About me
My name is Amina Burgess, and I am a PhD student at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience. I am currently involved in the SCANNER project, which aims to understand how structural and functional brain characteristics associated with autism differ between males and females.
I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University where I directed my focus on neuroengineering. After graduating, I worked at the VA Boston Healthcare Brain Bank, focusing on Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) diagnosis and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) research. During this time, I developed immunostaining protocols and used confocal microscopy to study synaptic connectivity in post-mortem brain tissue.
I later joined Dr. Diane Hoffman-Kim’s lab at Brown University as a lab manager while concurrently completing my Master’s in Biomedical Engineering. My thesis involved developing a computational tool using graph theory in Wolfram Mathematica to map dense neuronal networks in 3D cortical microtissues. In addition to managing lab operations and training students, I collaborated with the Kesari Lab on various brain injury projects. Outside of my academic work, I am passionate about art, enjoy painting in my spare time, and love spending time with my cat.