–2008), focusing on drug metabolism and toxicokinetics. In 2013–2014, he served as a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, where he explored translational nutrition research. This diverse and international academic training underpins his authoritative voice in pharmaceutics, toxicology, and nutrition science, and continues to inform his interdisciplinary research on health food safety, pharmacodynamics, and nanomedicine.

🧪 Experience

Dr. Zhang began his professional journey as a postdoctoral researcher in the United States before returning to China as an Associate Professor at the National Institutes for Food and Drug Control (2010–2012), specializing in drug metabolism and safety. Since 2012, he has been a Professor at the Chinese CDC’s Department of Nutrition and Metabolism, leading pioneering work in nutritional toxicology, pharmacokinetics, and health food evaluation. He serves as an expert evaluator for China’s major scientific funding and regulatory agencies, including the National Natural Science Foundation and Ministry of Science and Technology. Dr. Zhang also plays advisory roles in national health committees related to environmental mutagens and food safety. His dedication extends to editorial duties for over 20 journals and authorship of influential monographs in toxicology and nutriomics. He actively mentors scholars, oversees major research grants, and contributes to national policy development in food and drug safety.

🏅 Awards and Honors

Dr. Zhang has earned national recognition through prestigious funding awards such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Scientific Research Foundation for Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, and multiple provincial and national-level research programs. His leadership in interdisciplinary projects addressing osteoporosis, cancer drug development, and nanoparticle therapeutics has positioned him as a trusted advisor to government science bodies. In 2015 and 2019, he was a recipient of the National Publication Foundation Support for his authored books on nutriomics and medical foods. As an editorial board member and guest editor for numerous international scientific journals, Dr. Zhang has been honored for his editorial leadership and influence in the scientific publishing community. He is a Distinguished Professor at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and a standing or core member of several scientific committees across nutrition, toxicology, pharmacology, and food science sectors.

🔬 Research Focus

Dr. Zhang’s research encompasses nutritional pharmacology, drug metabolism, toxicokinetics, and functional food safety. He is internationally recognized for his studies on selenium’s role in cognitive function, publishing extensively on selenium intake, pharmacokinetics, and its neuroprotective effects in aging populations. His lab investigates nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems, targeting conditions like postmenopausal osteoporosis and cancer, with a focus on osteoblast-specific biomimetic designs. Another focal point is the pharmacodynamics of poly(L-glutamic acid)-paclitaxel conjugates, offering solutions to multi-drug resistance. Dr. Zhang also leads efforts in evaluating the safety and bioavailability of functional foods, including selenium-, zinc-, and chromium-enriched yeasts, using advanced techniques like UPLC-MS/MS and ion chromatography. His interdisciplinary research integrates toxicology, nutrition, and pharmaceutical science to bridge clinical translation and public health applications, while also informing regulatory policy on dietary intake thresholds and novel drug safety assessments in China and beyond.

✅ Conclusion

Dr. Shuang-Qing Zhang is a globally respected professor and scientist whose impactful research on nutritional pharmacology, selenium neurobiology, and nanomedicine has significantly advanced food and drug safety, earning him national recognition, global collaborations, and editorial leadership.

Publications

1. Bai YZ, Gao YX, Zhang SQ*. Identification of factors on blood selenium levels
in the US adults: a cross-sectional study. Nutrients, 2024, 16(11): e1734.
2. Bai YZ, Zhang SQ*. Selenium intake is an effective strategy for the
improvement of cognitive decline in low cognition older Americans. Int J Food
Sci Nutr. 2024, 75(7): 687-694. (* corresponding author)
3. Bai YZ, Li JM, Zhang SQ*. A nonlinear association between total selenium
intake and blood selenium concentration: an analysis based on the National
Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011-2018. J Food Sci. 2024,
89(12): 9955-9967. (* corresponding author)
4. Li JM, Bai YZ, Liu QY, Zhang SQ*. Mediation effect of oxidative stress on the
association between selenium intake and cognition in American adults.
Nutrients, 2024, 16(23): e4163. (* corresponding author)

 

 

 

 

Huifang Wang | Neuroscience | Best Researcher Award

Published on by Cognitive Scientist Awards

 Dr. Huifang Wang | Neuroscience | Best Researcher Award

Huifang Elizabeth Wang is a leading research engineer at INSERM U1106, Aix-Marseille University, France, specializing in computational neuroscience. Her career bridges robotics, brain modeling, and clinical neuroscience, with a primary focus on personalized brain simulations for neurological and psychiatric conditions, notably epilepsy. With over a decade of postdoctoral research across top French and Italian institutes, she has contributed to projects integrating physics-based modeling, large-scale neural dynamics, and effective connectivity. Her academic journey started in robotics and control theory in China and evolved into advanced brain modeling in Europe. She collaborates with renowned neuroscientists like Dr. Viktor Jirsa and has authored numerous high-impact publications in Science Translational Medicine, The Lancet Neurology, and NeuroImage. As PI and co-leader in several EU and national projects, she aims to bridge basic brain science with clinical translation. Wang’s work is pivotal in creating virtual brain twins to personalize epilepsy surgery and psychiatric interventions.

