Getting an abstract into the annual conference for the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, a professional organization for neurosurgeons, is no easy feat for residents or attending physicians. An undergraduate getting a piece of research in is almost unheard of.
Despite these odds, two posters summarizing research conducted by Weinberg sophomore Sepehr Khavari were accepted and will be presented by Khavari at the 2025 CNS Annual Meeting, held from Oct. 11 to 15 in Los Angeles.
“It is a very meaningful achievement to have your work be presented as a poster at this conference,” said Benjamin Weiss, a second-year Feinberg student and a member of the Ahuja Spine Innovation Group along with Khavari. “To have your work represented at this conference is really quite an achievement and provides a lot of meaning to the work you’ve been doing with the hopes of better helping patients in the future.”
Khavari is majoring in neuroscience and plans to do the B.A./M.S. program in mechanical engineering. He is a member of the Rogers Research Group, famous for the world’s smallest pacemaker and is heavily involved in the Ahuja Spine Innovation Group, which focuses on functional neurosurgery.
One of his accepted posters is titled “Invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Non-Epilepsy Indications: a Scoping Review.” Invasive vagus nerve stimulation involves installing a device similar to a pacemaker on the vagus nerve to send electrical signals to the brain. Khavari analyzed papers and data on the effectiveness of IVNS for various conditions.
The vagus nerve controls many parts of the body. IVNS can reduce the frequency and severity of seizures for those with epilepsy, regulate moods for those with depression and help people who have suffered strokes regain movement.
“Any condition other than epilepsy that used invasive vagus nerve stimulation we took a look at. So this involves cardiac indications, depression, some post-Covid 19 syndromes and some inflammatory indications as well, such as Crohn’s disease,” Khavari said.
The other poster, titled “Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulation for Dementia: A Scoping Review,” analyzed the effect of using low-intensity focused ultrasound to treat dementia through reviewing prior papers and data on the topic.
Weiss, who was involved in that poster, said the process “uses vibrational waves to modulate neural activity.” Khavari found that low-intensity focused ultrasound could be successful in slowing down or even reversing the progress of dementia.
While both posters have other authors, Khavari is listed as the first author and said he takes most of the academic credit.
He said he joined the Ahuja Spine Innovation Group because functional neurosurgery was a “happy marriage” between his engineering and biology interests.
“What my work (in the lab) entails is a lot of engineering,” said Khavari. “Essentially this can include anything from helping soldering the devices, designing them and all the way to being present in some of the human trials.”
Dillan Prasad, a third-year Feinberg student and Khavari’s lab mentor, described Khavari as the “single best undergrad” he had ever seen after mentoring hundreds. He said Khavari operates as an upper level Ph.D. student or MD student despite being just 19.
Prasad and Weiss both said getting two pieces into the congress is a great accomplishment for someone of Khavari’s age.
In the future Khavari said he hopes to pursue an MD/Ph.D. in neuroscience or biomedical engineering.
“He’s (Khavari) the exact type of person that a school like Northwestern hopes to produce,” Prasad said. “Instead of just studying, he’s actually applying that by actively developing medical devices and working on medical applications of those devices, especially in neurosurgery. So I think this is just an early sign of the progress he’s going to make, and I’m really excited to watch him make it.”
Correction: A previous version of this story misabbreviated Invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation. The Daily regrets the error.
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