The Yale Department of Neurosurgery at the Yale School of Medicine proudly announces that Eyiyemisi Damisah, MD, assistant professor of neurosurgery, has been honored with the prestigious Hypothesis Fund seed award. The Hypothesis Fund advances scientific knowledge by making seed grants that support particularly bold, early-stage research projects. The Fund identifies grantees through a world-class and diverse network of scientists they call "Scouts" to nominate cutting-edge ideas that would otherwise be un-pursued or underfunded.
Dr. Damisah's Hypothesis Fund project build upon years of her research in functional neuroscience, where she has discovered groundbreaking correlations between how single neurons in the brain relationally affect each other when learning new information, which has profound implications for scientists' understanding of how we learn.
Her research delves into the complexities of statistical learning in the brain, elucidating how humans recognize spatial and temporal patterns. This intrinsic mechanism allows us to grasp concepts with structural regularity, be it language acquisition or understanding new environments and experiences.
This exploration promises more than just a deeper understanding of fundamental brain functions; it brings hope for better comprehension of cognitive variations in neurodiverse individuals, such as those diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and dyslexia. Moreover, her efforts might lay the groundwork for innovative studies addressing learning disabilities and cognitive impairment.
"Yemi's project seeks to understand the neurological basis of learning in the human brain directly from recordings of single cells; her rigorous computational approach and rare access to human recordings is thrilling. Her project has profound implications for understanding how neurons compute patterns and will have impact across theoretical and experimental human neuroscience," says Edward Chang, MD, Professor of Neurological Surgery at UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences who serves as a Scout for the Hypothesis Fund.
"Dr. Damisah's research project is a terrific example of basic science - inspired by clinical experience - with the potential to yield new fundamental knowledge for her field. We are thrilled to support Dr. Damisah's bold research," says David Sanford, founder and CEO of the Hypothesis Fund.
The Yale Department of Neurosurgery at the Yale School of Medicine offers its congratulations to Dr. Damisah and appreciation to the Hypothesis Fund for recognizing Dr. Damisah as a top talent in the field of medicine.