Sharmila A. Chari, Ph. D

                                                            43714, Scarlet Square

                                                            Chantilly, VA 20152

                                                            schari@gmu.edu

                                                            sharmilachari@yahoo.com

                                                            703-993-4376 (office)

                                                            703-945-7663 (mobile)

 

Current Profession & Research Engagements

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Research Assistant Professor, Adolescent & Adult Learning Research Center, Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.

Working as Clinical NeuroPsychologist since 2001, in the research programs ‘Youth of Promise, Phase I-III ’ and  ‘Special Projects and Demonstrations for Providing Vocational Rehabilitation Services to Individuals with Severe Disabilities’ both funded by US Department of Education

 

Specialist Training & Expertise

 

Design, Development, Administration and Statistical Analysis of Cognitive and Neuropsychological Assessments for

(a)    Learning-disabled & normal, adolescent & adults

(b)    HIV-infected population and AIDS patients

Statistical Analysis of Clinical & Psychophysiological Data

Advanced Statistical Applications: SPSS and SAS  

Knowledge Base: Neurosciences- Clinical & Developmental NeuroPsychology

Knowledge Domain & Core Competency: Psychometric & ERP/EEG Evaluations

 

Summary of Professional Experience

 

2002 till date: Research Assistant Professor, Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

2001-2002: Post-doctoral Fellow, Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

  • Evaluated feasibility and cost/benefit of several commercial, computer-driven, software remediation programs for learning-disabled school children, through experimental ERP/EEG assessments. 
  • Anchor-person for establishing on-site ERP/EEG laboratory facilities at select Middle and High Schools in Northern Virginia. 
  • Leadership role for cross-functional teams in design, development and creation of databases, data-mining and analysis of Psychometric, EEG as well as ERP results
  • Contributed to collaborative experimental studies on the application of fully optimized linear and quadratic canonical discrimination analysis in the resolution of physiological responses to auditory stimuli in school children – Submitted to Journal of Cognitive Neurosciences
  • Resource and contact person- Responsible for manuscript development, preparation and dissemination, communication with other scientists that are renowned experts in and related fields of Clinical NeuroPsychology

 

1999-2000: Project Officer, Department of PsychoPharmacology, National Institute of Mental Health & NeuroSciences  (NIMHANS), Bangalore, India

  • Engaged in two projects on Alternative Systems of Medicine for the pharmaceutical companies Astra & Aristo Pharma, on PsychoPharmacological aspects of proprietary drug molecules. Investigated cognitive effects of Ayurvedic drugs in animal models

 

1994-1999:  Ph. D Scholar, Departments.of NeuroPsychology & NeuroVirology, HIV/AIDS Section, NIMHANS, Bangalore, India.

·         Specialized in NeuroPsychology with major emphasis on PsychoPhysiological and NeuroPsychological Correlates of Cognitive Functioning in HIV Positive Subjects. Conducted research and training programs in AIDS/HIV. Convened, coordinated  and conducted workshops and outreach programs for training of instructors in AIDS/HIV Counseling under CMC Hospital as well as national Programs of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)

 

1993-1998:  Research Associate, Indo-US Project Deaddiction Unit, NIMHANS, Bangalore, India

  • Indo-US Project ‘PsychoPhysiological and NeuroPsychological Correlates of Recovery from Chronic Alcoholism’ at NIMHANS. Adjunct position during Ph. D Program                   

 

1988 -1993:  Lecturer, Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India

  • Taught and trained postgraduate and undergraduate students of Medicine, Nursing, Psychiatry, Occupational and Physiotherapy. In Clinical Psychology: Completed course on Principles and Practice of Epidemiology 

 

                                       

Recent Bibliography:

 

  • Sharmila Chari, John H Wasserman and Barbara K Given (2006) An Emerging Model of Sublexical and Lexical Influences on Reading. (Submitted to Reading Research Quarterly) 
  • Sharmila Chari, John H Wasserman and Barbara K Given (2006) Model of Sublexical and Lexical Influences of reading revisited (in preparation) 
  • John H Wasserman, Sharmila Chari and Barbara K Given (2005) A Randomized, controlled Investigation of Fast ForWord in Middle School Struggling Readers (Submitted to Reading Research Quarterly)  
  • Stepan Y Kruglikov, Sharmila Chari, Paul E Rapp, Steven L Weinstein, Barbara K Given and Steven J Schiff (2005). Fully Optimized Discrimination of Physiological Responses to Auditory Stimuli (submitted to Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience) 
  • Guinevere Eden, Sharmila Chari and Barbara K Given (2006). Effectiveness Of Computer Generated Intervention Program For Reading in Disabled Children (in preparation)
  • Barbara K Given, Sharmila Chari and Julie Ennis  (2003). Differences in Low Average and Expert readers as Measured by EEG/ERPs: Preliminary Findings and Challenges of an In School Psycho- Physiological Research project. Paper presented at American Educational Research Association 2004 Annual Meeting, for the session ‘Educational Neuroscience: Building Bridges from Research to Educational Practice’.

 

References:

 

Dr. Barbara K Given, Director, Adolescent & Adult Learning Research Center, Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030.E-mail: bgiven@gmu.edu, Phone: 703-993-4406

 

Dr. James L Olds, Professor of Computational Neurosciences and Director, Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030. E-mail: jolds@gmu.edu  Phone: 703-993-4378 / 703-993-4333

 

Dr. Harold J Morowitz,, Robinson Professor of Biology and Biochemistry, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030. E-mail: morowitz@gmu.edu Phone: 703-993-4334