Pavan Ramdya
{{short description|US-American neuroscientist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox academic
| honorific_prefix = Professor
| name = Pavan Ramdya
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| image = EPFL Pavan Ramdya.jpg
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| caption = Pavan Ramdya in 2016
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| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1979}}
| birth_place = New York City
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| citizenship = United States
Switzerland
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| website = https://www.epfl.ch/labs/ramdya-lab/
| education = Neuroscience
| alma_mater = Drew University
Harvard University
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| doctoral_advisor = Florian Engert
| academic_advisors = Richard Benton
Dario Floreano
Michael Dickinson
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| discipline = Neuroscience
| sub_discipline = Neuroengineering
| workplaces = École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
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| main_interests = Neuroscience
Neuroengineering
Robotics
Synthetic neurobiology
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Pavan Ramdya (born 1979) is an American and Swiss neuroscientist and bioengineer. His research centers on understanding the cognitive and neuromechanical control of behavior toward applications in robotics and artificial intelligence. He holds the Firmenich Next Generation Chair in neuroscience and bioengineering at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), and is head of the Neuroengineering Laboratory at EPFL's School of Life Sciences.{{Cite web|title=Brexit: closer cooperation with the UK cannot replace participation in Horizon 2020 {{!}} ETH-Board|url=https://www.ethrat.ch/en/medien-medienmitteilungen/brexit-engere-zusammenarbeit-mit-grossbritannien-kann-teilnahme-horizon-2020-nicht-ersetzen|access-date=2020-10-09|website=www.ethrat.ch}}{{Cite web|title=Neuroengineering Laboratory - EPFL|url=https://www.epfl.ch/labs/ramdya-lab/|access-date=2020-10-09|website=www.epfl.ch|language=en-GB}}{{Cite web|date=July 30, 2020|title=Keynote speakers|url=https://www.fens.org/Documents/PDF%20files/CAJAL/2020/NCBCB/NCBCB%20Speakers-2.pdf|access-date=2020-10-13|website=Federation of European Neuroscience Societies}}
Career
Ramdya studied neuroscience at Drew University, where he received his bachelor's degree with honors (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) in 2001.{{Cite web|date=February 16, 2019|title=Curriculum vitae – Pavan Ramdya|url=https://www.epfl.ch/labs/ramdya-lab/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ramdya_CV.pdf}} He continued his studies at Harvard University and in 2009 received a PhD for his work in the group of Florian Engert.{{Cite web|title=Alumni|url=https://www.engertlab.org/alumni|access-date=2020-10-09|website=Engert Lab|language=en}}{{Cite journal|last1=Ramdya|first1=Pavan|last2=Engert|first2=Florian|date=August 10, 2008|title=Emergence of binocular functional properties in a monocular neural circuit|url= |journal=Nature Neuroscience|language=en|volume=11|issue=9|pages=1083–1090|doi=10.1038/nn.2166|issn=1097-6256|pmc=2958220|pmid=19160507}} He then went on to perform postdoctoral work in neurogenetics and robotics in the laboratories of Richard Benton at University of Lausanne (UNIL) and Dario Floreano at EPFL, respectively. There he studied locomotor control and collective behavior in Drosophila melanogaster.