We are building the most detailed human brain maps in the world: IIT-Madras Prof Mohanasankar Sivaprakasam

Mohanasankar spoke to theashm.com on his research interests, the pathbreaking work being done by the centres he heads, the medtech ecosystem, and the challenges that startups face. Edited excerpts:

Dr Mohanasankar Sivaprakasam is a Professor at IIT Madras and heads the Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre (HTIC) as well as the Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre.

Established in 2011, HTIC is a leading med-tech innovation ecosystem that brings together around 40 medical institutions, industries, and government agencies to develop and deploy affordable healthcare technologies.

The Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre focuses on imaging entire human brains and is working towards generating the world’s most detailed cell-resolution human brain maps across the human lifespan, including for various brain diseases

A recipient of numerous awards, Mohanasankar was recently conferred with the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar for ‘outstanding and inspiring’ contributions in science and technology. He holds a B Tech degree from Anna University, an MS in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University, and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of California at Santa Cruz.