Zahra Moussavi, Ph.D., P.Eng., CAE Fellow

IEEE EMBS Distinguished Lecturer

Director, Biomedical Engineering Program

Professor, Dept. Elec. & Comp. Engineering & Dept. of Psychiatry

University of Manitoba, Canada

Dr. Zahra Moussavi received her B.Sc. from Sharif University of Technology, Iran, M.Sc. from the University of Calgary, and Ph.D. from University of Manitoba, Canada in 1997, all in Electrical Engineering. She then joined the respiratory research group of the Winnipeg Children’s Hospital and worked as a research associate for 1.5 years. In 1999, she did her postdoctoral fellowship at the Biomedical Engineering Department of Johns Hopkins University. Following that, she joined the University of Manitoba, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as a faculty member, where she is currently a full professor, a Canada Research Chair in Biomedical Engineering and also the director of Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program. She is a member of Manitoba Heart and Stroke Advisory board and a research affiliate at Riverview Health Centre, as well as Aging Centre at University of Manitoba.  She is a recipient of “Fiends of Riverview” honor from Riverview Health Center (2016), Canadian Academy of Engineering Fellowship (2015), IEEE-EMBS distinguished Lecturer title (2013-2014) and “Women of Distinction Award” in Science and Technology (2014) from the YWMCA and Manitoba Government as well as “Canada’s Most Powerful Women (Top 100) in Trailblazers and Trendsetters category (2014)”. With over 215 peer-reviewed publications in prestigious journals and conferences, her current research includes biological signal processing, diagnostic pattern recognition and medical devices instrumentation with applications on sleep apnea, and Alzheimer disease. Due to her work on acoustic diagnostic technologies for sleep apnea as well as her work on Alzheimer’s early detection and treatment, she has been recognized internationally and invited to speak frequently. She has given 78 invited talks/seminars (30 outside of Canada) including 2 Tedx Talk and 7 keynote speaker seminars at international conferences. She has supervised many graduate students; currently she has a team of 15 graduate students, one postdoctoral fellow, and several undergraduate students. While in academia Dr. Zahra Moussavi is more recognized for her acoustic respiratory signal processing, in public she is more recognized for her work on Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis and treatment that she has a personal passion for. Aside from academic research work, she has created a series of brain exercises for aging population that are available on her website free of charge. She has also developed and offered an 8-week memory program for individuals 70+ y at Riverview Health Center.