Zahra Moussavi

Zahra Moussavi is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Manitoba’s Price Faculty of Engineering. Her research focuses on biomedical engineering applications, including Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis and treatment, sleep apnea detection, and neurorehabilitation using virtual reality (VR) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). She leads the Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program and has pioneered EVestG technology for vestibular diagnostics.

Education: PhD in Electrical Engineering (University of Manitoba, 1997), Postdoctoral Fellow in Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University (1999). Active in translational research, she has published over 310 peer-reviewed articles and given 126+ invited talks, including TEDx and keynote presentations. Awards include Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba’s Technical Excellence Award (2018) and recognition as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women.

Research Themes: Alzheimer’s therapy via rTMS and VR, OSA screening during wakefulness using tracheal breathing sounds, EVestG-based vestibular diagnostics, and fluid-structure interaction modeling of upper airways. Her work bridges engineering and clinical practice, emphasizing non-pharmaceutical interventions and patient-centered technology.

Lab/Team: Directs labs focused on medical device innovation and neurotechnology. Collaborates on CanStim platform for non-invasive brain stimulation trials. Engaged in public outreach, authoring science articles and developing memory fitness programs for seniors.