Swathi Kiran
Director, Center for Brain Recovery
Founding Director, Center for Brain Recovery. Director of Aphasia Research Laboratory. James and Cecilia Tse Ying Professor of Neurorehabilitation Department of Speech Language and Hearing Sciences.
Research interests: Neuroscience, Brain Plasticity, Language Recovery, Rehabilitation, Bilingualism
About
Swathi Kiran is the Founding Director of the Center for Brain Recovery (CBR), Director of the Aphasia Research Laboratory, and James and Cecilia Tse Ying Professor of the Neurorehabilitation Department of Speech Language and Hearing Sciences at Boston University. Dr. Kiran is also the Co-founder and Scientific Director of Constant Therapy Heath, an organization utilizing machine learning methods to develop individualized recovery plans for individuals with traumatic brain injury, aphasia, dementia, or other neurological conditions.
Dr. Kiran brings with her several years of experience since receiving her PhD in Speech Language Pathology from Northwestern in 2001 in the field of speech and language, neuroimaging, and brain recovery, that allow for an interdisciplinary approach to her research at the CBR. Her academic research focuses on neuroscience, brain plasticity, language recovery, and bilingualism, as she also oversees several projects by her graduate and undergraduate students at both CDS and CBR. These projects include Predicting Rehabilitation Outcomes in Bilingual Aphasia using Computational Modeling, Mapping Aphasia Recovery in the Brain, and Neuroimaging in the Everyday World (NEW).
At the CBR, Dr. Kiran and her team hold over 13 events drawing over 4,000 attendees and publish over 30 papers annually, bringing together more than 20 countries to engage in brain recovery research. As Co-chair for the annual NEW conference, Dr. Kiran works to bring together researchers working on emerging technologies and studies to understand the brain in the everyday world through wearable neuroimaging devices. She presents her findings during this two-day conference at Boston University alongside 13 other speakers in the field and over 30 poster presentations by students and affiliates.
Dr. Kiran plans to expand the interdisciplinary collaborative efforts at the CBR to develop advanced neuroimaging approaches to study the brain, sophisticated computational and AI models to predict brain function and continue to provide high-quality clinical care.
My Recent CV:
KIRAN CV 20KIRAN CV 2024.
My Recent Talks:
Watch my recent talk at TedxBU
Watch my recent talk at the 2021 Brain Imaging Research Center at the University Of Connecticut
Watch 2018 talk for the C-STAR online aphasia lecture
Appointments:
2022- Present Founding Director, Center for Brain Recovery
2020- present Scientific Advisor, Co-Founder, Constant Therapy Health
2020- 2024 Steering Committee, Hariri Institute of Computing and Computational Sciences, Boston University
2020- present Member, Faculty for Computing and Data Sciences, Boston University
2018- 2022 Associate Dean for Research, Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Boston University
2018- present Faculty, Boston University Neurophotonics Center (NPC)
2017- 2020 Consultant, The Learning Corporation (FKA Constant Therapy)
2016- 2020 Faculty, Hariri Institute of Computing and Computational Sciences, Boston University
2014-present Professor, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Boston University Sargent College of Health Sciences
2014-present Faculty, Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University
2012-2017 Co-Founder, Chief Scientific Advisor, Constant Therapy
2010-present Faculty, Joint Programmatic Appointment, Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience, Boston University
2009-present Member, Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Boston University
Professional Activities:
International:
2021 Board Member, National Aphasia Association
2020 Chair, Board of Governors, Academy of Aphasia
2020 Section Editor, Neuropsychologia
2019 Associate Editor, Brain and Language
2018 Board of Governors, Academy of Aphasia
2019 Associate Editor, Brain and Language,
2018 Conference Chair, Clinical Aphasiology Conference
2018 Associate Editor, Frontiers In Neurology: Stroke
2017 Program Chair, Clinical Aphasiology Conference
2016- present Review Editor, Frontiers in Psychology: Cognition
2016- present Editorial Board, Bilingualism Language and Cognition
National:
2024- Member, Advisory Council, National Institutes of Deafness and Communication Disorders
2019-2023 Standing Member, NIH LCOM panel
2019 Committee Member, ASHA Lessons for Success Conference
2017 Organizer, Aphasia and Language Recovery Symposium. Boston University, CRESCENT, Hariri Institute of Computing and Computational Sciences
2017 Chairperson, NIDCD VSL Special Emphasis Panel
2016- present Ad-hoc member, VA Merit Review Panel, NIH F01B, LCOM, CDRC panels
2016 Faculty Mentor, ASHA Lessons for Success Conference
2015- present Member, Research and Education Committee, Aphasia Access
2011-2015 Standing Member, NIH/NIDCD CDRC review panel
2014-2015 Member, Strategic Planning Committee for ASHA Journals Program.
2011- Present Member, Organizing Committee, NIDCD R13 DC006295: Research Symposium in Clinical Aphasiology
2014 Reviewer, ASHA Grantsmanship and Reviewer Training Program. Organized by American Speech Language and Hearing Association and American Speech Language Foundation.
2010-2017 Associate Editor: Language, Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research
Grants:
Externally Funded
Research
Research
2020- 2025 NIH/NIBIB 1U01EB029856-01. The Neuroscience of Everyday World- A novel wearable system for continuous measurement of brain function (MPI: Swathi Kiran)
2019-2022 NIH/NIDCD 1R01DC015961-01A1 Functional reorganization of the language and domain-general multiple demand systems in aphasia. MPI: Swathi Kiran ($3,594,247).
2018-2020 NIH/ NIBIB R01EB026998 Next-generation optical brain functional imaging platform (PI: Qianqian Fang; Role: subcontract)
2018-2023 NIH/NIDCD R13 1R13DC017375-01, Academy of Aphasia Research and Training Symposium. PI: Swathi Kiran ($192,618)
2016-2021 NIH/NIDCD 1U01DC014922. Predicting rehabilitation outcomes in bilingual aphasia using computational modeling. MPI: Swathi Kiran ($3,269,847)
2015-2017 ASHA Office of Multicultural Affairs. Projects on multicultural activities Development of a Free Online Interactive Naming Therapy for Bilingual Aphasia. PIs: Chaleece Sandberg, Teresa Gray, Swathi Kiran
2013-2018 NIDCD/NIH 1P50DC012283-01 Neurobiology of language recovery in aphasia, natural and treatment induced recovery. PI: Cynthia Thompson, ($7,500,000) Sub Project PIs Swathi Kiran (BU: $791,855)