Profile

🎓 Education

Huifang Elizabeth Wang obtained her Ph.D. in Pattern Recognition and Intelligent Systems from Beijing University of Technology in 2008, focusing on optimization algorithms for robotic motion under Prof. Chen Yangzhou. She earned her M.S. from the same institution in 2003, researching advanced traffic control strategies. Her undergraduate degree (B.S.) in Electronic Engineering was awarded by Shandong Institute of Light Industry in 2000. Complementing her engineering foundation, she undertook a research visit at LAAS-CNRS in Toulouse in 2007, developing time-optimal trajectories for car-like robots. Currently, she is finalizing her HDR (Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches) at Aix-Marseille University (Nov 2024) under the supervision of Dr. Viktor Jirsa, with a thesis on “Virtual Brain Twins.” Her education spans multiple disciplines and institutions, combining engineering, neuroscience, and clinical modeling. This interdisciplinary background underpins her leadership in personalized neural modeling and translational neuroscience research.

🧪 Experience

Wang is a Research Engineer at INSERM U1106, Aix-Marseille University (2017–present), leading work on virtual brain twins for clinical use in epilepsy and psychiatry. Prior, she was a Postdoc at the Institut du Cerveau (ICM), Paris (2016–2017), studying human neuron behavior with Pr. Vincent Navarro. At École des Mines de Saint-Étienne (2016), she helped develop a physiological SEEG atlas. From 2012–2016, she worked at INSERM U1106 on brain connectivity under Drs. Bernard and Jirsa. Earlier, she researched robotic control and planning at the University of Pisa (2008–2010) in Prof. Antonio Bicchi’s group. Her expertise spans brain modeling, robotics, and neuroscience, with leadership in multi-institutional EU-funded projects. She has served as PI and co-leader in several major efforts like the Human Brain Project and EPINOV. Her interdisciplinary experience uniquely equips her to bridge theory, technology, and medicine in brain modeling applications.

🏅 Awards and Honors

Huifang Elizabeth Wang has earned prestigious research roles and leadership positions in major European and national initiatives. She is PI for the AMIDEX-funded HR-VEP project and WP4 leader in the Horizon RIA Virtual Brain Twin initiative (2024–2027). Her projects have been supported by the Human Brain Project, France 2030, and Horizon Europe. She served as co-task leader in HBP’s epilepsy-focused work packages and trial coordinator in EPINOV RHU, a national clinical modeling trial. Her work on brain modeling has been published in high-impact journals, underscoring her scientific excellence. She has collaborated with pioneers like Karl Friston and Viktor Jirsa, advancing the fields of functional connectivity and computational neuroscience. Additionally, she has been granted funding by institutions such as Fondation Recherche Médicale and Ligue Française contre l’Épilepsie, recognizing her contributions to translational neuroscience and computational modeling in clinical applications.

🔬 Research Focus

Wang’s research centers on developing personalized virtual brain models to understand and treat brain disorders such as epilepsy and psychiatric conditions. She specializes in large-scale neural modeling using neural mass and field models, enabling individual-specific simulations—a concept known as “virtual brain twins.” Her work integrates multimodal neuroimaging data (e.g., SEEG, MRI) with computational frameworks to predict surgical outcomes and guide interventions. As part of projects like VEP Atlas, EPINOV, and EBRAINS, she builds anatomical-functional atlases for clinical use. She also advances Bayesian techniques for parameter estimation in brain modeling. Her research bridges basic neuroscience with translational applications, using virtual brains to delineate epileptogenic zones and simulate drug-resistant epilepsy spread. In psychiatric disorders, her focus includes simulating and analyzing network dysfunction to support precision psychiatry. By blending machine learning, dynamical systems, and neuroinformatics, Wang’s work pioneers a new frontier in personalized medicine using brain simulations.

✅ Conclusion

Dr. Huifang Elizabeth Wang is an interdisciplinary researcher transforming clinical neuroscience through virtual brain modeling, combining engineering precision with neuroscientific insight. Her pioneering work in virtual brain twins supports individualized diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy and psychiatric disorders, representing a significant advance in precision medicine. With extensive experience, numerous publications, and leadership in high-impact research projects, she bridges theory and practice. Her scientific vision and collaborative leadership continue to shape the future of computational neuroscience and neurotechnology for patient care worldwide.

Publications