Paul Sajda

Paul Sajda is the Vikram S. Pandit Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University. He is also a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Radiology (Physics) a Member of Columbia’s Data Science Institute, and an Affiliate of the Zuckerman Institute of Mind, Brain, and Behavior. He received a BS in electrical engineering from MIT in 1989 and an MSE and PhD in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992 and 1994, respectively. Professor Sajda is interested in what happens in our brains when we make a rapid decision and, conversely, what processes and representations in our brains drive our underlying preferences and choices, particularly when we are under time pressure. His work in understanding the basic principles of rapid decision-making in the human brain relies on measuring human subject behavior simultaneously with cognitive and physiological states. Professor Sajda applies the basic principles he uncovers to construct real-time brain-computer interfaces that improve interactions between humans and machines. He is also applying his methodology to understand how deficits in rapid decision-making may underlie and be diagnostic of many types of psychiatric diseases and mental illnesses. Professor Sajda is a co-founder of several neurotechnology companies and works closely with a range of scientists and engineers, including neuroscientists, psychologists, computer scientists, and clinicians. He is a fellow of the IEEE, AMBIE, IAMBE, and AAAS. He is also a recipient of the Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (VBFF), which is the DoD’s most prestigious single-investigator award. Professor Sajda currently serves as the President of IEEE EMBS (23-24).