Aditi Shankardass
Aditi Shankardass (Hindi: अद त श करद स) is an award-winning neuroscientist. Her pioneering clinical work using electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings of the brain to help diagnose developmental disorders in children has been covered by the press worldwide, including CNN, ABC News, Times of India, and Financial Express, and was the subject of her widely acclaimed TED talk in 2009 at the TED conference. Her previous work using EEG recordings of the brain to help identify the underlying neurological cause of dyslexia, was the subject of her award-winning presentation at the United Kingdom Parliament in 2001 at the Annual Reception for Britain's Top Young Scientists, Engineers and Technologists. Shankardass serves as a board member of the Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation, an organisation devoted to raising global awareness of neurological and psychiatric disorders. She has been a consultant for the BBC Science Line in the UK, providing expertise for radio and TV documentaries. She has also been a presenter on Zee TV in the UK. Her father is celebrity lawyer Vijay Shankardass, whose clients include His Royal Highness Nizam of Hyderabad, author Salman Rushdie, actor Michael Douglas, Amnesty International, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, Penguin Books and Virgin Group. Her mother is social historian and Penal Reform International chairperson Rani Dhavan Shankardass. She is the granddaughter of His Excellency Shanti Swaroop Dhavan, Governor of West Bengal and Indian High Commissioner (Ambassador) to the United Kingdom. She is the great-granddaughter of Rai Bahadur (Most Honorable Prince) Bali Ram Dhavan of the North West Frontier Province, formerly of India. Shankardass was born in London, educated between New Delhi and London, and currently resides between Los Angeles and Boston.