Nagpur Archives - Welcome to

Hannah Davies earned an MS and BS in neuroscience and a BS in psychology (magna cum laude) from Brandeis University within four years. Hannah’s master’s thesis on the visual mechanisms involved in balancing was awarded the highest honors within the neuroscience department, and her research is being expanded by senior researchers at Colorado State University who aim to create AI models that assist pilots in maintaining aircraft stabilization mid-flight. During her time at Brandeis, Hannah assisted in teaching organic chemistry to undergraduate students and received the Emily Dudek Undergraduate Teaching Award for her effective teaching methods. Additionally, Hannah coordinated SPECTRUM – a volunteer program providing free mentoring, tutoring, and group play resources to children with disabilities – throughout her four years at Brandeis.

After graduation , Hannah was awarded the two-year Donald J. Cohen Fellowship in developmental social neuroscience at the Marcus Autism Center, a leading institution in the U.S. for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This research fellowship also led to Hannah co-authoring a paper which was published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Hannah is also performing her own independent research on children regarding the genetic likelihood of autism. She has presented her clinical research at the 2024 Gatlinburg Conference and at the 2023 annual meeting of the International Society for Autism Research. Outside of research, Hannah coordinates the NIH-funded FirstFocus Study aimed to validate eye-tracking technology as an autism diagnostic tool within the first year of life.

Hannah’s Fulbright-Nehru project is objectively analyzing the efficacy of the Caregiver Skills Training (CST) program using mobile healthcare technology. The CST program, being implemented at AIIMS Nagpur, is addressing autism service insecurity by teaching caregivers how to mediate autism interventions at home. As part of her study, Hannah is quantifying children’s social behavior, sensory sensitivity, and motor functioning from children playing tablet games and watching videos, before and after CST programming, in the hope of improving awareness about CST benefits.

Dr. Siddhesh Mukerji is a lecturer in social work at University College Cork, Ireland. He received his MA in social work from the University of Chicago and his PhD in social work from Loyola University Chicago. His professional experiences include serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kazakhstan, a social worker with adolescents in Chicago, and an educator in five countries. Currently, Dr. Mukerji’s interdisciplinary scholarship integrates perspectives from social work, community studies, religious studies, and philosophy of education; the contexts for his work include India, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His publications include articles and chapters on the topics of pedagogy and Buddhist social action, and he is currently authoring books on Zen Buddhist social action in the United States and Navayana Buddhist social action in India.

Dr. Mukerji’s Fulbright-Nehru project is exploring Navayana (i.e., “Ambedkaran”) Buddhist social work in India. This qualitative inquiry aims to illuminate how Navayana social workers interpret their work in light of Buddhism and incorporate Buddhist concepts and practices into their social action. The goal of this project is to create useful materials for Buddhist social workers in India and for an international audience of practitioners and scholars of socially engaged Buddhism.