The Ware Foundation and FIU Professor Malek Adjouadi

“Trying to understand the workings of the brain is perhaps the most challenging task a researcher or scientist can face,” said Dr. Malek Adjouadi, associate professor in FIU’s College of Engineering and Computing’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the Center for Advanced Technology and Education (CATE). “Our graduate students are inspired to perform research that carries with it significant impact to the medical field as well as to our community.”
For more than a decade, researchers at the CATE Center, together with medical experts at Miami Children’s Hospital (MCH) Brain Institute, have worked diligently on advanced medical imaging and the means to improve the diagnosis of children with epilepsy. Thanks to a recent grant of $225,000 from the Ware Foundation, Dr. Adjouadi and his team are advancing breakthroughs in neuroscience that are already benefiting patients and their families in South Florida.

“The support of Miami Children’s Hospital Brain Institute has been instrumental in carrying out clinical research with broad societal impact, especially in pediatric epilepsy. This joint Neuroengineering Program would not have been possible without the support and leadership of Dr. Prasanna Jayakar and his team at the Brain Institute,” said Dr. Adjouadi.

Emerging Frontiers in Neuroscience
The FIU-MCH partnership has fostered an interdisciplinary environment that prepares future engineers and scientists to collaborate with experts in engineering, computing, the biosciences and medicine.
Dr. Jayakar, chair of the Brain Institute, advocates for the unprecedented collaboration. “We are jointly embracing emerging frontiers in neuroscience and engineering to create new knowledge of brain development. Through the support of both institutions, the Neuroengineering Program will continue offering hope for devastating illnesses of the nervous system.”
The ongoing success of the Neuroengineering Program, pioneered by Dr. Adjouadi, would not be possible without the support of the Ware Foundation.
“We are extremely grateful for the continued support of the Ware Foundation, which now extends to the Assistant Professorship in Science and Learning,” said Dr. Adjouadi.
FIU looks forward to strengthening and sustaining its mutually beneficial partnership with the Ware Foundation for years to come, building on past success and advancing our mutual commitment to 21st century innovation.