{{Cite journal|last1=Ramdya|first1=Pavan|last2=Lichocki|first2=Pawel|last3=Cruchet|first3=Steeve|last4=Frisch|first4=Lukas|last5=Tse|first5=Winnie|last6=Floreano|first6=Dario|last7=Benton|first7=Richard|date=December 24, 2014|title=Mechanosensory interactions drive collective behaviour in Drosophila|url= |journal=Nature|language=en|volume=519|issue=7542|pages=233–236|doi=10.1038/nature14024|issn=0028-0836|pmc=4359906|pmid=25533959|bibcode=2015Natur.519..233R }}{{Cite journal|last1=Ramdya|first1=Pavan|last2=Thandiackal|first2=Robin|last3=Cherney|first3=Raphael|last4=Asselborn|first4=Thibault|last5=Benton|first5=Richard|last6=Ijspeert|first6=Auke Jan|last7=Floreano|first7=Dario|date=March 17, 2017|title=Climbing favours the tripod gait over alternative faster insect gaits|url= |journal=Nature Communications|language=en|volume=8|issue=1|pages=14494|doi=10.1038/ncomms14494|issn=2041-1723|pmc=5321742|pmid=28211509|bibcode=2017NatCo...814494R}}{{Cite journal|last1=Maesani|first1=Andrea|last2=Ramdya|first2=Pavan|last3=Cruchet|first3=Steeve|last4=Gustafson|first4=Kyle|last5=Benton|first5=Richard|last6=Floreano|first6=Dario|date=November 23, 2015|editor-last=Faisal|editor-first=Aldo A|title=Fluctuation-Driven Neural Dynamics Reproduce Drosophila Locomotor Patterns|journal=PLOS Computational Biology|language=en|volume=11|issue=11|pages=e1004577|doi=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004577|issn=1553-7358|pmc=4657918|pmid=26600381|bibcode=2015PLSCB..11E4577M |doi-access=free }} In 2015, he moved to the California Institute of Technology to work as a visiting postdoctoral fellow with Michael Dickinson where he developed a means for imaging motor circuit activity in behaving Drosophila.{{Cite journal|last1=Chen|first1=Chin-Lin|last2=Hermans|first2=Laura|last3=Viswanathan|first3=Meera C.|last4=Fortun|first4=Denis|last5=Aymanns|first5=Florian|last6=Unser|first6=Michael|last7=Cammarato|first7=Anthony|last8=Dickinson|first8=Michael H.|last9=Ramdya|first9=Pavan|date=October 22, 2018|title=Imaging neural activity in the ventral nerve cord of behaving adult Drosophila|url= |journal=Nature Communications|language=en|volume=9|issue=1|pages=4390|doi=10.1038/s41467-018-06857-z|issn=2041-1723|pmc=6197219|pmid=30348941|bibcode=2018NatCo...9.4390C}}{{Cite web|title=PEOPLE {{!}} Dickinson Lab|url=https://dickinsonlab.caltech.edu/people/|access-date=2020-10-09|website=dickinsonlab.caltech.edu}}
Since 2017 he has been a professor of neuroscience and bioengineering at EPFL, and head of the Neuroengineering Laboratory located in both the Brain Mind Institute and at the Institute of Bioengineering in EPFL's School of Life Sciences.{{Cite journal|last1=Günel|first1=Semih|last2=Rhodin|first2=Helge|last3=Morales|first3=Daniel|last4=Campagnolo|first4=João|last5=Ramdya|first5=Pavan|last6=Fua|first6=Pascal|date=October 4, 2019|editor-last=O'Leary|editor-first=Timothy|editor2-last=Calabrese|editor2-first=Ronald L|editor3-last=Shaevitz|editor3-first=Josh W|title=DeepFly3D, a deep learning-based approach for 3D limb and appendage tracking in tethered, adult Drosophila|url= |journal=eLife|volume=8|pages=e48571|doi=10.7554/eLife.48571|pmid=31584428|pmc=6828327|issn=2050-084X |doi-access=free }}
Research
Ramdya's research is focused on reverse-engineering biological neuromechanical control to inspire the development of artificial systems that can mimic the flexibility and agility of animal behaviors. Specifically, he studies limb-dependent behaviors in the adult fly, Drosophila melanogaster, employing an interdisciplinary approach which draws on genetic manipulations, neural and behavioral recordings, physics simulations and artificial neural networks.