Our people

Dr Govinda Poudel

Research Fellow
Behaviour Environment and Cognition, Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research

Areas of expertise: Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Biomedical Signal Processing, Sleep Research, Huntington’s disease, Neurodegeneration

HDR Supervisor accreditation status: Full

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-0043-7531

Phone: +61 3 9230 8368

Email: Govinda.poudel@acu.edu.au

Location: ACU Melbourne Campus

Dr Govinda Poudel is an interdisciplinary researcher with background in Computer Systems Engineering and Neurosciences. He holds PhD from the University of Otago, NZ and BE (First Class Honours) from UTS, Sydney. His research focuses on novel Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Electroencephalography (EEG) based techniques for understanding human brain in health and disease, including sleep health and neurodegeneration.

Prior to joining MMIHR, Govinda was a researcher at the University of Sydney, Monash University, and New Zealand Brain Research Institute.

He has received several awards and scholarships including the Young Biomedical Engineer Award (awarded by the college of Biomedical Engineers, Engineers Australia), Hereditary Disease Foundation, USA Fellowship, Endeavour Australia Research Fellowship, and AusAid Scholarship. He has published 39 peer-reviewed papers (28 first/second author) in international journals and IEEE conference proceedings and attracted ~ AUD 0.5 million grants and fellowship funding as a Chief Investigator.

Govinda served on the editorial board of journal SLEEP (2014-2017), which is published by Oxford Academic.

Select publications

• Poudel, G.R, Harding I.H, Egan G.F., Georgiou-Karistianis N. (2019). Network spread determines severity of degeneration and disconnection in Huntington’s Disease, Human Brain Mapping,  40 (14), 4192-4201
• Soloveva, M.V., Jamadar, S.D., Poudel, G., & Georgiou-Karistianis, N. (2018). A Critical Review of Brain and Cognitive Reserve in Huntington's Disease. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 5, 155-169
• Poudel, G.R., Innes CRH, Jones R.D. (2018). Temporal evolution of neural activity and connectivity during microsleeps when rested and following sleep restriction NeuroImage174(1), 263-273.
• Domínguez, DJF, Poudel, G.R., Stout, J. C., Gray, M., Chua, P., Borowsky, B., Egan, G. F., & Georgiou-Karistianis, N. (2017). Longitudinal changes in the fronto- striatal network are associated with executive dysfunction and behavioral dysregulation in Huntington’s disease: 30 months IMAGE-HD data. Cortex, 92, pp. 139-149
• Toppi, J., Astolfi, L., Poudel, G. R., Innes, C. R., Babiloni, F., & Jones, R. D. (2016). Time-Varying Effective Connectivity of the Cortical Neuroelectric Activity associated with Behavioural Microsleeps. NeuroImage, 121, 421-432.
• Poudel, G. R., Stout, J. C., Gray, M. A., Domínguez, D, J. F., Salmon, L., Churchyard, A., Chua, P., Borowsky, B., Egan, G. F., Georgiou-Karistianis, N. (2015), Functional changes during working memory in Huntington’s disease: 30 month longitudinal data from the IMAGE-HD study. Brain Structure and Function, 220, 501-512.
• Poudel, G. R., Stout, J. C., Churchyard, A., Chua, P., Egan, G. F., & Georgiou-Karistianis, N. (2015). Longitudinal change in white matter microstructure in Huntington's disease: The IMAGE-HD study. Neurobiology of disease, 74, 406-412.
• Poudel GR, Innes CR, Bones PJ, Watts R, & Jones RD (2014). Losing the struggle to stay awake: Divergent thalamic and cortical activity during microsleeps. Human Brain Mapping, 35, 257-269.
• Poudel GR, Stout JC, Domínguez JF, Salmon L, Churchyard A, Chua P, Georgiou-Karistianis N, & Egan GF (2014). White matter connectivity reflects clinical and cognitive status in Huntington’s disease. Neurobiology of Disease, 65, 180-187.
• Poudel GR, Egan GF, Churchyard A., Chua P, Stout J C, & Georgiou-Karistianis N (2014). Abnormal synchrony of resting-state networks in premanifest and symptomatic Huntington’s disease: The IMAGE-HD Study. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 39.2, 87-96.

Accolades and awards

• 2015-2016 Hereditary Disease Foundation, USA, Postdoctoral Fellowship ($150,000)
• 2016 Endeavour Australia Research Fellowship, Centre for Advanced Imaging
• Sciences, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA ($25,000)
• 2015 ECR Fellow Publication Prize, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing, and Health
• Sciences, Monash University

Appointments and affiliations

• 2017-2018 Sydney Imaging, The University of Sydney
• 2012-2016 Monash University, Melbourne
• 2009-2011 New Zealand Brain Research Institute, NZ

Editorial Roles

Member of the Editorial Board, SLEEEP

International journal review panel

• NeuroImage
• Human Brain Mapping
• IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering
• Journal of Neuroscience
• SLEEP
• Neurobiology of Disease

Grant agency review panel

• NHMRC
• ARC
• Marsden Fund, NZ