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Summary

The lunch Talk by Dr. Preeya Khanna was held on May 10, 2025 at M.P. Srinivasan’s residence.

Biography of Dr. Preeya Khanna

Preeya Khanna received a B.S.E in Bioengineering and Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania in 2012, and a Ph.D in the Joint Graduate Group in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley and UCSF in 2017. She completed her postdoctoral training in the Department of Neurology at UCSF. Her research combines sensorimotor systems neuroscience, network modeling, and neurotechnology development with the goal of uncovering principles of how distributed brain networks coordinate to control skillful dexterous movements. These principles are then leveraged to design neurophysiologically-grounded brain-machine interface therapies such as neurofeedback and myoelectric feedback paradigms, and neuromodulation approaches for restoring movement control in patients with damaged sensorimotor systems.

Summary

We had a very productive meeting to take the IISc AANA Northern California Chapter to the next level and make it a vibrant community.   Our meeting frequency has slowed down due to pandemic and restarting always takes more effort. Here is the summary of yesterday’s meeting.

• IISc AANA’s Northern California/ Bay Area chapter has been very active due to the pioneering efforts of people like Subba Rao, Anita, Droupadi and others.
• Here are some of the activities organized by the Northern California chapter – Frequent technical talks, Founder’s day and Diwali celebrations, picnics, hikes, meditation and art shows and Sevathon participation
• A lot of the local chapter members and leaders have been instrumental in the organization of establishing the IISc AANA, arranging global and local conferences and fund raising.
• There was a lot of energy and enthusiasm in grass roots level organization and to get more younger alumni into the folds of the bay area chapter.
• During the meeting it was decided to hold at least three big events in addition to four technical talks
• The three events will be
  • Founder’s day – Can make it a day of technical talks in a wide variety of topics
  • Summer picnic – With activities for kids and adults
  • Diwali celebration – With cultural activities
• Suggested areas for the technical talks were, but not restricted to,
  • Biosciences / basic science
  • Electronics and computers / gadgets
  • AI
  • Finance
• In addition to these events, we can have book releases by IISc authors.
• Having meetings/ get-togethers in the afternoon will be more suitable for enabling members from different parts of the bay area to attend.
• Need to plan for transportation of alumni attending from bay area Universities such as UCSF, UC Berkeley, Stanford etc.
• It was also decided to have a website for the bay area chapter in order to increase the visibility and participation.
• The current President of the bay area chapter (Shweta Karambelkar) has taken up the role of Co-Chair of the IISc AANA board and as one person cannot hold two positions simultaneously, there is a need to elect a new President for the bay area chapter.
• The office bearers of AANA should be life members of AANA and should be elected by the majority attending the meeting.
  • Subba Rao is the CEO of the IISc AANA, Sanjay Patil is the COO and Droupadi Pothaganahalli is the CFO/ Treasurer
  • Usha Raghuram and Sampath Kumar Anandan were chosen as the Co-Presidents of the bay area chapter when the current President moves on.
  • Hemant Thakkar will set up the website
  • Droupadi would like to resign from the CFO/ Treasurer role and Jeyashri and Prem Ramiya have agreed to take over once Droupadi’s role ends (around July 2025)
• Regarding the finances and fund-raising, there is some money available ($1000/- per year) for each chapter to use towards event planning.
  • There are about 250 life members and the money collected towards life membership is invested in an annuity and the interest is used towards member benefits such as discount towards conference registration
  • In addition, funds can be raised in the form of tickets for attendance/ cost sharing/ sponsorship of the events.
  • It is not possible for the  Bay area chapter to have a separate  account for funds because of paperwork related to maintaining 501c status.  However, donors can donate to AANA and direct funds to be spent for a specific cause or purpose.

Note

Discussion not captured in the email summary is below:

• Creation of special interest groups to promote interactions and involvement at grass root level.
  • Painting – Sujatha
  • Gardening  – Rao Bethanabotla
  • Cultural Programs -Subba Rao
  • Potluck Dinners – Droupadi and Usha
  • Meditation and Bhajans – Mohan Raj Goyal
  • Trekking – Sanjay , Yash Bhatnagar and others
  • Sevathan , Swayam – Anitha , Avinash , Rao Bethanabotla
  • Dance  and Music – Shweta
• Some of the groups already exist and whatsapp groups are formed.
• Contact the respective lead if interested in joining the group.