{{Cite journal|last1=Ramdya|first1=Pavan|last2=Thandiackal|first2=Robin|last3=Cherney|first3=Raphael|last4=Asselborn|first4=Thibault|last5=Benton|first5=Richard|last6=Ijspeert|first6=Auke Jan|last7=Floreano|first7=Dario|date=February 17, 2017|title=Climbing favours the tripod gait over alternative faster insect gaits|url= |journal=Nature Communications|language=en|volume=8|issue=1|pages=14494|doi=10.1038/ncomms14494|issn=2041-1723|pmc=5321742|pmid=28211509|bibcode=2017NatCo...814494R}}{{Cite journal|last1=Uhlmann|first1=Virginie|last2=Ramdya|first2=Pavan|last3=Delgado-Gonzalo|first3=Ricard|last4=Benton|first4=Richard|last5=Unser|first5=Michael|date=April 28, 2017|title=FlyLimbTracker: An active contour based approach for leg segment tracking in unmarked, freely behaving Drosophila|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=12|issue=4|pages=e0173433|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0173433|issn=1932-6203|pmc=5409058|pmid=28453566|bibcode=2017PLoSO..1273433U|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last1=Ramdya|first1=Pavan|last2=Lichocki|first2=Pawel|last3=Cruchet|first3=Steeve|last4=Frisch|first4=Lukas|last5=Tse|first5=Winnie|last6=Floreano|first6=Dario|last7=Benton|first7=Richard|date=December 24, 2014|title=Mechanosensory interactions drive collective behaviour in Drosophila|url= |journal=Nature|language=en|volume=519|issue=7542|pages=233–236|bibcode=2015Natur.519..233R|doi=10.1038/nature14024|issn=1476-4687|pmc=4359906|pmid=25533959}}{{Cite journal|last1=Gosztolai|first1=Adam|last2=Günel|first2=Semih|last3=Abrate|first3=Marco Pietro|last4=Morales|first4=Daniel|last5=Ríos|first5=Victor Lobato|last6=Rhodin|first6=Helge|last7=Fua|first7=Pascal|last8=Ramdya|first8=Pavan|date=September 20, 2020|title=LiftPose3D, a deep learning-based approach for transforming 2D to 3D pose in laboratory animals|url=https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.18.292680v1|journal=bioRxiv|language=en|pages=2020.09.18.292680|doi=10.1101/2020.09.18.292680|s2cid=221882266|doi-access=free}}{{Excessive citations inline|date=October 2020}}
His research has been featured in National Geographic,{{Cite web|last=Yong|first=Ed|date=December 24, 2014|title=The Wisdom of the Fly Crowds|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2014/12/24/the-wisdom-of-the-fly-crowds/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724215255/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2014/12/24/the-wisdom-of-the-fly-crowds/|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 24, 2020|access-date=2020-10-12|website=National Geographic}} IEEE Spectrum,{{Cite web|title=Six-Legged Robot One-Ups Nature With Faster Gait|url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/six-legged-robot-oneups-nature-with-faster-gait|access-date=2020-10-12|website=IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News|date=February 21, 2017|language=en}} Nature,{{Cite journal|last=Kwok|first=Roberta|date=September 30, 2019|title=Deep learning powers a motion-tracking revolution|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=574|issue=7776|pages=137–138|doi=10.1038/d41586-019-02942-5|pmid=31570871|bibcode=2019Natur.574..137K|s2cid=203592858|doi-access=free}} Quanta Magazine,{{Cite web|last=Cepelewicz|first=Jordana|title=To Decode the Brain, Scientists Automate the Study of Behavior|url=https://www.quantamagazine.org/to-decode-the-brain-scientists-automate-the-study-of-behavior-20191210/|access-date=2020-10-12|website=Quanta Magazine|date=December 10, 2019|language=en}} and Le Monde.{{Cite news|date=February 23, 2017|title=Ce robot à six pattes a trouvé une façon plus rapide de se déplacer que les insectes|language=fr|work=Le Monde.fr|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2017/02/23/ce-robot-a-six-pattes-a-trouve-une-facon-plus-rapide-de-se-deplacer-que-les-insectes_5084306_4408996.html|access-date=2020-10-12}}
