معرفی
Professor Lorina Naci is a leading academic in Psychology and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), where she leads the 'Consciousness and Cognition Group' and serves as a Fellow of Trinity College. She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge, awarded as an International Cooke Fellow. Her research focuses on developing biomarkers for cognition and consciousness in brain-injured and aging populations, including Alzheimer's patients, and explores medico-ethical implications of neuroimaging-based communication tools for non-responsive patients.
- Affiliations: Trinity College Dublin, Trinity Institute of Neurosciences (TCIN), Global Brain Health Institute (with UCSF).
- Education: PhD in Psychology (University of Cambridge, 2010).
Her groundbreaking work includes detecting covert awareness in vegetative state patients via neuroimaging and pioneering brain-computer interfaces for communication. She has secured €995,990 in recent grants, including HRB and Science Foundation Ireland awards. Key contributions include changing clinical practice guidelines for consciousness assessment and influencing policy frameworks globally.
Research interests span disorders of consciousness, dementia prevention, neuroimaging techniques, and ethics of neuroscience applications. Her work has been featured in Nature, Science, and over 200 media outlets worldwide.
- Awards: L'Oréal for Women in Science Fellowships (2016-2017), UNESCO Rising Talent Award, and multiple grants from HRB, SFI, and others.
- Grants: Lead PI on €31.5M 'TITAN' research centre proposal, SFI Frontiers Award (€1M pending).
Her lab’s current projects include the PREVENT-Dementia study, the largest midlife cohort investigating dementia origins, and developing biomarkers for early Alzheimer’s detection. She actively engages in public science communication through media interviews and policy advocacy.