Distinctions
He is a member of the FENS-Kavli Network of Excellence.{{Cite web|title=PAVAN RAMDYA – FKNE|url=https://fenskavlinetwork.org/portfolio/pavan-ramdya/|access-date=2020-10-12|language=en-GB}} He has been the recipient of HFSP Long-term and Career Development Awards,{{Cite web|title=Awards {{!}} Human Frontier Science Program|url=https://www.hfsp.org/awardees/awards|access-date=2020-10-13|website=www.hfsp.org}} as well as the UNIL Biology and Medicine, Young Investigator Award in Basic Science. In 2019, he was awarded an SNSF Eccellenza Grant.{{Cite web|date=December 17, 2019|title=Eccellenza: List of awardees (2019)|url=http://www.snf.ch/SiteCollectionDocuments/Eccellenza_Liste_Beitragsempfangende_e.pdf|access-date=2020-10-12}}
Selected works
- {{cite journal |doi=10.1038/s41467-018-06857-z|title=Imaging neural activity in the ventral nerve cord of behaving adult Drosophila|year=2018|last1=Chen|first1=Chin-Lin|last2=Hermans|first2=Laura|last3=Viswanathan|first3=Meera C.|last4=Fortun|first4=Denis|last5=Aymanns|first5=Florian|last6=Unser|first6=Michael|last7=Cammarato|first7=Anthony|last8=Dickinson|first8=Michael H.|last9=Ramdya|first9=Pavan|journal=Nature Communications|volume=9|issue=1|page=4390|pmid=30348941|pmc=6197219|bibcode=2018NatCo...9.4390C|s2cid=27866747|doi-access=free}}
- {{cite journal |doi=10.7554/eLife.48571|title=DeepFly3D, a deep learning-based approach for 3D limb and appendage tracking in tethered, adult Drosophila|year=2019|last1=Günel|first1=Semih|last2=Rhodin|first2=Helge|last3=Morales|first3=Daniel|last4=Campagnolo|first4=João|last5=Ramdya|first5=Pavan|last6=Fua|first6=Pascal|journal=eLife|volume=8|pmid=31584428|pmc=6828327 |doi-access=free }}
- {{cite journal |doi=10.1038/ncomms14494|title=Climbing favours the tripod gait over alternative faster insect gaits|year=2017|last1=Ramdya|first1=Pavan|last2=Thandiackal|first2=Robin|last3=Cherney|first3=Raphael|last4=Asselborn|first4=Thibault|last5=Benton|first5=Richard|last6=Ijspeert|first6=Auke Jan|last7=Floreano|first7=Dario|journal=Nature Communications|volume=8|page=14494|pmid=28211509|pmc=5321742|bibcode=2017NatCo...814494R|s2cid=2108620|doi-access=free}}
- {{cite journal |doi=10.1038/nature14024|title=Mechanosensory interactions drive collective behaviour in Drosophila|year=2015|last1=Ramdya|first1=Pavan|last2=Lichocki|first2=Pawel|last3=Cruchet|first3=Steeve|last4=Frisch|first4=Lukas|last5=Tse|first5=Winnie|last6=Floreano|first6=Dario|last7=Benton|first7=Richard|journal=Nature|volume=519|issue=7542|pages=233–236|pmid=25533959|pmc=4359906|bibcode=2015Natur.519..233R|s2cid=2463744|url=http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/204267/files/nature14024.pdf}}
- {{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.tig.2010.04.004|title=Evolving olfactory systems on the fly|year=2010|last1=Ramdya|first1=Pavan|last2=Benton|first2=Richard|journal=Trends in Genetics|volume=26|issue=7|pages=307–316|pmid=20537755}}
- {{cite journal |doi=10.1038/nn.2166|title=Emergence of binocular functional properties in a monocular neural circuit|year=2008|last1=Ramdya|first1=Pavan|last2=Engert|first2=Florian|journal=Nature Neuroscience|volume=11|issue=9|pages=1083–1090|pmid=19160507|pmc=2958220}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Google Scholar id|id=VGOSUXMAAAAJ}}
- Publication listed on [https://publons.com/researcher/1364856/pavan-ramdya Publons]
- Website of the [https://ramdya-lab.epfl.ch Neuroengineering Laboratory]
{{Authority control}}
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Category:Drew University alumni
Category:Harvard University alumni
Category:University of Lausanne alumni
Category:Academic staff of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne